Goretti E. Rerri

Dr. Goretti Rerri has a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s degree in education (specializing in special education), and a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership.

She is certified to teach special education in pre-k through high school in the state of Texas, and taught in that capacity for twenty-two years before retiring in 2022. Over the span of her career, she taught students with various forms of disabilities, including autism, Down's syndrome, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, ADHD, and learning disabilities. In addition to working as a classroom teacher, Rerri also served as a parent trainer and an In-Home trainer of students with developmental disabilities. During the course of her teaching career, she mentored a number of new teachers in the field of special education.

An advocate for people with developmental disabilities, Rerri founded Emur Disability Advocacy Incorporated, a non-profit organization, whose flagship is the Emur Awards. The Emur Awards seeks, recognizes, and honors children and adults with developmental disabilities who have made meaningful contributions to their schools or communities. The awards are given in the month of March, each year, in celebration of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.

My Box of Chocolates: How My Child with Autism Learned to Read, Write and More, is her second book. Her first book, published in 2003, is titled, Ceremonies and Festivals: Marriage, Burial, Chieftaincy, and Annual Festivals in Uvwie-Urhobo, Nigeria.

Rerri, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria in 1989, has three grown children and lives in Houston, Texas, where she continues to advocate for people with developmental disabilities.