I’m Julie Collison, founder of Ingenuity Unlimited LLC. My passion for accessibility, disability support, self-advocacy, and meaningful workplace inclusion is both personal and professional. As someone who grew up with an IEP, later had a 504 plan, navigated anxiety, OCD, dyscalculia, and was diagnosed with ADHD at 36, I understand how powerful the right supports can be.
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My lived experience, combined with my background in special education, transition services, supported employment, workplace accommodations, and program leadership, drives my commitment to helping businesses and organizations create accessible environments where employees, clients, and customers can thrive.
Meet Julie
Accessible workplaces are not just better for employees. They create stronger teams, better client experiences, and more sustainable business.
About Julie Collison
Lived Experience That Shaped My Purpose​
My passion for this work began long before my professional career.
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In elementary school, I was diagnosed with a specific learning disability and anxiety, and I received support through an IEP. Later in life, I came to understand that my learning disability was actually dyscalculia, a math-related learning disability that helped explain many of the challenges I had experienced.
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In middle school, I transitioned to a 504 plan. As I grew older, I became more self-aware and more interested in understanding my educational plans, my needs, and my rights. By high school, I had become an active and important member of my own educational team.
During high school, I was also diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Many years later, at age 36, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which gave me an even deeper understanding of how neurodivergence can show up across a lifetime, especially when someone has spent years adapting, masking, or trying to push through without the full picture.
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These experiences gave me a unique perspective on accessibility, accommodations, self-advocacy, self-determination, and the importance of being truly heard. They also gave me a strong desire to become a voice for practical change, progress, and meaningful support.
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Early Experiences and the Start of a Calling​​
In high school, I babysat for incredible families whose children had Down syndrome, mitochondrial disease, and autism. These relationships helped me understand the importance of individualized support, dignity, communication, and seeing each person as a whole human being with strengths, needs, and potential.
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I was also highly involved in my high school’s chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children, where I served in leadership roles as Public Relations Officer and Vice President. These early experiences strengthened my commitment to disability support, accessibility, and advocacy.
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Education and Training​
In 2010, I graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a license as a K-12 Intervention Specialist, Moderate to Intense.
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While in school, I worked as an in-home care provider for Hattie Larlham. That experience gave me invaluable insight into the daily realities of individuals with disabilities, caregivers, support teams, and service systems. It helped me understand that effective support is not limited to one environment. It follows people into every part of life, including work, community access, services, and long-term planning.
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Before graduating, I learned about a Master’s program at Kent State University that allowed participants to earn their degree while working with the Kent State Transition Collaborative and the Career and Community Studies Program as Transition Coordinators in training.
Through this experience, I gained hands-on knowledge in transition planning, job coaching, supervising job coaches, accommodations, and teaching employability, academic, and life skills.
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In 2012, I graduated from Kent State University with a Master’s degree in Special Education and Transition-to-Work. I also earned a K-12 Intervention Specialist license, Moderate to Intense, with a Transition-to-Work Endorsement.
Professional Experience​
New Story School — Pennsylvania
In 2012, I moved to York, Pennsylvania, where I worked as an Intervention Specialist at New Story School in a 9th through 12+ grade autism-specific classroom.
This experience taught me so much about supporting individuals with complex needs during an important stage of life. It also helped me realize that I wanted to better understand adult services, employment systems, workplace readiness, and life beyond school so I could help bridge the gap between support systems and real-world opportunities.
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Hattie Larlham — Ohio
In 2013, I returned to Ohio and began working as a Job Placement Coordinator for Hattie Larlham. In this role, I supported people with disabilities in job searching, job placement, and job retention. I built relationships with employers and public agencies, taught employability skills, and helped individuals work toward meaningful employment.
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Over time, my role evolved into Supported Employment Manager. In that position, I coordinated services, maintained relationships with employers, participants, job coaches, referral sources, and guardians, and trained and supervised community-based job coaches. I also created and implemented employability intervention strategies designed to support long-term success.
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During my time at Hattie Larlham, I also ran the Summer Youth Program, where participants completed an orientation focused on employability skills using the Skills to Pay the Bills curriculum, followed by a work experience.
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This chapter of my career gave me a deeper understanding of adult services, supported employment, employer partnerships, workplace accommodations, and the real-world barriers people with disabilities often face when entering and maintaining employment.
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Monarch Center for Autism — Ohio
In 2016, I began working as the Transition Coordinator for Monarch Center for Autism. In 2017, I also became the Middle School/High School Program Supervisor.
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In these roles, I supervised teachers and classrooms, supported staff training in transition education and best practices, coordinated post-school services, assisted with agency referrals, developed and maintained student worksites, and collaborated with the supervisory team on program management.
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This work allowed me to combine my experience in special education, transition planning, employment support, and program leadership. It also strengthened my belief that organizations need stronger communication, more creative problem-solving, and more individualized strategies to support people effectively.