We were lucky to catch up with Raja Marhaba recently and have shared our conversation below.
Raja, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Not everyone knows what their purpose in life is. People go through life living, not thinking, just living, and doing what makes them happy – whatever that is. Do people really know what happiness is? What is the cost of happiness? It can be in the form of money, material things, traveling, family or working. I was one of those people. I had no idea what my purpose in life was or that I should have a purpose. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and did not have a typical childhood. My mom died when I was ten. I did not understand much at that age only I was very angry with God because HE took my mom away. I struggled tremendously in my childhood, through my teenage years and eventually with my marriage. I believed, had my mom been alive, much of my suffering throughout the years would have been mitigated, made better or something like that. Maybe it was my wishful thinking, yearning for someone to make bad things better or go away. I know that when my sons feel pain, I too feel their pain. I gave them all the love that I have, and even more love than I had to give, because I was missing that in my life.
As the years went on I faced many challenges in life and I believe in my heart of hearts that those challenges were meant for a reason; to teach me something. I did not always know what that something was, but I had to learn how to weather through it. One has to think about life in a different way then just saying “I have bad luck or good luck”. If a person goes through some traumatic experience in life does that person become bitter and get stuck in a gear of self pity and angry at the world? Does that person pick up whatever pieces fell on the floor and try to put them back together again and move on? Does that person move on and do something extraordinary?
Questions I never asked my self growing up. Yet those questions became part of my life as I weathered through many storms from a young age to adulthood. During my marriage my former husband had sustained a life threatening electrical fire accident at work. He could have died. I was left to tend for two toddlers, salvage what I can financially and pray my husband would live. Who knew that would happen, but it did.
As my sons went through schooling I thought that it would be typical as any other child attending school. No, not my sons. They had a tremendous amount of learning issues that the school would not address. Years went on with lawsuits against the second largest school district in the nation, and both my sons were placed on hold until we prevailed with the lawsuits. I never thought that I would be placed in such a predicament, but here I was dealing with what I thought was impossible. Sometimes I think of Warren Buffet’s snow ball effect concept showing the power of compounding. “When you push a small snowball down a hill, it continuously picks up snow. When it reaches the bottom of the hill it is a giant snow boulder. The snowball compounds during its travel down the hill. The bigger it gets, the more snow it packs on with each revolution. The snowball effect explains how small actions carried out over time can lead to big results.” https://www.suredividend.com/snowball-effect/#:~:text=The%20snowball%20effect%20shows%20the,its%20travel%20down%20the%20hill.
In my case, the compound effects in my life were the complete opposite of Warren Buffet’s analogy. Life’s twists and turns seemed never-ending.
However, I must say, there was a return on my snow ball effect investment. Experience and resilience were the outcome of all that had happened in my life. After going through an eight year lawsuit with the second largest school district in the nation that took my family to 9th Circuit Federal Court, dealing with a failing marriage, financially struggling with our business and all the extreme emotional and financial burdens that went along with that; made me realize there is more to life than just living and not thinking. A whole new world opened up for me because of my trials and tribulations. Opportunities were before me and I was not going to sit in a corner and cry with self pity. I was compelled to do something and that was forming a nonprofit “The Jonathan Foundation for Children With Learning Disabilities” https://thejonathanfoundation.org/.
Purpose, well that is how I found my purpose. Advocating for families with special needs children so they do not go through the “hell” my family endured trying to navigate the national broken special education system. I surely did not endeavor for my life to turn out this way, but I believe it was God’s will for me because HE saw the bigger picture that I could not. Guess it was meant to be as I continue to search for the pursuit of happiness. Have I found happiness in my life? Well what is the cost of happiness? For me after going through all the above, happiness is peace within my heart. I bet you not many people can say that!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
The Jonathan Foundation for Children With Learning Disabilities (TJF), nonprofit, was formed because of my personal experience with the national broken special education system. I say “broken” because it is broken. Twenty-eight years ago I embarked upon this journey and, to-date, the system is still broken. TJF raises money to fund psychoeducational assessments that test in the areas of social, emotional, behavioral, academic and cognitive domains. These assessments are administered by highly credentialed neuropsychologists and psychologists. They assess the student, provide a diagnosis, recommendations, write a report and attend a two hour IEP meeting with the families.
