Melissa Monteith

When someone you love with disabilities reaches the age of 22, the school supports you have relied on disappear, and the real journey begins, navigating the complex and often overwhelming world of adult services. This book is your essential survival guide.

Designed to empower caregivers with confidence and equip them with the skills needed for this transition, it contains practical advice, timelines, checklists, and a generous dash of humor. Here is how this guide can support you:

• Understand the transition process and what to expect.

• Prepare for life after 22 with comprehensive checklists, timelines, and templates.

• Apply for services like DDS, SSI, Medicaid, and more (without losing your mind).
• Navigate common roadblocks, detours, and waiting lists.

• Learn to balance the emotional ups and downs of this life-altering transition.

• Advocate for your child while keeping your sanity intact.
• Prepare for their future after you are gone.

Whether you are wrestling with endless paperwork, juggling appointments, or just trying to figure out how to plan a future for your child, this book has your back. Because navigating the system is tough, but you are tougher.

With a dedicated chapter full of tools and state resources, Bootcamp for the Brave is the ultimate survival guide for parents facing the daunting reality of aging-out services. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but most importantly, you will feel empowered to build a meaningful future for your child.

New teachers, experienced teachers, retired teachers. They’ll all be inspired and re-energized by these 101 stories about what matters most—knowing that they make a difference. You’ll laugh along with their adventures, tear up over their heartwarming experiences, and feel proud… because it all starts with teachers.

These stories remind us that teachers have a lasting impact. And these writers share the best lessons they learned from the ups and downs of their educational journeys. It’s a fascinating look inside the classrooms of teachers—from preschool to high school and beyond — and how teachers truly shape the future.

This collection is a gift to all the teachers out there—a fun, moving read and a big thank you for all they do!