Roy Lewis
Roy serves on the Advisory Board of NSEAI.
Roy Lewis has a
- BA from Rice University 1976,
- B. Architecture from Rice University 1980,
- Fellow of the American Academy in Rome 1985,
- MS Architecture, University of Pennsylvania 1998.
He is a father of 2 sons on the autism spectrum, and multiple comorbid diagnoses, and a daughter who is gifted. He is frequently mentioned in NSEAI lectures because of the creative why he has handled social issues related to autism. Matters related to autism and special education can be highly emotional and complex. Roy brings expertise and humor as a father. He has navigated every step of the complex educational and health care system.
He has attended more IEP meetings than he can count. He tells the BCEA classes that his job is to hold his wife's knee to keep her grounded during IEP meetings. His claim to fame is the quote," you don't really want to send a letter like that, do you?" He edited his wife's special education letter to the school district of 9 pages to 3 sentences and got what their child needed. He brings great humor, that is so necessary in the life of a family with children with disabilities, as only a father can.
He is able to expertly communicate how his children are and are not accessing their education, define the barriers to education that exist, and identify their strengths across environments. He has attended at least 75 IEP meetings for his children. He understands the special education regulations, timelines, IEP components, and FAPE from a parent's point of view - so that IEPs are written correctly so that they result in independent functional outcomes. He recognizes that special education is broader than academics and includes functional, social cognition, as well as self advocacy skills.
