Parent Mentor

Shelly Tautz
Serving Mt. Carroll, Carroll, JoDaviess & Stephenson Counties
19057 Timber Lake Rd.
Mt.Carroll, IL 61053
email
Web Site
Phone: 815-441-9378    Fax: 815-599-0402

In addition to serving Carroll, JoDavies and Stephenson counties as the Parent Mentor, Shelly works full time as Secretary to the Director at Northwest Special Education Cooperative. Prior to this position she was the IEP Coordinator for the co-op. Shelly has also worked as a care giver and individual aide at a residential facility for children and young adults with varying degrees of autism and other disabilities. She shared coordinator responsibilities for the LIC (Local Interagency Council) and worked for a short while for the St. Louis Special Education District in the data entry field.

Outside of work I have a wonderful family: my husband Karl; my oldest son Michael, who is in his first year of college; my son Tyler, who is 16; and a gorgeous step daughter Erin, who is 11. When Tyler was a year old we noticed some bizarre, quirky behaviors and we thought, or wanted to think, nothing serious of it. We told ourselves "He's his own little man". A friend mentioned the "word" for the first time and I was devastated to say the least. After doing some research on my own I felt I needed to seek further guidance. We took my son to his pediatrician for an observation and he said the "word" again. He referred us to a pediatric neurologist and after his observation he again said the "word", but wanted to run a series of tests to rule out other possibilities. We began our journey that day.

The "word" that I speak of is "Autism". Our lives have not been the same since. After all of the tests and observations, questions and questions, and still more questions we were given the official diagnosis of autism when Tyler turned 3 years old. Prior to the actual diagnosis we became involved in early intervention and speech and occupational therapies. The label didn't matter. We just knew our son needed some additional supports. Tyler has been recently diagnosed with tourrette syndrome as well. He has gone through a tremendous amount and has overcome obstacles that "professionals" felt he never would.

Today he is a sophomore in his home district high school and is successful in his excel class due to a wonderful IEP team. If I knew then, what I know now, I could have saved so many sleepless nights. This is why I chose to become a Parent Mentor. My goal is to assist families on their journey and to help them bypass the road blocks along the way so that their destination can be a smoother and more comfortable ride. My son has taught me more about life and living than anyone else could possibly do. To me, my family is the epitome of love and compassion. My advice to parents: no matter what, find humor in all that you do. Don't take yourself too seriously and learn to laugh at yourself. Humor makes the ride fun! When I'm not working (ha!), I enjoy cooking for family and friends and hanging out by a camp fire. I love my animals: 3 dogs, 2 horses and a cat; and live for those moments in the boat on the river. On occasion I do enjoy being consumed in a good book that doesn't pertain to special education.

Mentor Trainings

All trainings are free and open to the public. For more information please email me above.

Date(s):	Every third Wed. of each month
Location:	Northwest Academy (Hanover Park District, Old Hanover school building)
Time(s):	6:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
Presenter(s):	Shelly Tautz, Parent Mentor

This support group is open to all districts under the Northwest Special Education umbrella.