Welcome and thank you for visiting my website. My name is Ysela Heim and I am an Exceptional Student Consultant, aka an Educational Advocate. As a Consultant/Advocate, I work to help parents and guardians of students with disabilities navigate through the educational process. I primarily work with families of Broward County Schools, but also have worked with families in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County schools. My main role is ensuring that student's individual needs are being met while educating families on policy and procedures. Of course teaching parents how to effectively work with their schools and private providers so they too can become their children's Advocate.
I have learned through the 17+ years of Advocating that creating positive and collaborative working relationships with everyone involved is imperative and has proven to be most successful for student optimal growth.
I became an Exceptional Student Consultant shortly after my son was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I learned that as our children grow older, more decisions need to be made on there educational needs and priorities. Education and tapping into resources is key so we can then become better advocates and decision makers for our children. I enjoy helping families navigate through the process. Additionally, there are several amazing organizations that are specific to your child's disability. School districts typically offer workshops, the internet is full of FREE tips, and there are groups you can join for support. These in turn will help you understand your child's differences and perhaps create a support network for yourself and your family. It is my hope that this website will be used to: help families of special needs children access my services if needed, find appropriate resources, and find comfort in the blog by reading stories of challenges and successes for children similar to their own.
My office provides Educational Advocacy and we are here to support families. I have added two amazing Advocates/Consultants to my team. Rita and Raquel have now been with me for awhile and bring not only personal experiences to the table but have also learned from me as I was their children's advocate for several years. For any families that are fortunate enough to work with them, we are all a team and I will still personally consult on their cases as well. Feel free to explore our site and contact us if you feel my office can help. We look forward to assisting you with your children's exceptional educational needs
I have learned through the 17+ years of Advocating that creating positive and collaborative working relationships with everyone involved is imperative and has proven to be most successful for student optimal growth.
I became an Exceptional Student Consultant shortly after my son was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I learned that as our children grow older, more decisions need to be made on there educational needs and priorities. Education and tapping into resources is key so we can then become better advocates and decision makers for our children. I enjoy helping families navigate through the process. Additionally, there are several amazing organizations that are specific to your child's disability. School districts typically offer workshops, the internet is full of FREE tips, and there are groups you can join for support. These in turn will help you understand your child's differences and perhaps create a support network for yourself and your family. It is my hope that this website will be used to: help families of special needs children access my services if needed, find appropriate resources, and find comfort in the blog by reading stories of challenges and successes for children similar to their own.
My office provides Educational Advocacy and we are here to support families. I have added two amazing Advocates/Consultants to my team. Rita and Raquel have now been with me for awhile and bring not only personal experiences to the table but have also learned from me as I was their children's advocate for several years. For any families that are fortunate enough to work with them, we are all a team and I will still personally consult on their cases as well. Feel free to explore our site and contact us if you feel my office can help. We look forward to assisting you with your children's exceptional educational needs
Hi! I’m Raquel Cicini aka Rocky. I am a stay at home mom blessed with two uniquely amazing children, a wonderful son named Joey and our incredible daughter, Gaby, who entered this world destined to be challenged due to her premature birth at 25 weeks. As a result of her prematurity, she suffers from a visual disability which directly impacts her ability to process written material. At the age of 2 1/2 she was diagnosed with non-verbal autism, but found her voice when she entered the education system when she was introduced to PECS.
Her challenges are why I have experience in a wide-range of modalities in the areas of autism, behavior, vision and special education, just about everything I’ve learned has come from navigating through her challenges, from preschool to high school. At every juncture, she’s proven she can be successful with the right services, supports and accommodations. However, her current high school success would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Ysela’s involvement in middle school, and our family will be forever grateful we procured her services, when Gaby transitioned from an elementary autism cluster to the middle school general education environment. It was during those years, by observing Ysela professionally maneuver effortlessly through the education process, where I learned the important role an advocate plays at bridging the gaps. They say it takes a village but in Gaby’s situation it took a city to help make her successful. As I gained a better understanding of the process, I became my daughter’s best advocate, developed positive working relationships with her educators and ESE team, and found my purpose by helping other special needs families.
Our family is extremely proud of Gaby’s achievements, but most importantly it’s the pride she feels within herself that speaks volumes. She entered the education system as a visually impaired non-verbal ASD child who struggled behaviorally to adjust to our world and it was through the education system with the right services, supports and accommodations where she developed both academically and socially, found her voice, self-advocates and continues to thrive.
