PSA:
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I have learned more about the system - not just the services available but how EASY IT IS TO GET LOST IN IT.
And most who haven't gone this route - especially in today's world - have no clue.
If you are navigating it in any way, KEEP SPEAKING OUT.
BE LOUD.
This is how I was finally able to get SEEN.
And it has taken me MONTHS.
And even at that often you are told "try this place we can't help".
Be prepared to be bounced around like a hot potato.
It's very disheartening - especially when others in your life are telling you to contact these very same places and offering up no real help other than that.
OMG the frustration we feel!!

The lack of organization and the chaos is mind-blowing and at times unprofessional and impersonal - which is the last thing someone in desperate need wants to experience.
You have to fight for your right to get access to available assistance.
The competition is ugly.
Here's an example that happened today (that shows you need to never assume you have been seen or heard - to NOT wait - and to KEEP PUSHING):
I heard about a particular program over 2 months ago.
I said I was interested at that time.
6 weeks later I finally hear from someone on the phone, who then sent me an email, asking me to respond back if I was still interested in pursuing the program further after reading the email. I wrote back that moment and said yes I was interested.

I had not yet heard back until today.
When the SAME PERSON sent me the SAME email asking if I was interested, to respond back.
Greeting me as though we had never spoken (when we had - via phone AND email as mentioned).
I wrote back saying we had had this conversation - and I said YES i was STILL interested in an assessment and had been waiting for that contact for the past 2 weeks.
So the next time anyone - again - tells me to go into the system - IT DOES NOT PROVIDE QUICK FIXES no matter WHAT your circumstances are.
Not in today's reality.
The help is there - in some places - but be prepared to make a lot of phone calls and mostly, be prepared if you aren't persistent there is a good chance you will get lost.