University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Meet Renee S.

Renee is a Family Navigator in Iowa City, serving families in Johnson, Linn, and neighboring counties. She works with families of children with autism and other diagnoses. Renee is the mother of a teenaged son with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and challenging behaviors. Her experience working with the systems that provide services to her son led her to this role. "When my son was diagnosed," said Renee, "there were very few services for autism and parents did not have much support. I hope to provide some of that support and information about services to families newer to autism. To maintain resilience I remind myself that each contact with a family helps them in some way, even if it is only that they know they have the support. I also constantly learn from each family."