You Can Keep The Court From Parenting with Christopher Anderson

Send us Fan MailA custody fight can turn into a second full-time job when autism or other special needs are part of your child’s world, and the stakes feel unbearable. We sit down with Christopher Anderson, a family law attorney licensed in multiple states and a parent of an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, to talk about what actually helps families reach better outcomes without handing their lives over to the court system.We dig into the “best interest of the child” standard and why it’s both universal and deeply personal. When parents disagree, courts ask for evidence, experts, and evaluations, but Christopher argues the real goal is bigger than winning a hearing. We talk about how to educate the court responsibly while still doing the harder work of finding common ground, so your child can hear the words that matter most: your parents decided together.Then we shift to everyday advocacy where many families get stuck: IEP meetings, IDEA rights, and the constant friction with systems designed to run smoothly. Christopher shares a clear lens for special education advocacy: stop letting labels like ASD or ADHD replace knowing the individual child, question medication-first thinking, and keep pushing until recommendations from pediatricians and therapists are taken seriously. We also tackle the dreaded “we don’t have the budget” line and explore realistic ways to escalate, organize with disability advocacy groups, and make the resource pie bigger for your child and others in the district.Subscribe for more practical conversations on autism, special education, and family law, then share this episode with someone who needs it and leave a quick review so more parents can find it. Support the show