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From a Conversation in Colorado to Washington

Someone asked what the parent experience was actually like. Years later, that same concern meets Washington—and Isabelle brings her own voice.

By Rob Harris

Lived ExperienceDeafblindnessSystems ChangeD.C. Mission

I met Lanya Elsa while she was pursuing her Ph.D. in Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado.

What I remember most wasn’t a dissertation title or a set of credentials. I remember that she wanted to understand what the parent experience was actually like.

I was eager to talk about that. Someone was asking questions about something I was living. And when I realized she genuinely wanted to understand what parents experienced inside special education and disability systems—not merely what the system says is supposed to happen—I opened up. Big time.

“She wanted to understand what the parent experience was actually like. I opened up. Big time.”

— Rob Harris

The conversation

What She Was Asking—and What I Needed to Say

She wasn’t looking for a polished success story. She was looking for the parent experience as it actually is—the meetings, the uncertainty, the advocacy that happens after everyone else goes home.

I needed somewhere to put what I was living as Isabelle’s dad. Not as a formal interview subject. Not as a case study. As a parent who had been trying to make systems see his daughter clearly.

That distinction matters. Our connection was about lived parent experience and systems change—honest conversation with someone who cared enough to listen.

When someone genuinely wants to understand what families experience inside these systems, the truth has somewhere to land.

Parallel paths

Her Work. My Path. Same Direction.

Her research and systems work

Over the years, I watched her work develop. What inspired me was that the concern I saw early on—understanding families and the realities behind collaboration—kept showing up in how she approached research, advocacy, and professional work around lived experience, deafblindness, special education, and systems change.

Dr. Lanya Elsa earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado in 2019. Her own parent experiences helped lead her into that research. The University recognized her dissertation among its Outstanding Thesis/Dissertation/Capstone work that year—recognition of her research, not of any conversation with me.

My path evolving

My own path changed at the same time. I went from being Isabelle’s dad trying to navigate these systems, to helping other families, becoming a Colorado Department of Education Certified IEP Facilitator, working in advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, and increasingly trying to change the systems themselves.

The titles were never the point. The point was making the path less brutal for the next family—and carrying trench reality into rooms that often only hear what the system says is supposed to happen.

Turning point

The Paths Converged in Washington

Now our paths have converged again.

Years after those early conversations in Colorado, Lanya invited me onto a team traveling to Washington, D.C.—part of a delegation she convened with Dr. Amy Parker.

AdvocateDadCO brings lived experience from Western Colorado into a team that already includes research, education, and professional expertise—so reality from the trenches has a meaningful place at the table.

  • Convened by Dr. Amy Parker and Dr. Lanya Elsa
  • Rob & Isabelle Bringing AdvocateDadCO lived experience from Western Colorado
  • Isabelle Going as a 19-year-old blind self-advocate
  • Week September 29–October 3, 2026

Why this is full circle

Isabelle Brings Her Own Voice

From a Colorado conversation about parent experience to a Washington week where a young adult speaks for herself:

  1. Colorado conversation
  2. Research & advocacy paths
  3. Invitation
  4. Isabelle as self-advocate
  5. Washington

A conversation about parent experience leads to parallel paths in research and advocacy, then an invitation onto a convened team—until Isabelle can bring her own voice to Washington.

Then

Someone wanted to understand what the parent experience was really like. A dad opened up about what families live inside special education and disability systems.

Now

Years later, that concern meets a Washington invitation. Isabelle is no longer a little girl whose experiences are primarily explained by her dad. She is a 19-year-old blind self-advocate.

Next

Lived experience belongs in the rooms where disability and education policy are discussed—alongside research, education, and professional expertise.

The dome and facade of the United States Capitol under an overcast sky, seen through a car window on arrival in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.—where lived experience from Western Colorado joins a larger team already at the table.

“It started with someone wanting to understand what the parent experience was really like. Years later, we’re taking that experience to Washington. And this time, Isabelle is bringing her own voice too.”

— Rob Harris

Visual journey

How the Path Traveled

  1. UNC / Ph.D. era

    Rob meets Lanya Elsa while she pursues her Ph.D. in Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado. The connection centers on understanding parent experience.

  2. 2019

    Dr. Lanya Elsa earns her Ph.D. Her dissertation on mothers of children who are deafblind and IEP-team collaboration receives Outstanding Thesis/Dissertation/Capstone recognition at UNC—about her research.

  3. Family → systems

    Rob’s path grows from Isabelle’s dad navigating systems, to helping families, becoming a CDE Certified IEP Facilitator, and working in local, state, and national advocacy for systems change.

  4. Invitation

    Lanya invites Rob onto a team traveling to Washington—part of a delegation she convened with Dr. Amy Parker.

  5. September 2026

    Rob and Isabelle prepare for the week in Washington, D.C. (September 29–October 3, 2026).

  6. Washington

    Lived experience from Western Colorado joins research, education, and professional expertise—with Isabelle speaking as a blind self-advocate.

Research note

About Lanya’s Research

This story is about a human connection around parent experience and systems change. It is not a claim that Rob was one of the dissertation interviewees, or that those early conversations were formal research interviews.

Dr. Elsa’s dissertation is available in the University of Northern Colorado archive:

Strategies That Mothers of Children Who Are Deafblind Employ to Foster Collaboration Within Individualized Education Program Teams

University of Northern Colorado dissertation archive · Ph.D., Special Education, 2019

What full circle means here

That is what makes this full-circle moment meaningful to me.

It started with someone wanting to understand what the parent experience was really like. Years later, we’re taking that experience to Washington. And this time, Isabelle is bringing her own voice too.

The people living with the consequences of disability and education policy belong in the rooms where those policies are discussed. Through AdvocateDadCO, Isabelle and I bring that lived experience into a team that already includes research, education, and professional expertise—so reality from the trenches has a meaningful place at the table.

Continue the Story

This conversation is one thread in a larger week. Follow the D.C. mission priorities—or read another systems story we’re carrying to Washington.

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