“Having a child with special needs is an ongoing journey, especially navigating the school system and IEP process. After trying to figure it out on our own, we hired Heidi as our advocate. I am so glad we did! The IEP process is overwhelming, and, as a parent, you don't know to ask for things that you don't even know exist. That's where Heidi was so helpful...helping us access resources we didn't even know existed or that my son was entitled to. She simplified the IEP language. She picked up on missing assessments and other interventions that had been overlooked for my son. With her help, we were able to obtain additional resources and augment the IEP. This school year has been night and day compared to last year with all of the new things in place. It was so great having Heidi to give support and guidance. I felt very empowered having her with me at several meetings to advocate for my son. On a personal side, Heidi is a kind and caring person. You can tell she really cares about getting the best outcome for your child and helping you advocate for them. She is easy to chat with and at meetings, is calm, grounding, and gets the job done. She is no way pushy or bossy, but speaks up and is heard at the meetings. We had a great experience and will continue to use Heidi throughout my son's schooling!” -Kate

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“As an educator of over 20 years, I found it very overwhelming when I was sitting across on the other side of the IEP table. I have always taught with a lens of providing above and beyond for my students. However, when my child's school system was removing services he desperately needed, I felt helpless. Heidi not only advocated for all the services that were being removed, but she was also able to modify the existing accommodations that were best for my child. Heidi is such a caring person who wants the absolute best for children”. -Ryan

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“The 2023/2024 school year was extremely challenging, stressful and deflating for my youngest child and our family. He had received an IEP the previous spring, but the special educator was not providing him with his service hours and the general educator was not working collaboratively with the Special Education team to meet his needs in the classroom. He was not making any progress in the areas of reading and writing. We turned to Heidi, because of her phenomenal reputation as a special educator. She recognizes that each child has their own path towards learning and every child has the ability to grow as a learner. She communicated to us that she would fight to make sure our son was getting what he deserved. Heidi worked with us regularly to look over his IEP to make sure his goals were properly written and served as our advocate numerous times as we met with school and district officials over the lack of support provided to our son during the school year. She handled difficult conversations with poise, grace, and knowledge. Through every part of the process, we felt supported and confident that our son was going to get the supports he deserved and needed. Our family is in such a better place this year. We are watching our son grow academically right before our eyes, and it is due in large part to the efforts Heidi made on our behalf. We are very grateful to all that she has done for us”! -Tom

Click here to learn more about Heidi.

Hi, I’m Heidi, the founder of Elevate Coaching & Advocacy. With over 18 years of experience in Special Education and a background in behavior management, I understand the importance of life skills. Throughout my career, I’ve learned how developing executive function skills set the foundation for confidence and success later in life.

How is it that we expect students to remember what to bring home from school each day, but they can’t even remember to brush their teeth each morning.

I founded Elevate Coaching & Advocacy to empower individuals to reach their fullest potential by providing personalized coaching, support, and advocacy services.

Let’s work together to navigate personal growth, career transitions, or advocating for your needs of the needs of your child. Our personalized approach will help to strengthen your organization, time-management, and task initiation skills.

Let's work together to ELEVATE your life!

Heidi Shoemaker-Burnett
410.207.5031

info@ElevateCoachingAdvocacy.com

Contact Us

Service Areas: We are based in Maryland. Locally, we serve clients through in person and online executive function coaching in Baltimore County, Carroll County, Frederick County, Howard County and Hanover, PA. We also provide remote executive function coaching to clients across Maryland and throughout the United States.