Launching Special Needs Navigator
The tool I wish existed when I started navigating disability benefits for my son.
If you’ve been reading Waypoints for a while, you know most of what I write about comes from lived experience.
My son is 26. He has multiple disabilities that impact his ability to live independently. His mom, my wife Christine, passed away in 2012. Since then, navigating the systems that support him has largely fallen to me.
I want to be honest about what that’s actually been like.
When Chris died, I didn’t just lose my partner. I lost the person who knew how our life actually ran. I came home and didn’t know what bills we had. And when it came to support for William - SSI, Medicaid, waiver services - I didn’t know any of it existed. We hadn’t applied for anything because nobody had ever told us there was anything to apply for. William was 12 years old.
I had to learn an entirely new system from scratch. While grieving. While still in uniform. While figuring out how to be a single father to a son who couldn’t tell me what he needed.
I’m a CFP®. I spent 20 years in the Navy. I am not easily overwhelmed. And this system overwhelmed me, repeatedly, for years.
The information exists. It’s just scattered across agencies, policy manuals, legal handbooks, and forum posts from other parents who were figuring it out as they went. Most families only discover the important stuff after something has already gone wrong.
So I built something I wish had existed when I started.
What Special Needs Navigator Is
Special Needs Navigator is an AI-powered disability planning consultation tool built specifically around real-world benefit systems - SSI, Medicaid, DAC benefits, Medicaid waivers, TRICARE, and FEHB coverage for federal employees with disabled dependents.
The knowledge base is built from more than a decade of my own work - the Waypoints archive, the state-by-state Roadmaps, and planning guides developed through years of working through these systems firsthand. If you've been reading this newsletter for a while, you've already been reading the source material.
There are two modes:
Family – for parents and caregivers trying to understand how disability benefits work, what decisions might affect eligibility, and what questions to ask before taking action.
Professionals – for benefits counselors, nonprofit case managers, and disability services professionals who need to quickly work through benefit interaction logic before advising a client.
Access is session-based. No subscription. You pay for a session, work through your situation, and leave with a clearer picture of what you're dealing with.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
These are the kinds of situations people run into.
A child turning 18 and the SSI redetermination: At 18, Social Security re-evaluates your child using adult disability standards - not the childhood standard used when they first qualified. Most parents have never heard of this process until they're already inside it. Special Needs Navigator walks through what SSA actually reviews during the age-18 redetermination, how the disability standard changes, and what documentation typically matters. For situations that look complicated, the system can flag that consulting a Social Security attorney beforehand may be worth considering.
An unexpected inheritance: A grandparent passes away and leaves money directly to a grandchild with disabilities. SSI has strict resource limits. An unexpected inheritance can create a serious planning problem - and the window to respond is short. Special Needs Navigator helps families understand how the resource rules work, what options may exist to protect eligibility, and when it makes sense to speak with a special needs planning attorney before any decisions are made.
A parent approaching retirement and DAC benefits: When a parent files for Social Security retirement or disability benefits, their disabled adult child may become eligible for Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits - often a larger and more stable benefit than SSI. Most families never get told this exists. Special Needs Navigator helps families understand when the DAC transition happens, how it interacts with SSI and Medicaid, and what timing considerations matter.
Military families navigating overlapping systems: Active duty families face a planning problem nobody else does. Every PCS move can affect Medicaid waiver standing. TRICARE ECHO, EFMP, and state Medicaid waivers all interact - and different people will tell you different things about how. Special Needs Navigator helps military families map out how these systems typically overlap, where conflicts arise, and when it may help to speak with an attorney who knows both military benefits and disability programs.
Federal employee health coverage: There is a process to continue FEHB coverage for a disabled dependent past age 26 — but it requires documentation and the right timing. Most federal employees don't find out it exists until they're already scrambling. Special Needs Navigator outlines how the FEHB disability determination process generally works and where families commonly run into problems.
A benefits counselor working through a complex case: A case manager at a disability services nonprofit is working with a family whose adult son receives SSI and Medicaid. The father is approaching retirement, and the family just learned their son may become eligible for DAC benefits. The counselor needs to understand how that transition might affect SSI and Medicaid before advising the family. Instead of digging through SSA manuals, they run the scenario through Professionals. The system helps map out the interaction, flags potential issues, and - if the situation looks legally complex - suggests whether a Social Security attorney referral may be appropriate.
Who This Is For
Special Needs Navigator is built for three groups:
Parents and caregivers - people who are trying to understand and protect benefits for a family member with disabilities, and who want a clear starting point before making decisions that are hard to undo.
Professionals - benefits counselors, nonprofit staff, and case managers who need a fast, structured way to think through complex benefit interactions before advising a family.
Anyone who wants an informed head start — before a meeting with an attorney, a conversation with Social Security, or a decision that could affect eligibility.
One thing worth being clear about:
Special Needs Navigator is focused on public benefit systems - SSI, Medicaid, DAC benefits, waivers, TRICARE, and FEHB. It won't tell you how much life insurance to buy, how to structure an estate plan, or whether a particular trust design is right for your family. For that, you need a planner or an attorney. What this tool does is get you ready to have those conversations - so you're not starting from zero when you sit down with a professional.
A Note on Philosophy
If you’ve read my work, you know I have opinions. Special Needs Navigator reflects that.
You won’t find the standard “open an ABLE account and you’re set” narrative here. For families supporting children with significant lifelong disabilities, the planning landscape is more complicated than that. The benefit systems have rules. Those rules have consequences. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help families - it just delays the moment they find out the hard way.
This tool is designed to surface those realities clearly, early, and in plain language.
How to Access It
Special Needs Navigator is in final testing and will be opening to the public soon. You can get on the notification list at:
Session-based pricing at launch:
Family Session: $14.99
Professionals Session: $34.99
No subscriptions. Just access when you need it.
The Goal
Special Needs Navigator is designed to give families and professionals a head start - better questions, earlier awareness of potential problems, and a clearer picture of the system before a decision gets made that’s hard to undo.
Special Needs Navigator is an educational consultation tool designed to help users better understand disability benefit systems. It does not provide legal, financial, or tax advice.
Thanks for sharing this information. I am going through this myself as I am single father of a 19-year-old and 17-year-old whom both are autistic.
This is awesome, Eric! Congrats!