Navigating Autism, Healthcare, and Policy with Purpose: An Interview with Cheryl Laws Tessier

In this episode of This Ability Podcast, we sit down with Cheryl Laws Tessier, a nurse practitioner, mother, and powerful advocate for the disability community. Cheryl shares her personal journey navigating her son Howard’s autism diagnosis—from early signs and initial dismissals by healthcare providers to securing vital therapies and support services. Her story highlights the importance of trusting your instincts as a parent, understanding your rights, and pushing for early intervention. Cheryl’s persistence led to transformative care for her son, and ultimately, her path into advocacy.

As a graduate of the Partners in Policymaking program and former board chair of St. Landry Abilities, Cheryl discusses the critical role of local and state-level advocacy in creating lasting change. She emphasizes the power of personal storytelling to influence policy, the need for support networks like Families Helping Families, and the importance of community connections in rural parishes. With heartfelt honesty, Cheryl also shares how her faith has sustained her through the challenges of parenting and advocacy. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking inspiration, empowerment, and practical insights into navigating life as a special needs parent and advocate.

Transcript

Mary Baudoin (00:00):

All right everyone. Thank you for joining us for this episode of This Ability Podcast. I'm your host, Mary Baudoin, and joining us today is Cheryl Laws Tessier.

(00:10):

Thank you for joining us today, Cheryl.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (00:12):

Thank you so much, Mary for having me.

(00:15):

Hello everyone. My name is Cheryl Laws Tessier. I currently reside in Sunset, Louisiana. I was born and raised in Opelousas. After high school, I furthered my education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and I completed it with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. I worked a few years, and then I decided to further my education in a master's degree in nursing. Shortly after that, I became a nurse practitioner. After graduation, I worked in cardiology. And then after a couple of years, I decided to transition into corrections. And so since 2010 I have been in a correctional setting as a primary care nurse practitioner.

Mary Baudoin (00:57):

That's great. And so you probably worked through COVID as well and saw that phenomenon?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (01:05):

I did. Yes, it was a time.

Mary Baudoin (01:06):

Looking back on that time, what was it like for you mentally? I know physically that had to have been draining, but mentally what was that like?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (01:14):

Mentally it was exhausting. Very, very exhausting, but we definitely pushed through. It was me and another nurse practitioner and a physician on our side with thousands of inmates, and we pushed through trying to save lives and trying to prevent inmates from passing away.

Mary Baudoin (01:40):

It was scary at first because this was a relatively new disease and people were still trying to figure it out.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (01:48):

And especially in that environment, you have inmates living close in vicinity to each other. They can't socially distance. And so it's very difficult to figure out who's been affected, and how to triage those inmates. It was definitely fluid. We had to develop guidelines as we went. It was an experience.

Mary Baudoin (02:12):

Well, I just want to say thank you to you and to all the nurses, all the medical staff who made it through COVID and helped to get us through that.

(02:22):

Let's talk about some advocacy in the special needs community. I want to ask you how, and why did you get involved with becoming an advocate for people with special needs?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (02:33):

One thing I forgot to mention. I'm married, and I'm a mother of two. I have two beautiful children; Aiden who's 13, and Howard who's five. Howard is my youngest, and he also is on the spectrum. He has autism. He's pretty much how I got involved. But there are some lived experiences that assisted with me becoming very involved with helping others in the disability community. Two in particular.

Mary Baudoin (03:03):

Okay.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (03:04):

I remember July 12th, 2021; it was actually Howard's two-year-old wellness visit. Children as they grow up, they have wellness visits with their pediatricians, their pediatric nurse practitioners, providers, and with these screenings it's to evaluate if children have certain illnesses to get vaccines, different things like that. It was around that time. Prior to that, we had noticed some speech delays, and he was already getting speech, but I had already saw some other issues or some other needs that he had, I would say, sensory needs. I knew some of the things to look out for, and I knew this was the age that you kind of want to get things going if you can.

