♿ Miami-Dade Disability & Autism Newsletter 🧩

Hurricane season opens today, which means every Miamian just remembered they never restocked the flashlight batteries from last year, the generator needs an oil change, and you don't want to be that guy standing in a 3 hour line at the gas station the morning after the storm because he forgot to fill up before it hit.

We've been through this before. We know what to do. And for families with special needs kids, the prep list looks a little different than everyone else's.

Tomorrow we're dropping a full hurricane preparedness guide built specifically for special needs families. You'll want that one. Keep an eye out 👀.

Be ready before you need to be... ⛈️

— 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:

1. Obituary: The Fire in Our Belly For Ruth Shack
2. Volunteer Opportunity: AMiGOS FOR KIDS
3. Monday Housing Q&A for Special Needs Families: Q: We're dealing with a property in probate. Why does it matter whether our real estate agent knows anything about probate?
4. Disability News Headlines: Stories that deserve our attention
5. This Week’s Inclusive Events Calendar: Programs and gatherings for the disability community
6. 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.

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Welcome to Miami 🏖️ Bienvenidos a Miami

There is a room at The Miami Foundation that bears Ruth Shack’s name. We meet in it multiple times every week. Its walls shape our conversations to make Miami more just and more alive, bear witness to our challenges, and house our celebrations.

We want to tell you about Ruth Shack, the leader. Not the résumé, but rather, her fire that lights the way for us at The Miami Foundation.

Ruth used to talk about what she called “the fire in the belly,” the conviction that must live inside any leader who aspires to live the courageous life she did. As a leader in the fight for equity in Miami-Dade, Ruth was clear-eyed about what it cost. She lived through the hazards being the face of something right but unpopular when she helped Miami-Dade become the first major urban area in the country to pass a measure to protect the gay community from discrimination. “My passion is what sustained me,” she told us once in her namesake room. “If you don’t believe deeply in it, don’t get out front, because you’ll get hurt. But as you get hurt, if you believe in it, there’s a sense of pride, a sense of accomplishment.”

She brought that same fire to this Foundation and built it into an institution that has already poured $900 million into the fabric of this community. Her philosophy still guides us. “If it didn’t bring people together, if it didn’t reach the grassroots,” she said, “we weren’t interested.”

Ruth secured funding to address the HIV/AIDS crisis when major funders were afraid to attach their names to it. She launched the Miami Fellows program because she knew that the most important investment a foundation could make was in the next generation of people who would love this “crazy, wonderful place” (her words) as fiercely as she did. She told us that the Fellows program was the proudest accomplishment of her philanthropic career.

Ruth even walked alongside us all the way through her final days.

The last time Ruth spoke to our team was just before our State of Black Philanthropy one year ago, when we invited her to share a leadership lesson in equity. Last week, we hosted our 11th annual State of Black Philanthropy and lifted Ruth’s name in our pre-event team huddle, carrying her with us into a night that said joyfully and clearly: Miami belongs to all of us.

Ruth, you told us last year that your work isn’t over yet. We heard you, not just about the Equal Rights Amendment, but about all of it. About this “remarkable place” that didn’t let you go after your honeymoon here. About the holes in the fabric that still need filling.

So here is what we want you to know: that “fire in your belly” now lives with us. As you reminded us, we will “stay close to the source” – our community. We will stay close to the changemakers and creators who count on us to put them at the center of what’s next. And we will work on issues – not based on their popularity – but based on their ability to bring people together and help our community move forward.

Your work isn’t over, Ruth. It’s just ours now.

​Posted by The Miami Foundation on May 27, 2026​

📚 FREE Resource Directory 📚

​Miami-Dade Special Needs Resource Directory​

​​Comprehensive Guide to Scholarships, Grants, Schools, Healthcare, Therapy, and Recreation for Children & Adults with Disabilities

📚 FREE Book Download 📚

​The Ultimate Home Buying Guide for Families with Special Needs​

🏠 Monday Housing Q&A for Special Needs Families

Q: We're dealing with a property in probate. Why does it matter whether our real estate agent knows anything about probate?

A: Because probate doesn’t slow down for an agent who’s learning on the job.

A real estate agent who hasn’t worked probate before walks into that situation and sees a listing. An agent who knows probate walks in and sees a timeline, a set of court requirements, and a family that’s grieving and needs someone who can move without being managed.

The difference shows up fast. Pricing a probate home wrong, high because the family remembers what it was worth, or low because the agent wants a quick close, has consequences that follow the family long after the sale. For a family with a special needs sibling depending on those proceeds, a mispriced sale isn’t a disappointment, it’s a funding shortfall that nobody planned for.

An agent with probate experience also knows which professionals in Miami-Dade understand how these sales intersect with special needs planning. They know how to coordinate a process that has more moving parts than a standard listing, more stakeholders, more emotion, and less margin for error.

Most families don’t know to ask whether their agent has done this before. They find out the answer when something goes sideways and the agent goes quiet.

The home your family is selling funded someone’s life. It deserves an agent who understands what it needs to fund next.

🏠 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.

Review the housing checklist

👇👇👇

📝 Disability News Headlines

1. ​2 University of Miami law students students develop lawyering skills and take on barriers for child with autism
2. ​Assistive technology allows independent living for people with disabilities
3. ​Clinical trial seeks to advance intuitive assistive robotics for people with paralysis
4. ​Detecting Autism Early: Duke researchers who developed a digital screening tool are now awaiting FDA approval
5. ​Florida Autism Education Bill Signed Into Law by DeSantis
6. ​Homeschooling My Neurodivergent Child: What’s Working For Us
7. ​Louisville parents hide camera in son's hair to capture alleged abuse of their autistic child
8. ​Miami-Dade County Parks leads way for a more accessible future
9. ​New Study Identifies Different Biological Subtypes of Autism
10. ​New urine test may spot autism risk in children ages 2 to 11
11. ​Scientists reveal new link in autism diagnoses, and it's not Tylenol
12. ​Short Naps, Long Hours: How Autism Clinics Squeeze Medicaid Dollars Out of Preschoolers​
13. ​The Deadliest Minutes: Why autism cases demand faster alerts

🫶🏼 This Week's Inclusive Events

​Thursday: 'Mi Hija Ee Astronauta' (My Daughter is an Astronaut) The story of Lucía, diagnosed with autism, doctors said she wouldn't walk, then they said she wouldn't talk. She does both. Live show 830pm at Trail Theater, 3715 SW 8 Street. 👉 Tickets 🎟️

​Saturday: CHILL ACT MIAMI 10am to 530pm Special Needs & Homeschool Expo at James L. Knight Center. FREE

Saturday

​Saturday: Amigos for Kids Community Food Distribution 845am - 1pm at José Martí Park, 51 SW 4 St

EVERY THURSDAY

EVERY SATURDAY

EVERY SUNDAY

​Miller Ranch Inclusive Farm Day 10am - 12pm, planting, hay rides, pony rides, petting zoo, owned & operated by autism parents, 5375 SW 122 Ave, kids FREE

👍 Days & Times May Vary — Confirm Before Going 👀

🙏 A little help please. Do you know of events or resources in Miami-Dade that disability families should know about?

• Sensory-friendly activities
• Community events open to all
• Adaptive sports or recreation
• Workshops or classes for kids or adults
• Resource or information sessions
• School or therapy center open houses
• Potential podcast guests

🎯 Hit reply and I'll include it.

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