How a Mother’s Fight Created a Movement

- I didn't want him stuck in a corner,

“coloring while they taught the other kids to read”

and then they informed me that they wanted to retain him and I'm like, "Well, that's news to me." From that point on, I started taking all of my legal education to keep my law license. I knew that I was gonna have to fight for my kid.

- Kelly Neal is a compassionate, purpose-driven attorney in the founder of Neal Student Support Advocacy and Disability. Drawing from her journey as both a legal advocate and parent, she empowers families to navigate education and disability systems with confidence.

Helping children access the support and opportunities they deserve. - How you are empowering the disabled? - I started with my son, my daughter's got dyslexia. So, you know, you had to fight through all that

and I'm just thinking, you know, people really need help out here. I've written these self-help books because people can't afford attorneys. So, I really would like for people to have those tools and their hands so they can help her kids.

(dramatic music) - It spans the globe. Like a super high school, Internet Elvis. - Ready? - Hi.

- Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. - It's not over, I'm telling how we're... - The living your legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy. (crowd cheering)

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- Welcome back to another episode of the Living Your Legacy podcast. For Insight's Success, I am Riga Teares. Joining me today on this lovely Friday is a powerful woman.

Literally, finish filming her episode with our man, Kofi here. April, Kelly, Meal. I actually have my show notes A dot, Kelly, Meal, but now I've been told that it's April.

- Welcome to the show. - Thank you, it's good to be here. - Should I call you April? - No, just Kelly. - Just Kelly.

- All right, just Kelly. - Just Kelly.

“- Just Kelly, what are we to learn about you in your episode?”

- Oh, well, you're gonna learn that, you know, I had kind of a rough upbringing and right-sville, Georgia, then you're gonna learn about how I went through law school and that whole thing. And then now, you know, how I've gone through things

with my own kids and their learning challenges.

- To writing some books, which I never thought I'd be doing.

And just trying to help other families get through the public school experience. - The public school experience. - It's so delightful. - Oh, so delightful.

- I come from, coming from an inner city school, Mammy's in your hive, we're all designed to fail. We were always a D school, so trust me, we had to make sure we had to fill out our lunchform. So we can get that free lunch or the government would just

not look at us because, you know, public funding. Of course, as we speak of the government shutdown, but that's a different pot of gas for a different time. - Yes. - Mam, where do you begin?

Where does it, is it pain, is it awesomeness? Where does your north star begin in your journey? - I would have to say this whole journey that I'm on right now, basically started on a good Friday, which I intended to go to church, but I did not,

because I had to go to a meeting for my son,

who was in the first grade.

This was in March, and then they informed me that they wanted to retain him, and I'm like, "Well, that's news to me." Like, "Oh, what's going on?" And I know that sounds like I'm not a very informed parent,

“but I think a lot of parents get ambushed.”

Like, back when I was at school, the grades were ABCDEF. - But when I first grade, it was like, "I am." - Yes. - I don't know, like, how did the code this?

And the teachers kept telling me, you know, there's some things he's not great at, but things are going to be fine, but then at the end of the year, they wanted to retain him, and then I was just like, "No."

- Well, it was going on, what was happening? - Well, we later learned that my child had autism. And so he learns differently, and so we just kind of had to deal with that. But from that point on, I started taking all of my legal education,

to keep my law license, again, educational law, because I knew that I was going to have to fight for my kid, because I knew that this grand motherly looking first grade teacher who I thought was so nice, was really just like, "You were going to go that way."

- You were going to go that far, wow. Good for you, for just like, "Oh, you did not mess with mud, like it's seen that like this. What did you learn from that experience? What was the outcome?"

- Well, the outcome is you cannot trust schools. I don't care how nice they are. You just can't do it. - Yeah, no. - Don't do it.

And schools are always talking about how,

you know, we need to collaborate and trust.

just like I can collaborate with my ex-husband. - Yeah, yeah.

- It's kind of on that level, but I'm never going to trust you.

- Yeah, I figured out the school system was a joke.

“I think Mr. Treveals class and sixth grade.”

I never went to class. I always went straight to computer class, the art school. And all my teachers figured it out. Like, raise a little different. He's doing way better in computer class

that he never leaves. He's there from sixth AM to sixth PM. He's friends with the custodians and after school programs and he's on television. I got lucky.

A lot of folks don't get so lucky, 'cause I had a grandmother that was fighting for me. I belonged to a much more school, you know, with with with with an outer city school if you catch my meaning, and I was clearly gonna get my ass kicked.

