Beyond Awareness: Building a Dayton That Intentionally Includes Every Family
- Erica Fields
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
By Erica Fields, Contributing Writer
April is Autism Acceptance Month. For many, it brings symbolic gestures and increased awareness. But for families like mine, it is also a reminder that awareness alone is not enough. Acceptance must be backed by access, coordination, and real support.
For twelve years, I worked inside Dayton City Hall helping to enforce anti-discrimination laws and advance equity. I understood how systems were designed to work. Recently, I returned to the City Commission, but this time as a mother and resident, navigating systems that were not built with my family in mind.
I have long believed in the power of self-advocacy. But the greatest challenge is not speaking up, it is what happens after. Even when families navigate systems correctly, too often the services they need are unavailable, delayed, or disconnected.
Autism is often “invisible,” and too often it remains invisible in how we design policy, services, and public spaces. Unless it touches your daily life, it is easy to miss. But for families living it, these gaps are not theoretical, they are barriers to fully participating in the community.
Raising a child with autism is a gift. And…it also requires families to take on extraordinary levels of coordination; managing therapies, navigating complex systems, and ensuring inclusion is practiced, not just promised. Even routine outings require planning that most families never have to consider.
Families are doing this work every day. They should not have to do it alone.
The need for stronger support systems is clear. In Dayton Public Schools, roughly one in five students receives special education services, representing thousands of children and families across the city. Nationally, 1 in 36 children is identified with autism spectrum disorder, and in Ohio, many families remain on waiting lists for critical services. At the same time, disparities persist: Black children are often diagnosed later and misdiagnosed more frequently, delaying access to early intervention and the support they need.
There are steps the City of Dayton can and should take from inclusive programming to staff training to more accessible public spaces. But the reality is that no single system can meet this need alone.
Families do not experience services in silos and solutions cannot be built that way.
What is needed is a coordinated approach that brings together the City, Montgomery County, schools, healthcare providers, nonprofit organizations, and state and federal partners. Today, families are navigating a fragmented landscape where services may exist but are difficult to access or insufficient to meet demand. Even the most persistent advocates cannot close gaps that systems themselves have not addressed.
We have an opportunity to do better together.
That means expanding access to clinical services, strengthening school-based supports, investing in workforce development, aligning funding, and supporting the nonprofits already doing critical work. It also means designing public spaces and programs that are intentionally inclusive.
Individually, these efforts matter. Collectively, they create the infrastructure families need.
When I spoke to the City Commission, I advocated for action within the City’s control. But this is a broader call for alignment, partnership, and shared responsibility across sectors.The goal is not just to make services available, but to make them connected, accessible, and effective. When we get this right, families can spend less time navigating systems and more time living, participating, and contributing to the community we all share.
Dayton has the leadership and the commitment to lead in this space. Now is the time to move beyond awareness and build a community where every family truly belongs.
Erica Fields is the Senior Director of Partnerships and Community Impact for Learn to Earn Dayton and the former Executive Director of the Dayton Human Relations Council.
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