(03:51):

I finally had built up the courage to express my concerns at that visit. The provider at the time completely shut me down. She looked at me like I had four foreheads, literally. It wasn't until the end of the visit; I remind her of the failed responses on the developmental screening. Some offices, when you get in the room, they'll make you fill out a checklist of is your child doing this? Circle these three responses and stop if you have three nos or whatever?

Mary Baudoin (04:22):

Yeah, like milestones.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (04:22):

Milestones, yes, exactly. We failed them. No milestones. We didn't have them. And I'm like, "She didn't even look at this." So I had to remind her, "You didn't even look at this." I was very persistent, and I'm like, "I'm concerned he's not meeting the milestones. It doesn't hurt to get him screened and evaluated. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Early detection is key, and I just would like to get him evaluated again." At that point, I got a referral.

(04:54):

Me, I'm a provider, but I worry about the people who are not like me. They trust what their providers say. They say, "Your child is good. I don't think they need it." And they move on. They trust. I kind of know better. And I have that mama gut too. I just want to make sure.

(05:10):

That was a particular experience that made me get involved in advocacy. Another experience was the day of his diagnosis by his developmental pediatrician. He initially got diagnosed by a psychologist. We were also referred to a developmental pediatrician. You always want to get that stamp of approval by the developmental pediatrician seeing that your child is autistic.

(05:33):

On that particular day, all I can remember was at the same time, she's telling me, "I think you're right, mom. He is autistic," Howard is running under the seats, all over the dirty floor, around the time we were still going through COVID. And so I'm trying to focus on him, trying to focus on her, and just feeling overwhelmed. I was in there by myself because it was still during COVID, so you can only have one parent in the room at the time. Afterwards, she grabs this huge blue folder full of resources and doctor's orders with OT and speech and ABA, and all the kind of resources you could think of. And I'm just like, "Oh my gosh." I just remember feeling overwhelmed.

(06:15):

I think these particular situations, these two, is why I got involved. I just feel like it's just a disconnect between the healthcare system and then the community system. It's no link. It's a missing link.

Mary Baudoin (06:29):

They were on extreme ends. One really pretty much did not have information or did not even pursue the autism route. And then the other one was like, here you go, pow.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (06:40):

Pow.

Mary Baudoin (06:42):

Here's a whole binder of information. And that could be overwhelming, isn't it?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (06:49):

It could. Yes.

Mary Baudoin (06:50):

Yeah, definitely.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (06:51):

Yes. I think those particular situations is kind of what got me involved. I did have some people that I knew that I was thankful for that took me under their wing. Not everybody knows where to go in those moments. I wish in the healthcare system it was a way where at that moment, that point of entry of diagnosis, that they could link the patients up with resources.

Mary Baudoin (07:17):

Absolutely. And you were a nurse, so you knew probably already how to go about getting resources, but other parents probably don't, and so they can feel a little lost, overwhelmed,. Or turn to the internet, which sometimes isn't a bad thing, but then again, there's a lot of information on the internet, good, bad or indifferent, and so you can get some misconstrued perceptions of autism and things like that.

(07:44):

I wanted to ask you, because I had a friend in St. Landry Parish that had a son that went through the EarlySteps program. Is that something that you're familiar with? And if so, did that help your son?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (07:55):

It did. Actually at his, I would say maybe 12 month. I can't remember. I think it was his 12-month visit, because it was around his first birthday. I noticed he wasn't having many words. It was again the same provider. I told her, "Look, these are the words that he's saying and that's it. According to these milestones, he should be doing this, this and this." And she was like, "Well, no, he'll get there. He's a boy. Boys take time. Sometimes boys are a little slower than girls. They take time." And I was like, "Well, no, even though if they take time, I want him to get some speech."

