Accessible Charlotte

10/24/2026

10/22/2026

10 billion dollar industry!!! I’m convinced ABA clinics are the rich folk’s new investment playgrounds

Minutes after an autistic 3-year-old lay her head on a Squishmallow stuffed toy and closed her eyes, Abigayle Hosking was ordered to take the makeshift pillow away and rouse the sleepy girl.

The child was scheduled for four more hours of autism therapy at the Centria Healthcare clinic in Michigan where Hosking worked until last year.

Hosking said she felt terrible. “The younger kids, you know, I think they need a break,” she said.

Medicaid plans and private insurers will often pay for up to about 40 hours of autism therapy a week, and shut-eye doesn’t count. At Centria and some other large chains backed by private-equity investors, former employees said in interviews that they felt pressure to maximize therapy hours, claims the companies dispute.

“It’s simple business math,” said Philip Painter, a physician who briefly served as chief medical officer at Centria. “You want to maximize the number of hours the child is doing.”

Medicaid programs financed by state and federal taxpayers paid $10 billion for autism therapy last year, up from around $2 billion in 2021, driven in part by increasing numbers of treatment hours per patient.

In autism therapy, treatment hours are supposed to be tailored to each patient’s needs, but there is debate about how much is warranted.

See the data showing how some private-equity-backed autism companies billed far more therapy hours than rivals:

🔗 https://on.wsj.com/4ivWAU6

10/16/2026

10/05/2026

Local, quality affordable work by my friend ❤️

10/02/2026

Overdue!

For a decade, wheelchair users on Medicare who wanted a titanium or carbon fiber frame have had to cover the entire cost themselves.

That's changing. On Sept. 30, the Senate passed the Choices for Increased Mobility Act (H.R. 1703). It cleared the House in July, and now it heads to the president's desk.

Once it becomes law, Medicare must create separate billing codes for carbon fiber and titanium frames by Jan. 1, 2028, so you pay only the difference for an ultralight frame. It costs taxpayers nothing.

This happened because of you. Advocates carried this bill into congressional offices at Roll on Capitol Hill, then kept the pressure on with messages to their senators.

Thank you to Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., for leading the way.

We'll keep you posted as the bill is signed and as Medicare builds the new codes. Follow along for updates. And in the meantime, join our Grassroots Advocacy Network to continue the momentum: https://unitedspinal.org/grassroots-advocacy-network/

10/02/2026

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department 👀👀

When an autistic child or adult goes missing, the first hours matter, and the people searching need to know where to look and how to approach.

Starting today, Maryland’s LEAD Act requires that police training include how to support people with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and dementia. That includes how to locate someone who is wandering or missing, how to search near bodies of water, sensory-aware approaches, reunification with family, documentation and coordination between agencies. The training is required for new officers at the academy, and the state’s police training commission will decide how it’s rolled out to officers already serving.

It won’t change every encounter overnight, but water is one of the biggest fears for families of kids who wander, and it’s now written into how Maryland police are trained.

Does your local police department train officers on autism? 👇

📰 : Maryland General Assembly, HB 634 (Chapter 658, 2026)

10/01/2026

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09/28/2026

A Charlotte mother says her autistic son wandered away from Long Creek Elementary School in May after an incident during lunch in the school’s cafeteria.

Details --> https://bitl.to/640B