Guest Blogpost

My First OSEP (Office of Special Education Programs) Conference Experience

By Missi Baranko

When I think back about my first OSEP experience the first thing that comes to my mind is “politely naïve”. I was asked to attend my first OSEP conference about 4 weeks before the actual conference began. I was asked because I was part of a region that my state had decided to take participants from and I happened to be on our Region ICC, of which I had recently been appointed as the coordinator. I had a few questions about attending at first such as, “Where is the conference located?” “Will I be reimbursed my costs?” and “What does OSEP stand for anyway?” My first reaction to the answers I got was, “Cool, I get to go to Washington D.C. (for a free vacation) with some people from my region and possibly learn about some things related to early intervention and my costs will be reimbursed!” 

So I made plans for who would watch my three children ages five, three and one, booked my airline ticket and got excited to go.  I had flown a few times before in my life, but never to D.C. so I was a little nervous.  Luckily others from my region were with to guide me. When we arrived at the airport we realized that there were other people on our plane from other regions of North Dakota who were also attending the conference. We all followed each other to baggage claim and got in a van together to head to the hotel. As we rode in the van I remember a certain person on the van who appeared to know so much about the city. I remember wondering how a gal from North Dakota could know so much about D.C.

I honestly don’t remember a lot about the first day except trying to make the choice of which break out session I would attend. There were so many to choose from!!!! I was torn between choosing sessions that interested me personally and sessions that would help me in my role as coordinator of the Regional ICC. I tried to balance it out the best I could. What I do remember are the people I met, like that gal who knew so much in the van. I continued to run into her in different sessions, in the hallway, at dinner. She knew so many people and introduced me to everyone! She also helped to answer any questions I had about acronyms and different programs I had not previously heard of.  By the end of the second day the light bulbs starting going on in my head and things started to connect to each other. Everything was making more sense such as why we have an ICC and RICC in our state and where the funding for early intervention services comes from. Most importantly I learned that there was a “big picture” out there and that as a parent of children who had received early intervention services I had power in my voice and actions.

When I look back on my history with early intervention it was clearly the OSEP conference and meeting that one particular individual in the van that helped to spur me on to continue being interested in this field. When I returned from the conference I encouraged my region to pursue funding to have an “experienced parent” in our region to provide support to families. I was lucky enough to be the person they picked to hire as that parent. I then went back to school so I could be a home visitor for our local early intervention program.  I used to think that once my children were “older” I would no longer be interested in early intervention and would “grow out of it”. I now realize that the older I get the more involved and passionate I get about it! I have been lucky enough to have attended three OSEP conferences and even had the opportunity to present to new coordinators at one of the conferences. I also continue to coordinate our Region ICC and work as an Experienced Parent in our region.  I would have never been able to plan this path but it is definitely an awesome one to be on!