About Judith Epstein

Judith Epstein has a Master's degree in Education with a concentration in Language Acquisition. She is certified in special education with post-graduate coursework and professional development in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Social Thinking, and Collaborative & Proactive Solutions. Parents and educators respect Judi for the success she has achieved working with children. She also is a facilitator in Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol.


These accomplishments did not come without her own personal educational struggles.

As a student, Judi found the traditional approach to learning inaccessible. At a time long before there were IEP's or diagnostic testing, what was a parent to do? Judi's parents took her to Boston to be evaluated where they were told she was very bright, just 'immature”. As a result, Judi repeated a grade in elementary school and squeezed by middle school. It wasn't until high school that she began to blossom.


What happened?

In ninth grade, Judi had an English teacher who liked her writing style, although with some constructive criticisms. Judi provided an interesting perspective in her writing, that her ideas were very disorganized. The teacher took some time to make a diagram for her and asked her to fill it in based on the thoughts from her paper. When it was completed, she should bring it back. Slowly, the teacher showed Judi how to approach the task of putting her ideas into a well drafted paper. They continued to work together during the course of the year, as other writings were assigned.

The teacher's validation and gift of time gave Judi a new found confidence in her ability to be successful. Over time, she integrated these skills into her life both inside and outside of the classroom.


Judi's world dramatically changed!

After she graduated with her Bachelor’s degree, got married and began to raise three active boys, Judi decided to get a professional opinion on her continuing struggles to stay focused and organized. It was confirmed that she most probably had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It made sense as she was seeing some of the same behaviors with her own children. Judi went on medication for two years while she was receiving support to understand more about her learning style. After learning over several years how to organize her ideas, Judi was able to stop taking the medication. She now holds a Master's degree in education. She has taught in both private and public schools, as well as briefly in a lock up facility. She held the position of Co-Education Director for over 4 years.

Her responsibilities always centered around working with behavior and academic support issues. For example, she ran an in-house suspension room in a public school for students who were disrupting the classroom. She had multiple disruptive students working together in a small room, when teachers were at odds with just one of these students in the classroom. Now, Judi brings her personal experience and professional training to provide opportunities for young people to learn how to learn.

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