I will be speaking at the national conference of the Autism Society of America on Friday, July 24 from 12:45 - 2 pm, on the subject of Child Custody and Child Support in Divorce with a Child with Autism. The conference will be in St. Charles, Illinois, about an hour outside of Chicago. People can get more information at ASA's website: www.autism-society.o rg
Also, I will be speaking on this topic at Oklahoma State Bar Association seminars in the Oklahoma City area on Thursday, July 16 and in Tulsa on July 17.
I am trying very hard to reach out to our families and let them know there is now help for them - and I am working hard to educate the lawyers and judges about our families and what they need.
These seminars and conferences are also a good way for people from around the country to get to talk to me in person and ask me questions. My son, who emerged from autism at age 8, will be traveling with me to these 3 speaking engagements. We are trying to spread a message of hope, which is so desperately needed. Please help me spread the word so our families can finally start to get better results from the family court system. Thank you!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Share your Divorce Stories
As a community, families with a special needs child have a divorce rate of 85 - 90%. I went through divorce when my autistic son was 6 years old. I have walked this path and lived this. When we are going through crisis situations like this, we need each other more than ever - yet we are so busy just trying to survive the crisis that we lose contact with each other.
The purpose of this posting is to invite all of you to write and share your experiences, war stories, advice, support, suggestions for families with a special needs child going through divorce. I am trying to open up our lines of communication so we can help each other. Now it is your turn - help each other and connect with each other!
The purpose of this posting is to invite all of you to write and share your experiences, war stories, advice, support, suggestions for families with a special needs child going through divorce. I am trying to open up our lines of communication so we can help each other. Now it is your turn - help each other and connect with each other!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Divorce Rates of Families with Special Needs Children
Divorce affects over 1 million children each year in the United States. The number of special needs children in the United States and throughout the world is skyrocketing. The family courts are already overwhelmed with their caseloads of divorces, paternity and modification cases. The divorce rates for families with a special needs child are 80 to 90 %. When our families go through the court system for divorce or paternity cases, we can't just be treated like other families. We need to connect with each other and educate the lawyers and judges about what our children and our families need.
I have been a lawyer for 23 years, and practice only in the area of family law. My son was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old. His father and I divorced when my son was 3 years old. I wrote a special Parenting Plan to make sure our individual issues were thoroughly addressed when we got divorced.
Lawyers, judges and families ask me every day for information on how to handle divorces and paternity cases involving special needs children. I developed checklists, special forms and other extensive materials to be used when our families go through divorce. These checklists, forms, samples and other materials have now been published in a law book by the American Bar Association. The Special Needs Child and Divorce was published in April 2009.
I am going around the United States speaking at law conferences and special needs conferences trying to get this information out so our families have a better result when we go through the family court system. I can't do it alone.
We need to connect with each other, as parents, grandparents and other family members of special needs children - as lawyers and judges - as teachers, therapists, doctors, nurses and others who work with our children - to share this information.
With millions of children worldwide every year being affected by divorce, we have to get the word out, to increase awareness of the issues, to teach the legal system how divorce affects our daily lives when we have special needs children, and to offer solutions and guidance.
One way for us to get the word out is to share our stories of things that happen in our lives when we go through divorce. Some of you are going through divorce right now, and raising a child with special needs. Tell the lawyers and the judges what your daily life is like. Many of them don't know. Many of them really do care, and would care even more if you can humanize it for them.
Please share your stories so we can all connect and make lives better for our special needs children and for our families.
I have been a lawyer for 23 years, and practice only in the area of family law. My son was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old. His father and I divorced when my son was 3 years old. I wrote a special Parenting Plan to make sure our individual issues were thoroughly addressed when we got divorced.
Lawyers, judges and families ask me every day for information on how to handle divorces and paternity cases involving special needs children. I developed checklists, special forms and other extensive materials to be used when our families go through divorce. These checklists, forms, samples and other materials have now been published in a law book by the American Bar Association. The Special Needs Child and Divorce was published in April 2009.
I am going around the United States speaking at law conferences and special needs conferences trying to get this information out so our families have a better result when we go through the family court system. I can't do it alone.
We need to connect with each other, as parents, grandparents and other family members of special needs children - as lawyers and judges - as teachers, therapists, doctors, nurses and others who work with our children - to share this information.
With millions of children worldwide every year being affected by divorce, we have to get the word out, to increase awareness of the issues, to teach the legal system how divorce affects our daily lives when we have special needs children, and to offer solutions and guidance.
One way for us to get the word out is to share our stories of things that happen in our lives when we go through divorce. Some of you are going through divorce right now, and raising a child with special needs. Tell the lawyers and the judges what your daily life is like. Many of them don't know. Many of them really do care, and would care even more if you can humanize it for them.
Please share your stories so we can all connect and make lives better for our special needs children and for our families.
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