(08:34):

It was at that time she referred me to EarlySteps. I think EarlySteps also assisted with me kind of giving the provider some additional resources to say, "Hey, he's having some sensory issues." It was his current speech therapist that noticed some sensory issues and alerted that, "Hey, he may need some OT." And then I was able to tell EarlySteps, "Hey, can I get a Pattel screening?" They did a little Battelle screening for autism, and I was able to have that with me too when I was at the doctor's office, and still she looked at me like I had four foreheads.

(09:09):

EarlySteps was a big help also. But again, not many people know about EarlySteps. Not many people know that you can self-refer yourself. You don't have to be referred by a physician for EarlySteps. You can call the center in your region and do a self-referral for EarlySteps. And then once you transition into the school setting, they'll actually help set up a transition meeting with you to get you in the school system if you are already in EarlySteps. And so it makes it easier.

Mary Baudoin (09:40):

Is that the pupil appraisal team?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (09:42):

Yes. Yes. He is in school. He's five. We started ABA in our area. Most facilities I've been seeing has at least about a six-month waiting list is what I've been hearing lately. ABA has a long waiting list. He started ABA when he was about two, maybe three. We did ABA until he started kindergarten. We transitioned from ABA to kindergarten. He was ABA full-time. They actually went in the school with him. Not many people know about that also.

Mary Baudoin (10:23):

Right. That's good.

(10:28):

Do you find that since EarlySteps intervened and, well, pupil appraisal, and the school system, that these are helping him to develop with his autism or maybe help his learning curve, I guess?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (10:48):

I definitely will say I think the early intervention would put him on the right track because now we're actually about to transition out of ABA services. He started off kindergarten with an ABA line technician with him in the classroom every day Monday through Friday, and now she's with him three times a week. And come next year, they're going to start with him beginning the first grade just to get him accustomed to the new classroom and the new teacher and possibly transitioning, because I think first grade they may have to change classrooms, but to get him accustomed to the new year and the new teacher. But that's it. Maybe the first two weeks, and that's it.

(11:37):

He's excelling. He is verbal. There are different levels of autism. Every child is different. Howard is level one, and he's verbal, and so he didn't need as much support. He still needs some, though. Even when he will stop ABA, he'll still need some additional speech and OT, probably. And he may still need some accommodations within his IEP for test taking and different things like that. But he's able to be in a regular classroom setting. He still gets pulled out with his special education instructor every now and then.

(12:22):

But he's excelling. He's made 4.0s for the first and second weeks. I just posted that he made Gator. They do a Gator of the week for their school at Kingston Elementary. And so, for the second time this school year, he's made Gator of the week.

Mary Baudoin (12:39):

Nice.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (12:40):

And so, despite the needs that he has and the accommodations that he has and having to be pulled out for the different things and still maintaining in a regular classroom, he's still excelling.

Mary Baudoin (12:56):

That's great. That's great.

(13:00):

Let's talk about your role in the community. It sounds like you do a lot. You're currently on the St. Landry Abilities Board of Directors, and you're the past chairman. I wanted to ask you, what have you learned through the experience, not just as a mom, but being a new advocate, and how has that changed your perspective, if any?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (13:28):

Definitely that our disability community has came a long way. I did a leadership program called Partners in Policymaking. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it.

Mary Baudoin (13:43):

I'm not.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (13:45):

It's provided by the Louisiana Developmental Disability Council. It's a six-month training program that's free. It's for self-advocates and for advocates. It helps train you to be advocates and to help change policy, and Partners in Policymaking. They bring in speakers from different areas of the world. They pretty much go through past history in a disability community. They go through education. They go through how policies are made, how policies are created. They go through how to talk to a legislator, how a legislative process work, how to advocate in legislation.

Mary Baudoin (14:49):

It sounds like an amazing program.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (14:51):

It's an amazing program. And it's free.

