By Jaya Pandey Driving back from High school parking lot was very difficult. Last Friday was junior year prom and Anand decided to go. It was kind of last minute decision and I dropped him at school to go to the venue by the bus. School has provided bus for students who didn’t want to [Read More]
Parents are the Change Agents – Thank you MFOFC
By Jaya Pandey As parents, we are everything for our kids, a friend of mine says –job description- cook, teacher, driver, cleaner, launder, planner, organizer, care taker, personal assistant, nurse and many more. I am sure you can add some more to that. Last 3 weekends I learnt a new term- we are “change agents” [Read More]
Ask the Experts: Christopher Sharry Esq.
ABLE ACCOUNTS The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, or ABLE Act, signed into law in 2014, will soon be launched in Massachusetts. When available, individuals with disabilities that began prior to the age of 26 will be able to open special savings accounts in which they can save money. These accounts will be similar [Read More]
No One is Leaving
by Mia McDonald I’m a mother of 5 who can’t leave the house without disaster, tears and/or damage to person or property. I just need a place to vent. Mia McDonald is a member of our Family Advisory Board and actually is a super Mom to her brood which includes all that can come with autism [Read More]
Advocacy in April and Everyday
April is Autism Awareness Month and we should all work to promote awareness and acceptance of the differences of those who are on the Spectrum. On April 7th our own Reggie Williams stood up in the Statehouse for AFAM’s Autism Awareness Day and spoke to those assembled about the issues that confront many on the [Read More]
Finding Your Path, Finding Yourself
Evolution of a Leader Carrie Noseworthy has served HMEA’s Autism Resource Central, as a member of the Family Advisory Board for six years. Like many parents, she has the passion needed to make a difference. The desire to do that led her to taking an active role in her own community, in the region through [Read More]
MCAS-Alt Truth or Dare
By Gina Graves I am the parent of a student who has been on MCAS-Alt. I begged and asked for years will my son get a High School diploma?. YES, SOME students on MCAS-Alt do get a diploma. Hmmm what about mine? Will he ever get one? As a parent, I was devastated when MCAS [Read More]
Advocacy for Us , For Others Too
By Erica Ploof Erica is a longstanding member of the Family Advisory Board at HMEA’s Autism Resource Central, as well as a fierce and tireless advocate for our community . She testified on July 28th at the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Housing in support of a bill that would help families develop housing for their family [Read More]
Music, Autism, and Inclusion
Music, Autism, and Inclusion by Laurel Collins My 16 year old son with autism has two loves in his life: teddy bears & music. The music he likes is on the radio, the same top 40 pop songs most kids like; it’s something he gets lost in. He dances with his head, sometimes his body [Read More]
Darkness into Light
By Mike Moloney, CEO , HMEA At one time, 7,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities lived in Massachusetts institutions. From Burton Blatt’s pictorial “Christmas in Purgatory” describing the conditions in those institutions – “There is a hell on earth, and in America there is a special inferno. Abandon All Hope, you who enter here. [Read More]
