about

Maren Christenson

Board Member

Maren Christenson was introduced to autism advocacy when her 3 year old son was diagnosed with autism at the end of 2015. She has experienced the frustrations and the challenges faced by parents of autistic children who try to navigate the existing support system and is passionate about ensuring that other parents of autistic children are provided with the clear roadmap that she never had.

"Having an autistic child is not a tragedy. Living in a world that doesn't support autistic individuals or their families, that's the heartbreak."

About

Maren Christenson's son was diagnosed with autism at age 3 at the end of 2015. When she and her husband starting exploring the available options for education and support, they quickly became very frustrated by the lack of information available to facilitate easy access to appropriate services and support. They also faced tremendous challenges trying to find an educational option that would work for their kids, as well as understanding how to navigate these systems, and what services, evaluations, insurance, etc. were available to them.

They finally have a working plan in place. However, Maren's experience left her with the awareness that, if it was this hard for her to figure out how to get what she needs for her child, then how much more difficult it must be for parents who:

- Do not speak English as their first language;

- Are not comfortable with confronting authority; or

- Who come from a cultural lens where challenging what's told to you is not something that feels comfortable.

As a former executive responsible for International Business Development for a medical device company, Maren spent a lot of time travelling the world, working with multiple cultures, negotiating numerous business contracts quite successfully. During that time, she developed deep knowledge of the inner workings of the medical industry.

During her travels, she also remembers feeling blessed as complete strangers willingly helped her navigate the different cultural requirementsof each country. This assistance was instrumental in helping her succeed.

After being introduced to MAAN in 2017, Maren recognized that the issues and challenges faced by communities of color were very different to what she had experienced as an autistic parent. These families faced additional barriers created through language and cultural stigmas, as well as a lack of undertanding of how the system really worked. She realized that she could only truly help if she assumed nothing and, instead, focused on listening and then devising effective solutions. She would, in a sense, become a better leader and institute real change by following rather than leading.

Maren's contribution of organization and negotiation skills, legal and industry insights is invaluable to the organization's continued development and growth.