Hearing the words “your child has autism” is devastating.  Discovering your next child also shares the disability is heartbreaking.  Losing your home and everything you have worked so hard your entire life in a desperate attempt to help your children emerge from the dark world that engulfs them is a bearable loss if it means you can pay for more treatments that insurance doesn’t cover. 

Raising children with disabilities means an end to a life you’ve previously known.  Driving daily to Dr. appointments, speech and occupational therapy, psychiatrists, psychologists, special diets, medications, educational supplies, sensory aids — the list is endless.  I can no longer work or even take care of my own needs because every waking moment revolves around them.  Keeping them safe, free from harm, and trying to improve their quality of life is my sole purpose now.  Being a single parent, with no extended family only intensifies their need for me to be there for them.

Even if there was space in a state institution, it would obliterate any chance for a future and they would sink into an ever darkening abyss.  The income I receive as a provider from IHSS ensures that I can cover our basic needs as I continue our struggle for enhancing the quality of their life.  Without it we will be homeless.  I know I am not alone when I say to cut these funds would put thousands of families at risk.  We are humans, American citizens, and are not expendable.  I implore you to think about the lives being affected before making such drastic changes to a much needed, life saving program.

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