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Join Us For These Free Expert Conversations
Experiential Life is a community for families raising neurodivergent children.
Each month we host conversations with experts, advocates, and parents who help families navigate education systems, disability services, financial planning, and long-term support.
These conversations are free and open to anyone who wants to learn alongside us.
When Is the Right Time To Plan For Your Neurodivergent Child's Future?
Future planning for a neurodivergent child can feel overwhelming, confusing, and impossible to start.
Between school, therapies, paperwork, and daily life, most families simply don’t know where to begin.
You’re not alone.
This conversation exists to help you take the first clear step.
📅 March 12, 2026
⏰ 12pm EST
⏱ 60 minutes
📍 Live on Zoom
Save Your Seat Today
The replay lives inside the Experiential Life App.
What This Conversation Helps With
Future planning can feel like a maze of systems and decisions – financial planning, benefits, housing, legal planning, and long-term support.
In this conversation, Eric Jorgensen will help families understand how to approach future planning without trying to solve everything at once.
Eric is the former Director of Special Projects at First Maryland Disability Trust and parent of a disabled adult.
You’ll learn how to:
✔️ Identify when families should start planning
✔️ Avoid the most common mistakes families make
✔️ Understand financial and legal considerations for long-term support
✔️ Think about housing, benefits, and independence
Future planning isn’t about having every answer today.
It’s about knowing where to begin – and what actually matters right now.
Who This Is For
This conversation is especially helpful if you are:
• raising a neurodivergent child entering middle school or high school
• starting to think about adulthood, benefits, or independence
• unsure what planning should happen now vs later
• feeling overwhelmed by the number of systems involved
ABLE To Save For Your Neurodivergent Child
Is $2,000 enough for you to survive at any given time?
The answer is probably “no…”
And yet – disabled people who receive SSI and Medicaid benefits cannot have assets that exceed $2,000 or they risk losing them.
That’s why we’re talking about ABLE accounts with Kelly Nelson from Maryland ABLE.
We’ll walk through how families use ABLE accounts to support financial autonomy and avoid common, yet costly mistakes.
Join us for free for a live conversation with Kelly Nelson:
📅 March 31, 2026
⏰ 12pm EST
📍 Live on Zoom
Many families don’t realize things like:
• A cash gift can accidentally push a disabled person over the SSI asset limit
• Work income can risk lifesaving benefits
• Money saved in the wrong place can limit how it can be used later
ABLE accounts are one of the simplest tools families can use to save, spend, and teach financial literacy without immediately risking benefits.
When Services Change, Telling Your Caregiving Story Matters
Live Workshop | May 19, 2026 | 12pm EST | Zoom
You tell your story constantly.
To teachers. To providers. To case managers. To strangers who hold power over your child’s support.
But most caregivers are never taught how to tell that story in a way that leads to real change – in a way that engages the listener, initiates action, and leads to solutions that will work for your neurodivergent child.
This workshop exists to change that.
Details
🗓 Date: May 19, 2026
⏰ Time: 12pm EST
⏱ Length: 60 minutes (interactive)
📍 Live on Zoom
Reserve Your Seat Today
This interactive workshop helps you take the caregiving story you already tell – again and again – and turn it into a clear, intentional advocacy tool so your child gets the services and accommodations they need.
You’ll learn how to:
- Clarify what part of your story matters most in different situations
- Adjust your message depending on who’s listening (schools, providers, agencies)
- Remove emotional labor that doesn’t move the system
- Advocate without feeling like you’re constantly starting over
This isn’t about polishing your trauma.
It’s about using your lived experience strategically – and sustainably.
Who This Is For
- Parents and caregivers navigating school, healthcare, or service systems
- Families preparing for IEP meetings, appeals, or policy conversations
- Caregivers who are tired of repeating themselves without seeing change
- Anyone who wants to advocate with confidence for their neurodivergent child and other families like theirs
Facilitated By
Pattie Archuleta is a Maryland-based Certified Professional Life Coach, facilitator, and consultant focused on empowering families impacted by behavioral or special health needs. She is the parent of a young adult with autism and a history of pediatric epilepsy and a former Project Director for Family Voices. Her work centers on helping families use their voices to influence systems – without burning out.