Prior to becoming a STAHM, I was a law enforcement officer for twenty-four years. I spent my first thirteen years as a police officer for a local law enforcement department and my last eleven years as a Special Agent with the FBI, Miami Field Office. During my career, I received twenty years in specified crisis negotiation trainings on human behavior and was a certified crisis negotiator. I have been using Applied Behavior Therapy with Gaby for over 8 years, and it was through behavior therapy where we overcame some of her most challenging behaviors. After leaving law enforcement, I became a substitute teacher, and taught on and off as an interim teacher for 5-years. It was after being in the classroom where I realized I would better serve the special needs community as an Education Consultant, through both my personal and professional experiences and have been enjoying doing so for the past 3 years. I understand that no single approach is right for every individual child, as I have experienced firsthand maneuvering my once non-verbal child through the system and faced some of the same challenges many parents continue to encounter with educators to get their child’s needs met.
I learned a lot from Ysela, and I look forward to assisting you with your children's exceptional educational needs with the same due diligence and professionalism she has done over the past 17+ years.
Her challenges are why I have experience in a wide-range of modalities in the areas of autism, behavior, vision and special education, just about everything I’ve learned has come from navigating through her challenges, from preschool to high school. At every juncture, she’s proven she can be successful with the right services, supports and accommodations. However, her current high school success would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Ysela’s involvement in middle school, and our family will be forever grateful we procured her services, when Gaby transitioned from an elementary autism cluster to the middle school general education environment. It was during those years, by observing Ysela professionally maneuver effortlessly through the education process, where I learned the important role an advocate plays at bridging the gaps. They say it takes a village but in Gaby’s situation it took a city to help make her successful. As I gained a better understanding of the process, I became my daughter’s best advocate, developed positive working relationships with her educators and ESE team, and found my purpose by helping other special needs families.
Our family is extremely proud of Gaby’s achievements, but most importantly it’s the pride she feels within herself that speaks volumes. She entered the education system as a visually impaired non-verbal ASD child who struggled behaviorally to adjust to our world and it was through the education system with the right services, supports and accommodations where she developed both academically and socially, found her voice, self-advocates and continues to thrive.
Prior to becoming a STAHM, I was a law enforcement officer for twenty-four years. I spent my first thirteen years as a police officer for a local law enforcement department and my last eleven years as a Special Agent with the FBI, Miami Field Office. During my career, I received twenty years in specified crisis negotiation trainings on human behavior and was a certified crisis negotiator. I have been using Applied Behavior Therapy with Gaby for over 8 years, and it was through behavior therapy where we overcame some of her most challenging behaviors. After leaving law enforcement, I became a substitute teacher, and taught on and off as an interim teacher for 5-years. It was after being in the classroom where I realized I would better serve the special needs community as an Education Consultant, through both my personal and professional experiences and have been enjoying doing so for the past 3 years. I understand that no single approach is right for every individual child, as I have experienced firsthand maneuvering my once non-verbal child through the system and faced some of the same challenges many parents continue to encounter with educators to get their child’s needs met.
I learned a lot from Ysela, and I look forward to assisting you with your children's exceptional educational needs with the same due diligence and professionalism she has done over the past 17+ years.
It's a pleasure to introduce myself to you and tell you a bit about my journey. Since at a very young age, I always knew I wanted to make a difference. Be a voice for those that were either unable or did not know how to. Becoming a mother was my most important goal, and thank God, my greatest achievement. I became a mom in 1998 with twin boys who started out with challenges, having been born premature. As a first time Mom, I knew that from their prematurity could follow some other challenges so I made sure to be observant of every detail. Luckily, the challenges that I faced were not severe but had some drawbacks when it came to their education and the manner in which they needed to learn. With much frustration, as a new parent would have with the structure of their educational needs, I was introduced to Ysela.
It is said that people come into your life at the right time and for a purpose. That was the turning point to which my voice would learn to help others. I learned with every meeting we had as Ysela helped my sons needs. Soon I was handling my own IEP meetings and then branched out to attending meetings for friends to assist them with the needs of their children. Soon there after, I began to work with Ysela. I have now been with this Advocacy Team for 5+ years. I primarily work in Miami-Dade County but also have clients in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. I work with clients of all exceptionalities and ages. I continue to learn from them as they do from me. Our team consults on every case and that is what makes our office so unique. When you work with one of us, you really get us all as we collaborate to make sure each student's needs are being met. I hope to have the opportunity to work with you and your family.
We truly are a great team!
It is said that people come into your life at the right time and for a purpose. That was the turning point to which my voice would learn to help others. I learned with every meeting we had as Ysela helped my sons needs. Soon I was handling my own IEP meetings and then branched out to attending meetings for friends to assist them with the needs of their children. Soon there after, I began to work with Ysela. I have now been with this Advocacy Team for 5+ years. I primarily work in Miami-Dade County but also have clients in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. I work with clients of all exceptionalities and ages. I continue to learn from them as they do from me. Our team consults on every case and that is what makes our office so unique. When you work with one of us, you really get us all as we collaborate to make sure each student's needs are being met. I hope to have the opportunity to work with you and your family.
We truly are a great team!