Marie earned her Masters degree in Special Education in 1992 after having started as an instructional assistant in 1989. This began the "formal" aspect of her experience, but in reality, it started much earlier. Marie's mother ran a babysitting center starting in the early 1970s and cared for a few different children with disabilities during that time. In high school, Marie worked as a peer tutor in a classroom serving children with multiple and significant impairments. She also worked as a volunteer with the Special Olympics during her high school and college years. Her professional experience includes eight years in the Sherwood School District. Marie split her time at the Middle School before moving to the High School, where she worked with the district's most fragile and high need students. Despite this, Marie initiated a community training program for her students, allowing them to experience valuable community lessons, like safety, appropriate social behavior, money management, and other functional skills. She also started the Middle School's first peer tutoring program, which had high risk students working with children in her classroom. She had demands of her tutors as well -- "keep a C average, be sure you are doing our best or don't come back". All Peer Tutors were expected to be positive role models at all times, regardless if they were with the SpED students or not. The tutors were motivated and this program was very successful. The rest of her time before venturing off on her own was working for Northwest Regional Educational Service District (NWRESD), a large educational organization servicing four counties in Northwest Oregon, as an Autism Spectrum Disorder consultant. Marie earned a reputation as the "go to" and was brought in on difficult cases. Marie is a highly skilled mediator, an accomplished (and entertaining) speaker, and a passionate supporter of children. She combines experience, passion, knowledge, and a tireless work ethic to her private consulting business. You can be assured that you are getting everything you expect and more from Empowerment Services.