Growing up, Heather Kiessel struggled with school. “I just thought I was stupid,” she said. “That’s why I never finished college.”
It was her son, Holden, who made her realize just how much she had to offer the world.
“My son has taught me so much,” said Kiessel, a bus attendant and member of the Fairport Transportation Association. “I am so proud of everything he has become.”
Kiessel first suspected Holden had a neurodevelopmental disorder when he was just 3, but he wasn’t officially diagnosed with severe ADHD and anxiety until third grade.
Kiessel spent those intervening years trying to get him adequate support, eventually leaving her full-time job at a hospital so she could care for him. She began taking classes at Starbridge, a federally funded parent training and information center, so she could learn the skills she needed to work with him effectively and advocate for him.
“I did it strictly to get my son help,” said Kiessel. “One of my family traits is being stubborn, and let me tell you, it has served me well.”
Caption: When she’s not working as a bus attendant for Fairport Central School District, Heather Kiessel likes to ride roller coasters. She’s ridden 415.
Caption: When she’s not working as a bus attendant for Fairport Central School District, Heather Kiessel likes to ride roller coasters. She’s ridden 415.
Along the way, Heather discovered she and her son had more in common than she expected.
“As I was researching ADHD, autism and anxiety, I started realizing I had ADHD, too,” said Kiessel. “Watching him, I saw myself. I started realizing how many similarities we had. I had to learn how to be more patient than I ever had. I had to work on my own issues so that I was able to help him with the ones we shared.”
In 2015, Kiessel got a job in the school district so she could be on the same schedule as Holden. She worked first as a cafeteria monitor and then with the kitchen staff, and found she had a knack for working with students, especially those with behavior issues.
“Some people don’t see the kid, they just see the behavior, but I really understand that it’s something going on with their brains,” she said.
When a bus attendant position opened in the district, Kiessel jumped aboard because she wanted to work more directly with students. Kiessel assists with one of the out-of-district routes for students with behavior issues. “It’s been my favorite job,” she said. “I really like interacting with the kids.”
Kiessel advocates for her students, just like she did for her son. Holden is now 22 and an auto mechanic seeking his vehicle inspector’s license.
Every day, she makes sure her students have the tools they need to regulate themselves, and she shares their progress with their parents. “I know what it's like to get a million phone calls telling me about bad behavior. I think I got one call telling me something positive, and because of that, I call parents with good phone calls too. I know how precious that is.”
Kiessel also enjoys sharing her passion for roller coasters with her students; she and her son and husband are fanatics, and she has ridden 415.
And while she’s a thrill seeker, she takes safety very seriously. Kiessel is a former EMT and has first-hand knowledge of what happens when people don’t take the proper precautions, which is why the district’s transportation department tapped her to lead its safety trainings.
This year, thanks to Kiessel’s hard work and advocacy, she was named New York Association for Pupil Transportation’s Bus Attendant of the Year.
Kiessel said the award was a complete surprise, but so gratifying. “I have never been recognized at a job before, and I never thought I would be because of my disabilities,” said Kiessel. “This is the first time I had a job where I felt valuable.”