HUDSON, Fla. (WFLA) — Two weeks ago, a harrowing incident unfolded on State Road 52 in Pasco County, where 10-year-old Asher Thompson was struck by two vehicles while riding his bike. Initially, the outlook from doctors was grim, as they feared for his survival.

The tragic event, later deemed an accident, led the Florida Highway Patrol to decide against charging the drivers involved in the unfortunate collision.

The community stands by, offering prayers and support, as one mother hopes for a miracle to pull her child through this life-threatening ordeal.

“I want everyone’s world to be changed by the miracle that God’s working in him, because he shouldn’t have made it through the accident,” expressed Almeida, clinging to hope and faith for her son’s recovery.

According to his mother, Jackie Almeida, the young boy’s predicament began when an unsettling incident at a nearby Circle K caused him to inadvertently veer into oncoming traffic. The accident left him with a brain bleed and multiple broken bones, necessitating a medically induced coma at Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa.

“He’s already doing things that they said he’d never do. I just believe he’s just going to keep getting better,” Almeida said.

After being on life support in the hospital for weeks, Thompson responded to stimuli for the first time this weekend. The young boy opened his eyes, moved, and responded to light. His family believes it could be the start of a miraculous recovery.

“So much faith. So much love. We are right by his side every day,” Almeida said.

WASHINGTON – For many years, individuals with disabilities have strived to secure their rights to education and integration with non-disabled peers. However, there is growing concern that these hard-won achievements are under threat amidst policies from the Trump administration.

In a move raising eyebrows, the Department of Education recently indicated its intention to shift the responsibility for overseeing special education to the Department of Health and Human Services. This transition, under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has sparked criticism due to his controversial remarks about disabilities like autism, drawing the ire of both advocates and legislators.

Simultaneously, in alignment with the White House’s heightened scrutiny on homelessness, the Department of Justice unveiled new guidelines. These guidelines effectively lower the threshold for institutionalizing individuals with disabilities.

Advocates assert that, cumulatively, these policy shifts suggest a troubling regression to an era when people with disabilities were sidelined in society.

Selene Almazan, legal director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, expressed deep concerns, stating, “This constitutes a direct attack on the rights of individuals with disabilities to lead their lives as those without disabilities do. The notion that our country would choose to revisit such outdated practices is unimaginable.”

The move away from confining people with disabilities

Since the 1960s, legislation and court decisions have progressively expanded supports and protections for people with disabilities to go to school with nondisabled peers and to live and work in their communities. Before that, people with mental illnesses or developmental and intellectual disabilities were largely confined to institutions.

Advocates have pushed back on what’s known as the “medical model,” where an individual’s disability is viewed as a defect to be cured. Instead, under a “social model” of disability, differences can be accommodated and supported, as people with and without disabilities learn and work alongside each other.

Families and advocates have warned that moving special education to a health department marks a return to the medical model. They’ve also been angered by Kennedy’s attempts to link vaccines to autism, going against decades of research that show no such link, and his framing of autism as a debilitating disease.

Kennedy’s comments last year, where he said children with autism would never write a poem, pay taxes or hold a job, raised questions about how he would oversee an agency meant to help students develop those skills. Kennedy later said he was referring to people with ” severe autism ″ or those who are nonverbal.

“Many of the things he said autistic people will never do, (special education) is in charge of making sure students with disabilities have the opportunity to do,” said Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “Will he execute that faithfully, or does he consider disabled students a lost cause until we find some medical cure?”

The Supreme Court weighs in

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that segregating disabled people who are otherwise able to live in their community with proper supports was a form of discrimination. The Olmstead v. L.C. decision led to requirements that government agencies provide disability services in the most integrated setting possible — in mainstream schools, homes and workplaces.

But in a memo issued in June, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel upended that guidance. It argued that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act nor Section 504, two major disability rights laws, requires states to provide services in the most mainstream setting. While the memo does not change the law, it signals how federal agencies may interpret and enforce civil rights issues related to the topic — and it could embolden states or school districts to decline to support people with disabilities in mainstream environments.

The White House has already acted on a similar philosophy. Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on homelessness that endorsed civil commitment, where a court orders individuals into involuntary hospitalization or treatment programs. Trump directed HHS to reduce barriers to institutionalizing people with mental illnesses.

