About us
Learn more about The Alpine Square Team of professionals.
Let us walk alongside you in a judgment-free zone where you can adapt to the life you want to live.
who we are
The Alpine Square Team assists Neurodiverse adults and their support systems to navigate those changes in light of the neurodivergent way of thinking.
The Alpine Square Team works with clients transitioning to independence and self-reliance with employment, or education leading to employment as the lynch pin to self-determination. Employment is not only our source of income but also the connection that binds us to our communities and provides a structure to balance our daily tasks of living and the emotional fulfillment necessary for a strong sense of self-worth.
My Story
I grew up in a Neurodiverse Family and that is my sense of normal. Not surprisingly, I married a man with a neurodivergent mind, and we have our own Neurodiverse Family. I was extremely fortunate to have the example of my mother Margaret’s support for my father and my brother who were the most impacted in our household while I was growing up. She was completely alone in her advocacy for our family, but she just did what was right because she loved us. My mom protected us all fiercely and meekly, using her gut to decide what was right and what was wrong. She was brilliant! After her death in 2008, my son was diagnosed with learning disabilities (2E) and eventually with Asperger’s Syndrome. When he was in high school, I realized that his father too has Asperger’s. There are only two choices you have when faced with this kind of knowledge; you can go all in or you can run. I went all in with the help of a wonderful network of friends and supporters that I had created for myself while raising my kids, and the example of my amazing mother who always showed me the way to love people unconditionally and with her whole being.
Now I’m helping other families bridge the gap to independence and adulthood professionally. When challenged daily with how to help my clients without enabling them, I think to myself “What would Margaret do?”
Professional Training and Development
I earned dual degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Minnesota in 1990. After short stints working for congressional offices in Minnesota and Washington DC, I sought an opportunity to work in the burgeoning online technology markets out of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. I spent the rest of the 1990s working with systems integrators and software companies in a variety of sales and marketing roles.
With the birth of our second child just prior to Y2K, I left the tech world to manage our significant real estate investments and educated myself about the residential design business and real estate management. We divested our North Carolina real estate holdings in 2005 to move to Chicago. There I earned my Illinois real estate and certified property management licenses. I renovated and flipped our family residences and managed the sales and renovation of client properties.
During these years our second child was identified as Twice Exceptional, eventually leading to an Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis. I sought training through the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy, and became a contracted Parent Advocate for the Illinois State Board of Education. With my neighbors we started the Riverside Area Inclusion Network (RAIN) to support families and work with the school systems to create more inclusive educational and community opportunities for our exceptionally identified children. Public educators and the state systems were just adapting to this new normal and by high school we moved our exceptional child to a Catholic single sex high school with wonderful supports, and MOST importantly, a sense of belonging not experienced anywhere before. A wonderful priest (to whom I will always be grateful) also helped me to see that my husband is on the spectrum. This insight saved our marriage!
Recognizing a family dream to live in the Rockies, we relocated to Colorado in 2018. Here I went to work for state licensed program approved service agencies (PASA) to learn the supportive ropes for the Neurodiverse community. I earned my Association of Community Rehabilitative Educators (ACRE) certification, and have built a network within the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF), the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), Employment First Colorado, the Association for People Supporting Employment First (APSE), and the PASA and private provider networks. The greatest need I discovered in this culturally accepting region is with those who do not “look” disabled and often fall through the cracks. I’ve made it my mission to help those individuals attain their highest potential by assisting in the creation of their individualized support teams and access to services.
My Story
I learned I am a member of the neurodiverse community at age 38, when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The diagnosis and prescribed medication was a true miracle in my life. As I stabilized, my blurry, dark past began to make sense, like a dark veil being lifted from my eyes. Full of confidence and determination, I returned to school to finish the degree I had started 20 years earlier and follow my dream of becoming an educator. This led to teaching children, which led to training adults. I know what it feels like to be the outsider; how lonely it can be to have no friends; how terrifying being out of control feels. My life experience has taught me that self-acceptance and perseverance in the face of adversity will lead to success. I have made it my mission to be a supporter/motivator/teacher/cheerleader/role model so that I can help people realize their potential and feel confident about themselves and life.
Professional Training and Development
After spending twenty years in the service industry, I graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver in 2008 with a B.A. in English. I then obtained Secondary Education licensure to teach Secondary Language Arts in Colorado.
