Next fall, Lillian will be heading to Hofstra University with a scholarship she obtained through a fund established for AFC clients. But when Lillian was in middle school, that seemed like a distant possibility. “Lillian was having a lot of problems,” her mother Maxine remembers. “I know the baby that I have. She was a brilliant little girl, and I didn’t know what happened. She wasn’t focusing, she didn’t have any friends, and teachers would complain to me that she would sit there and not participate.”
Determined to exhaust all her options, Maxine called her health insurance to ask what supports they could provide. The customer service representative gave her AFC’s number on the spot and encouraged her to reach out for our help.
Maxine’s AFC advocate worked to secure an expert evaluation, which revealed that Lillian had been struggling with ADHD and anxiety and identified additional support that she needed. When Lillian’s school refused to provide that support, AFC requested an impartial hearing to secure a more appropriate school placement for Lillian, one where she could receive the 1:1 supports, multisensory teaching approach, counseling, and other services that her evaluations recommended.
At her new school, Lillian blossomed. With the new dedicated supports and services, her anxiety was no longer affecting her studies; she seemed at ease in the classroom and began to excel academically.
“She’s about to graduate and she’s a whole new child. Before, she was struggling and now she’s practically a straight A student. She would never participate in anything before, and now she’s in all the plays, she joined the choir, she’s playing instruments, spending so much time with her friends.”
Maxine, Lillian's mother
“Advocates for Children is a perfect name for what you do. Without AFC, this would never have happened. Even now, I’m telling a friend of mine she should reach out to AFC — she doesn’t have to do this alone.”
As Lillian prepares to head to Hofstra, AFC is still advocating to make sure she is set up to succeed; we’ve worked to connect her with the disability accommodations office to ensure that when she enters college in the fall, she’ll be equipped with the supports and services she needs to continue to thrive in the classroom.