When I was going through my challenges with the public school system I had no idea how difficult it would be to obtain services for my sons. Both sons were diagnosed as twice exceptional, meaning highly gifted yet learning disabled. How can a highly gifted individual be learning disabled? Well, it exists. My sons IQ scores were superior gifted but their learning abilities was below average. When this happens to children they compensate in the areas of deficits using their strengths, without them truly knowing what they are doing. It becomes evident when children graduate to higher level grades from elementary to high school and are no longer are able to compensate because the higher level curriculum catches up with them. Teachers usually see the challenges in learning and inform the parents. Sometimes teachers will refer children to get special education testing to see if they qualify for services and placements. At times the parents will request the testing. This is not a simple process. It may sound simple, but believe me, it is not!
It is not a perfect world. My personal experience is that parents do not have a comprehensive understanding with the data in the psychoeducational testing, Individual Education Disability Act (IDEA), Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), Child Find Law or Individual Education Plan (IEP). The above is just the basic of what parents need to know in order to help advocate for their children at school. I have written a book on IEPs and 504 Plans. This book is raw as it goes into detail about my family’s journey with special education, gives an insight of what should happen at the school level and what does not happen. In addition, both of my sons co-authored this book with me to give a parent a child’s perspective. To learn more please go to the link below. https://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Parents-Survival-Education-Services-ebook/dp/B0BNMFGFH7.
My purpose is to empower parents and give them the supports and resources they need to become their children’s best advocate. I want to bring some light to this situation by using an example of what I have seen in this broken system. I have attended hundreds of IEP meetings with parents and school staff (the IEP team). At times the school staff is knowledgeable and want to do the right thing for the children, and other times schools staff is not. Public schools get federal funding for special education, however, IDEA is underfunded making it challenging for public schools to provide proper services and placements. Is that fair for the families? The simple answer is NO! Families get caught up in a political game, and children pay the highest price possible for a Free and Appropriate Public Education. Hence, this is where due processes are originated. Some families have the financial means to initiate a due process, and those that do not have the financial means to fight this broken system are left behind.
I have been in meetings where school staff is adamant about what services children should or should not get. Parents become emotionally invested in this process because it is their “blood” they are fighting for, and rightfully so. When school staff declines a service or an amount of time for a service i.e., a child with autism is struggling with speech and the IEP team states a half hour of “articulation” a week is sufficient yet the assessments and parent concern stipulate otherwise. Parents may ask for one hour a week of speech therapy versus a half hour and to obtain the “extra half hour” can be an act of God during these meetings. Parents have to “prove” to the IEP team that more time for speech therapy is warranted. Parents are not speech and language pathologists and do not understand the data that is being dictated to them during an IEP meeting. However, parents do see the lack of progress with their children and that is all they know. How can parents better advocate for their children if they do not understand IDEA, IEPs, psychoeducational and other assessment data?
This is where TJF comes in and the reason I wrote my book “Unstoppable” A Parent’s Survival Guide for Special Education Services with an IEP or a 504 Plan. TJF provides hope, support, services and resources for families who have children with various diagnosis ranging from ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asperger, Down Syndrome, Developmental Delay, Intellectual Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, Speech and Language Impairment, Medical Co-Existing Conditions and the list goes on.
Please visit the website link https://thejonathanfoundation.org/ to learn more about our story. TJF is having its 11th Annual Fundraiser on May 17, 2025 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. TJF raises money for psychoeducational assessments. Feel free to apply while funds last https://www.thejonathanfoundation.org/apply-for-assessments/. I encourage you to join us on May 17, 2025. I will be there with TJF Board, assessors, special education attorneys, celebrities, special guest speakers, and families in need of support or families who want to give hope to others. If this is a cause that speaks to your heart, please support us by attending the event, donating and/or providing sponsorship. Help us promote awareness and raise money for psychoeducational assessments. If you are unable to attend please consider a donation. Your support is greatly appreciated and needed. Go to the “Event” tab in the link below https://www.thejonathanfoundation.org/ for sponsorship opportunities and ticket purchases.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Knowledge in special education, research and putting everything in writing are key in order for families to prevail.
