The TSC world famous & beloved Dena Hook, Vice President of Support Services at the TS Alliance comes on the podcast to discuss, well, a lot. This is Part 1 of our conversation and Dena walks us through her history right up until she started working at the TS Alliance in 2007. Dena shares her experience advocating for her son with severe dyslexia in the early years of special needs legislation and how that inspired & launched her career in advocacy. She describes that it was a time when being "in the building" for a kid with special needs, was about as much support as was given. Dena was Technical Assistant Coordinator for the National Parent Training and Information Center (PACER) for over 6 years training educational advocates throughout the country. She worked with the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) during the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1997. A published author through Incentive Publication, she wrote: “Success with IEPs” and “An IEP Writing Tool” for teachers and school administrators. During her time as CEO of Family and Children First, she ran Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Early Childhood Program, Truancy Mediation, and Strengthening Families a Mental Health and Drug Addiction Program for Marion County in Ohio. She is certified as Special Education Mediator through the Juvenile Justice Center of Atlanta and as a Truancy Mediator through the Ohio Supreme Court. On a personal level, Dena also talks about leaving her job at PACER & working with OSEP to return to Ohio to aid her mother and how despite leaving an esteemed position, she was able to use her experience as a parent, advocate & then administrator to rise once again to leadership at Family & Children First in her home state of Ohio. Buckle up, there's a lot here and more on the way! (music credit: https://www.purple-planet.com)