If you’d like to talk with any of these parents or professionals, call Judy Imperatore for their contact information. They would be happy to tell you about their experience with her evaluation, assessment, and consulting services.
Hi Judy
It was so helpful meeting with you this month regarding Scott. It was the most specific information about transitioning that I have ever learned.
I found your information so helpful that I passed your name along to my friend to help with her sons transition.
Thanks so much for becoming involved with Panera for Scott. I let Sara Knight and Korey know that the Panera application was submitted over the school vacation week.
I am also returning the completed career inventory assessments. Look forward to meeting with you again.
Thanks again
Amy Highet
I wanted to thank you for the in-depth assessment you did with my son…Your work with him (vocational assessment) really helped identify certain traits and skills, whether current or potential, which opened our eyes to future options for him we might not have considered. For example, on the surface it would seem unlikely that a person with Asperger’s Syndrome would consider a counseling career. Many such students avoid social situations and lack a certain degree of empathy. The same assumption might have been made about {my son}, and would have missed the mark. Your work with him revealed something I had known on an intuitive level but had dismissed because of the “labels” associated with Asperger’s– namely that {my son} is an extremely social person, with a high degree of empathy. In fact, he is considering a career in human services, and will be entering a program at GCC this fall in that area. The transition coordinator at the high school has arranged a job shadow for him in a high school program for troubled teens. He has been there twice so far and loves it. The label “Asperger’s” would never have led me to a career option such as this. So, thank you for steering us away from stereotypes toward a clearer portrait of who our son really is. Thank you again for your excellent work.
—Jennifer Heath, Parent, Greenfield, Massachusetts
Judy, you are a star! {Our daughter} is lucky that you got to work with her. So are we! Stellar product, in my view. Thank you for your work.
—Michael Aronson, Parent, Amherst, Massachusetts
Self-determination and self-advocacy are at the heart of the important work Judy does in assessing the skills of students and young adults as they prepare for life after high school. Judy worked extremely hard to truly get to know our daughter’s abilities, interests and particular challenges, and has been instrumental in helping us make informed decisions regarding the next steps in her development as a person entitled to quality resources and a post-secondary education commensurate with her abilities and vision.
—Gary and Joan Cornachio, Parents, Amherst, Massachusetts
Judy is great with her assessments. Some of the work we did together was fun, and you were extremely helpful with my transition into a new stage of my life.
—Olivia, Student, Amherst, Massachusetts
Judy is a fierce advocate for the transition needs of students, and highly knowledgeable about the legal requirements and national best practice standards in the field. She is an incredibly creative problem solver who develops successful community-based transition placements/alternatives where most other professionals would fear to tread. Over the past years, Judy consulted with our non-profit day school to develop state-of-the art transition services and was remarkably successful in doing so. She is my “go to” person when making parental or professional referrals related to transition.
—Steven M. Bengis, Ed.D., L.C.S.W., Executive Director, New England Adolescent Research Institute (NEARI)
Congratulations on your appointment to the Board of the Division of Career Development and Transition! I’m so glad you are being recognized for all your good work.
—Ann Morgan, Special Education Director, Narragansett Regional School District, Templeton-Phillipston, Massachusetts