Bright Feats Northeast Florida - Jacksonville

08/13/2026

Save the Date! Home School Open House Wednesday, November 4 - Registration Opens September 8 at the link below.

https://www.whitney.ufl.edu/education/k-12-school-programs/

08/12/2026

Family Care Council Area 4 Meeting & Virtual Listening Session

Your voice can shape the future of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our community.

Do you have questions about APD services? Have you experienced barriers to accessing supports? Is there something you wish decision-makers understood?

Join Family Care Council Area 4 for our upcoming virtual meeting and Community Listening Session. Whether you're a self-advocate, family member, caregiver, provider, or community partner, your experiences matter.

🗓 Tuesday, August 19, 2026
🕚 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Meeting Schedule
✅ 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: APD Updates & Questions (business meeting ends promptly at noon)

🗣️ 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Community Listening Session
Your feedback helps identify service gaps, improve supports, and inform advocacy and policy recommendations that impact individuals and families across our region.

🎤 Want to speak during the Listening Session or submit anonymous feedback in advance? Register here:
https://form.jotform.com/fccarea4/family-listening-session-participan

💻 Join the Meeting:
https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/267674231514269?p=nGjv13D2O
Meeting ID: 267 674 231 514 269
Passcode: 7yD3v9xH

Please help us spread the word by liking, commenting, and sharing this post so we can hear from as many individuals and families as possible. Every story matters, and every voice makes a difference.

08/12/2026

📣 Calling All Vendors!
Applications are now open for the 10th Annual Connecting the Dots Conference - one of Northeast Florida's largest resource and education events for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, developmental delays, medical complexities, and their families.

This is your opportunity to connect directly with hundreds of families, self-advocates, educators, providers, community organizations, and professionals who are looking for resources, services, and innovative solutions.

We're seeking vendors representing:
✅ Early Intervention & Education
✅ Therapy & Healthcare Services
✅ Employment & Transition Supports
✅ Housing & Independent Living
✅ Financial & Future Planning
✅ Public Benefits & Social Security
✅ Legal Resources & Guardianship
✅ Community Programs & Family Supports
…and more!

⭐ Special Opportunity: A limited number of self-advocate entrepreneurs will be selected to participate in our Community Entrepreneur Marketplace.

📅 Conference Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
📍 The Schultz Center – Jacksonville, FL

⏰ Vendor applications are due by Friday, August 28, 2026, at midnight.

📌 Please note:

• Submitting an application does not guarantee vendor placement.

• If you already submitted a presentation proposal and selected Vendor, you do not need to complete a separate vendor application.

Scan the QR code or apply using the link below and join us as we celebrate 10 years of Connecting the Dots and strengthening our community together! https://form.jotform.com/tlcarcsj/10th-CTD-VendorRegistration

08/08/2026

✨ Your future starts with opportunity!

Join us for Applying for Vocational Rehabilitation Services and discover how Florida VR can help young adults with disabilities build confidence, independence, career skills, and pathways to higher education. 💙

Families, caregivers, and students will learn how VR supports life after high school through career exploration, job training, and more.

🗓 August 11
⏰ 12–1 p.m.
🔗 https://ow.ly/3aZl50YWcqf

Together, we can help young adults take meaningful steps toward a successful future. 🌟

08/08/2026

Trigger Warning: This post discusses elopement, accidental death, substance use, mental health crises, and gun violence because it is time we talk about the bigger picture.

Yes, intensive therapy for children with autism is expensive. We get it. Providing hours of individualized, hands-on support in a child’s natural environment requires trained professionals, time, and significant resources.

But we also need to talk about the cost of not providing it.

What is the cost when a child who elopes ends up in a canal, and an entire family and community is left grieving? What is the cost of treating addiction years later when someone turned to substances to cope with emotions and challenges they never learned how to manage? What is the cost of repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, emergency-room visits, residential treatment, involvement with law enforcement, caregiver burnout, lost employment, or lifelong dependence when earlier intervention could have helped build communication, safety, coping, and independence?

And what is the cost to a community when a young person who has spent years feeling isolated, bullied, misunderstood, or unable to regulate overwhelming anxiety reaches a crisis point- and that crisis becomes violence?

To be clear, autism does not cause violence, and autistic people should never be stigmatized as dangerous. The point is that untreated mental health needs, whether that is for a child with autism or a neurotypical child struggling with abuse, trauma, etc, profound social isolation, bullying, lack of coping skills, and inadequate access to appropriate supports can have consequences- for autistic and non-autistic people alike.

We spend enormous amounts of money responding to crises after they happen. Yet we continue creating barriers to the therapies designed to teach skills before the crisis: communication, emotional regulation, safety awareness, self-care, social connection, and independence.

Fraud, waste, and abuse should absolutely be investigated. But accountability cannot come at the expense of access. When legitimate providers cannot survive prolonged prepayment reviews and audits, and children lose medically necessary services as a result, families ultimately pay the price- and eventually, communities do too.

The question shouldn't simply be, “How much does this therapy cost?”

It should also be: “What will it cost if we don't provide it?”

08/07/2026

08/06/2026

When your partners, partner🫶