Grants or scholarships for autistic scholars or educators?

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DiscoSoup
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

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Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 55

03 Dec 2019, 11:53 am

Hi, all,
I'm looking to see if anyone is aware of any scholarship support designed for autistic people? Right now I'm a paraeducator who works mainly in special ed. I'm also autistic. Apparently I'm getting a reputation in my district. I met a school psychologist a couple weeks back who says that she's heard about me, and that admins and counselors are saying that they want me to get teaching certification.

Thing is that I don't have a degree. I went to college briefly in 2003 to become a firefighter. I'd already gone through the fire academy. The OSHA doctor said that being epileptic disqualified me from being a firefighter. After that I got very depressed and did not finish my degree. That was in the first semester, and I doubt that I have any credits to transfer.

Anyway,now I'm in my mid-30s and trying to transition from my career as a copywriter to something more fulfilling and stable. I've found that I love working with special needs kids. It's kind of like giving back and helping the next generation.

Because of some terrible stuff with copywriting, specifically how you can go months without work at a time, I'm not in a good financial situation. We managed to pay off almost all of our debt and basically still have just car payments, but my credit is not good now.

I'm looking for foundations that give grants or scholarships to people who are seeking to get teaching degrees, especially in high-demand fields, or for autistic scholars seeking degrees.

I looked up FAFSA and it looks like I could pay for almost all of the yearly tuition using it, but as the head of a household there are more expenses to consider.

Does anyone here have some advice or links to funding sources for education?

Thanks in advance.