Mary Baudoin (14:53):

That's even better. Because I think it's great to empower someone who, like me, I'm just a mom, but at the same time like you, I've turned to certain people that I thought were professionals in the industry, and I've hit walls. Sometimes you can go to an individual and ask them what resources they have, and they might not exactly have what you need, and they don't know where to turn. And sometimes people just kind of stay within their own little realm of information, and they don't know what's available statewide or like you said, how to see about laws getting passed or policies getting passed. So it's great to, as the individual, empower yourself with the knowledge that's out there so that you can advocate for your child, for your loved one, for yourself, for your community. Definitely.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (15:56):

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because so much that happens on a policy level comes down to a local level. For instance, with Howard being able to get behavior therapy within the school, in St. Landry Parish, this was advocated for years before Howard even existed with Act 696. And then it was re-advocated for because they were having difficulties with even making it work in the school. And so it was re-advocated for with House Bill 872. You had advocates that had to go out and say their personal stories.

(16:42):

This is why my son is able to be successful. Because if he wouldn't have had his texts coming with him in the school, he would've been leaving full-time ADA to just be thrown in the school system with no guidance. But now he's excelling. But it takes people that have come before me to lead the way. Almost somebody else have to kind of step in and do it.

Mary Baudoin (17:14):

Right. So you would recommend that if anyone's interested in becoming an advocate, go through this Partners and Policy training?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (17:21):

I would definitely recommend it. It is a commitment. Like I said, it's a six-month training, once a year. They do select advocates, so you have to be selected. Being a parent with a child with a disability is hard. Sometimes it's hard to find sitters. Sometimes it's hard to make that commitment.

(17:48):

But there's other ways of advocacy and other ways of getting involved. There's programs locally like LaCAN. We have a LaCAN program. You find your region. Our region four leader is Kristie Curtis. You get involved with LaCAN, and she'll tell you how to become an advocate. She'll tell you how to get involved with your legislator. Who's your legislator? How do I even find out who my legislator is? How do I even write a letter to him? How do I set up a meeting with him?

Mary Baudoin (18:22):

It's a lot easier than people think because I know that I've addressed some issues with legislators. What's great is that they can usually provide you with a template, and you fill in your name-

Cheryl Laws Tessier (18:36):

You fill it in.

Mary Baudoin (18:36):

And, of course, you can add things or subtract things, but it helps to have a starting point. That template is amazing to me because it's like, "Okay, I didn't know exactly how to word something." All it takes is just asking someone for help, and then you can kind of get the ball rolling, because there's people out there that are more than willing to help you to advocate, definitely.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (18:59):

And advocacy is just simply telling your story. Telling your personal story to a legislator, to a committee, letting them know what you need, the things you're going through, because people who are not in our world just don't get it. And so sometimes they just have to kind of get a glimpse and then maybe the light bulb will come on just a little bit.

Mary Baudoin (19:23):

Right. I know that there are some nonprofits here in Acadiana that do work with children of various degrees with special needs. The Dreams Foundation of Acadiana is one, the Autism Society, the Down Syndrome Association. There's a lot. Have you found a particular nonprofit in your community that has helped you and/or your son?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (19:51):

I am very biased. St. Landry Abilities is definitely my first home. St. Landry Abilities is a 501 nonprofit organization. Their mission is to improve opportunities for people with different abilities in the St. Landry Parish community. They provide an intimate support group for members of their parish and surrounding areas. They host monthly virtual support meetings with guest speakers. They host annual resource workshops. They have inclusive activities, such as movie outings, beach excursions, water park outings, and annual Christmas parties.

(20:33):

One thing I love about St. Landry Abilities is just not the individuals with the disabilities; it's them and their families. They try to do more inclusive things. St. Landry Abilities was my go-to when Howard was initially diagnosed. Particularly Bambi Polotzola, who is one of the founding members of the organization. She's the highly respected advocate in the disability community. She worked for the Governor Office of Disability Affairs. She's also my NAUW sister. That's how we linked up. She's very highly respected. She is the one that actually got me into advocacy and showed me about partners and about the seat council. Every school board has a seat council, a special education advisory council, so you can try to make decisions within your school board and partner with them.

