Judith Canty Graves

Judith Canty Graves and Carson Graves are parents whose child was in special education for fifteen years. They are ordinary parents who found themselves in an extraordinary situation as they entered the bureaucracy of special education.

Judith Canty Graves has worked as a professional photographer, both in commercial studio photography and photojournalism. After their son was born in 1989, she intended to do more of this work, but gradually she realized that a new direction was developing for her when her son entered special education as a preschooler. Now she had to focus on working as his advocate within the public school system. As he became older and the school work became more demanding, her work as an advocate increased and intensified. Over fifteen years, she and her husband Carson Graves worked continuously to help get an appropriate education for their son, who graduated from high school in 2008.

After their involvement with special education ended, Judith and Carson felt the need to reflect on what had happened. Special education had been a long journey for them. How could an experience that had started out in a positive and reassuring way turn into a struggle? The author says, "My husband and I needed time after our son graduated from high school to gain perspective. During his years in school I wrote about his experiences for myself and kept detailed notes as I tried to understand the confusing special education experience. Over time, my husband and I realized that we could use these notes as the basis for a book to help guide other parents through special education."

"Writing the book became a healing experience for us. We were able to gain insights about our special education experience through the process of trying to explain what we had gone through. We realized that we had been in a complex situation that we did not fully understand while we were going through it. Our hope is that by sharing what we learned with other parents, we can help them avoid the problems that many parents face in obtaining an appropriate education for their child. We have written a realistic description of what it is like to have a child in special education and we offer ideas on how parents can improve the outcome for their children."

Judith grew up in the seaside town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree from Simmons College in Boston and her graduate degree from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She is an avid gardener and continues to photograph many subjects, especially plants.

Carson is a native of North Carolina. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and his graduate degree at Ohio University. After ten years teaching and writing about photography, he worked in software development for 25 years.

Judith and Carson's son graduated from college in 2013.

Please visit the authors' website at www.makespecialeducationwork.com and send them comments or questions.