John Flanders - President
Naomi Nova - Vice President & Conference Chair
Naomi Nova - Vice President & Conference Chair
John Flanders continues the tradition of his grandfather, Cyrus G. Flanders who served as the head of the Governor’s commission on the employment of the Handicapped. He began his involvement in special education early in 1996 when his then three-year-old son had a profound hearing loss as the result of contracting Pneumococcal meningitis. In 1997, significantly as the result of his family’s experiences in the PPT process he enrolled in the University of Connecticut School of Law. Following Graduation, he spent two years as the Children’s Rights Advocate for the A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Washington DC. He has since practiced in Connecticut representing families with children with disabilities from 2002. He was appointed executive Director of CPAC in December 2015, and served until 2020. John has served on many Commissions and groups working on the rights of people with disabilities, including notably the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities and the State Advisory Committee on Special Education, serving as a member of the Executive Committee of both groups. He was a member of Cromwell Board of Education for 6 years, and is on the Committee to Support People with Disabilities. He formally served as a member of Cromwell’s Board of Selectmen for four years, Board of Finance for five years and as First Selectmen from 2009-11. He is a director of the Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers and is chair of its Legislative and Advocacy Committee. He has been a contributor to the U. S. Access Board on education issues the Hearing Loss Association and the Cochlear Implant Association of America. He was raised by wolves.
Naomi Nova - Vice President & Conference Chair
Naomi Nova - Vice President & Conference Chair
Naomi Nova - Vice President & Conference Chair
Naomi Nova is a parent of two children on the autism spectrum and is a special education attorney for children with disabilities. She is deeply committed to education reform with a special focus on exclusionary discipline, including the use of restraint, seclusion, suspensions, and expulsions on schoolchildren. Naomi is an active member of the SEEK Legislative Committee, and has testified before the Education Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly in support of legislation to limit the use of restraint and ban the use of seclusion. Naomi graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2007. She is currently in private practice and represents families at PPT meetings, mediations, and due process hearings.
Andy Feinstein - Treasurer & Legislative Chair
Naomi Nova - Vice President & Conference Chair
Andy Feinstein - Treasurer & Legislative Chair
Andy Feinstein has represented children with disabilities and their
families pursuing appropriate educational programs for the past
thirty years, first in Hartford with Attorney David C. Shaw, from 2008 to
2015, as a solo practitioner in Mystic, Connecticut, and, since July 1,
2015, as the owner of Feinstein Education Law Group, LLC. He is a
founder, the treasurer and Government Relations Committee chair of
Special Education Equity for Kids in Connecticut (SEEK-CT). He serves
on the Board and as co-chair of the Government Relations
Committee for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
(COPAA), the preeminent national special education advocacy
organization. He is one of the Chairs of the Legislative Task Force on
Special Education Services and Funding, a member of the Hate
Crimes Advisory Council, a member of the Social Emotional Learning
Collaborative, and a member of the Discipline Collaborative. He has
argued a number of cases on behalf of COPAA before the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals. He serves as an adjunct professor of special
education at Central Connecticut State University, teaching both
special education teachers and administrators. Attorney Feinstein
graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972 and the New York
University School of Law in 1975. Andy lives in Mystic with his wife Liz
Bochain and their grandson Jacob.
Julie Swanson - Past President
Caroline Lerum - Outreach Chair
Caroline Lerum - Outreach Chair
Julie Swanson is a Connecticut special education advocate whose practice grew out of her efforts to help her son. As an advocate, she helps parents navigate the special education process, including attending IEP and Section 504 meetings. She speaks frequently on special education matters and has a long-standing history of service on special education-related state boards, task forces, and legislative appointments to state councils. She is the co-author of Your Special Education Rights: What Your School District Isn’t Telling You and co-founder of YourSpecialEducatonRights.com, a video-based website devoted to helping parents understand their rights under the IDEA.
Caroline Lerum - Outreach Chair
Caroline Lerum - Outreach Chair
Caroline Lerum - Outreach Chair
Caroline Lerum chairs SEEK's outreach committee. She is an advocate for children with disabilities and learning differences. She is committed to ensuring that parents have the support and tools that they need to advocate for their children. Caroline believes that all children have the ability to learn, grow, and thrive. Before becoming an advocate, Caroline was an ICU nurse, where she advocated for vulnerable patients - often times with extremely limited means of communication. Her medical and scientific background are an asset to her advocacy and enhance her ability to translate complex concepts into tangible ideas. Caroline is a mother to three children who were and are her inspiration in all she does.
Stacey Tie - Secretary
Caroline Lerum - Outreach Chair
Stacey Tie - Secretary
Stacey Tié is a professional Non-Attorney Special Education Advocate at the Law Office of Laura Heneghan, LLC. Stacey has been practicing Advocacy professionally since 2019. She has completed coursework related to special education advocacy through the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) Special Education Advocacy Training (SEAT). She also completed Wrightslaw’s Special Education Law & Advocacy Training. Stacey received her certification in Mental Health First Aid USA through the National Council of Behavior Health. She has completed 60+hours of training in Orton Gillingham. She is a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). Stacey has an associate’s degree in Theater from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and a Bachelor in Business Finance from Pace University.s
Jennifer Laviano
Jennifer Laviano
Jennifer Laviano
Jennifer Laviano is an attorney in private practice in Connecticut who focuses on the representation of children and adolescents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Her representation includes attendance at IEP team meetings and mediation and zealous advocacy in litigation in due process hearings and federal court. Attorney Laviano is a regular presenter, locally and nationally, on the Civil Rights of students with disabilities, and is the co-author of the popular book, Your Special Education Rights: What Your School District Isn’t Telling You and co-founder of YourSpecialEducationRights.com, a video-based website devoted to helping parents understand their rights under the IDEA.
