by Nyle Dolera My daughter, Hannah, was a beautiful and vibrant little girl who unexpectedly passed away on December 25, 2013. At the time of her death, I had been awaiting a due process decision by a hearing officer with the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) for more than six months. My … Continue reading For Hannah →

By J.A. People need their attitudes changed.  1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism today and it’s probably more prevalent than that.  That means that there are lots of autistics in the world and whether or not everyone likes it, that isn’t going to change.  If they were all dismissed as problems, then there … Continue reading A Promise to My Son, Part 6 →

By J.A. Given all of my experiences with the various providers, the DOE, and those “unknown factors,” my life with my son has changed for the better.  He looks like another regular little kid. He’s handsome, tall, agile but goofy at times and quite a prankster. He has a beautiful smile that draws people to … Continue reading A Promise to My Son, Part 5 →

By J.A. Just as example, I can remember when the IEP team at the elementary school refused to allow one of Nick’s goals and objectives to be “Nick will be able to speak 500 words for the school year 2004-2005.” I spent 1 hour arguing with the DOE’s speech therapist that this was only a … Continue reading A Promise to My Son, Part 4 →

By J.A. There were about 15 people at this meeting, including administrators from the school, the assessors, in addition to people from the DOE who had no business being there.  It was obvious that the decision to not qualify my child was made in advance. After debating for 3 hours or so, the principal sat … Continue reading A Promise to My Son, Part 3 →

By H.M. “Your son is definitely NOT autistic.” The child psychiatrist’s reassurance was music to my ears.   “Trust me, I did a rotation in autism.  If your son was on the spectrum he could not relate to others.  Your son is simply extremely ADHD.” It was true that my 2nd grade son, Mark, loved … Continue reading Outreaching to ADHD Families →

By J.A. When my mom happened to accompany my husband and Nick to the ped’s office for the 2 year old check up, she told him that she felt that Nick’s eye contact was not there.  She said that he was not responding when we called his name.  After much discussion, the pediatrician finally said … Continue reading A Promise to My Son, Part 2 →

By J.A. When I became pregnant in August 2001, I went out on disability 7 months early because of complications.  The doctor decided that it would be safer for me to stay at home and rest especially since I was an older patient and it was my first child.  During this time, I was not … Continue reading A Promise to My Son, Part 1 →