Bright Path Advocacy

You do not have to sort through it alone.

When your child needs extra support, the process can get crowded quickly: acronyms, evaluations, reports, timelines, and decisions that do not always come with plain explanations. Marie helps you slow the process down, understand what matters, and walk into meetings with a clearer plan.

              Before the meeting
              Organize records, concerns, goals, and the questions you want answered.
            
              At the table
              Keep the conversation focused on your child, the data, and the decisions being made.
            
              Afterward
              Turn IFSP, IEP, 504, or service-planning notes into next steps you can follow.

Support for the decisions families face most often.

Families usually reach out when a meeting is coming up, a report is hard to interpret, or a recommendation does not feel clear. These are the places where Marie can help you prepare, ask better questions, and understand your options.

Early Intervention Guidance

Make sense of developmental concerns, IFSP supports, provider recommendations, and service options for young children.

Understand what evaluations and recommendations mean
Prepare for service planning conversations

IEP and 504 Support

Review goals, accommodations, services, progress data, and parent concerns before important decisions are made.

Clarify what the plan says and what may be missing
Prepare questions about services, goals, and supports

Meeting Preparation

Create a focused agenda, name your priorities, and prepare clear questions for the team.

Turn concerns into organized talking points
Plan how to respond when answers are unclear

Follow-Through Plans

Leave with next steps, documentation needs, timelines, and communication points you can actually use.

Sort out who is doing what after the meeting
Track follow-up items before they drift

Meet Marie Fleming.

Marie has spent more than 15 years working with children, adults, and families with diverse needs in the United States, Australia, and England. Her background includes direct family support, counseling-informed service coordination, program leadership, and early intervention management.

Families often come to advocacy when they are trying to make sense of reports, services, eligibility, or a meeting that feels bigger than expected. Marie brings a steady, practical style to that moment: calm preparation, clear questions, and support that keeps the child's needs at the center.

Former Regional Coordinator for Healthy Development Services and Children's Care Connection Manager at Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego.
Former Early Intervention Program Senior Manager at Kindering Center in Bellevue, Washington.
Master of Counseling in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Bachelor of Science in Psychology with Honors.

Experience that turns complexity into a plan.

Marie's background is not just a list of roles. It comes from sitting with families, coordinating services, leading early intervention teams, and helping professionals turn concerns into clear next steps.

Kindering Center, Bellevue, Washington

At Kindering, Marie worked in an early support setting built around children with developmental delays and disabilities. That experience sharpened her understanding of how young children are evaluated, supported, and coached across home, therapy, and community settings.

Early intervention program leadership
Family coaching and coordinated service planning
Developmental needs explained in practical language

Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, California

At Rady Children's, Marie worked in San Diego's early childhood service landscape, including Healthy Development Services for children from birth to age 5 with developmental and behavioral concerns. That local experience helps her understand how families move between providers, programs, and school teams.

Familiarity with San Diego-area early childhood supports
Experience helping families prepare for next steps
Care coordination across providers, programs, and schools

A focused process from first concern to follow-through.

Marie helps turn paperwork, questions, and meeting pressure into a practical plan. You will know what to gather, what to ask, and what to do after the conversation ends.

1

Get oriented

Start with the full picture: what has happened so far, what is worrying you, what support is already in place, and what meeting or deadline is coming next.

Review records, evaluations, and prior notes
Organize parent concerns into clear themes
Identify the questions the team needs to answer

2

Prepare for the meeting

Before the meeting, Marie helps translate concerns into specific requests and decide how advocacy should show up: preparation, coaching, or support at the table.

Set priorities and talking points
Prepare respectful but direct questions
Clarify Marie's role during the meeting

3

Leave with a plan

Afterward, Marie helps make sense of decisions, follow-up items, timelines, and communication so nothing important gets lost once the meeting is over.

Sort next steps and who owns them
Check timelines, services, and documentation needs
Plan follow-up communication when needed

Good questions to ask before choosing an advocate.

The right advocate should be clear about what they can do, how they prepare, and when another professional may be needed. These are the kinds of questions worth asking early.

I am not sure what kind of support my child needs yet. Can you still help?

Yes. Marie can help you sort what you are seeing, review the information you already have, and decide what questions to ask next.

Can you help before an IEP, IFSP, or 504 plan is already in place?

Yes. Some of the most useful work happens before a plan is written: organizing concerns, understanding evaluations, and preparing for eligibility or service discussions.

Can you attend meetings with us?

Yes, when meeting attendance is the right fit. Marie can also help with preparation, parent coaching, document review, and follow-up if full meeting support is not needed.

What happens if the team disagrees or avoids a clear answer?

Marie helps bring the conversation back to the child's needs, the available information, and the decisions that have to be made. She can ask follow-up questions, request clarification, and advocate firmly without making the meeting feel combative.

Are you an attorney?

No. Bright Path Advocacy provides educational advocacy, preparation, and family support. If a legal question requires an attorney, Marie will say so plainly.

Tell Marie where things feel stuck.

You do not need to have everything organized before reaching out. A short note about what is happening, what is coming up, and what feels unclear is enough to start.

What meeting, evaluation, or deadline is ahead
What support your child currently receives
Where you would like help making a plan

Serving San Diego and Orange County families (760) 925-9675

Bright Path Advocacy provides educational advocacy and family support, not legal representation.