Christie Reinhardt

Christie Reinhardt graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in Psychology and Economics and after that did a wide variety of jobs; caterer, chef, art dealer, writer’s assistant, English language teacher...It was a personal experience that brought her to the world of disability advocacy. In 2001, she adopted a newborn baby boy and was a very proud and busy stay-at-home mom. While he developed on target in many ways, by his first birthday, her son was showing signs of unusual and aggressive behaviors. His differences grew, and by kindergarten, Christie was homeschooling and looking for answers. At age 6, he was finally diagnosed high-functioning autism. Before the ink was dry on the report, they moved from New York City to Alaska. On the way across country, her son "fired" her as his home-school teacher and told her that once they grotto Alaska, he was going to attend public school and it was her job to help him make it work. In Alaska, her son started at his neighborhood school and received an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and outside of school they started various therapies that build a team of supports. Christie had a steep learning curve, but threw her energies into finding out as much as she could about special education and autism interventions. She started participating in online chat groups with other parents of children with autism and behavioral concerns, where she discovered that helping others came easily and naturally to her. In 2007 she "went pro" and began working for Stone Soup Group as a special education Parent Navigator, and eventually as a Program Manager. After leaving Stone Soup, she provided training and support to foster parents and trained with Diane Malbin to be an FASD into Action Trainer. Now she is in her dream job at the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, working with stakeholders as they monitor and improve state special education, early intervention, FASD and autism systems. Her son, now a tall, funny, smart and engaging high-schooler, told her the other day, "You know Mom, without me, you would not have all this great work to do. Without me, you would never have found what you wanted to be." She wholeheartedly agrees.