Guides for Florida families

Plain-language help with the parts that trip families up the most. Free to read, written by a parent who has been there.

After the Diagnosis

• The Autism Alphabet: IEP, ABA, OT, SLP, and Every Acronym Decoded for Florida FamiliesIEP, ABA, OT, SLP, APD, EOB. A fellow Florida parent decodes the autism alphabet in plain language, grouped by the system each term belongs to.
• The First 90 Days After an Autism Diagnosis: A Calm, Ordered ChecklistThe first 90 days do not have to happen all at once. A fellow Florida parent walks you through an ordered, week-by-week checklist that tells you what can wait.
• The Therapy Intake Paperwork Blitz: What All Those Forms Actually MeanA dozen therapy forms arrive at once and nobody explains any of them. A fellow Florida parent groups the whole intake blitz into four buckets and tells you what each one is.
• The Waitlist Clock: The One Thing to Do in Your First Month in FloridaThe most common regret I hear is 'someone told me to get on the waitlist and I didn't.' Here is the one Florida clock worth starting this month, honestly.
• What Can Wait and What Can't: The Deadlines That Actually Matter After an Autism Diagnosis in FloridaThe stack of papers feels like one giant deadline. It isn't. Here is what actually has a clock in Florida, and what you can safely leave for a few weeks.
• You Are Not Behind, and You Are Not Failing: Coping With Your Child's Autism Diagnosis in the First WeeksIt is 2 a.m., the tabs are open, and you are sure you have already failed your child. You haven't. Here is honest company for the first weeks.
• Your Child Was Just Diagnosed with Autism in Florida: What to Do FirstA fellow Florida parent walks you through the first things to do (and the things that can wait) after your child's autism diagnosis, in plain language.

How Florida Works

• How to Keep a Paper Trail That Protects Your ChildOne binder, five sections, and one small habit that protects your child more than any folder. A calm method a tired parent can actually keep.
• How to Request Your Child's Records (Medical, School, and Insurance)Three record-holders, one clear process. How to request your child's complete medical, school, and insurance records, and what to say to each.
• The Five Systems Every Florida Autism Parent Has to Learn (and How They Connect)Insurance, Medicaid, school, therapy, benefits. Five systems, no map, and no one whose job is to hand you one. Here is the map, and where to start.
• Why Florida-Specific Matters: The Rules Are LocalIf national advice keeps not matching your reality, here is why: the biggest systems are set by the state. Why Florida-specific guidance is the fix.
• You Don't Have to Do This Alone: How to Ask for Help Without Feeling Like You're FailingThe belief that asking for help means you are failing is a lie. Here is how to ask, in small and safe ways, from a parent who got it wrong for a while.

Medicaid & Benefits

• Common Questions About Florida Autism Benefits and WaitlistsYou have a dozen half-answers from Facebook groups and no idea what is actually true. Here are honest answers to the real questions about Florida autism benefits and the waitlist.
• Does My Child Qualify for Medicaid in Florida? The Disability PathwaysMost families stop at 'we probably make too much.' Here are the Florida Medicaid disability pathways that can change that, and how to actually find out if you qualify.
• How to Get on the Florida Waiver Waitlist Now (and Why the Clock Matters)You know the clock is running but not what the first move is. Here are the steps you take yourself to get on the Florida waiver waitlist, and why to start now.
• The APD iBudget Waiver and Its Waitlist: How It Works and Why Timing MattersSomeone told you to 'just get on the waitlist' and never explained it. Here is what the iBudget waiver is, how the waitlist works, and why timing matters.

School & IEP

• How to Prepare for an IEP Meeting So You Walk In ReadyYou do not have to be naturally assertive to hold your own in an IEP meeting. Preparation is a system, and here is the one I use, step by step.
• IEP vs. 504 Plan: What's the Difference, and Which One Does Your Child Have?Someone handed you a document with an acronym on it and asked you to sign. Here is what an IEP is, what a 504 is, and how to tell which one you are actually looking at.
• Reading the Evaluation and the Goals: Making Sense of the IEP DocumentYou are allowed to read the IEP slowly, at home, and ask what each part means. Here is the calm, ordered way to make sense of the document.

Insurance & Billing

• How to Read Your EOB (Explanation of Benefits) Without Losing Your MindThat dense insurance page covered in codes and dollar amounts is usually not a bill. Here is how to read every number on your EOB yourself, from someone who reads them all day.
• In-Network vs. Out-of-Network: Why It Changes Everything About Your BillYou found the right therapist, then got a bill far bigger than you expected. Two words explain most of why, and they are learnable in a few minutes.

Choosing a Provider

• Credentials to Verify: BCBA, RBT, Supervision, and AccreditationThe business cards are full of initials and no one explains them. Here is what each credential means and, more useful, how to verify it yourself.
• Green Flags and Red Flags When You Tour an Autism ClinicA tour is the one time you get to look behind the brochure. Here are the green flags and red flags I watch for, so you can weigh what you see yourself.
• How to Tell a Good Autism Clinic from a Bad One: What Good Looks LikeYou are allowed to be picky about your child's clinic. Here is the yardstick I wish someone had handed me, so you can measure each program yourself.
• The Questions to Ask on a Clinic TourWalk in with your questions already written down. Here is the script I use, grouped by what matters, plus how to read the answers you get back.

