​Sandra Dixon Shove has been Empowering Parents of Interesting Children (EPIC) since 2006, primarily through intensive, individualized parent advocacy and mentoring services. Sandy graduated from Charter Oak College in Farmington, Connecticut with a Bachelor’s degree in Music, then completed her graduate teaching credential program at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, specializing in Early Childhood Education. As a graduate student, she did a specialized study of Music and Language Acquisition.

Over the course of her career, Sandy taught students ranging in age from toddlers to adults. She taught music privately as well as in classes and taught general curriculum from preschool through elementary grades. Sandy has served on the Executive Boards of the Autism Society of Santa Barbara and Autism Society of California, chaired the Treatment Subcommittee of the Tri-Counties Interagency Autism Task Force, is a founding member of the Women’s Organization for Special Education Professionals (WOSEP), member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), founding member of the Alliance of California Autism Organizations (ACAO), and a former site representative for the Santa Barbara Unified School District’s Special Education Parent Advisory Committee. She presents at regional and national conferences and offers local trainings for parents, professionals, graduate students, and community members on the IEP process, systemic advocacy, and parent-professional partnership.

With the launch of new methods of service delivery in July 2017 – small group classes in the IEP process, parent advocacy skill training, monthly EPIC Parents meetings, and one-page informational “Steps in the Journey” – she can now extend the reach of her parent mentoring. Parents who live outside of Santa Barbara or Ventura County, those who cannot afford the expense of intensive, individual advocacy and mentoring, and those who already have a strong foundation of knowledge of the Special Education service delivery system or who only need specific information to “fill in the gaps” – all of these members of the EPIC community will now have access to the information and support that they need and can afford.