Jason's Connection

09/06/2026

How families feel about a new missing person alert for people, Here & Now Newsroom

Autistic people eloping and going missing is a real problem that can create stress for families. Researchers have found that nearly half of autistic children are prone to wandering. Now, the Trump administration is launching a national alert system to coordinate response efforts to these incidents.

Host Robin Young has more context with Eric Garcia, the Washington bureau chief for The Independent. He also wrote the book, “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.

”https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2026/08/25/autism-missing-person-alert?al_applink_data=%7B%22qpl_join_id%22:%22D8A

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Researchers have found that nearly half of autistic children are prone to wandering.

09/05/2026

The Hidden Price of Being In America -Ford Foundation

Ford Foundation shares the following: In the United States, living with a disability—or caring for someone who is—often means navigating a system that penalizes economic mobility and financial stability.

For millions of Americans, the "hidden cost" of is embedded in systemic structural barriers that force families and adults into impossible financial choices such as:

The Marriage Penalty: Adults who rely on Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid for essential health care face benefit cuts or complete loss of coverage if they choose to marry.

The Income Cap Tightrope: For families raising medically complex children, even a modest 1% cost-of-living raise at work can push household income over strict state thresholds, threatening critical Medicaid waivers that pay for specialized nursing and life-support equipment.

Ford Foundation U.S. Disability Rights program grantees are working to advance economic justice for the more than 40 million Americans living with a disability.

Learn more about how Patrice and Garry are fighting for marriage equality for everyone in the disability community: https://lnkd.in/ewPS9v29

Learn how families are mobilizing into action for medically complex children with Little Lobbyists: https://lnkd.in/eCCCqXbN

3 Women sitting at a coffee shop, one woman in a wheelchair.

09/04/2026

Guardians Are Supposed To Care For Our Most Vulnerable. Why Are Exploitation Cases Skyrocketing? by Ted Sherman, NJ.com/TNS

Once a is imposed, there are few safeguards in place to protect against individuals who choose to abuse the system.
Nationally, the Senate Special Committee on Aging raised the issue of guardianship abuse in a 2018 report that found some have used guardianship proceedings to obtain control of vulnerable individuals “and then used that control to liquidate assets and savings for their own benefit.”
The committee said once a guardianship is imposed, there are few safeguards in place to protect against individuals who choose to abuse the system. It called for greater oversight. At the same time, it said few states are able to report accurate or detailed guardianship data. A national AARP survey that noted from 1990 to 2010, “hundreds of allegations of physical abuse, neglect and financial exploitation by guardians were reported.” The lack of information on guardianships was similarly highlighted in a 2016 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which said the extent of elder abuse by guardians nationally was unknown due to limited data.

https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2026/08/27/guardians-are-supposed-to-care-for-our-most-vulnerable-why-are-exploitation-cases-skyrocketing/32149/

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Once a guardianship is imposed, there are few safeguards in place to protect against individuals who choose to abuse the system.

09/04/2026

Disabled creatives like me are behind many of your favourite shows – so why has our work support been withdrawn? by Annalisa Dinnella

Cuts to the Access to Work scheme will mean no more contributions to shows like S*x Education, Call the Midwife or The Hack. It will be devastating to lose such talent

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/17/disabled-creatives-careers-access-to-work-scheme
Chris McCausland and his dance partner, Dianne Buswell, lift the glitterball trophy after winning Strictly Come Dancing, 14 December 2024.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/17/disabled-creatives-careers-access-to-work-scheme?CMP=share_btn_url

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

09/03/2026

"You are not Alone". Dear Younger Me: What I Wish I’d Known About Being Autistic By: Robert Schmus, MSW, LCSW Mental Health Therapist and Autistic Self-Advocate

"You are not alone. This is very important for you to know. You might think you are the only autistic person out there, but this is far from true. You are part of a large community of people from different genders, religions, ideologies, backgrounds, and more. Like you, they have grown up feeling different and been put in very difficult situations. Of course, their journey isn’t exactly like yours, but you can empathize with them. These are your brothers and sisters in arms."
Licensed clinical social worker Robert Schmus, who has autism, reflects on the question "what would you tell your younger self?" Schmus shares four answers that address the range of emotions he felt when he was younger, the creative talents he could possibly have tapped into more and the importance of not being ashamed of yourself. Ultimately, he would want his younger self to know that "you are not alone."

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https://autismspectrumnews.org/dear-younger-me-what-i-wish-id-known-about-being-autistic/
Licensed clinical social worker Robert Schmus, who has ,

An autistic therapist shares four pieces of advice he wishes he could give his younger self – on feelings, shame, creativity, and community.

