Tailored Tutoring
Compassionate Coaching
Effective Advocacy
Our experienced team is dedicated to understanding your unique learning journey, offering personalized support and guidance to help you thrive. Together, we'll build the skills and confidence you need for a brighter future, while ensuring your educational rights are protected every step of the way. Choose the ABC Tutoring & Coaching Center - your partner in fostering growth, empowering dreams, and achieving excellence.
Ashley Barlow Co.
So parents have professionals that know their child AND special education advocacy at the IEP table with them.
Our tutors and coaches help students make meaningful progress AND
Work as special education advocates …
You don't have to do it alone.
real talk:
Tutoring and Coaching Center!
Here you’ll find tutors and coaches that are exceptionally trained to help your child make progress in areas of academic, behavioral, and functional development AND to provide special education advocacy services. That is, our professionals work with children in areas such as reading/literacy, math, executive functioning, self-regulation, and social/emotional learning; and they are trained special education advocates that can attend meetings, train and prepare caregivers for meetings, and provide additional IEP supports.
Welcome to the Ashley Barlow Co.
Tutoring, Coaching, and IEP Advocacy
How It Works
Complete a short intake form and book a 15-minute intake call.
Step One
Complete your intake call and receive personalized recommendations for coaching and tutoring that benefit your unique situation.
Begin your ABC Tutoring & Coaching journey by attending your first session.
Step Two
Step Three
Start the Intake Process Here
Discover What's Essential
Specially trained and experienced tutors
Experience personalized success with ABC Tutoring Center's specially trained and experienced tutors. Embrace your potential as our passionate educators guide you through mastering skills and fostering a love for learning, turning challenges into triumphs.
Advocacy at school for continuity and continued growth
Ensure continuity and foster growth with steadfast advocacy at school. Navigate the educational landscape confidently, knowing your rights and needs are championed for sustained success.
Connect learning to the home environment
Strengthen the learning experience through collaborative partnerships with caregivers. Together, we create a supportive environment that nurtures growth, fosters resilience, and empowers success.
By the end of 3rd grade, 74% of struggling readers will not catch up.
The Stats
01
did you know:
When children have positive experiences with reading, they are “more likely to have a higher reading self-concept” and to be confident readers.
03
Lesnick, et al, 2010
02
“A number of studies have demonstrated that systematic, explicit, decoding instruction that emphasized synthetic phonics yielded better results than other instructional methods. A remedial instruction that has deep historical roots and is being widely used is the Orton Gillingham approach.”
Joshi et al, 2022
Willingham, 2017
04
A Gallup analysis of USDOE data indicated that 130 million adults, or 54% of Americans, have low literacy skills and read below a 6th grade level. 22% of American adults read below Level 1.
- Are specially trained in their area of expertise
- Are trained by ABCo in special education advocacy
- Collaborate with one another to provide the best supports
- Use research-based, multi-sensory curricula to teach academic skills like reading and math
- Have developed efficient programming that makes sense
- Help you learn skills and strategies and can support you at the IEP table and beyond
- Care about supporting the student at home, in the community, and at school
Our Tutors and Coaches:
see the full summer programing here
1:1 Reading, Math, and/or Developmental Writing Tutoring
Holly will provide 1:1 tutoring, 3x a week for 45 minutes. Holly wants the tutoring to best meet your child's needs, so she is happy to provide individualized sessions in one or more of the following areas during each session: 1) Science of Reading, which includes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension ranging from Kindergarten to end of 1st grade level (based on baseline assessment); 2) Preschool, Kindergarten, or First Grade Math; 3) Developmental writing skills and hand strengthening activities.
Meet Holly
with Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson is a Special Educator from Washington State with over 20 years of experience. Holly has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Central Washington University, a Master’s of Education from Heritage University, and her Program Administrator in Special Education Certificate from Central Washington University. Holly is currently a nominee for Washington State Teacher of the Year. She has extensive experience teaching children grades K-3 and although she has experience with many disability categories, most of her experience is teaching children who qualify for services under the category of Autism or Developmental Delay. Holly has experience with many direct instruction teaching programs as well as discrete trial. She likes to build in multiple modalities with her lessons, movement, and sensory experiences to maximize the engagement of her young learners. Holly takes great pride in building strong relationships with her students and their families and keeps integrity and compassion as her focus while working to remove barriers to learning for her students. Holly is passionate about early intervention, which is evidenced by her vision to bring the Ready! for Kindergarten program to her school district. She looks forward to partnering with parents while facilitating these workshops. Holly is a lifelong learner and is always trying to find new ways to best meet the needs of her students. When Holly wants to relax, she likes to find activities to bring out her creative side. Holly has a small hobby farm which is the inspiration for a children’s book that she wrote about her chicken. She is hoping to finish her second book by the end of the year. Holly also likes traveling to warm places, but most days can be found on the road transporting her two children to the ball field or dance studio.
