Everyone tells you help is available. That the support systems are there. That if your child has special needs — especially something as life-consuming as severe autism — you just have to ask. That’s the illusion. We asked. We begged. We followed up. We filled out the forms, sat through the evaluations, and jumped through the bureaucratic hoops with the kind of patience only desperation produces. What we got wasn’t help — it was a polite rejection wrapped in red tape, delay, and personal axe grinding.