Laryssa Beatty is a special education advocate with decades of experience helping parents navigate through the education process with their child's school district. Laryssa excels at assisting parents to advocate for their child's unique learning needs. While advocating for her children's needs, she realized she had a calling for helping families. She started using her personal experience to help families and began working professionally at Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center, Arc of Ohio, Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities and OhioRISE. Throughout her career, Laryssa has worked tirelessly with families all over Ohio to ensure that children who learn differently received the programming they needed to access an appropriate education. These work experiences combined with her personal experiences make her a passionate addition to our advocacy team. When asked about her career goals, Laryssa says that her primary focus working with families is to "use all of her experiences to help others be a voice for their children and help them be who God created them to be."

Laryssa is a 2013 graduate of Partners In Policymaking, a comprehensive advocacy training course through ARC of Greater Cleveland. She has served on many boards over the years, including the State Advisory Panel for Exceptional Children (SAPEC), DODD Family Advisory Council, OSU Family and Community Network, Carroll County Family and Children First Council and Carroll County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

When not advocating with families, Laryssa enjoys bowling, spending time at the beach and gardening.