Erica Desper, the mom behind the Collective, is no stranger to supporting parents. She founded Confident Parenting in 2011, after her own struggle with chronic sleep deprivation and the lack of a village to support her through it. Since then, she and her team have worked with the parents of over 1,600 babies and children and have been honored as “the best” by local parents eleven times.
She explains how the idea for The Collective was born: “After a decade of supporting parents to address sleep, potty-training and other challenges, my family’s journey turned toward struggling with learning differences and immense challenges getting them diagnosed and addressed adequately in school. This journey started in preschool and is ongoing now, as my son enters 7th grade.
In a search for support and resources I joined a local Facebook group for parents of children with special needs and then started my own local group for parents navigating similar learning differences. Membership exploded overnight.
Hearing parents' stories and struggles in these groups showed me that there was a HUGE need in our local community for parents entering and navigating the special needs journey. The idea for the Confident Parenting Collective was born! My goals in creating this resource are:
* To help families learn about no-cost and private pay resources available to them, earlier on in their journey and with far less effort than it took me to find them.
* To educate parents about the special education process and their rights so they can advocate early and effectively for their child.
Our journey has been very long, stressful and somewhat traumatic and is far from over. If I can spare even one family that experience, or help them to feel more supported and less overwhelmed along the way, my mission will be complete. We will continue to add to and improve the Collective, based on parent feedback and recommendations, so we would love to hear yours!”
Visit the Collective at specialneedscollective.com, sign up for their newsletter and follow them @specialneedscollective on Instagram and @confidentparentingspecialneedscollective on Facebook.