Loretta Jay
Jennifer Laviano
Jennifer Laviano
Loretta Jay, President of Parasol, has been working on behalf of children and families for over twenty-five years in both the private and public sectors. She received her Bachelor’s degree in social sciences and social work, and she earned an MA in Community Psychology with a focus in program evaluation from the University of New Haven. Loretta’s consulting work has concentrated on designing and evaluating programs in such diverse areas as children with special medical needs, behavioral health, autism, child abuse prevention, parent education, juvenile justice prevention, System of Care, celiac disease, food allergy, restricted diets and much more. Her deep knowledge of programs, organizations, communities and educational systems informs Loretta’s special education advocacy work.
Before founding Parasol in 2001, Loretta Jay worked on the front line and then training and managing protective service staff at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF). She also held a consultant position for DCF evaluating community programs and implementing quality improvement, developing needs assessments and analyzing regional resources.
Anne Treimanis
Jennifer Laviano
Anne Treimanis
Attorney Anne Treimanis has zealously represented students with disabilities for 25+ years in Connecticut, focusing on the provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).
In the past few years, Anne has also been honored to represent students in the LGBTQIA+ community who have faced discrimination, with many of these cases brought before the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO).
As an adjunct professor at the University of St. Joseph, Anne teaches graduate courses on special education law. She is also a sought-after speaker, presenting nationally and internationally on disability rights and related legal issues. In addition, she is the author of several books on advocacy.
Anne’s personal experience as a single mother to four adult children, including a daughter with Down syndrome and Type 1 Diabetes, deeply informs her work. Before founding her law practice, she worked as a social worker during the 1970s, helping to integrate adults with disabilities into the community as institutions were being closed.
Jessica dePerio Wittman
Jessica dePerio Wittman
Jessica dePerio Wittman
Professor Jessica de Perio Wittman serves as the Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law at UConn Law School where she teaches Advanced Legal Research, Technology and Law Practice, and Special Education Law. Her research interests focus on assistive and adaptive technologies and its intersection with the law and libraries. Professor de Perio Wittman has held many leadership positions within the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and continues to be a member of AALL, Law Librarians of New England (LLNE), Southern New England Law Libraries Association (SNELLA), and the Connecticut Bar Association. She is a frequent presenter on cybersecurity and teaching legal technology competencies to today’s law students, as well as other topics related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in law librarianship and legal education. She received her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law and her M.L.S. from the University at Buffalo.
Melissa Gagne
Jessica dePerio Wittman
Jessica dePerio Wittman
Attorney Melissa Gagne holds an undergraduate degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music, a Master’s Degree in English from Connecticut College, a Sixth Year Degree in Education Leadership from Sacred Heart University, and she earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Attorney Gagne spent twenty years in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal.
Attorney Melissa Gagne is a Special Education Attorney, who has dedicated her law practice to the representation of children and adolescents with disabilities whose families are in disagreement with their public school districts. Attorney Gagne also represents students at Manifestation Determination Hearings, Expulsion Hearings and in Title IX investigations.
Attorney Gagne is an Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, where she created the first Special Education Law course for law students. Attorney Gagne is also the Executive Vice President of the Board of Directors for CCARC, a nonprofit agency that provides day and residential services to adults with disabilities in Connecticut. Attorney Gagne is also on the Board of Directors for Special Education Equity for Kids of Connecticut (SEEK), a nonprofit in Connecticut that lobbies at the State Capitol to improve special education on behalf of Connecticut’s Special Education students, and a member of the State of Connecticut Autism Advisory Council.
Attorney Gagne is married and has three children. Her youngest son, Ryan, is profoundly autistic and intellectually disabled.
Jeffrey Forte
Jessica dePerio Wittman
Jeffrey Forte
Jeffrey Forte is a Connecticut special education attorney and juvenile defense lawyer. He is the founding partner of Forte Law Group located in Shelton, CT. Forte Law Group is a special education and child advocacy law practice. He handles PPT meetings, mediations, and due process litigation, as well as expulsion defense and juvenile defense. Attorney Forte graduated from American University, Washington College of Law, where he placed first in his class for trial advocacy and first in his class for best appellate argument at the law school’s mock trial and moot court competitions. Jeff also served as Dean’s Fellow for the both Civil & Criminal Mock Trial Programs and was selected to be one of eight student attorneys to serve within the law school’s Third Year Criminal Justice Clinic where he served as a criminal defense attorney for children involved within the juvenile justice system. Jeff also interned within the Connecticut State’s Attorney Office and the Division of the Public Defender where he worked with children within the juvenile justice system as well as interned at a child correctional facility in Montgomery, Maryland where he represented incarcerated youth during disciplinary proceedings. Attorney Forte obtained a Certificate in Special Education Advocacy from the Institute of Special Education at William & Mary Law School. Attorney Forte previously served as Secretary on the SEEK of CT Board and currently serves as Treasurer of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Education Law Section and is a member of the Counsel of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). He also serves on the attorney trust advisory board to Nota, a legal service offered by M&T Bank. Attorney Forte also is the producer of a nationally recognized special education law podcast called Let’s Talk Sped Law. He is a frequent presenter on special education law for both SEEK of CT and COPAA.