Iris Barker

I have three beautiful children: an 8-year-old daughter, Kayla, a 6-year-old son, Bryce, and a 4-year-old son, Kaden. All three are equally amazing. Kayla has Down syndrome and was born with an atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) that required open-heart surgery when she was 6 months old. Needless to say, those were very rough days, but thankfully she is pretty healthy now. The biggest challenges we face at the moment are making sure our school district understands what inclusion means and managing our daughter’s behaviors that may get in the way of inclusion.

My background is in finance, but soon after Kayla was born, I realized that I wanted to learn more about individuals with disabilities and how to support them. So I became a strong advocate for individuals with disabilities. I have also volunteered at Club 21 South Bay, a nonprofit organization that provides education and resources to promote the full inclusion of people with Down syndrome. I have served as an advocate for children of friends and family as well. Moreover, I am fluent in Spanish and appreciate how I can help Spanish-speaking families gain knowledge that can be hard to find if they don’t speak English.

I went through the Wrightslaw Special Ed Law and Advocacy Training Program, and regularly attend trainings and conferences about the IEP process, inclusion, and disability advocacy.

I became a certified Independent Facilitator to help Regional Center families with Self-Determination. My favorite part of being an Independent Facilitator is being able to empower individuals to make decisions about their life now and their future.