COLORADO MOM LAUNCHES FREE APP TO GUIDE AUTISM FAMILIES THROUGH MEDICAID, IEPS, AND WAIVERS

Built by a mom with no team and no funding, Autism Pathways gives families a free step-by-step guide through Medicaid, IEPs, and waivers.

LITTLETON, CO, UNITED STATES, May 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- When Jessie Fielding's daughter Ellie was diagnosed with autism, Fielding did what most parents do: she started Googling. What she found was a maze of state agency websites, outdated PDFs, and advice that contradicted itself depending on which county she lived in. Two years later, she built the app she needed back then.

Autism Pathways launches publicly on June 1 on iOS and Android. It is free for all families.

The app guides parents through the processes that most commonly overwhelm them after a diagnosis: applying for Medicaid and appealing a denial, navigating the IEP process, finding and applying for Home and Community-Based Services waivers, and tracking a child's development over time. A dedicated Potty Pathway addresses toilet training for autistic children using strategies grounded in occupational therapy principles, a topic Fielding says is rarely addressed in existing autism resources.

A centerpiece of the app is its waiver directory — a searchable, county-level database of developmental disability agencies across all 50 states, including agency contact information, waiver program names, eligibility requirements, and application links. Families who qualify for Home and Community-Based Services waivers can access supports ranging from respite care and behavioral therapy to assistive technology and day programs, but many never learn those programs exist until their children are years older.

"The waitlists for these waivers can be five, seven, even ten years long in some states," Fielding said. "The date you apply is the date your clock starts. Families are losing years they will never get back simply because no one told them to get on the list."

Fielding built Autism Pathways without a co-founder, a development team, or institutional funding. She is just a mother. The app is the product of two years of nights and weekends, hundreds of hours of state-by-state policy research, and conversations with families across the country who shared what they wished they had known earlier.

Premium features, available through in-app purchase, include an Appeal Tracker, Waiver Checklist, Provider Prep reports, talking point scripts for school and medical appointments, and re-evaluation reminders. The core guidance, including all five pathways and the full waiver directory, is free.

Approximately one in 31 children in the United States is diagnosed with autism. Fielding's goal is straightforward: every one of those families should have a clear path forward on the same day they receive a diagnosis.

"I am not a doctor or a lawyer or a policy expert," she said. "I am a mom who figured it out the hard way and wrote it all down so the next family does not have to."

Autism Pathways is available free beginning June 1, 2026 on iOS and Android. Families can learn more at autismpathways.app.




About Autism Pathways
Autism Pathways is a free mobile application for families of autistic children. The app provides step-by-step guidance through Medicaid applications and appeals, IEP preparation, developmental disability waiver access, diagnosis tracking, and potty training. It includes a searchable county-level directory of developmental disability agencies across all 50 states. Autism Pathways is available at no cost on iOS and Android, with optional premium features available through in-app purchase. The app was founded by Jessie Fielding of Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Jessie Fielding
Autism Pathways LLC
contact@autismpathways.app
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