Reviews

I contacted Mark Woodsmall around 12 years ago, when it was obvious that my son with autism as well as high cognitive abilities was having a hard time accessing his education, mostly due to atypical behaviors. After being ignored by the district, even when my son was lost in their care, I knew we needed help. Mark was the perfect fit for us. He was amazing to watch in IEP meetings, and I learned so much from him. He is calm, rational, and knows how to work with a team, which is what IEP meetings should be. I distinctly remember a meeting where Mark’s calm, rational thoughts helped the district to propose a solution to an issue. It was as if Mark had done a Jedi mind trick! They proposed exactly what we had entered the meeting knowing that we needed as an outcome for our son. Mark taught me patience. It takes time to get an IEP just right, but with Marks’s help, it will get there. After many evaluations, IEP meetings, multiple instances of filing for due process, and twice going to mediation, my son got everything he needed for him to access his education. He actually had FAPE. With Mark’s help, I learned how to navigate the system for my son. All along the way, multiple times in this process, I remember Mark asking if I felt if I could handle the meetings on my own now, without his direct help. I told him that he was in it for the long haul! However, what Mark does is amazing. Without even saying it, he tries to empower the parents to learn to advocate for themselves. He slowly starts to remove himself so that the parents can navigate the system on their own, empowered with the skills they need by watching and learning from him. Mark slowly faded out of our IEP meetings, and we as parents were able to continue getting everything our son needed, in a calm, professional, patient way, the Mark Woodsmall way. When we were just starting this process in kindergarten, I remember everyone I talked to about my son’s situation said that I had no chance of getting even a district provided, untrained, one-on-one aide for my son for key parts of his day. With Marks help, my son was able to have an ABA trained, one-on-one aide from an independent agency for his entire school day, from elementary school through middle school, at district expense, which was what he needed. The aide was only removed when my son no longer needed an aide. Had I just gone with the district’s offer, my son would have been placed in the SDC class in order to have the support of an aide to help with his behaviors, which would not have been appropriate for him. My son is where he is today due to the help of Mark Woodsmall and his team. I have referred many parents to Mark, and some have actually called and used him. I hope that this review can help other families who I don’t personally know. As a family friend and retired district administrator once told me (who was on the opposite side of the table from Mark on many instances), “Mark Woodsmall will get your son EVERYTHING that he needs.” This retired administrator was not from our district, and was happy for my son’s sake that I had found Mark. Deciding to let Mark help us was one of the best decisions I could have made in my life, for my son’s life.

It was about 10 years ago that I heard Mr. Woodsmall speak at an autism conference. My son was 2 at the time and I knew that if I ever needed representation in the future with a school district that I would contact Mr. Woodsmall. Fast forward 10 years, I am now an attorney myself, I needed representation and I contacted The Woodsmall Law Group. Mr. Woodsmall is the consummate professional. He is brilliant and thorough. His staff is equally as wonderful. Ms. Christina Brown is the associate attorney assigned to my matter. She is everything you would want in an attorney.

Very concerned for our family's needs. Appreciated his non-adversarial nature so everyone at the IEP was eventually less tense.Was planning for the future of our case not just the current matter at hand. Clearly indicated when elements of our case would be due and submitted.