As a fellow parent of a disabled adult child, I deeply empathize with Roberto Rivera’s anguished frustration over the lack of services for the “aged-out.” Our son is 26 and on the autism spectrum. Aging out of school brought on a regression and worsening of symptoms, some of which prevented him from going to an outside program — and then the pandemic shut everything down anyway.

The unrelenting anxiety about his present and his future often overwhelm me. My husband and I won’t be able to care for him forever. I do understand Rivera’s anguish and frustration.