I am 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 has 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 various modalities of autism, behavior, vision, and special education. 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, support, and accommodations. However, her high school success would not have been possible without the help of Special Education Advocacy Services, LLC, in middle school. Our family will be forever grateful we procured their services when Gaby transitioned from an elementary autism cluster to the middle school general education environment. During those years, observing Exceptional Student Advocacy, LLC Founder Ysela Heim maneuver effortlessly through the education process taught me the vital role an advocate plays in bridging the gaps. They say it takes a village, but in Gaby’s situation, it took a city to help her succeed. As I better understood the process, I became my daughter’s best advocate and developed positive working relationships with her educators and the ESE team. I found my purpose by helping other special needs families.
Our family is incredibly proud of Gaby’s achievements, but most importantly, her pride in herself 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 that she developed both academically and socially, found her voice, self-advocates and continues to thrive.
Before becoming a SAHM, 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 of specified crisis negotiation training on human behavior and was a certified crisis negotiator. I have been using Applied Behavior Therapy with Gaby since 2010, and it was through behavior therapy that 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. After being in the classroom, I realized I would better serve the special needs community as an Education Consultant through my personal and professional experiences. I have been enjoying doing so since 2015. I understand there is no one single approach solution. 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 meet their child’s needs.
I learned much from my advocate and have enjoyed helping and supporting families through Special Education Advocacy Services, LLC. I look forward to continuing my efforts in the years ahead.