La Becky Roe Advocates for Autism Awareness Through Nonprofit Org

It’s said that when there isn’t a seat at the table, it’s up to you to make one. That’s what local autism advocate La Becky Roe did when she founded Let’s Talk About It, an organization that provides advocacy, education and support to folks living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), individual developmental disabilities, and other mental health issues.

Roe also penned Spectrum of a Journey, her 2023 book that chronicles her experience navigating autism after her son was diagnosed with ASD in 1998. At that time, there was little information available for parents like Roe.

“I had to find my own way,” she says, recalling how at the time she was referred to a neurologist who told her that her son wouldn’t ever learn to recognize that she had even left the room, and that “all he’s going to be, he is right now.” He was 3 years old at the time.

“If I didn’t have faith and hope, I would have believed [the neurologist] because autism was new to me. I was looking for someone to help me. I was looking for someone to help him.”

After various encounters similar to the one with the neurologist, Roe decided to create a path for parents who were and would be in the future navigating the same lonely journey that she was. She launched Let’s Talk About It to give parents hope and guidance in navigating the disorder.

“I want them to know that success depends on them,” she said. “Your child is capable and able, and how can you get them to the next level? Because we all want to see our children do well.”

Through The Autism Center, the organization offers support in creating individualized education programs, known as IEPs, for kids on the spectrum; behavioral interventions, sensory management support, and corporate training to promote the inclusion of people with ASD.

Additionally, Let’s Talk About It facilitates workshops and support groups, striving to build a sense of community among caregivers and their loved ones with ASD, according to the website.

Roe recently addressed Charlotte City Council during a public forum to ask that city officials include people with and impacted by ASD in more programming, stating that the city’s resources have not kept up with the rising rates in diagnoses over the years.

We caught up with Roe following that speech to speak about the state of things and … well … talk about autism, as that’s why she launched her organization in the first place.

Queen City Nerve: So I have to assume that the reason that you named the organization Let’s Talk About It is because people don’t talk about these things.

La Becky Roe: Right. They don’t talk about it. They may not understand it. And it allows them to understand what autism is. We have three levels of autism. According to the [The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses], we have a level one, we have a level two, and we have a level three. We know that our level three has to have repetitive interaction. But our level twos and our level ones, they’re the ones in school and they’re thriving. Our level ones may have some level two tendencies. Our level twos just need prompts or maybe to be redirected sometimes. However, you can still have a level one who has that level two tendency, who’s able to be on the debate team, go to school with his peers, get As and Bs on his schoolwork.

I want folks to know that autism doesn’t have a look. There’s no way that you can look at anyone and say whether they’re on the spectrum or not. When I get the opportunity to talk to the police or first responders about autism, I always tell them to look for the behaviors because behaviors matter in identifying a person on the autism spectrum.

Another thing is I do not want parents to feel unheard or unseen. I want parents and persons on the autism spectrum to feel valued. And at my center we are here to help, and we are keeping autism on the table and in the conversation.

You started the organization in 2018. Why did you start it when you did versus immediately after your son was diagnosed?

When my son was diagnosed, I was learning about autism itself. And so along the way, I learned a lot. And I had to prepare myself and get myself in a place where I could start the organization. In doing that, I went back to school for my bachelor’s then my Master’s [degrees]. I also had to get a graduate certificate in Autism Across the Lifespan, [a program that prepares professionals and family members to work with children and adults with ASD in school, home and community settings].

Together, everything must be aligned. I believe in God and in believing that our paths are directed and guided. It was about finding the right person who could help me start this nonprofit organization. I had to align myself in order to start the organization.

Tell me about the services The Autism Center offers.

The Autism Center offers in-home training. Upon getting the diagnosis, we realized that, while parents can get services for their children, who’s helping the parents? So we help them to navigate in-home behavior, behavior that they’re seeing and that they need assistance with. We also offer IEP help, guardianship consultation and community education.

Can you explain what IEP help entails?

IEP is the individual educational plan that school systems have in place for children who are diagnosed with autism and any other [special needs] diagnosis. I put a plan in place to help the kid to be successful. For example, we offer in-home service for anything behavioral.

Our biggest and newest program is called Peers … an evidence-based social skills program that helps individuals on the autism spectrum with maintaining and beginning friendships — how to start a friendship and how to maintain that friendship. Those are some areas that are looked over for our kids, and it’s key. Relationships are a key for all of us. We teach individuals on the autism spectrum how to enter and exit a conversation, how to understand what bullying is, your social media presence and things of that nature.

I rarely hear people emphasize this focus on relationship building when speaking about autism advocacy.

Yes, and that’s something new and it’s evidence-based. We just got a certificate in that so that we can start it and we’re looking for a partnership with an organization to get it started. We’re looking to partner with CMS also.

My son went to school through CMS, and I want to say CMS was good to us. I know people have different experiences, and when I look back on it, overall, my son was successful in CMS. He was able to go to a regular elementary school with his peers. He went on to go to Northwest School of the Arts, where he auditioned and he joined their choir. He graduated with a high school diploma from Mallard Creek High School.

That’s what I want parents to know, that it’s all up to you and your advocacy. Don’t be afraid. Just think about it: If you couldn’t speak for yourself, who would you want to speak for you? We want those closest to you and someone you know that’s going to give it their all.

You recently held a Resource Fair. What do events like that offer?

This was our third annual Resource Fair. We want the autism community to know that we hear them and that there are services available for you. We bring different organizations together in one place so that families can get what they need. We have music therapy [and ABA, which is Applied Behavior Analysis. I tell parents, “When we go into the home, you have to set boundaries and you have to get our kids to respect those boundaries because we would do it for our neurotypical kids, why not our neurodivergent? They understand. They hear you. We have to set the tone.”

It’s just like a teacher the first day of class. She has to set the tone in her classroom. These are my expectations because our kids function on organization and structure. It is so incredibly needed for our kids to be successful, and that’s what the Autism Resource Fair is about. It’s about helping the parents, getting them to the right place, and also getting them the right provider. Just because one provider doesn’t fit, go to the next one. Don’t give up.

Have you had success in directing parents in the right directions, and how can you tell when you’ve done so?

Absolutely, I would say, yes, we have. I had a parent whose child was about 4 [years old]. Every time they would go out to a restaurant and the food would come, he would have a meltdown and they would leave each and every time. I told them he’s setting the tone. What you have to do is introduce him to the fact that we’re going out, tell him what restaurant you’re going to, you can even show him the menu so that he can see the menu.

“This is what we’re going to order, and we’re going to go in, and we’ll have to wait a few minutes, then we’ll be seated, and then our food will be served. We’re not going to leave.”

And then you can bring some manipulations that he can have so that he’ll know. You can do a countdown to get him involved. It worked. It lessens the behavior each time until it alleviates it.