A Practical Legal Solution for the Autism Community

June 6, 2020June 6, 2020 Joel Manzer

Earlier this month I shared how I didn’t have a clue as to the challenges autism families face on a daily basis, and how I’ve been in a hunt in finding practical solutions to help the autism community. You can see the initial post here.

For over 10 years I’ve been messaged, emailed, called, and sought after for any level of advice regarding anything from IEP’s to Waivers, to insurance as well as relationship advice. Suffice it to say, I’m just an autism dad – and NOT a lawyer or even a therapist. This often put me in a position where I couldn’t help at all – except to be a listening ear.

Some of the situations presented to me over the years focused on matters relating to school systems and IEPs. The challenge in these situations is that every school district in every state and province have specific protocols and procedures, let alone each state and country has their own laws. And as an autistic individual gets older, so do the parents. The aspect of guardianship and even more legal questions start being asked.

This has led me on a journey to discover what options there are for special needs families, and these options have specific requirements.

In my hunt for practical solutions for autism families, I had to define what is practical, and what is a solution. This became the clarion call as I researched what options would be the best fit for the community. So, practical solutions in this regard are that they have to be useful… and affordable. Whatever solutions we came across have to provide a lot for the cost-benefit. It sounds simple, but let’s be honest – it’s a tall order.

As legal questions started coming in since the launch of Autisable, I knew I couldn’t handle those. I’m only the editor of this site and an autism dad. I cannot provide legal advice… I’m not qualified. Then one week, many years ago, I attended an Autism Society Conference in San Diego. There I met Michelle Babitz and Robin Trigg, who were special education teachers who had a mission… to help autism families with some legal assistance.

Since our chance encounters all of those years ago, I’ve pointed folks to them from all over the United States. When Autisable was shut down for a couple of years, they became our first sponsors since it’s relaunch…. and more people have been helped by them since. Time and time again they’ve provided help to autism families, through a simple program – called LegalShield.

There’s more to this program than meets the eye, and it’s worth taking a stronger look. Take a look at the video on this page for more information.

I’ll share more examples down the road on how this program has benefited families within the community, and like anything on this site you can take it for what its worth – information worth exploring to see if it’s a good fit for you and your situation.

Until next time, have a great week!