Roanoke mother creates group for Latino families raising children with disabilities

ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke mother raising children with autism strives to help similar parents who also battle a language barrier.

Finding creative ways to help raise children with autism can be difficult with limited resources. But as a Latino household, Zuheil Alvarez Cortes recognized quickly that language differences can be an added challenge.

Therefore, she created an organization called Diferentes Habilidades, otherwise known as Different Skills in English.

The goal is to help find resources for Spanish-speaking families who have children with a disability.

“It feels very good to know and to see when the families tell me, ‘Thank you for referring me to this doctor or this other family because we feel lost.’”

The Facebook group has nearly 200 followers.