Tag: advocacy

• Grab a Diet Coke: No school days are our problem solving days.

  We get the coffee, donuts, diet coke, happy meal, special toy, and we keep trying to solve problems bite by bite. Cold calling and asking for help (aka advocating) and problem solving on no school days has been our routine since our children’s infancy. These are the hardest days, but also the days where we…

  annechamland

  November 5, 2025

  advocacy, Public Places, Public School, Relationships, Sensory Issues

  advocacy, Autism, Autism Family, Family, health, Mental Health, Neurodiversity, parenting, Public Places, Research

• IEP Meetings: Big decisions, information briefly in hand, fleeting staff.

  It’s become common to receive IEP or any major documents an hour before meetings with long-lasting decisions for our girls. Then we are expected to make huge decisions on the spot while staff members floated in and out. Ridiculous.

  annechamland

  May 20, 2025

  advocacy, Public School

  advocacy, Autism, Autism Family, education, IEP, Mental Health, Neurodiversity, parenting, Public School

• They want you to give up.

  I believe insurance paperwork and process should not overrule recommendations from a doctor or Board Certified Behavioral Analyst’s education and years of experience working with autistic children, years working specifically with our child.

  annechamland

  June 27, 2024

  BCBA, Doctor, Insurance

  advocacy, appeal, Autism, Autism Family, Caravel Autism Health, denial, health, health-insurance, healthcare, Insurance