I cannot stress enough how knowledge is power! It is pertinent that parents learn as much as they can about IDEA, IEP and psychoeducational assessments. Years ago I was not familiar with all the above which put me at a grave disadvantage. I believed in the system and that the educators wanted to help my sons so much that I did everything they told me to do. After years of advocacy for my sons I have learned that the recommendations the educators share during the IEP meetings may not have been the most “appropriate” for my sons. IDEA is federal law that govern IEPs. IEPs are legal contracts between the public schools and the children with the parents representing the children. IEPs are supposed to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under IDEA. Most of the time they do not because the IEP team does not always formulate or provide the appropriate services and placements for the children to make “measurable progress”. If IEPs provided FAPE there would be no due process and hearings taking place nationwide. Psychoeducational assessments are what drives IEPs to create Present Levels of Performance, Goals and Objectives. Without good assessments IEPs will not work the way they are intended to. This will create a failure of FAPE. Hence, the system continues to be broken.
Research as much as possible prior to attending an IEP meeting for your children. Read all the assessments, report cards, state testing results, IEPs, etc. and create a binder with tabs and organize it so that you can easily refer to various documents the IEP team is discussing. Become familiar with your rights as a parent under IDEA. Request in writing to have the IEP recorded within 24-hours prior to the IEP meeting. Tell the IEP Coordinator you want copies of the psychoeducational report and others (i.e., speech and language, occupational therapy, etc.) testing administered on your child at least five days prior to the IEP meeting. This will enable you to be prepared, voice your concerns, and rebuttal during the IEP meeting. Ask a ton of questions with respect to the assessments and what the low scores mean i.e., low average and below average, scaled scores of 7 and below as well as standard scores of 85 and below. Ask how do the low score areas affect my child in the school learning environment, and how will the school address these deficits in the IEP?
Ask the psychologist what is my child’s cognitive ability (IQ score)? The IQ scores gives a measure of the child’s ability to function and learn in the school environment. Children with intellectual disabilities; their scores will be based on academic functioning because they have challenges acquiring basic skills or academic content due to difficulty using or understanding spoken or written language. Children with average to above average IQs; their low scores may dictate a potential learning disability. A child with a high IQ and a very low academic score may have a potential learning disability if the discrepancy between the two numbers are 15 points or more. For example, if a child has an IQ standard score of 125 and a reading comprehension standard score of 70, subtract 70 from the 125 and the result is 55. Divide 55 by 15 equals 3.6 standard deviation. This means the child is more than three grades behind in reading comprehension. Schools do not use the above discrepancy model but it is a good indicator if something is wrong in a specific area. In addition to the discrepancy example above, take into consideration report cards, tests, quizzes and see if they concur with the the low reading comprehension score. Special education is a complex world.
All correspondence with the school and the parents should be in writing, not just verbal. An attorney taught me a long time ago “if it is not in writing, it never happened”. Document, document, document.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
TJF is looking for Board Members and/or Advisory Board Members who have a “PASSION” for the cause and want to make an impact for our special needs children. TJF needs members that have access to fundraising ideas, can tap into their circle of network, help obtain sponsorship for our upcoming fundraiser on May 17, 2025 to be held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.
Also if you know of a child that needs a psychoeducational assessment please refer them to TJF website to apply while funds last. https://thejonathanfoundation.org/apply-for-assessments/
I can be reached at info@thejonathanfoundation.org for questions.
With Abundance Respect and Appreciation.
Raja Marhaba
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thejonathanfoundation.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejonathanfoundation/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJonathanFoundation?notif_id=1726561755633449¬if_t=page_user_activity&ref=notif
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raja-marhaba-5a985b14/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2050317/admin/dashboard/
Image Credits
Pictures were taken by Karim Safar, https://www.barbellphotography.com/about Instagram images created by Jeanette Oliver, https://www.linkedin.com/in/janet-m-b332152/ The art pieces shown were created by TJF children. The elephant was painted by Armand Kazanian 21 years old, the horse sketch was created by Sofia Bostrom 15 years old. The guitarist is Gerad Hopkins 22 years old, and boy can he play that guitar!! https://www.instagram.com/geradhopkins/?hl=en. Once we find the key that unlocks the hidden gifts within, sky is the limit for our special needs children! TJF Slogan is “We Advocate, They Graduate” TJF Trademark is “How Are You Wired”
