This past November Florida's disability community lost one of its best-known and most courageous members, Renee Whaley. Renee spent much of her life advocating on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families, attending countless IEP meetings and counseling scores of parents over the years. Renee spent years working to make life better for children with disabilities and their families, leading the charge for disability advocacy in IEP meetings and other interactiosn wtih school administrators years before self-advocacy became the norm.

Renee was both the parent of a child with autism and the past director of Florida's Parent Training and Information Center, where she educated families about the laws and procedures in place for their protection, and encouraged them to become more involved in the education of their children with disabilities. Thanks to her work, literally dozens of families can credit Renee directly for the educational success of their children. She was a public speaker, a trainer, a teacher and an invaluable partner for families navigating the system and fighting to get the services their children needed. 

To commemorate Renee's remarkable life and her commitment to keeping families informed, The Family Cafe has decided to create this new area of our website, Renee's Corner. It's our plan to gather together some of the trainings and information that Renee worked to share with families online. We are also going to provide a forum for those who experienced Renee's passion to share their memories. 

In the meantime, we invite you to read the piece on Renee from the St. Petersburg Times. You can also read the tribute to Renee from the Central Florida Parent Center, and check out her Google profile here.