Our Blog: Upward Alabama

Navigating the Transition from High School to College with 504 Accommodation Plans: A Guide for Alabama Families

By Virginia Rediker, MSW, MPH, LICSW-S

504 and IEP Plans

Autism ADHD Treatment

Posted: April 7, 2026

For many Alabama families, the transition from high school to college is a time of excitement and anticipation. For students with disabilities—including neurodiverse young adults with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning disabilities, and related conditions—this transition also brings new challenges and opportunities. Understanding how educational accommodation plans change after high school is essential for students and parents in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, and across the state.

Neurodiversity and PTSD in Adults: When Trauma Looks Different & Why Specialty Care Matters

By Megan Keyes, Ph.D.

PTSD

Autism ADHD Treatment

Posted: April 6, 2026

What distinguishes effective care for neurodivergent adults is not abandoning evidence-based treatments, but how those treatments are conceptualized, paced, and delivered. Clinicians with expertise in both PTSD and neurodivergent presentation approach CPT and PE with a deep understanding of sensory processing, executive functioning, communication style, and nervous-system regulation. This allows treatment to remain evidence-based while also being accessible, tolerable, and effective for the individual.

Understanding Sexual Assault, PTSD, and Evidence-Based Treatments: Support and Healing at Upward Behavioral Health

By Susan Rathmell, Ph.D., ABPP

PTSD

Sexual Assault

Posted: April 1, 2026

The impact of sexual trauma is often significant, disrupting an individual’s sense of bodily autonomy, safety, and fundamental trust in others. Survivors frequently experience acute stress reactions that may evolve into chronic mental health conditions if clinical intervention is not sought. Common presentations include intense shame, guilt, and pervasively negative self-appraisal.

Up Close with Upward: Big Sister in Birmingham

By Kathleen Ramsey, Ph.D.

Advice

Children

Posted: March 31, 2026

Dear Upward, My brother is a 13-year-old boy. He has caused a lot of problems with school and at home since he was a toddler. They just keep getting progressively worse. He's constantly being influenced from friends doing stuff he shouldn't be doing, but he doesn't care, so he does it. He doesn't care about his family, school, anything. He only cares to be with his friends and do bad stuff. The middle school won't help, all they do is get him suspended and not help. My brother is always cheating on assignments and today he took pieces of candies from his teacher's desk and shared them with his friends. So my mom got called from his teacher. He just got expelled from his middle school soccer team and that's all my brother wanted. Now he doesn't care about life and it's just going to get worse because everything he wanted it ruined. My mom needs help. But how can I help and what can I do/call. Therapy won't help, no one wants to deal with this thoughtless boy. He just acts and doesn't care about the ending. --Big Sister