Leaving a successful career to go to law school is an admirable but scary decision, one that’s even more daunting when you have three kids.
Maria Fischer’s younger daughter, Traci, 18, has what Fischer describes as an “intellectual disability.” And while Fischer had long been interested in a legal career, her experiences as a parent of a child with disabilities influenced her decision, especially in regard to the area of law she now practices.
The couple has two other children: Kelly, 21; and Matthew, 14.
Traci was classified at age three and was placed by the WW-P district in the special education program at the Joseph Capella School on the grounds of Mercer County College, where she stayed through first grade and was then placed at the Rock Brook School in Skillman, which caters to children with multiple disabilities and communication impairments. In sixth grade she moved to the STARS at Community Middle School. She is currently attending High School North in the LARKS program.
Fischer was born and raised in the Bronx. Her father was a social worker for the City of New York and her mother was a secretary at Fordham University, near where the family lived.
After a brief stint at Lehman College in the Bronx, Fischer joined Jerry Cosby and Co., a Manhattan-based sporting goods store and worked her way up to vice president of finance. She married Christopher Fischer in 1986.
They moved to Plainsboro from Long Island a few years later, when the sporting goods company Christopher was working for transferred him to a new store. He is now is the manager of the pro shop at ProSkate in South Brunswick.
After the move to Plainsboro, Fischer stayed with Jerry Cosby and Co. and began telecommuting.
While the idea that giving up her job to pursue a career as a lawyer was “frightening” and a “huge” decision, the prospect of helping families with children with disabilities helped her stay focused. “I wanted to do something that was more meaningful to me,” she says.
But before she could begin on her law degree she had to finish her undergraduate degree. So, on top of her job, Fischer, then in her 40s, attended Rider University and graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s in liberal studies with a concentration in law and justice. She then attended law school at Seton Hall (and left her job to become a full-time student after the first year), graduating in 2011.
In August, 2011, she joined Lawrence-based Hinkle, Fingles & Prior as an associate earlier this year. The firm specializes in representing people with disabilities, and that leads to one of the reasons Fischer made her career switch.
“There is a lot of legal framework that you work within when they’re in school, and you’re getting them the services that they need,” Fischer says. “And I thought it was an area where I could be very helpful. It would be something that would be a meaningful career, so I did decide to go to law school with the focus of in some way advocating for people with disabilities or helping their families navigate through these systems. That’s what gave me the push.”
“Law school was an overwhelming experience,” Fischer says. “There are all kinds of challenges that you have to face when you’re making this kind of complete change and totally taking yourself outside your comfort zone. I had a pretty comfortable, set life at a secure job, so yes, it was very scary, but it was well worth it.”
She credits the support of her family for helping her through the hard work. “I don’t think any of us knew what we were getting into when we started,” Fischer says. “Law school is one of those things that you can’t explain to someone. We knew it was going to be tough, it was going to be time-consuming, and there were going to be challenges and sacrifices that needed to be made. I didn’t even realize the depth of them until I was in. My family were all supportive — we talked about it beforehand — but I don’t think any of us really knew what it was going to be. But we made it through, that’s the good thing.”
Fischer says a lot of her work involves helping parents of children with disabilities transition past their child’s educational entitlement. Typically, by age 18, kids are graduating from high school and going on to college or starting a job. For children with disabilities, educational entitlement ends at 21, and what happens once they turn 21 is “uncharted territory,” according to Fischer. The state Division of Developmental Disabilities exists to help adults with disabilities with workshops and job coaching programs.
“But getting those services from DDD isn’t always the easiest thing,” Fischer says. Some parents are able to navigate these programs, while others need help from an attorney.
“It depends on what your child needs and if it’s something that’s easier to get,” she says. “In some instances, if the division is taking legal action, you need to have an attorney advocating for you. And it sometimes comes down to preference: some parents prefer to have somebody else advocate for them. There are parents who navigate the system on their own, but there are some who need help.”
Fischer also works in estate planning and helps special needs individuals with government benefits. Plans such as SSI and Medicaid involve “means tests,” so benefits can be affected if someone has a job. “They need those services and whatever money they make is never going to be enough to actually give them those services,” she says. “If they have a couple of thousand dollars in the bank, that would be gone in a day.”
Fischer’s work helping people with disabilities goes beyond what she does at the offices of Hinkle, Fingles & Prior. She and other members of the firm have presented a series of lectures for parents of children with special needs. Fischer has spoken on such topics as DDD eligibility, guardianships, estate planning, and healthcare.
Additionally, Fischer is a member of the board for ARC of Mercer County, which helps individuals with disabilities who are 21 and over in areas including residential services and job programs.
Her community work also involves being on the board of Attitudes in Reverse, the Plainsboro-based group that works with young adults with depression, with a primary focus on helping to erase the stigma of mental illness by getting people to talk openly about it.
The Special Olympics has been a huge part of Traci’s life, according to Fischer. Traci competed in the 2011 Special Olympics National Games in Lincoln, Nebraska, winning a gold medal as member of the 4 x 100 relay team. She also won two silver medals in individual races. Her brother Matthew volunteers as a coach for Traci’s Special Olympics basketball team, the WW-P Warriors.
Fischer says the family is looking forward to the 2014 Special Olympics, which will be held in the Princeton area at sites such as Princeton University, Rider University, the College of New Jersey, Mercer County Park, and the Lawrenceville School.
Being the parent of a child with disabilities comes with challenges, Fischer says, and one of the biggest is how people can underestimate your child. She tells all of her kids that they don’t have to be the best person in the world, she just wants them to be the best version of themselves they can be. That’s what she wants for Traci.
“I don’t want to sell her short. I want her to get to the highest point that she can attain, and figuring out how to do that is one of the hugest challenges,” Fischer says.
At the same time, she says being the parent of a special needs child has unique rewards. “It’s going to be an amazing adventure, and you need to lead with your heart always,” she says. “There are going to be challenges that a parent who doesn’t have a special-needs child is never asked to meet. There are going to be decisions and uncertainty, but there’s going to be phenomenal joy and amazing unconditional love.
“There is something unique about raising a special-needs child. All parents love all their children, but there is something unique, because of the depth of the challenges; I think the depth of the joy rises up to meet that. And as hard as it’s going to seem on a lot of days, you will get through it, and there’s definitely support out there.”
#b#Financial/Legal Workshop#/b#
Children’s Specialized Hospital hosts a free program, “Planning for the Future for Your Child with Special Needs,” Thursday, March 29, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the hospital’s outpatient center, 3575 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton.
Douglas A. Vogel, special needs planner and financial services representative at MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning, will discuss how parents and caretakers can gain the tools and knowledge they need in order to plan for their child’s future without jeorpardizing eligibility for government benefits.
He will also discuss the legal documents needed for planning and who should prepare them, as well as funding options and strategies available to plan for lifetime care and quality of life for the child with special needs.
Vogel, who has been featured in the New York Times, Bloomberg Wealth Manager, Forbes, and the Special Need Parent, resides in Mendham with his wife and two daughters, both of whom have special needs. To register call Linda Stewart at 732-258-7129.