In its memo, the Justice Department acknowledged its interpretation of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision is “out of step” with the common understanding. If a state starts to provide services in institutional settings, legal challenges likely would follow, the DOJ said.

The Trump administration’s steps fit a worldview in which the government has no obligation to support people with disabilities, said Claudia Center, legal director at Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

“It’s dark, and it’s awful,” Center said. “And I think it’s contrary to the majority view in our country. … It’s out of touch with where our society is.”

Families say their kids thrive in mainstream classes

The moves have created a deep sense of uncertainty for students with disabilities.

Lindsey Althaus says home and community-based services in northwest Ohio have been instrumental to her family. Her 12-year-old son, Whitman, has autism and a neurological disorder called apraxia, in which the brain struggles to tell muscles how to move to form words or perform other motor skills. For some of his school career, with proper support services, Whitman was able to spend much of his school day in a classroom that included kids without disabilities.

Through a Medicaid waiver program, Althaus pays her mother to care for Whitman in her absence. That allows him to spend time out in the community with his grandmother while Althaus and her husband are working or away with their daughter.

Under the Justice Department’s new interpretation of Olmsted, states would have fewer obligations to fund and support those programs. And Kennedy, in testimony to lawmakers on Capitol Hill earlier this year, criticized similar programs as subject to fraud.

“We want to be able to have him in the community,” said Althaus, who works as a disability rights advocate. “It’s just starting to feel like Whitman’s not going to be welcome anymore. We’re going back to this: You’re either perfect, or you’re not in the light.”

For many students with disabilities, schools are where they receive the majority of support services and where they are integrated among their peers. Before Magda Nakassis’s 8-year-old son, who is autistic and nonverbal, started public school in Maryland, his preschool experience had largely been defined by being kicked out of things, she said.

In school, Nakassis said, she found teachers and staff members who understood her son’s needs and told her to stop apologizing for them. A program at his school called Fantastic Friends teaches mainstream fifth graders about autism, and they spend recesses with children in the autism program. Every year, Nakassis said, there is a waitlist to be a Fantastic Friend.

Nakassis said that it has been difficult to see the ways autism in particular has become politicized. Every child is entitled to a public education in this country, Nakassis said, and special education is a response to the fact that some children have differences that require additional support.

Regardless of his diagnosis, his right to an education is not a medical issue, she said, but rather a question of equity and access in a society that often pushes disabled people to the margins.

“There are lots of kids like him out there, and I sometimes wonder, ‘what did we use to do?’” Nakassis said. “I can’t believe it was better.”

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

DAMASCUS, Va. (WJHL) — During a recent visit to Damascus, Virginia, Senator Mark Warner surveyed the ongoing construction efforts along the renowned Creeper Trail. Engaging with locals, Warner sought insights on how to invigorate the town’s economic landscape.

The senator reflected on the town’s resilient spirit in the face of past adversities. “This town faced more than just a hundred-year flood. I recall visiting shortly after Hurricane Helene, and the devastation was overwhelming,” remarked Warner to News Channel 11. “Witnessing the current progress is incredible. Although sometimes government initiatives falter, this situation stands as a testament to government efficacy. It’s crucial that the project remains on track and is completed timely.”

While uncertainties linger regarding the full reopening of the Creeper Trail, local residents eagerly sought Warner’s support in expanding the business opportunities within the region.

Addressing the timeline for the trail’s opening, Warner expressed the importance of community input. “Should we partially open the trail in November or wait until spring? It’s a decision best left to the community,” he stated. Warner also suggested leveraging regional talent and garnering attention through local fame. “Having a background in bike racing myself, perhaps we could bring some cycling professionals here. It’s about re-establishing the trail as a destination and reminding everyone that the Creeper Trail is ready for visitors.”

Once fully operational, the Creeper Trail promises to be a catalyst for growth, extending its benefits well beyond the borders of Damascus.

“That doesn’t just help Damascus or Abingdon. You know, if people come to the region that will stay for days. You know the Crooked Road Music Heritage Trail, you know, that offers a number of venues,” Sen. Warner told news Channel 11. “This could be the anchor, but you could also get up to the Breaks Park. You can also get on a cart or fold. There’s just a lot of things that we could do.”

The U.S. Forest Service hopes to have the Creeper Trail open by March 1, 2027.