Mary Baudoin (21:44):

That's important information for the public to know. Those school board members, we elect them, and it's important to know their role, and making sure that they are following the national trends of advocacy, or what is needed in the school system for children with special needs. Yeah.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (22:06):

Yes. I would definitely say St. Landry Abilities has been one of my favorite non-profit organizations.

Mary Baudoin (22:17):

I did look them up on Facebook.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (22:19):

We partner with several other amazing organizations; Autism Society, Families Helping Families of Acadiana. Amazing, amazing, amazing hub. In St. Landry Parish, we really don't have much, and so we needed something in our area. Everything is in Lafayette Parish. So we needed something for our area. That was one of the reasons why that particular organization was formed. But Families Helping Families, I would say it's the hub. It's the hub of all hubs. And so if you have a child with a disability, Families Helping Families is your hub. You start there, because there's so much out there. But you start there, and then they can link you up.

(23:12):

And not just link you up. You start there because they are the hub of education. They have educational liaisons that will tell you what are your special education rights? What is an IEP? How do I prepare for this IEP? What does the process look like when me and the school don't agree? What do I do next? How do I get evaluated? They actually will come with you to an IEP meeting. But you got to call them ahead of time. You can't call them the day before and say, "Hey, I need somebody to come with me to the IEP meeting." But they are available.

Mary Baudoin (23:56):

I didn't know that. That's great.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (23:57):

Actually, they're available, but they are funded through our state. And so this is why advocacy is important. This is why it's important for people like us to advocate for funding for programs like this, because if we don't advocate, programs like this won't exist for us in our community. Every year, Families Helping Families have to go in front of the government to say, "Can you renew our funding for education?" They actually probably will be looking for advocates. Just FYI.

Mary Baudoin (24:33):

Okay. I'm glad you mentioned that because-

Cheryl Laws Tessier (24:34):

So Acadiana, if you're looking.

Mary Baudoin (24:35):

Yes, I will share their Facebook page and website.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (24:41):

They're always looking for advocates.

Mary Baudoin (24:43):

Yes, definitely. I'll also share the St. Landry Abilities information. And you guys have an active Facebook page. Do you have a website as well?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (24:52):

We do not have a website.

Mary Baudoin (24:53):

No website. That's okay. Everybody goes to Facebook anyway, so that's good. So I'll make sure to share that, because it looks like you guys post a lot of pictures and have a lot of events and things like that, so that's awesome. The Families Helping Families, that's a great resource. Especially for those outlying parishes. Like you said, you're in St. Landry and Lafayette does have a lot of resources, but then externally from those parishes outward, more rural areas, don't quite have the resources we have. So that's a good point that you made about that.

(25:29):

All right. Any other topics that you'd like to talk about regarding special need advocacy or anything regarding that that we did not cover?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (25:42):

We covered a lot, Mary.

Mary Baudoin (25:44):

We did. Because I'm going to switch gears on you just a little bit. I usually ask this to most of my guests when I do a little background. I wanted to ask you about faith and how important of a role that plays in your life and your family's life.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (26:02):

Faith plays a huge role. When I say Jesus is my homeboy, he's my friend, my therapist. I really don't know what I would do without him. I'm literally nothing without him. Especially going through the time of wondering, "Okay, is he autistic?" When all the world, even close ones, loved ones was telling me, "Okay, Cheryl, you're overreacting, he's just a boy, he's taking his time," I knew in my spirit, in my heart, I felt it. It was my mama's spirit, but it was also what I believe in. God had revealed that he was on the spectrum.

(27:03):

Yes, faith is definitely a big part. I really don't know what people do without Jesus in their life. And especially the walk we take in a disability community. It's not easy. I tell people at times, I'm like, "I feel like I need a personal secretary to keep up with these appointments."