Transition & Growing Up

• Aging Out of Early Intervention at 3: What Comes Next in FloridaThe age-3 handoff from Early Intervention to school-district services in Florida, explained as an ordered process, with the timing that prevents a gap in support.
• The Services Cliff at 18 to 22: Vocational Rehab, Adult Waivers, and What to Line Up EarlyThe services cliff when school ends for an autistic young adult in Florida, the adult-services landscape (Vocational Rehabilitation, APD, the waiver), and what to line up early so there is no gap.

Local Guides

• Autism Support for Fort Lauderdale and Broward County FamiliesIf you are raising an autistic child in Broward, the offices you need are organized locally. Here is where your district, the waiver, Early Steps, and Medicaid sit, from a fellow Florida parent.
• Autism Support for Miami and Miami-Dade County FamiliesIf you are raising an autistic child in Miami-Dade, the offices you need are organized locally. Here is where your district, the waiver, Early Steps, and Medicaid actually sit, from a fellow Florida parent.
• Autism Support for West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County FamiliesIf you are raising an autistic child in Palm Beach County, the offices you need are organized locally. Here is where your district, the waiver, Early Steps, and Medicaid sit, from a fellow Florida parent.
• Autism Support in Cape Coral and Fort Myers: A Florida Parent's Guide to Lee County's SystemsA fellow Florida parent walks Cape Coral and Fort Myers families through Lee County's five systems for autism support, in plain language, with the honest limits on what she can and can't do.
• Autism Support in Central Florida: A Regional Guide for FamiliesA fellow Florida parent covers autism support across all of Central Florida, county by county, so no family feels left out, with the honest limits on what she can and can't do.
• Autism Support in Jacksonville: A Florida Parent's Guide to Duval County's SystemsA fellow Florida parent walks Jacksonville-area families through Duval County's five systems for autism support, in plain language, with the honest limits on what she can and can't do.
• Autism Support in Northeast and North Central Florida: A Regional Guide for FamiliesA fellow Florida parent covers autism support across the First Coast, North Central, and Big Bend counties, so no rural family feels left out, with honest limits on what she can and can't do.
• Autism Support in Northwest Florida and the Panhandle: The Regional Guide from Pensacola to the Big BendA fellow Florida parent's regional guide to autism support across all 22 Northwest Florida counties, honest about the rural reality and the path anyway.
• Autism Support in Orlando: A Florida Parent's Guide to Orange County's SystemsA fellow Florida parent walks Orlando-area families through Orange County's five systems for autism support, in plain language, with the honest limits on what she can and can't do.
• Autism Support in Palm Bay, Melbourne, and the Space Coast: A Local Family's Starting MapA fellow Florida parent maps the five local systems a Palm Bay and Melbourne family meets, from Brevard Public Schools to APD, in plain language.
• Autism Support in Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, and Stuart: A Local Family's Starting MapA fellow Florida parent sorts the two Treasure Coast school districts and maps the five local systems a Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, and Stuart family meets.
• Autism Support in Sarasota and Bradenton: A Sarasota and Manatee County Parent's GuideA fellow Florida parent maps the five local systems for families in Sarasota and Manatee County, starting with the one question that decides your school district.
• Autism Support in Southeast Florida: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and the KeysIn Southeast Florida, your county, not your city, decides which school district, waiver region, and Medicaid plans serve your family. Find your county here, from a fellow Florida parent.
• Autism Support in Southwest Florida: A Regional Guide for FamiliesA fellow Florida parent covers autism support across all of Southwest Florida, county by county, so no inland family feels left out, with honest limits on what she can and can't do.
• Autism Support in St. Petersburg and Clearwater: A Pinellas County Parent's GuideA fellow Florida parent maps the five local systems a Pinellas family faces, from Pinellas County Schools to the waiver waitlist, in plain language.
• Autism Support in Tallahassee and the Big Bend: A Local Family's Starting MapA fellow Florida parent maps the five local systems a Tallahassee and Big Bend family meets, from Leon County Schools to APD, in plain language.
• Autism Support in Tampa Bay and West Central Florida: The Regional GuideA fellow Florida parent maps autism support across all seven Tampa Bay and West Central counties, sending metro families to their city page and serving the Nature Coast directly.
• Autism Support in Tampa, Florida: A Hillsborough County Parent's GuideA fellow Florida parent maps the five local systems a Tampa family has to deal with, from Hillsborough County Public Schools to the waiver waitlist, in plain language.
• Autism Support on the Space Coast and East Central Florida: The Regional Guide for Brevard, Volusia, and Flagler FamiliesA fellow Florida parent's regional guide to autism support across Brevard, Volusia, and Flagler, with a plain map of where each county's family starts.
• Autism Support on the Treasure Coast: The Regional Guide for Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee FamiliesA fellow Florida parent's regional guide to autism support across the four Treasure Coast counties, with a plain map of where each county's family starts.