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Testimonials
Ava Z.
We have had the privilege of knowing Mindy for 12 years. She has played many roles in our family’s lives—fellow parent, classroom teacher, personal tutor, friend, and most recently advocate. Mindy is a rare combination of being both a wonderful person and an excellent professional. She is loved by her clients and well-respected by her peers. Mindy has a deep understanding and compassion for the children she represents and is an amazing resource in the Special Education field based on both her personal and professional experiences. The children come first in her eyes, and they know and pick up on how much she cares about them. Our kids love, easily relate, and confide in her. In our case, as a teacher, Mindy picked up on our child’s issues 2 years before we did! To us parents, she has been incredibly supportive, a wonderful advisor, and a true friend in helping us navigate through the world of CSE Meetings over the past 3 years. We are extremely thankful and grateful each and every day for what Mindy has done for our family, and would highly recommend her to anyone that needs an advocate.
Lisa Z.
Why Advocate?
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
Mindy embodies the quote above. She cares deeply for each child and will never give up on any child, passionately advocating for each child to be all they can be. In addition to being a gifted special education teacher for many years Mindy has used her advocacy to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. She advocates for the best education for every child she comes in contact with focusing on indivdialzing for their specific needs and systemic change at the same time. Mindy makes great efforts to work in collaboration with the parents and the school staff as a team. She is determined to ensure that every parent understands what’s going on with their children in all environments, she helps parents advocate for their child’s best interests, and at the same time she aims to facilitate relationships with the school to provide truthful information about the child and work in partnership with the parents for the optimal well being of the child.
Angelica V.
Having a child with special needs is hard enough, parents shouldn't have to worry about their children getting all the help they need. Dealing with district meetings, IEP's, therapists and all the red tape can be challenging and overwhelming. That's where Mindy comes in. As a former teacher she is familiar with the jargon used, as an advocate she's very knowledgeable about educational law and the rights of our children, most importantly as a special needs parent herself, she is empathetic to our struggles. All this, combined with her tenacity, professionalism and effective communication style make her an incredible champion for special needs children. Mindy has helped my family for over 3 years. I have found her to be reliable, supportive, intelligent and well informed. I couldn't imagine doing this without her. I always tell her she's my angel, my life preserver in these difficult waters.
Margie S.
I tried on my own to get services for my daughter for over two years. It was frustrating being told different things and being directed to different people. When you have a child who needs help and as a parent not knowing what more you can do it is extremely heart breaking and depressing. I am so grateful to have found Mindy. Mindy is truly what the word advocate means. In the dictionary an advocate means "A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause" but Mindy goes beyond that definition. She puts her entire heart into doing whats best for children. My child became her child and I became family. She explained to me the entire process and she was with me every step of the way. From explaining to me educational law and our rights as parents to advising me on the best path for my child. She knew who to contact and what needed to be gathered. She came to each meeting with me. In addition, she called directly demanding that my child get the needed services that she deserved to help her succeed educationally. I know I couldn't have done this without her. I am thankful for everything she did for me and my family and for everything she does to support children in need. Beyond a doubt she is someone you want to be your advocate because she wants exactly what you want "The best for your child."
Julie S.
It is with utmost pleasure and confidence that I write this letter of recommendation for Mindy Ross-Knaster. Mindy represented me with my case regarding vision therapy for my son. My son was diagnosed with several visual deficits such as convergence insufficiency, accommodative insufficiency, and oculo-motor dysfunction, which caused him difficulties with reading skills, comprehension, handwriting, spelling, and focusing abilities. He had very poor self-esteem, difficulty concentrating, and was having significant difficulty with all areas of academics. I was informed about vision therapy from several professionals and was recommended to get an evaluation in the hope that it may help resolve his underlying issues. We had the Vision Therapy evaluation and were told that through vision therapy, he would improve his visual deficits and thereby have much more success in school as well as in other areas of deficit. Vision therapy was not covered by our insurance plan, and the Department of Education would not provide the service. We decided to pursue this therapy privately anyway, even though it was very costly, with the hope that we may get some of the money back with an impartial hearing. The therapist we went to highly recommended Ms. Ross-Knaster to represent me with my case as well as at the impartial hearing to try to get reimbursement. We pursued this therapy for approximately a year and a half and it was extremely successful. My son's vision dramatically improved and he has improved greatly in all areas of academics. There were wonderful positive changes in him. Ms. Ross-Knaster was a wonderful advocate. She was extremely sensitive, patient intelligent and kind. She was extremely thorough with me during the case. She truly empathized with my plight regarding my son's issues and did everything she could to help me prove to the Department of Education that it was absolutely necessary that he receive vision therapy. She was assertive and proved to the Department of Education that the vision therapy services were imperative for my son to achieve success in school. She was extremely supportive of me and continued to encourage me to pursue this case, even when I was feeling concerned whether we would win. Ms. Ross-Knaster demonstrates a high level of professionalism. She is highly intelligent, very perceptive, responsible, conscientious, organized and empathetic. . She has excellent communication skills and is extremely invested in the cases she represents. She really goes the extra miles for the students she works with, as well as their parents. The case in which she represented us at the impartial hearing was a huge success and we got all the money reimbursed to us for the vision therapy. I was extremely pleased with the services she provided, as well as the wonderful results.