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Tips for Planning Financial Security Beyond Childhood
The financial systems that support a child mostly disappear at eighteen. Here's how families can plan for the system that replaces them. Most of the financial planning conversations that happen in early intervention and school-age ABA services are, understandably, focused on the here and now:...
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Plan for a Lifetime: How to Build Financial Security for an Autistic Person
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to financial planning. Every person and family brings different goals, resources, responsibilities, and ideas about what financial security looks like. That is especially true when planning for or alongside a loved one on the autism spectrum. For an...
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Financial Planning for an Autistic Child When Parents Divorce
Many families with a child on the autism spectrum face divorce. One of the biggest concerns in these divorces is what will happen to the children. Parents may worry about how to explain divorce to an autistic child, provide emotional support and reassurance during the process, and ease transitions...
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Financial Mistakes Parents of Children With Autism Should Avoid
The financial side of an autism diagnosis often catches parents off guard just as much as the clinical side. Here are six mistakes to avoid. Clinical directors and Board-Certified Behavior Analysts sit across the table from families every week during intake meetings, treatment plan reviews, and...
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Expressing Gratitude: Using Your IRA to Make Gifts to Charity
If you are charitably inclined and you qualify under the IRS rules, you might be able to implement a technique using your IRA. If you are at least 70½ years old with a traditional IRA, you can direct your IRA custodian to donate up to $111,000 by December 31, 2026, in the form of a check directly...
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Helping Families with Disabilities Transition from Child to Adult Systems of Care
Having a child diagnosed with a lifelong disability is like planning a trip to one country, but unexpectedly arriving in a different country (read Emily Perl Kingsley’s essay Welcome to Holland). Just imagine, you have nothing packed that would make the trip easier or more comfortable, and you do...
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The Importance of Special Needs Trusts for Children with Autism
When my child with ASD and intellectual disability was young, I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, much less what would happen years from now, when I would no longer be there. My son’s behaviors were anxiety-provoking enough without me having to lie awake at night thinking about the future....
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Financial Strategies for Your Child with Special Needs
Even the most well-adjusted, optimistic people struggle with being able to communicate how difficult it is to be the parent of a child with special needs. Saying that parenting a child with special needs is daunting is a profound understatement - at least it was for me. During the early years, as...
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Avoid Mistakes with Important Legal Forms
Many individuals have wills prepared, put their copies of the will away, and don’t think about their estate plan again. However, they should review their estate plan from time to time to make sure that their will and other legal documents, such as beneficiary designation forms and trusts, comport...
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Accessing Government Benefits and the “Golden Ticket”
If you are a parent of a special needs child, government benefits and legal options are often confusing - even to those who have worked with them before. You know that there are programs out there for your child, but you are not sure where to start. You may wonder what the government provides, what...
