Six years ago, Tiera Moultrie needed someone to talk to about her oldest son being newly diagnosed with autism.
Set aside the fact that the diagnosis came during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moultrie still would have had to deal with uncertainty, unsurety – “a lot of unknowingness,” she says. Relatives and loved ones were undereducated about neurodivergence, so Moultrie turned to the internet.
She quickly learned that several other local parents were in similar positions after starting a parent support group on Facebook for people in the Detroit area. Talking led to walking – Moultrie launched an autism awareness walk under the banner Autism in the D that same year. Six years later, with hundreds more parents joining the conversation along the way, Moultrie will kick off this year’s Autism in the D weekend with a new goal: Raising funds for a sensory-adaptive gymnasium in Detroit for neurodiverse children.
Autism in the D this year features three days of events. On April 10, there will be a shopping night at Swank A Posh, with 10% of proceeds going to AITD. On April 11, Moultrie will test-run a sensory-immersive pop-up at Chandler Park Fieldhouse. A preview of the future gym, complete with aromatherapy, silent DJ, and hands-on sensory zones. Closing out on April 12 is the autism awareness walk at DMC Children’s Hospital Brush Mall – a path of 1.31 miles representing the 1 in 31 kids diagnosed with autism.
“I have a background in entrepreneurship. And I didn’t think that when I started Autism in the D, we would be what we are today,” Moultrie says.
The walk is the largest of its kind in the city of Detroit, Moultrie says. All of it comes from talking to each other and being honest about autism diagnoses – particularly among Black households.
“It wasn’t until my [son was diagnosed] that I found out that my husband and the father of my children didn’t talk until he was three. It is something that is not discussed in the Black household,” she says.
“For me, explaining to people, friends, family, strangers — I always find a joy in it because anytime anybody has anything to say about autism or not knowing, it’s just a blatant ignorance and that’s not on them, but as to me as an advocate, it’s my job to educate them,” Moultrie adds.
According to Autism Speaks, a nonprofit autism awareness organization, and statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, the prevalence of autism and awareness of it is rising among Black households, but Black children are still likely to be diagnosed at a later age than their non-Black peers.
A growing local issue as diagnoses rise, Moultrie says, is a lack of resources in both educational systems and supplementary outlets for children with autism in Detroit. Like several families, Moultrie had to move closer to a school district in the area that offered education for kids on the spectrum.
“I literally sold my home that I owned free and clear from the Detroit Land Bank and moved to get my son out of the [Detroit] district because of the lack of resources. Unfortunately, that’s what some families have to do.
“My son has a BCBA, which is a board-certified behavioral analyst — that’s somebody who specializes in autism — on their roster at school. DPS probably couldn’t afford that.”
A handful of Wayne County’s 33 school districts, including Wayne-Westland, Allen Park, and Van Buren, offer specialized education for those with autism. The CDC tracks diagnoses nationally, but not on a city-by-city basis. One could presume, however, that the cities with the largest populations of Black children would have more autism diagnoses than average.
Michigan’s largest school district, Detroit Public Schools Community District, currently offers limited support for students with autism – something Moultrie says is an issue.
“And that’s what’s daunting and that’s what’s draining. The Detroit Public School system fails these children, and it hurts my heart because I’m constantly advocating for parents with DPS, and they are constantly,constantly short-selling these babies. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to the kids,” she says.
Moultrie hopes to raise both funds – she and the AITD board already have banked more than $10,000 toward their goal of building their gym, which they’re planning on calling Inscape Detroit — and awareness of the gaps
“When I do pitch competitions for this, once this space is open, it’s going to open up the conversation about the lack of resources that the city of Detroit has. There are two ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) centers in the city of Detroit. But if you check Southfield, Dearborn, especially anywhere on the outskirts… ABA centers are left and right, and ABA is the No. 1 recommended therapy for children on the spectrum,” Moultrie says.
Moultrie attacks each goal with ambition and discipline; something she says comes naturally because of her Zodiac sign, Capricorn. She also speaks freely about gardening (“I’m a smokey mama,” she laughs) and self-care, especially balancing the work she’s trying to do for other parents of autistic children while raising autistic children herself.
“I love being on their phone at work, and I get to tell [parents] I’m a two-time autism parent, and I literally can feel the tension just released because they have somebody on the other line who can relate to them,” Moultrie says. “A lot of autism parents, unfortunately, live in fight- or-flight mode constantly. And I am somebody who wouldn’t be where I am today without my faith, and I stand on that — and I try to make sure my parents get that in them, because you can’t pour from an empty cup.
“If your cup is empty, your child is suffering.”
For more information about Autism in the D, visit www.autisminthed.com.