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You’re doing the work – searching, learning, advocating – because the system doesn’t just hand you answers. Get the answers you need now.
They say, “you have to fight for everything when it comes to your disabled child.”
I never thought I would be fighting for my child to keep the rights and protections he was born with.
It was segregation disguised as support, and I hated it.
I got home and started writing emails like my son’s life depended on it… and in some ways, it did.
Buried, in a tiny little box, in a sea of boxes and tables and words, were 2 check boxes:
◻︎ Diploma Track
◻︎ Certificate Track
Certificate track was checked.
I would have never noticed it, had our special education teacher friend not pointed it out.
I would have never thought twice about it, had she not said, “it’s harder to go back to diploma track than it is to move to certificate track.”
I kept sharing my story.
Because if I can convince a team of professionals in one school that we can support disabled kids and their families differently, then surely we can take that on the road and convince systems that inclusion is for everyone and costs less than exclusion.
Autism Unfiltered was born out of a deep desire to make sure that the rhetoric doesn’t drown out those who are advocating every day to make sure our children have full and autonomous lives and are treated with dignity and respect.
In 1989 – the year I was in second grade – the federal government set the asset limit for people receiving SSI at $2,000.
It has not changed since.
That means that saving for your disabled child is more complicated than it would be for a child who won’t need SSI or Medicaid benefits in the future…
Future planning for a disabled child is often treated like a “tomorrow problem.” But when families start navigating waivers, benefits, and transition planning, they quickly discover how many disconnected systems they’re expected to understand.
Access to information, resources, and support for families raising neurodivergent children depends on word of mouth, luck, and who happens to be in the room.
If your neurodivergent child is being removed from peers in the name of “support,” this is how to evaluate the IEP and decide whether it’s time to call a meeting.
From IEPs to medical referrals, decision fatigue is constant. How parents of neurodivergent kids can prioritize without burnout.
The IEP team saw progress, and pulled back dedicated 1:1 support.
Honestly – it felt like a moment to celebrate.
Until it wasn’t…
Because he didn’t have someone dedicated to supporting him…
When he pulled the fire alarm to get out of an assembly he didn’t want to go to.