Because when we change what we look for we change what we see. And when we change what we see, we change what becomes possible What if we diagnosed people by what is right with them? What if we rewrote the DSM—not as a catalog of deficits, but as a map of capacity, adaptation, and meaning? What if, instead of naming people by what they lack, we named what they can do, how they survive, how they make sense of the world? This is the work I’ve been moving toward for the past ye

December 31, 2025  By Julie Bolduc DeFilippo, PhD, MSW LICSW “Let go, or be dragged.” I first heard that phrase from a friend in recovery, and it lodged itself somewhere deep. It’s blunt. Uncomfortable. But it carries a truth that’s hard to shake once you feel it land. For a long time, I didn’t realize how much I was being dragged—not by my children but by my own fear. In trying to protect them from harm, from systems that might fail them, from pain I knew too well, I was gri

October, 13, 2025  By Julie Bolduc DeFilippo, PhD, MSW LICSW On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I find myself thinking about what we still don’t know — and what that means.  We don’t have reliable data on autism in Indigenous communities. That silence speaks volumes. It’s not an absence of need or difference. It’s a reflection of systemic inequities — of histories of colonization, forced assimilation, displacement, and trauma that have shaped who gets seen, who gets heard, and who r

09/08/2025 Introduction It’s the second week of school in Massachusetts, and already, students are navigating new cellphone restrictions. Some districts require students to lock their devices in magnetic pouches. Others have banned phones entirely during the school day. These policies aren’t coming out of nowhere. They’re being created in anticipation of potential state legislation that would restrict or ban phone use in schools. But because the law isn’t in place yet, distri

A Note of Gratitude: To the many PKU parents — especially the moms — who paved the way for children like Johnny to live life to their fullest potential: thank you. Your advocacy, perseverance, creativity, and relentless love have shaped a world where milestones like this are possible. This moment belongs to all of us. 08/11/2025     By: Julie Bolduc DeFilippo, PhD, MSW, LICSW   Mom of Johnny!   Ten years ago, my oldest son entered our lives. A few days later we began a journe

08/18/2025     By: Julie Bolduc DeFilippo, PhD, MSW, LICSW   Dedication: For my dearest friend and her son as they endure more medical procedures: Bravery written in whispers, strength stitched into the ordinary moments of each day . This work is for you, and for all who rise again and again, weaving light from the hardest shadows . I wish this statement didn’t need to be made in 2025, but it does: holding down a child against their will is not care, it is harm. Whether in a