Small Group Circle Time Success
Circle Time Success is a small group targeting the developmental skill areas of cognitive, language, social/emotional, adaptive, fine motor and gross motor. There will be a smorgasboard of fun activities that will target letter names/ sounds, rhyming, shapes, counting, colors, patterns, following directions, emotions, self regulation, and writing.
Behavior Matters
Meet Marissa
with Marissa Rothermel
My name is Marissa Rothermel, MS. Ed. I have been working in special education for 15+ years across a variety of settings and with students from all over the US, all with different learning and support needs. I have chosen to embrace the virtual space for special education service delivery since 2020. I was raised and educated in New York State (Albany area) and currently hold several special education certifications in states across the US. I have experience teaching youth from a variety of different backgrounds, differing abilities, and of different ages, both in- person and online, and take pride in a very strong track record of success. I am passionate about helping students get their needs met and growing as individuals - and I believe in full transparency with home. I form strong relationships with families and caregivers because ultimately, I believe that the home is the foundation of all learning. My job as a special educator and advocate is to support students on all fronts, and make sure that they and their families receive the education and can access the supportive services they are entitled to. In 2022, my family and I made the decision to "try a new way of living" and left the mountains of NY behind to embrace coastal living in South Carolina. This move is very much representative of my teaching and advocacy mindset - to always try something new, as you never know what you may learn along the journey. As you get to know me, you will find that my positive attitude toward challenging issues, and my enthusiastic approach to the experiences I provide my students and families can be empowering. I strive to provide a highly personalized level of learning for each student, seeking to establish a strong rapport with both the student and their families. I am passionate about quality education through the virtual medium and embracing a technology-forward way of life.
Games in Education
Marissa "Riss" Rothermel is no stranger to the motivation students exhibit when it comes to gaming. Come explore the best in educational gaming, get access to and help setting up your own accounts, and experience live-time playthroughs so you feel comfortable with the content! (Note: This course is geared toward games at the Pre-K through 5th grade level). Enrollees can optionally also sign up for individual sessions for themselves, or supervised game tutorials and play sessions for their children.
This course looks defining behavior, examining the cause, collecting and analyzing data, and making an action plan. We will use case studies as well as offer support working through behavior matters at school and home. Enrollees can optionally sign up for additional 1:1 consulting with the instructor.
Language and Music (Birth - age 5)
Join "Miss Riss" each week for language supporting music and movement! Parents/Caregivers join in the fun as we explore songs, chants, rhymes, dance, and more to help build language and concepts. We'll even incorporate some "YouTube famous" videos to help keep the kiddo's attention!
Language and Music (Concepts)
Did you know many students can sing, even if they don't speak yet or are nonverbal? This course offering is specifically for students who need work on basic concepts - colors, shapes, numbers, weather, addition, subtraction, turn taking, and more! Join "Miss Riss" for a session of fun and learning each week, and enjoy singing and learning through the summer! Need more music? Enrollees can sign up for extra, individual sessions, up to 3x per week as well!
Let's Talk - Sensory Processing
This is your chance to have a veteran special educator teaching only you - at your speed, on your time. Meet with Marissa "Riss" Rothermel, MS. Ed. and focus on all things Sensory Processing. We'll explore how to get sensory needs met in the school and home setting, as well as sensory schedules, relationships with food, and even sleep! Let's talk!
Let's Talk - Behavior
This is your chance to have a veteran special educator teaching only you - at your speed, on your time. Meet with Marissa "Riss" Rothermel, MS. Ed. and focus on all things Behavior. These sessions are open to parents/caregivers who have a behavior issue at home and want help problem solving, it is not a 1:1 behavior class. This course pairs well with the "Behavior Matters" course offering. Let's talk!
Let's Talk - Social Skills
This is your chance to have a veteran special educator teaching only you - at your speed, on your time. Meet with Marissa "Riss" Rothermel, MS. Ed. and focus on all things Social Skills. Learn how you can build social skill practice into every day life, have help finding positive social skills experiences in your area, and take a look at social skill-building best practices. Let's talk!
Let's Talk - Special Education Navigation
This is your chance to have a veteran special educator teaching only you - at your speed, on your time. Meet with Marissa "Riss" Rothermel, MS. Ed. and focus on all things Special Education Navigation. Are you new to the world of special education as a parent, teacher, or individual? Are you tired of the acronyms and all the information flying at you at once? Do you know how to dissect an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and look for quality? Do you want to talk about what you can be doing at home to support individual needs? Are you looking for quality resources so you can improve your knowledge and understanding? Let's talk!
1:1 Wilson Reading Tutoring
Wilson Reading System (WRS) is a widely known and respected reading intervention program designed to develop the reading skills of students who struggle with reading in traditional programs. The WRS program was inspired by Orton-Gillingham. In this course, students will gain essential reading skills in an individualized WRS curriculum designed to build students' knowledge of fluency, automaticity, reading comprehension, word-letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness. Students will be accessed using the WIST and WADE to understand what step they should start. Students complete each step until they have mastered the content in each step. The WRS program is designed to teach students critical skills to allow them to improve their reading ability through individualized instruction.
