Rebuild Our Aspie Family

Hi. I am Tara. I am coming to you asking for help for my family. I do not know if this will work, but I truly hope that someone reads and is able to help.

My husband and I have two sons, Tyler is 13 and Marshall is 7 months. Tyler and I have Asperger's. Marshall shows some signs of it but our family doctor says it is to early to tell. We may be different but we like it that way. My husband works full time at a local hotel as a front desk clerk and night audit. I am currently unemployed as I have no one to babysit for me at this time. I was attending college until my pregnancy with Marshall. I will be unable to return until we are able to get on our feet.

My Mom passed away the weekend before Thanksgiving this past year. She was more involved in my daily life than I realized. She was our support. She motivated us, encouraged us and pushed us to always do our best. Without her, we have discovered our disorganization and our need for her constant encouragement. I mostly miss our talks and her advice. There were still so many things that I had not learned from her, about her. I miss her. 

Since her death, we have slowly watched as things fall apart and we are powerless to do anything about it. My Dad was laid off from work and has been unable to find employment this past year. He is 60 years old and a skilled carpenter but is now somewhat limited as to what types of physical activity he can do. No disrespect Dad, you just are not as young as you used to be, but you are an even more skillful craftsman than you ever were before. (If anyone in our area needs a new deck or some remodelling done, my Dad has lots of references and great work history. He also builds mandolins. Beautiful instruments with an amazing sound. He can build according to price also. Contact for more information.)

We have to move by May 13. We thought it was May 1st, but we received the official notice and it states that we have until 2pm on May 13th.

We can afford to maintain a dwelling. Our problem is that we had no savings. Due to the economy in our area, we have been living from paycheck to paycheck. And we used our tax money to work on our credit.

We need to find and secure a new home as quickly as possible though because we do not deal well with change. Particularly my oldest son, Tyler. He will be starting high school next school year so he is already more nervous than usual since this school year is almost up. He needs a stable environment as quickly as possible so he can be ready for his big adventure in high school. He is an honors student and considered gifted. I wish to nurture him and help him to reach his potential. I hope to prevent anything that could worsen his recent loss of his Grandmother. And even though this is extremely difficult for me and I really don't think I have had a moment to breath lately, I have to be strong for my family so that we can make it through this chaotic time in our life.

One of our concerns is that we can receive some initial help to move into a home if we live in Bristol, Virginia. But, my son has an IEP in place and we are already in contact with his counselor for his future high school. They are prepared for him. They have attended his IEP meeting and are ready to help Tyler to succeed. They agree to all of his IEP and they have a good history of working with teens with special needs. There is a $5,000 tuition for him to remain in that school. We do not wish for him to attend the other high school. We feel that he is finally comfortable with the idea that he has to leave his current school and he has dealt with so many major changes in the past couple of years that he will be more stable at the school he has been anticipating.

This donation will help us to start a new life. We need as much help and encouragement as we can get. And we appreciate, even if you cannot donate money, notes of encouragement. Sometimes it feels like everything is just falling in around us. But when someone encourages you a little bit, it just changes our whole day to a positive outlook.

I believe that we have great potential to succeed with all of the wisdom and knowledge that my mother has passed on to us. And as a family, we are strong together. It has been difficult but we have made it this far. So I ask, please, if you can help, please help us to establish a new home for our family. Please help us to succeed and grow even more as a family.

Thank you for even taking the time to read this.I truly appreciate the fact that you are even on this site looking to help someone. Please help us.

Tara Hughes and family, Gary, Tyler and Marshall

I will add that this request of $1500 will help us to begin a new life. But we have a number of issues that we still will struggle with. Both my husband and I need extensive dental work and no access to dental insurance and no ability to have it all done. (More than likely have them pulled and wear dentures or a partial) I have to be sedated for my dental work as I have sensory issues and cannot handle having dental work done. Not many people offer that and the free dental clini that comes once a year does not offer it at all. My husband will be attending that in May of this year so he will have some work done, but not all of it.

My son Tyler is in band. They are taking a trip to Florida in May and we are short on his trip money although we have worked for some of it and sold a ton of candy bars for it as well. We still have not met his goal. This would be his first big trip with band. I am terrified for him, but I know he would enjoy it. All kids love Disney World. I am finding out from the school if they have anything available to help him with what he lacks but I have not heard back yet.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If you need some references to verify anything, I can provide those. Anything you wish to know, please ask.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this site and read our request.