My name is Dr. Christine Cloar. I am a Special Education Leader, advocate and teacher. I have over ten years of experience in special education and Instructional coaching. I taught K- 12 special education for more than five years and led special education teachers and department chairs for more than five years. I serve as the Senior Vice President for Education and co-founder of Unfinished International – a nonprofit organization that seeks to restore hope to children in impoverished areas with special needs and disabilities, their families, and society through education, empowerment, sustainability, development, and love.

My journey as a special educator began over ten years ago when I finished my bachelor’s degree. I went to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I graduated and moved back to Katy, TX. I worked for a nonprofit organization in Houston for about a year. After a year at the company, I knew that I wanted to do something different. I didn’t feel like I was maximizing my potential, so I went back to school for a master’s degree at Houston Baptist University. I decided to pursue a master’s in Special Education and Education Diagnostician.

I work hard to educate and give parents of special needs children a voice. I help them know and understand the special education law, understand their rights as parents of children with disabilities, and help identify how to advocate for their child. I encourage parents by letting them know what special education eligibility is but also walking them through the process of embracing the supports and resources schools have and connecting them to local organizations that support special needs parents.

The reason I’m very passionate about special-education is that when I was in elementary school in Kenya, I was an average student, life in elementary school was pretty easy for me. However, when I struggled in high school. I struggled academically, especially in sciences and math. I did not understand the content and struggled with retaining information. Looking back, I was a student with a Learning Disability but with no formal diagnosis.

So my passion for special education and working with students with disabilities stems from my life experience. I wish I had an opportunity to learn in a way that I could understand. I wanted my teachers to have the ability or the education to know how to support a child with special needs. I wish I had the accommodations, and I wish I had the modifications, you know, just everything that would’ve made me successful.

My passion for special education and especially working with students with learning disabilities is a personal experience. A personal mission that I have is that every child with a disability will no longer be left behind just because the professionals who are working with them are not equipped to support them.

My goal for this blog is to provide a safe place for parents with special needs children to receive tools that will enable them to be ambassadors and advocates for their children. I want to create a safe place for you to come and ask questions, engage, collaborate and support each other. My hope is that you will come and get answers to questions you have and receive support.  As I continue to work in the special education field i will continue to train teachers to develop skills and knowledge on how to support students with disabilities.