The deadline to file for intent to use the McKay Scholarship is July 3, 2017 for the 2017-2018 100% award amount. Parents have to file for intent by July but the paperwork for admission and enrollment at their private school by August 2nd. Just because you file intent does not mean that you have to…
Category: access
The Investment in Autism Treatment
I have read articles from other autism parents that describe the cost of care for their child. Some parents even joke that their child with autism is their million dollar child. That got me thinking about my own finances and my own child. I have for years maxed out our health insurance on doctors appointments…
Summer Problems for Special Needs Children
SUMMER IS HERE! School ends this week, Thursday for those of us in Florida (Pinellas County). Thursday is an early release day. Why does the school district do this to us?! Why are you even taking them? 8:30-11:30 that is not helping us working parents, now you have added more scheduling, after school transportation and…
Why do you get help…
…and my more medically complicated child gets none?! Over the last week or so, the questions and concerns have been made regarding assistance for children with autism that have complex medical needs. Why are some families qualifying and others not? What is the missing piece? The information that started the discussion was about Medicaid. Our…
Collaboration with private therapy and public education
Children with autism in my school district are often placed in ASD units within a self contained classroom or on the other end they have their services taken from them sometimes their entire IEP and parents have to fight for a 504 plan. There seems to be very little in between in the public school….
Medicaid and CMS…you want to read this!
is it income based?! I think I figured it out!!! Our family had a big win last month with notification that our son with autism was eligible for Florida’s Children’s Medical Services (CMS). My mouth fell open, I jumped up and cheered. It felt like hitting the lottery! For years, our family has scrambled to…
Need money for services or products…the new Gardiner Scholarship
Gardiner Scholarship offers $10,000 for special needs children education. Even if you homeschool! Find out more, how to apply and what you need to know.
The serious business about the McKay Scholarship
Does your child have an IEP or 504 in the state of Florida? Florida was the first state to implement a scholarship like McKay. McKay allows for parents of special needs children to use funds allocated to the public school for private school tuition. (you can use McKay to transfer to another public school as…
The importance of a medical diagnosis…
As parents we often have a large fear about diagnosing our children. We don’t want to harm our children in any way or make the outside world treat them differently. We think that a label with define him or her indefinitely in life. So, why is the medical diagnosis so important insurance developing an IEP/504…
WHY is getting Medicaid so…
unfortunately difficult?! BIG NEWS! My son is now in the Medicaid Children’s Medical Services program of Florida Kid Care. (I’m not even sure if this is the correct way to describe it). This process was very confusing and lengthy. There seem to be so many different parts or subgroups within the Medicaid program itself. Just…
Ruthfulness 