Being a parent of a child with special needs is frustrating, there's no question about it. The system is confusing, opaque and sometimes it seems as if it has been deliberately designed to mislead. So I have a lot of sympathy and tolerance for frustration. But it bothers me when parents take a bullying approach to getting help for their child.
There does seem to be a subset of people who believe that only by being angry and aggressive will they get any results. They are rude, attacking whomever they are dealing with, regardless of whether or not the person has the authority to give them what they want or whether or not they are at fault for whatever perceived error has occurred.
Little hint from someone who has been on both sides of these issues? Being rude and aggressive does not get results. In fact, in increases the chances of having problems with the services your child needs because no one wants to spend the time to deal with the parents.
Generally, most autism related services are staffed by people who genuinely care about wanting to help children and families. Most of them have experience, either as parents directly or through other ways. They get how difficult the situation is.
We don't deserve to be called names, accused of profit-mongering off parents' misery or otherwise treated as the enemy. And, more importantly, it's not a good strategy.
Bullies, swallow your pride and try treating us with some courtesy and you'd be surprised how smoothly the path can go.
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