During my public-school student teaching, I became my cooperating teacher’s permanent substitute for the remainder of the school year. This experience honed my classroom management and differentiated instruction skills. Because of this, I was hired to teach Language Arts and Literacy the following year. The experience was not a positive one, and after some soul searching, I applied for a position at Temple Grandin School in Boulder teaching Language Arts to kids with neurodiverse challenges, among them Asperger’s syndrome. It was absolutely thrilling to be part of an ultra-dedicated team providing educational programming and transition services to neurodiverse students whose needs weren’t being met by typical special education programs. Watching them thrive in an environment of acceptance filled me with a true sense of purpose. TGS was how I had dreamed teaching could be. I spent two amazing years there.
I then worked as a Career Consultant at Lee Hecht Harrison, a global provider of talent acquisition and job recruitment solutions, where I reviewed resumes and hosted various webinars to instill best practices to finding employment. After being laid off, I was recruited to work at UCHealth as a Training Quality Analyst, where I facilitated in-person and virtual training from 2017 – 2021.
When the pandemic hit, I decided to take some
time to concentrate on myself; to regroup and figure out what I really wanted
from life and was willing and able to give. That has brought me to Alpine
Square, where I am extremely excited to be back to working with the
neurodiverse community. I am currently working toward certification with the
Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE).
My Story
My experience with the neurodiverse world began when my daughter was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at age 9. This diagnosis did not come as a shock but rather as an answer and a path to solutions. I have always believed that she had so much potential and that with the right support, she could reach that potential and live a full, vibrant life. Through this process we have met and had to overcome many obstacles. My daughter, currently employed with a multinational organization related to her degree, has entered the “transition phase” to adulthood and independence. Having a team in place to support and guide her through this process has been instrumental. Alpine Square has been an essential part of this team. The end goal is that she take ownership of her own independence and success. I am happy to be a part of Alpine Square and help other neurodiverse individuals reach their potential and achieve their goals.
Professional Training and Development
I graduated from Boston College in 1990 with a degree in history. I then received my J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law and practiced law in Chicago for four years. Subsequently, I worked in the non-profit sector while earning my Master’s in Education at DePaul University. I taught in the Chicago area full time and as a substitute. I also have taught as a substitute in the Denver area.
After moving with my family to Denver from Barrington, Illinois in August of 2020, I joined the board of the Autism Society of Colorado. As a board member I have worked on programs to promote Autism awareness and acceptance.
Since moving to Colorado, I have navigated some of the resources and supports that exist for neurodiverse adults including the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. This experience will be invaluable as I strive to help other young adults through the transition to employment and independence. I am certified with the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE).
My Story
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs to a lower-to-middle class family. Though academically gifted and involved in traveling sports teams (baseball and soccer) I never really had my own “group” of friends. I never paid much attention to how frequently friends and acquaintances entered and exited my life until my mid-20s. Then, with the birth of my and my wife’s first child in 2023, I forced myself to focus on my own physical and mental health so I could be as present of a father as possible. That investment in self lead to the ability to put a diagnoses to some of the struggles I have endured throughout my life including ADHD, OCD, and possibly Irlen Syndrome.
My nuclear family never spoke about mental health, never acknowledged its impact on everyday life; yet many substance addiction disorders are found on both sides of my extended family as well as bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, depression, and many more. I believe that my upbringing and experiences shaped me to be, to this day, a fierce advocate for adults with disabilities, particularly those with invisible disabilities that accompany mental health diagnoses/disorders.
Professional Training and Development
With the original intention of becoming a mechanical engineer, I attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. A very long and complicated process of self-discovery and career-searching later, I found that working with people was my passion! I graduated from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with a major in Psychology and a minor in Sociology with a focus in gender studies.
From there, I held various jobs trying to find the right fit: a direct care professional at a group home for adults with disabilities, administrative staff at a mental health clinic, and even a graduate student studying for my master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. When the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown occurred, the opportunity to work at an independent living center in Colorado presented itself and I took it! I served as the agency’s only benefits planner and rapidly fell in love with the line of work. In this position I served as the lead benefits planner for the Securing Employment and Economic Keys to Stability (SEEKS) research grant, a 5-year grant looking to make benefits planning services more accessible to adults with disabilities – among other goals.
My love for the career blossomed so quickly and so intently that I opened my own business, Frosted Peak Benefits Counseling, in 2022, where I continue to implement the SEEKS grant alongside my private caseload of clients through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). Now I have the privilege of partnering with the great staff at Alpine Square LLC. as a benefits planner to help even more Colorado residents access benefits planning services. I am eager to help everyone I meet to the best of my ability and thank my never-ending desire to learn as the main reason why I am so proud of the work I do as a benefits planner.
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