Parent of Deaf Student
Valerie Player - Valerie Aker Player has twenty-plus years of experience in the preK-12 education system including special education; family literacy and family involvement; early childhood education; elementary and secondary classroom instruction; and school administration. Previously having worked in public and higher education; in Idaho’s State Department of Education; for St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital; and for Idaho Hands & Voices, Valerie now focuses exclusively on advocating and supporting families with exceptional children. She is a board member of the Idaho Bureau of Education Services for the Deaf and Blind (IESDB) and the Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CDHH.) Most recently she has joined The Idaho Project for Children and Youth with Deaf-Blindness (ICYDB) as the Family Engagement Coordinator. Valerie holds a BA from Boise State University and her M.Ed. and Ed.S. from the University of Idaho. She lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and son both of whom are d/hh, their therapy dog, and six hermit crabs. When she’s not busy advocating for someone, Valerie enjoys reading, writing, endless trips down rabbit holes on the internet, and learning American Sign Language.