09/02/2026

Disability is Treated as a Credibility Problem- Disability Belongs

Many people would agree that it can be emotionally exhausting, labor intensive, and disheartening not to be trusted. Now imagine facing that disbelief and having to prove something that shapes how you move, think, and exist, every single day. Disabled people are routinely forced to translate our lived experiences into paperwork, condensing often complex realities into medical forms, assessments, and checkboxes. Our identities are reduced to symptoms and deficits, and we are often doubted when our disabilities are less apparent, fluctuating, or don’t fit narrow expectations. When disability is not treated as a reality but as a claim that must be verified, it is not just frustrating and inconvenient – it is dehumanizing, and it changes how disabled people are valued in society.
Disability is an identity, not a liability. Society must move beyond asking, “Can you prove you are disabled?” and instead ask, “What do you need to fully participate?” When we shift how credibility and trust are applied, we create communities that uphold rights, remove barriers, and ensure everyone can access what they need to participate fully and with dignity.

https://www.disabilitybelongs.org/2026/08/disability-credibility-problem/
Person signing a statement with signature

Disabled people are routinely forced to translate our lived experiences into paperwork, condensing often complex realities into medical forms, assessments, and checkboxes.

09/01/2026

Flexible Side Gigs for Parents with Disabilities by Lillian Brooks, *https://learningdisabilities.info/

‍If you're a parent with a disability, you already know a normal 9-to-5 doesn't always work with your body. Fluctuating symptoms, appointments, inaccessible workplaces, benefit rules that punish you for earning too much. "Just work more" isn't advice, it's pressure. A side gig can be the workaround, something that flexes around your energy and your kids instead of demanding you flex around it.

‍To Understand What Actually Makes a Side Gig Sustainable, Read more at link below
https://www.disabilityempowerment.org/blog/flexible-side-gigs-for-parents-with-disabilities
Bloggger Lillian Brooks website, Learning Disabilities, https://learningdisabilities.info/, to offer information and understanding to parents of children with learning disabilities, as well as adults who are in need of continued support in order to succeed.
Woman at lap top computer

If you're a parent with a disability, you already know a normal 9-to-5 doesn't always work with your body. Here’s a practical guide to flexible side gigs for parents with disabilities from our guest blogger.

08/31/2026

A Dress Shopping Experience That’s Not Overwhelming. A sensory friendly boutique for brides

Inspired by her son, who was diagnosed with A.D.H.D. and autism, Beth Clark transformed her 6,500-square-foot bridal salon into a calming, sensory-friendly space for neurodivergent brides.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/style/sensory-friendly-neurodivergent-bridal-boutique.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Inspired by her son, who was diagnosed with A.D.H.D. and autism, Beth Clark transformed her family’s bridal salon, Bridal Chateau in Williamsville, N.Y., into a calming, sensory-friendly space designed to better accommodate neurodivergent brides.

Inspired by her son, who was diagnosed with A.D.H.D. and autism, Beth Clark transformed her 6,500-square-foot bridal salon into a calming, sensory-friendly space for neurodivergent brides.

08/30/2026

AuDHD Explained Audhd Awareness: Understanding the Full Spectrum of Neurodivergence Conditions

Neurodivergence is often reduced to just two words in most conversations, autism and ADHD, as if those two conditions represent the entire spectrum of brains that process the world differently. The reality is far broader.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD sit under this umbrella, but so do conditions rarely mentioned in the same breath. Dyslexia affects how the brain processes written language, while dyscalculia does the same for numbers and mathematical reasoning. Dyspraxia influences motor coordination and physical planning in ways that can make everyday movement genuinely effortful. Tourette Syndrome brings involuntary movements and vocalizations that are neurological in origin, not a matter of choice or control.
The umbrella extends further still. OCD, often reduced in public conversation to a punchline about tidiness, is actually a serious condition built around intrusive thoughts and compulsive responses. Developmental Language Disorder affects communication in ways distinct from autism, while synesthesia creates genuine cross-sensory experiences, sound perceived as color, numbers perceived as spatial patterns. Epilepsy, intellectual disabilities, and acquired brain injury round out a list that makes clear just how wide neurodivergence actually stretches.
Recognizing this full spectrum is not about diluting any single diagnosis, it is about accuracy. Every one of these conditions represents a genuinely different way of experiencing and processing the world, and none of them are lesser or more legitimate than the others. The more this full picture gets understood, the less any one experience gets flattened into a stereotype that was never big enough to hold it in the first place.

https://business.facebook.com/latest/composer/?asset_id=204338093061507&business_id=405619906615055&ir_q
Illustration of Neurodivergence Umbrella

08/30/2026

Jennifer Barnes shares this memory

TBINetwork Shares this, Disabled by Society post: does not make me less deserving of : Love, A Career , Acceptance, Access, Rights, Education, Opportunity, Family, Support, Success, Independence, Respect.