Lydia Dolch, Founder and Empowerment Coach
Lydia is an empowerment coach and certified educator for neurotypical, disabled and neurodivergent students of any age, label or location. She founded Open the Lid in 2019 as an accessible community for personal and social empowerment in a supportive community.
Lydia's work in Open the Lid’s Group Empowerment Classes focuses on teens through adults. She supports students in developing personal, organizational and social strategies, through neurotypical and neurodivergent peer support including Autistic people, people with Down's syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy, Developmental disabilities, Social anxiety as well as Sensory Processing Challenges.
Lydia also hosts Individual Empowerment Classes for students and caregivers to help them prioritize and navigate school and community services and access public funding sources. She shares strategies for successful communication in the home, school, and public that, without the right tools, can show up as anger, overwhelm and aggression. Lydia is a mother of four, an artist, and an educator specializing in meeting people where they are and supporting them in moving toward the life they want to live.
Qualifications and Experience
Lydia holds New York State professional certifications in Students with Disabilities and Art Education. In addition, Lydia developed a course on autism at the university graduate level, and is regularly invited as a dynamic speaker on a wide range of topics. These topics often touch on her experiences working in school, community and residential settings.
During an internship in Argentina, an 11 year old who had never uttered a word in his life, said Lydia’s name. From then on, she knew working with people would be her life's work.
When the opportunity to start a self-contained program for students with special needs arose, she jumped at the chance. Lydia quickly found opportunities for her students with intensive needs to access education with their neurotypical peers, transforming a self-contained model to a co-taught model. This continued to be a trend as she opened a new program for autistic students in the Ithaca City School District, worked in early intervention and taught in inclusive elementary and middle school settings.
Her most recent experience came in the form of a Traumatic Brain Injury giving her the real-life opportunity to experience what her students with sensory processing disorder go through on a daily basis.
Reba Pardieu, Facilitator
Reba is one of our amazing group empowerment teachers. She comes to Open the Lid with more than 20 years of experience supporting diverse populations of learners. She is trained in person-centered planning and goal setting, transition to post-secondary education, and college success mentoring. Her love for people shows in her work.
Qualifications and Experience
Reba received her advanced degrees from the University of Texas in Education and Education Philosophy.
Her experience includes teaching in New York City and Texas. She has also been a part of Special Education Case Management and served as a Transition Specialist.
Molly L. Hajjar, Facilitator
Molly comes to Open the Lid with a plethora of work in her bag. Molly is like the "Jack of all trades", having worked under different capacities in a variety of industries and arenas.
Qualifications and Experience
Molly completed her Graduate work in Leisure Education & Recreational Therapy and Public Administration from Ohio University.
Jacquie Kaden, Guest Facilitator
Jacquie, comes to Open the Lid with an incredible background and training in education and activism in the United States and Canada.
Qualifications and Experience
Along with a broad teaching history, Jacquie is a business owner, mother, and active volunteer with teens in the community.
Nicole Boyle, Facilitator
Nicole comes to open the lid with 12 years of experience of working with neurodivergent individuals across many different platforms ranging from being a community support professional to teaching in both inclusive and self-contained classrooms. She focuses on advocating for the needs of the individuals she works with, along with their families, as well as teaching them to self-advocate and communicate effectively in both verbal and non-verbal avenues, so that they feel empowered and independent in their journey to find their needs met.
Qualifications and Experience
Nicole has a Bachelor's degree in Inclusive Special Education from SUNY Cortland and an Associate's degree in Early Childhood Education. For the past 3 years she has been the teacher and case manager for a classroom serving students with autism. Prior to this she was a co teacher in an inclusive Kindergarten classroom. She has designed curriculums, communication tools, visuals, trainings, and more to meet the vast needs of each of her students and their families
Anna Sannes, Facilitator
Anna believes in the power of building community for individuals and for our world. She has worked in middle school math and special education, school-aged child care, peace education, faith-based programming for children and youth, test prep, and curriculum development. She loves to make connections with others and learn from their experiences and perspectives.
Qualifications and Experience
Anna studied government and math at Georgetown University and received a Master's in Educational Studies from Johns Hopkins University, with certificates in Urban Education and Advanced Practices for Inclusion and Differentiated Instruction. She is trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid and Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education.
Margaret Henry, Facilitator
Margaret comes to Open the Lid with 20 years of experience working with individuals in the community, schools and their homes, including neurodivergent individuals. She started working with children with autism at the age of 16, and discovered her desire to nurture and educate the future and those whose voices are uneasily heard. She focuses on understanding individuals to help them reach their full potential in their desired environment. She then is able to share this perspective with caregivers to help facilitate communication, so all feel heard, validated, and valued.
Qualifications and Experience
Margaret has a Bachelor's degree in History from Canisius College and a Master’s degree in Early Childhood and Childhood Education from Buffalo State College. She then combined her extra courses and assessments to obtain additional New York State Teacher’s Certifications for Students with Disabilities for Early Childhood and Childhood Education.
For the past 3 years she has been a Special Education teacher working within the inclusive model for Kindergarten to Grade 4. Prior to this she worked in self-contained classrooms for students with emotional behaviors, autism, and learning disabilities. She has planned curriculum and professional development, designed and implemented school-based sensory spaces, created unique and individualized material to engage students, managed CSE teams, and is an ear to listen and help mentor and guide when appropriate to meet the facilitators, and children and their families where they are at and then move forward toward success.
Alexandra Jassin , Peer Mentor
Alexandra comes to Open the Lid with a background in organizing educational, social, engaging, and community-building programs for neurodivergent individuals, focusing on diversity, equity, identity, and inclusion. She has a passion for creating open and safe spaces for individuals with various backgrounds and intersectional identities. She also has lived experience as a neurodivergent individual and went to a college specifically for students with learning differences. Through being immersed with neurodivergent peers, she recognized patterns of injustice her peers experienced, and unfortunately, these injustices were not unique. Through attending college, she found a love and passion for advocating for neurodivergent individuals and recognized there are a lot of gaps in disability law, disability-accessible practices in education, public awareness, and the way people view themselves. She aims to educate others on disability and to create a more just, inclusive, accessible, and accepting society.
Qualifications and Experience
Alexandra has a BA in Psychology from Landmark College, with a focus on neurodiversity, disability, and identity. In college, using the social model of disability, she created a course for educators to become aware of and limit biases they may consciously or subconsciously hold towards students with visible or invisible disabilities. This course was then later adapted to be a continuing education course and a graduate-level course called “Neurodiversity– A Framework for Teaching and Learning” for the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative. She was also a teacher’s assistant for said course. In addition to this, she also has 4 years of experience running social and educational outreach programs for neurodivergent college students focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Furthermore, Alexandra has a background in various art mediums such as photography, painting, figure drawing, ceramics/sculpture, and fiber arts.
Erin Wright, Facilitator
Erin joins the Open the Lid team with 10 years of experience supporting neurodiverse youth and adults in a number of capacities. Erin's experiential learning began as an undergraduate student at Ithaca College and has blossomed through various opportunities as a Special Education Teacher, Teacher's Aide, Direct Support Professional, and Behavioral Technician. Erin continues to build connections in her local community, and her passion for creating space for and uplifting the voices of vulnerable individuals continues to grow.
Qualifications and Experience
Erin obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is pursuing a dual Master's Degree in Elementary Education and Special Education from Grand Canyon University. Erin's formal training and education are supported and bolstered by her vast experiential learning opportunities, both of which have led her to growth and success within this field.