Natural Supports: A Lifeline for Families Like Mine

• By: Debora Thivierge, BCaBA, CBAA ELIJA Foundation
• July 9th, 2025
• advocacy, caregivers, dementia, family, grief, parenting, Summer 2025 Issue, support
• 945    0

In 2024, my world changed forever. I lost my father to prostate cancer—a man whose strength and love defined the very foundation of my family. He fought with everything he had to stay alive long enough to care for my mom, who was battling dementia. Even as his own health declined, he dedicated...

Finding Independence and Advocacy: A Journey Through Autism and Self-Direction (2021-2025)

• By: Jason Harris ELIJA Foundation
• April 4th, 2025
• actually autistic, advocacy, applied behavior analysis, independent living, mental health, neurodiversity, Spring 2025 Issue, therapy, treatment
• 1139    0

As a young, happy baby about to become a toddler, my family noticed I was not progressing as a normal toddler would, so they took me for a psychological evaluation at 20 months. At that evaluation, I was officially diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Ever since then, life has been an...