This weekly newsletter is for parents, advocates, educators, therapists, service providers, policymakers, and anyone serious about better outcomes for special needs kids.
Miami skipped straight from Memorial Day weekend to full summer without asking anyone's permission. The air is thick, the school year is basically a memory, and somewhere in Kendall someone is already running their AC at 68 degrees and calling it reasonable.
Now let's get back to what we do every week. Our kids and our community are counting on us.
— Victor Antunez
Real Estate Professional 🧩 Autism Dadvocate
PS. If buying or selling a home has been on your mind lately, and you want to talk it through, feel free to text me anytime at (305) 401-6224 🔑
Today's Edition Includes:
Resource Spotlight: Advocacy Network on Disabilities
Wednesday Housing Q&A for Special Needs Families: Q: We named someone in our will to handle the house. Is that enough?
New Podcast Episode: Spectrum Alert — The Police Protocol Every Autism Parent Should Know
Project SOAR: A Miami Beach adult education program for young adults with unique abilities to transition into a post-secondary independent life.
Hometown Heroes: If you work as a BCBA, RBT, therapist, or in any healthcare role at a PPEC, autism center, or school, there's a Florida program that can put up to $35,000 toward your down payment and closing costs.
🔦 Resource Spotlight: Advocacy Network on Disabilities
Since 1975, this organization has been Miami-Dade’s lead agency for individuals with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities. That’s 50 years of showing up for this community before most people knew the work needed doing.
The Advocacy Network on Disabilities champions the rights of individuals with disabilities by promoting inclusion, providing direct services, and pushing for systems change at every level. Individual and family support, provider training, resource coordination, and advocacy are all under one roof.
If you’re a family trying to figure out what your loved one is entitled to, or a provider looking for tools and training, this is a resource worth knowing.
Comprehensive Guide to Scholarships, Grants, Schools, Healthcare, Therapy, and Recreation for Children & Adults with Disabilities
🏠 Wednesday Housing Q&A for Special Needs Families
Q: We named someone in our will to handle the house. Is that enough?
A: It’s a start, and for most families it’s where the plan ends, which is a problem.
Naming someone in a will means you’ve chosen who handles the house after you’re gone. What it doesn’t do is tell them what to do with it, how fast they need to move, what your child’s housing needs look like at that moment, or what the market in Miami-Dade is doing when they’re standing in the driveway trying to figure it out.
A will is a document. What the person you named actually needs is a conversation, and most families never have it. The executor finds out they’re the executor at the worst possible moment, when they’re grieving, when the house needs work, when the siblings don’t agree, and when a child with special needs is watching everything familiar start to shift.
The families who protect their child’s housing future don’t just name someone. They sit down with that person while they’re alive, while the house is in good shape, while the options are still open, and they walk through exactly what they want to happen and why.
A name in a will is not a plan. It’s the first line of one.
🏠 If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home, or you simply need experienced guidance, I deliver expert service and personalized support to help you reach your goals.
📲 Text or call me at (305) 401-6224
Victor Antunez
Real Estate Professional 🧩 Autism Dadvocate
PS. I created a concise housing checklist that shows where plans break down when life changes.
A Miami Beach Adult Education program for young adults with unique abilities to transition into a post-secondary independent life skills training with the goal of obtaining workforce training skills that may lead to employment.
If you work as a BCBA, an RBT, a therapist, or in any healthcare role at an autism center or PPEC, there’s a Florida program that can put up to $35,000 toward your down payment and closing costs, and most of the people who qualify for it don’t know it exists.
It’s called Hometown Heroes, and it was built for people doing exactly the kind of work you do.
The catch is that funding is limited and it runs out fast. If you’ve been thinking about buying a home in Miami-Dade, this is the conversation to have right now, not in the fall.
Text me directly and I’ll tell you in 5 minutes whether you qualify.
📲 (305) 401-6224
— Victor Antunez, Real Estate Professional
Helpful Resources Across Miami-Dade & Beyond 🏆
2-1-1 Miami: Information and resources for health and human services in Miami-Dade County
Advocacy Network on Disabilities: A community of individuals, families, providers, advocates and others working together to make change happen
Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD): Supports people with developmental disabilities in living, learning and working in their communities. Provides Medicaid waiver services. * APD Southeast Region Office
All Kids Included (AKI): Inclusive arts and cultural programs in school settings and throughout the community
FAAST – Florida Alliance for Assistive Services & Technology: Offers at no cost services that include information/assistance, device demonstrations, device trainings, and a short-term device lending library on a wide range of assistive technology (AT) tools, including Augmentative Alternative Communicacion (AAC). To support AT acquisition, equipment refurbishment and a financial loan program are also available for children and adults with disabilities and their caregivers.
Florida Ready App: AI-powered career discovery and guidance tool. Download the App Today!
Florida's Early Steps Program: Early intervention services for children from birth to 48 months who have developmental delays, disabilities, or at-risk conditions
Miami Dade College ACCESS Disability Services: Works to ensure equal access and opportunity throughout the college experience, by providing a variety of services that address a spectrum of disabilities.
Miami Dade College STAR Academy: A post-secondary transition program that supports students with intellectual disabilities and special needs in developing academic, social, and career skills.
Miami-Dade County: Adaptive Sports for Physical and/or Disabilities
Parent to Parent of Miami: Hope, help, and support for individuals with disabilities and their families
Play It Forward Toy Library: MDPLSlibrary cardholders can borrow toys that cater to diverse developmental stages
SAFE Vehicle Registration: Helps first responders better serve residents with medical or developmental conditions during emergency situations.
Sandra DeLucca Developmental Center (SDDC): Offers programs for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Services include Adult Day Training, Project SEARCH Miami, G.E.T. F.I.T., M.A.G.I.C., VIP S.T.A.A.R.S., and Camp Shriver.
The de Moya Foundation: Employment program for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities
PS. I help homeowners buy and sell homes in ways that protect long-term housing stability, financial security, and future independence. If you're thinking about buying, selling, or planning ahead, text me at (305) 401-6224
PSS. Your referrals are the biggest compliment you can give me.
This weekly newsletter is for parents, advocates, educators, therapists, service providers, policymakers, and anyone serious about better outcomes for special needs kids.
♿ Miami-Dade Disability & Autism Newsletter 🧩 Good morning, my fellow Miamians 🦩 Have a great Miami weekend. We've got a full edition for your weekend 🏖️ — Victor Antunez Real Estate Professional 🧩 Autism Dadvocate PS. If buying or selling a home has been on your mind lately, and you want to talk it through, feel free to text me anytime at (305) 401-6224 🔑 Here's what's inside the Friday Edition: Happening This Weekend: Where Miami families can go, connect, and enjoy themselves this weekend...
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♿ Miami-Dade Disability & Autism Newsletter 🧩 It's a new week and Miami is doing what it always does in June, showing up fully and without apology. We've got a full edition for our community today. Have a great Miami Monday! — Victor Antunez Real Estate Professional 🧩 Autism Dadvocate PS. If buying or selling a home has been on your mind lately, and you want to talk it through, feel free to text me anytime at (305) 401-6224 🔑 Today's Edition Includes: Disability News Headlines: Stories that...