♿ Miami-Dade Disability & Autism Newsletter 🧩

Good morning, my fellow Miamians 🦩

Florida's new school laws bring autism-specific training to teachers, and a family got their brother back safe after nearly 2 weeks. Here at home, Adaptive Beach Day put beachgoers with disabilities on the sand and in the surf at Miami Beach.

On the podcast: what fathers of children with Down syndrome worry about most, in their own words. And if housing is anywhere on your family's radar, the 3 questions below are the ones I get asked again and again.

Today's Edition Includes

1. 3 Housing Questions Special Needs Families Ask Me Again and Again
2. Disability News Headlines
3. New Podcast Episode: What Fathers of Children With Down Syndrome Worry About Most

Victor Antunez | 305.401.6224

Real Estate Professional 🔑 Autism Dadvocate

PS. If buying or selling a home is on your mind, and you want to talk it through, text or call me at (305) 401-6224

PSS. Nothing means more than a real estate referral. If someone comes to mind, please send them my way.

🖇️ FREE BOOK DOWNLOADS​​

1. ​​​Future-Proofing Your Special Needs Child: Essential Legal, Financial, and Life Strategies for Florida Families​
2. ​Miami-Dade Special Needs Resource Directory​
3. ​The Ultimate Home Buying Guide For Families with Special Needs​

3 Housing Questions Special Needs Families Ask Me Again and Again 🏠

Every week, families raising a child with a disability bring me the same 3 housing questions. They come from different neighborhoods and lifestyles, but the questions don't change.

Whose name goes on the deed? The question with the most riding on it. A home titled in the name of an adult child who receives SSI and Medicaid can push them past the $2,000 asset limit that keeps both in place, so families use a special needs trust to hold the home instead. Which trust, and how it's funded, is the attorney conversation to have before the purchase.

Can they stay in this home at 25? Families buy for the child they have today. The better question is the adult that child becomes, whether the neighborhood still holds the providers, the program, and the routine their adult child will depend on.

What happens to the home when we're gone? The home is usually the largest asset in the estate, and how it passes, and to whom, decides whether it protects the child or costs them their benefits. That's the estate plan, and it works best when it's written before it's needed.

If one of these questions is yours, reply to this email or text me at (305) 401-6224. And if you know a family asking the same things, forward them this issue.

Victor Antunez | 305.401.6224

Real Estate Professional 🔑 Autism Dadvocate

PS. Got a housing question, benefits, timing, whether a move even makes sense? Text or call me. You'll get a straight answer you can plan around.

PSS. If you know a family trying to figure out housing around a child's needs, send them my way. They'll get someone who speaks their language from day 1.

📝 Disability News Headlines

1. ​A decade of inclusive education in Miami: What we’ve learned and what comes next | Opinion
2. ​A First in American History: What the Education Freedom Tax Credit Could Unlock for Autism Families
3. ​Autism Speaks' research database grows to nearly 16,000 genomes with new cohorts from South Korea, Canada and the U.S.
4. ​Cursive writing and autism-specific teacher training among new laws for the new school year
5. ​Family elated after loved one with autism is found safe nearly 2 weeks later
6. ​Hearing Every Word: The role of assistive listening is expanding in Pro AV projects
7. ​Infections at birth substantially increase the risk of autism and intellectual disability
8. ​NEET with a disability: What's holding back visually impaired young people who want to work
9. ​Newborn girls and boys show different attention patterns within hours of birth
10. ​People with disabilities enjoy sand and surf during Sabrina Cohen Adaptive Beach Day
11. ​Robot Therapies for Autistic Children Face a Hard Ethical Reckoning
12. ​Study finds broad range of chemical exposures in primary teeth of children with autism
13. ​What Is the Likelihood of Autism in the Children of Unaffected Siblings?

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE 🎧

What Fathers of Children With Down Syndrome Worry About Most

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