Meet Canissa
with Canissa Grant
Canissa is a master educator with over ten years of experience as a special education and mathematics teacher. She has professional teaching certifications in special education and mathematics in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Canissa is trained in the Wilson Reading System, designed to teach students who struggle with reading. She is currently a high school mathematics teacher in a special education school that supports students with socio-emotional needs. Canissa is passionate about providing a high-quality education to students with disabilities. She owns Inclusive Edutech, a professional development website designed to bridge the gap between technology and neurodiversity in K-12 settings to maximize the outcomes for students with disabilities. She is also the owner of Mathematics Fluency Lab, a tutoring program to designed to meet the needs of neurodiverse students to build their understanding of mathematics through an individualized program.
Everyday Mathematics: Building Understanding Fractions, Decimals, and Ratios in the Real World (Grades 4-6)
Understanding how to solve problems with fractions, decimals, and ratios (rational numbers) is the foundational skill in algebra and other advanced mathematics concepts. Everyday Mathematics: Understanding Fractions, Decimals, and Ratios in the Real World is a course designed to improve students' understanding of rational numbers through collaboration, discourse, and real-world contexts. In this course, students will learn about the basics of rational numbers and how to use different mathematical operations to evaluate problems. Students will also be introduced to algebraic expressions and build fluency in understanding ratios.
1:1 Tutoring
Meet Jennifer
with Jennifer Howarth Mira
I have a masters degree in special education, and I am currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Law. For over a decade, my experience has been centered around special education, behavioral management, virtual learning, IEPs, goal writing, data, and curriculum planning. I am a licensed Virgina teacher with endorsements in K-12 Special Education -General Education, Special Education - Adapted Curriculum, and Special Education - Blindness/Visual Impairments PreK12. I have advocated as a parent and as a teacher. I have adovocacy training through Ashley Barlow and Wrightslaw.
Small Group Summer Fun
Summer Fun is a weekly themed summer camp that incorporates reading, math, science, history, and art. Art supply list will be sent out to purchase or a kit may be purchased for an additional fee. Each themed week will be one-hour sessions, twice a week. Week 1: Space; Week 2: Ocean; Week 3: Jungle; Week 4: Dinosaurs; Week 5: Pirates; Week 6: Time Machine; Week 7: Construction; Week 8: Fairy Tales
“If only I could teach this child how to read, prove to them that she can do it, and then advocate for better programming,” I thought!
A Note From Ashley
Eureka! What if tutors and coaches were also special education advocates?!
I’ve worked in education over the past 25 years, as a teacher and a special education attorney, and I keep seeing the same theme. Parents and students get frustrated by the lack of progress or supports as school, so they get outside help. Students make quick progress in tutoring and coaching for many reasons, which are normally very specific to the child.
And that’s the problem. Neither the parents nor the children as equipped to talk about those very specific reasons. They can’t tie in the student’s success in private tutoring – what works and why – to arguments at school. They say to me all the time, “If it weren’t for the tutor, he wouldn’t be reading. But school doesn’t see it.
Students with dyslexia are denied eligibility and don’t know where to go. Students with intellectual disabilities are told they can’t read and are taught sight words and “functional reading” curricula. Students with executive functioning struggles are viewed as disinterested, lazy, and sometimes disrespectful. Families are frustrated, confused, and overwhelmed and just want help.
What if the help came from private tutoring and school? That’s what we’ve created for you!
Our tutors and coaches will help you learn skills – reading, other academics, executive functioning, and more – AND they’ll sit at the IEP table with you. They’ll help you understand why programs work, how your child works best, and how to get what you deserve at the IEP table!
Doesn’t that sounds exciting? Whether you’re super frustrated with the lack of progress and supports at school or just looking for some extra help, or like to go the extra mile, you’re in the right spot! I’m so excited to welcome you to our Tutoring and Coaching Center!
Book an intake call now, and I’ll be in touch to match you with the right tutor or coach!
I was in an IEP meeting when the idea of a tutoring and coaching center hit me. My client was being denied access to the general education classroom because of reading deficits, but the reading deficits were a direct result of the reading instruction the school had chosen.
Start the Intake Process Here
Skills like reading and self-regulation are getting in the way of inclusion. We teach skills and then advocate for continuity of strategies and supports at school.
Is This Right For You?
Schools give the “song and dance” about so many programs that it’s hard to know what’s right. Our specially trained tutors and coaches will make sense of it all for you.
Imagine a world in which the programming that your child gets at school mirrors, supports, and builds on what they’re doing in their productive outside tutoring.
Your tutor has special insights into the way you learn.
Your tutor can ask questions about the material and the way it is presented in the context of what she’s doing in tutoring.
If your tutor is also your advocate, you get more continuity between home and school.
is that a yes?
Start the Intake Process Here
Your tutor, who is specially trained in his field, has the curricular knowledge,
Your tutor, who is specially trained in his field, has the curricular knowledge, teaching expertise, and advocacy skills to get fast results.
teaching expertise, and advocacy skills to get fast results.
