Most autism parents will tell you they have more than enough autism awareness. They will say autism is their life 24/7 and they are more aware than they ever thought they would be. It’s tough to find anyone who doesn’t know someone with autism. The world is finally shifting to a time when the autism community is asking for acceptance because we are all aware.
But…
there is a huge part of autism that people are not aware of– that I was not aware of until we reached the phase of autism we will be in for the rest of my daughter’s life. The part where Ashlyn is an adult and has no freedom over her finances. In order for her to receive the support at home she needs she must always qualify for Medicaid. In order to qualify for Medicaid she can’t work too much or earn too much. But in order to feel some sense of independence she needs to have a job. She deserves to have a job.
The financial constraints of being a disabled adult are so frustrating and I’m not even the one being constrained. Our only answer to giving Ashlyn some type of financial independence is maintaining a MiABLE account. Through MiAble Ashlyn is able to save her money and not be penalized through social security or other disability benefits that she needs.
Every dime Ashlyn makes or receives has to be accounted for… did you know this? I did not until we started the process for disability benefits when she turned 18. Long phone calls on hold and endless paperwork are my absolute least favorite part of helping my daughter live independently. I can’t even imagine being an autistic adult who has to navigate the system on their own, but that’s another post for another day.
By opening a MiABLE account, Ashlyn is able to save up enough to purchase a plane ticket with her own money. I can’t tell you how proud she is to say that she can buy herself a ticket to almost anywhere. With MiABLE she can save up to $2000 per year without it affecting her benefits so her very own airline ticket is in her future.
When your kids are newly diagnosed they need and need some more and you do everything you can to give them the opportunities and outcomes they deserve. When your kids become adults they still need but those needs are different. They need to feel seen and heard and know they have a place in the world right along side the rest of us who are adulting (whether we like it or not). Part of giving autistic adults opportunities is making sure they have every option they should as adults. My daughter is able to save and spend enough to travel to another state. That is absolute “adulting” and she’s proud of herself for it.
The ability to save money similarly to any other adult is one item I can mark off our long list of things Ashlyn deserves as an adult. I can thank MiABLE for taking care of that for us. Now if they could just offer her a maid and a chauffeur at no cost we would really be all set!
To open a MiABLE account for someone with a disability present before age 26, you can visit the MiABLE site and click on “Get Started.”
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