ABOUT

Marie Havens, M.Ed., PCET, SL/DS

Educational therapist and owner of 3C Learning, LLC, in Dexter, Michigan.

Educational therapy is a second career for me. So, how did my life’s journey bring me to educational therapy?

My Personal Life Journey

My first degree was in physical therapy; I worked with adults in rehabilitation hospitals and geriatric settings. However, originally, I had planned to work with children who have disabilities, either as a special educator or as a PT. Life has a way of taking us on circuitous paths. This has certainly been true for me. However, every major stage or experience in life has prepared me in some way for what I do now. These experiences have included:

• raising children as bilingual learners in Tokyo, Japan
  
• having one exceptionally bright and spirited child (my oldest) who challenged my parenting skills daily (ok, multiple times daily!)
• having my two younger (also very bright) children identified with speech/language/learning challenges while we were still in Tokyo
• homeschooling all three children either part-time (while they attended Japanese public school) or full-time (here in Michigan) for over 20 years
• being a grandparent to three beautiful (yes, I am biased!) children with various neurodevelopmental differences

As my children were entering adulthood, I began to consider the next part of my life journey. I realized I had been teaching children who need individualized instruction for over 20 years. All three children were now using their strengths to navigate life, unhindered (for the most part) by the challenges that, when they were children, had threatened to set them back. Perhaps, just perhaps, I could help other children reduce the effect of their weaknesses so they would be better able to use their strengths, too.

After several years of being in a preparatory phase of this new path in my life’s journey, I formed 3C Learning, LLC, and now serve students locally in my office and online using the Zoom videoconference platform. Thus, I have come full circle back to a section of the path I had expected to walk years ago.

My Educational Journey