Mary Baudoin (27:24):

I'm the same way.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (27:25):

And the therapist.

Mary Baudoin (27:26):

The appointments.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (27:28):

The appointments and stuff. I would say it's getting better because, like I said, Howard doesn't have as much needs, but he's also an asthmatic too. Initially, I was just like, "Oh." Initially, before TEFRA... That's one thing I didn't mention; TEFRA Medicaid. Not many people know about this. If you have a person with a disability, no matter what income you make, your child can get Medicaid. Before I knew about Medicaid, St. Landry Abilities was prominent in that, telling me about TEFRA Medicaid. Bambi Polotzola, was like, "Do you have Medicaid?" I'm like, "I didn't know I could get Medicaid. I make six figures. I didn't know I could get Medicaid."

Mary Baudoin (28:17):

Yeah, same here.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (28:17):

At the same time, even though I had a good salary, I was drowning in medical bills, EarlySteps bills. EarlySteps is amazing, but when you have a certain income, you have to pay for these therapy sessions. It's not much a session. But them little sessions add up when they come in weekly.

Mary Baudoin (28:40):

Yes, it does.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (28:41):

And that add up. The co-pays add up. And at the time, Howard kept having ear infections, different things. He has to take his tonsils out. I have really good insurance working for the government, but those medical bills added up.

Mary Baudoin (28:57):

Right. And then your transportation to and from. With Lexi, with her diagnosis, we were going back and forth to New Orleans. And I was like, "I'll be willing to go anywhere." And multiple appointments for different doctors, because we saw a neurologist, a gastroenterologist, an orthopedist. So yeah, keeping up with all of those appointments and trying to juggle too working. I've always worked. Since I was 18 years old, I've always been working. I think that a lot of us, the moms out there and dads too, listening, that if you have a full-time job and a child with special needs, it's a delicate balance.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (29:40):

It's a delicate balance. I would say, and a lot of people in our community don't know, it's possible to still work. If you are a parent that maybe have a child with a new diagnosis and are having issues with work... finding some support with your child at home and you having to get to work, definitely you reach out to Acadiana area of human service district, community service district, and try to see about getting waiver services. You have to get screened. And so a process. But once you get waivers, it's possible to get some type of support to come in the home to care for your child while you can go to work or go to the grocery store or do whatever you have to do as a parent because we have to still take care of ourselves too.

Mary Baudoin (30:39):

Exactly. Exactly.

(30:42):

Okay. I think I've covered all the questions that I have for you, Cheryl. Do you have anything else that you want to touch on that we did not?

Cheryl Laws Tessier (30:52):

I don't think so. I just would encourage everyone just to stay involved, stay connected. I know as parents in a disability community, sometimes we get overwhelmed and mentally taxed. Try to find little periods of self-care, even if it's a long bath, something that inspires you. If you're not that inspirational or if faith isn't a part of your life, just try to find something that maybe makes you happy, and it'll inspire you. And then just try to stay connected with some type of organization that appeals to you, because we cannot walk this road alone. And sometimes walking it with others with similar situations is very helpful.

Mary Baudoin (31:47):

Oh, I second that for sure. Because here we have the Dreams Mom support group, and we usually meet once a month, and that's been a huge blessing to me because I can relate to other moms. Even though Lexi has a rare diagnosis, there's other moms that sometimes can't sleep for several nights during the week. It's just because our kids wake up. My daughter's been in diapers for years, since she was born, and she's 27, and she's still in diapers. There's other moms that can relate, and other moms that work. So we do have common ground. And it is nice to be able to share, to vent, and to know that, like you said, we're not walking through this journey alone.

Cheryl Laws Tessier (32:34):

Correct.

Mary Baudoin (32:34):

For sure.

(32:35):

All right everybody, well, I think that's going to wrap up this edition of This Ability Podcast. If you enjoyed listening to our podcast, be sure to like our Facebook page and subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcast. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time.