By Isabella Zarate
“A mom is all I ever wanted to be,” said Katrina Roberts. Starting a family in Mahomet, Roberts had aspirations of a life similar to that of the famous Brady Bunch.
“I wanted three girls and three boys, and we would all live happily ever after.”
Though, for Roberts, things did not play out exactly how she imagined they would. While Roberts and her husband did have a big family, with three birth children, and four more adopted through foster care; what they were not prepared for was that six out of seven of their children would have some form of learning disability and/or a mental health challenge.
According to Roberts, her childrens’ disabilities were “ranging anywhere from ADHD to fetal alcohol and reactive attachment, and everything in between.”
What she did expect though, was having to jump through hoops within the public education system. “Getting them what they needed in school was probably the greatest challenge of my life,” Roberts said.
Maneuvering the school system, and finding out how to make it best serve her childrens’ needs was no easy feat. After her youngest completed his first year of kindergarten, Roberts was told by the educational system that her son would never be able to read, do math or even live independently.
“It made me mad,” Roberts shared. “He’s five years old and you’re just going to put these limits on him.”
After struggling to find out what worked best for him, Roberts had the idea of sending him to school twice a day, for both the morning and afternoon sessions. This idea came about after her son’s doctor recommended repetition. Yet, pitching the idea to the school, Roberts’ plan was shot down for no reason.
From there on, “I just got obsessed with Illinois Education Law.”
As for her son, “that child now is serving in the United States Army.”
She advocated for her children for decades. No, instead of resting with an empty house, Roberts is equipping other parents to navigate the ins and outs of the education system so that they can advocate for their children.
Now that all of her children are grown, and Roberts has been able to learn the ins and outs of the education system, while finding a way to get her children the education they need, she wants to help other families do the same.
“I just wanted to make sure that no other parent felt alone the way I did and that there was help available at no cost.”
With that, Roberts has started a non-profit called Family First Advocacy. Family First Advocacy is committed to helping students achieve success within the public school system despite any mental, learning, social, emotional, or behavioral challenges. Roberts plans to do this by providing support and educating parents, guardians, and even community members on the information they need to ensure their child receives a proper education.
For Roberts, and her children, navigating through years of education would have been less challenging if someone had explained and taught the rules, yet they didn’t. Thus, Roberts now wants to be that person for others,
“My mission is to teach them the rules, and support them so they can play the game better than anybody else.”
For more information you can visit the Family First Advocacy site here.
“Clearly we are not like the Brady Bunch, but that doesn’t mean we are not a spectacularly amazing family.”
