No Longer Alone
The Special Education Parent Series at BeanZ & Co. empowers and connects parents of children with special needs.
Attorney Melissa Gagne (center) with parents, grandparents and educators who attended the most recent gathering of her Special Education Parent Series.
For Melissa Gagne, her work to educate parents on special education law and their children’s rights is personal. As the mother of a twenty-three-year-old with severe autism, she navigated the world of disabilities on her own. Melissa has launched a parent education group at BeanZ & Co. to empower parents and cultivate a caring community of support. Here, she shares the evolution of the group and its early positive results.
My BeanZ & Co. journey began many years ago as a customer of New England Pasta Company where I became friends with Pasta Co. owner, Kim Morrison. I have a son with severe autism who is two years older than Kim’s daughter Meg. With the opening of BeanZ & Co., Kim and I spoke about what we could do to help parents who are navigating this world with a child with special needs, to be a resource and a community for them. We created the Special Education Parent Series, as a forum for parents to know they’re not alone, and to educate parents on the law and their child’s rights.
It’s exactly the kind of group I would have loved to have. At the time of my son’s diagnosis, I felt isolated and very alone, as it was prior to the Internet and Autism Speaks platform, and I knew no one who was going through what I was. I lead our group from the unique vantage point of having sat at every seat at a PPT meeting—as a parent of a child with special needs, as an educator and school principal for 20 years, and now as a lawyer with a focus on special education and disability rights. My goal is to empower parents with knowledge of the law so they can advocate for their child.
This group has become far more than I ever imagined. We have parents who come regularly, new families joining in, and educators attending to better serve the needs of individual children. It’s been really impactful. One parent with a newly diagnosed 2.5 year old with autism hugged me and said, “This is the first time since I received the diagnosis I feel I’m not alone in this.” The collaboration, support and incredible comfort level that virtual strangers experience in sharing their personal stories, struggles and successes is so powerful. Our group at BeanZ & Co. is a safe place to learn and vent and laugh and cry. Apart from the connection we’re creating, it’s so important for me to give parents a voice, to educate them, and provide good advice. I absolutely LOVE doing this.
Our next Special Education Parent Series is The ABCs of IEPs Part II, March 12, 4-6pm. The sessions are free and all are welcome. Learn more here.
Melissa Gagne is a former school principal who practices law with a special focus on special education and disability rights. Her passion is working with families to secure necessary services and supports for the differently abled. Melissa holds an undergraduate degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music, a Master’s Degree in English and Education from Connecticut College, a Sixth Year Degree in Education Leadership from Sacred Heart University, and Juris Doctorate Degree, Cum Laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Melissa lives in Avon, Conn. and is married with three children, one with severe autism. She leads the Special Education Parent Series at BeanZ & Co., and also serves on the Board of Directors of CCARC, Inc. You can connect with Melissa via email here.
BeanZ & Co. is an inclusive coffee café employing people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities and demonstrates the possibilities in all of us. The coffee café serves breakfast, lunch, hot and cold beverages, and bakery items for take-out or eat in, and also offers catering services. BeanZ & Co. is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 300 West Main Street, Avon, Conn. For more information visit beanzandco.com and friend them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.