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The Person Doesn’t Change. The System Around Them Does.
At UCLA's PEERS Clinic, I coached autistic teenagers learning social skills that could help them navigate adulthood. Later, as a behavioral therapist, I worked directly with autistic individuals and their families in their homes. One mother stopped me after a session. Her daughter had just...
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The Path to Economic Security: How Job Coaching Builds Financial Independence for Autistic People
Financial planning conversations for autistic people and families often start in an unexpected place: not a bank or a budgeting app, but a job. Research shows just how much is riding on that starting point. A study from Drexel University's A.J. Drexel Autism Institute found that autistic young...
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More Than Spoken Words: How DSPs Help People Find Their Voice
Everyone has a voice, even if they don't communicate through speech. Expression can take many different forms — from gestures and facial expressions to communication devices, pictures, and written words. When people with developmental disabilities are given the tools, support, and opportunities...
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My Autistic Brother Nearly Died Waiting. Now They Want to Cut What Saved Him.
He stood over me and his companion Steve on the steps leading into the Senate building and prayed "God, give me the words today." It was March 24, 2026, and my 30-year-old autistic brother Stephen was invited to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional staffers and share his experience living with a...
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NY State Governor Hochul Announces 30 Awards Statewide Totaling $25 Million to Expand Health Clinics and Improve Access to Healthcare Services for People With Developmental Disabilities
On Monday, April 13, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul announced 30 awards with a $25 million investment to help address health equity for people with developmental disabilities who often find it difficult to find comprehensive healthcare that meets their needs. This critical statewide initiative was...
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Bringing the Arts into Direct Support: How Theatre Programs Empower People with Developmental Disabilities
A career on Broadway isn’t the only way to incorporate a love for theatre into a job. Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) often find meaningful ways to include the arts and performance into their work every day. Shayna Stroh, a DSP at Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE), who has...
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The Adusu Advocacy Framework: A Strategic Model for Advancing Policy Reform in Developmental Disability Services
Across many countries, systems supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are experiencing significant pressure. Workforce shortages, increasing service demand, and funding constraints have created fragile service environments that test providers, policymakers,...
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Supporting Families Through the Transition from School to Adult Life
For families of young people with autism and developmental disabilities, the transition out of high school and into adulthood represents one of the most emotionally and practically challenging periods of the lifespan. Throughout childhood, the public education system provides structure,...
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Families, Systems, and Shared Solutions: Rebuilding Trust in Disability Services – Lessons from the OPWDD–Georgetown Partnership
I didn’t start as a systems guy. I started as a dad in denial, with no roadmap, no acronyms, and no patience for policy. Then our family hit rough water. Puberty flipped the table, literally. Supports vanished just when we needed them most. Person-centered practice became paper-centered...
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NY State Governor Hochul Announces $25 Million to Expand Access to Health Care for People With Developmental Disabilities
Grants Will Improve Access to and Quality of Physical Health Care Services in ‘Health Care Deserts’ Delivers on Governor Hochul’s State of the State Proposal to Create Regional Disability Health Clinics On Thursday, September 25th, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that $25 million...