'Cause I'm a tiny dude and raised by his Cuban grandmother and my grandmother fought for me because she knew a lot of folks don't get that chance. How are you fighting for folks that were on some sort of spectrum? Like I was, but sort of was discovered early on.

- Oh, so you were on this spectrum too. - I think so. I didn't start talking to them. I was five. I just looked at people like, well, yeah.

- Yeah. - And I just, one, we year out the other. I just, if it's not visual, I don't remember it. If I've got very forgotten your name. Half the time when I introduced it,

I already forgot how I'm producing you who are you within a second. And it's something I struggle with all the time. But I mask it as it's like a superpower.

But oh, man, I always struggle.

I have these terrible, like, fits of rage because I cannot compute this reality to this one. And then, woo, and it's just like a different person. And I've noticed that I, and it's because I'm speaking with people like you on this podcast,

you can watch the growth and go, holy shit. I'm doing, I just part of my language. I'm doing all of these things 'cause of generational trauma. Because I wasn't inspired because of all this.

And it's just like, wow, what are the realizations? So this is a real journey for me. On these shows and listen to you speak, so I'm fully engaged and I'm a firm believer that I have a superpower that was misdiagnosed

or as a matter of fact. - It's a good way to look at it. - Which was never diagnosed. I have never spoken to a professional and go, yeah, you got this, you got that, you got this.

And crap, if we would have figured that out 30 years ago, Ray, you would have built a billionaire by now. But you're gonna struggle with your big old eyes and someone figures it out for you. (laughing)

And until then, I'll keep podcasting until I speak to both folks like you and go, yeah, Ray, you use it 'cause it was Ag, but I'm okay with that.

“That's why I post podcasts and go on these rents.”

I'll shut up now. Ma'am, all about you, let's focus on your energy. - Okay. - Red, I love the colors. - Thank you.

- Your logo, talk about what you're doing today and how you are empowering the disabled. - Okay, well, I get lots of calls from parents all the time. I have a lot less now that I've volunteered with the Georgia Legal Services Program,

which provides free or low-cost legal help to families that are having education issues with school. So that's kind of where I started with my son, my daughter's got dyslexia. So you had to fight through all that.

And I'm just thinking, people really need help out here. - I'm an attorney and I'm struggling with this. - So I think with schools. - So started with Georgia Legal,

basically started, I thought I knew a lot,

but then I learned a lot more. - Oh yeah. - And today, you know, I've written the self-help books because people can't afford attorneys. - No.

- The can. And schools know which people can for attorneys. They're not, you know, pushing those kids out of school. - Oh, no. - Of course not, no.

And so I really would like for people to have those tools in their hands so they can help their kids. - Oh yeah. - 300,000 dollars in grants is what my work got my studio on television production high school.

I was not taught by anyone in television. My TV professor barely knew how to program the VCR, but I picked up a camera and started filming within a year, he filled out grants and got 300,000 dollars in school grants.

And we digitized the entire studio, man. And when you know what I did, graduate of my school, I'm back to my high school to teach the kids how to edit digitally because no one was gonna take care of Juan Carlos

or Fernando, no, because they're designed

“to go and sweep houses and clean, and clean, right?”

No, they're not digital editors. There's a lot of suffering. And there's a lot of folks out there. - There yes. - There's no, they're not fighting,

send the elevator back down because it is quite the ivory tower, you know? And it's our duty, to sit here and go, we're so great, no, we're great, because we're sitting on the shelves of folks that need us,

on the shelves, on the shoulders of folks that need us. Talk about your challenges, the challenges with your daughter, and I, and I, and I apologize for using the word challenges. Let's call them experiences. One of the experiences like living with these superpowers

and folks that have these superpowers like ourselves. - It's crazy because the world is not built for us, really. - We're not built for them. - And we're not built for them, they're not ready

- No.

“- But with my son, I guess a lot of his,”

I just basically had to learn how to educate in the sounds could really strange, but educate teachers how to deal with my son and other people with autism. And there's this great movie called Temple Grandon.

She's a real person with a PhD. - Mm-hmm.

- And so I would always give my teachers,

my son's teachers those movies. So they knew his potential, 'cause I didn't want him stuck in a corner coloring while they taught the other kids to read, 'cause my child has an average IQ.

They always seemed to look and treat him like he. He was intellectually disabled. He's not intellectually disabled. - He was the voice. - No idea why they, but it was, it was crazy.

Then my daughter, which is so quiet, I felt like I had a guy. - What kind of guy? - I neglected a little bit in this whole process 'cause I was so focused on him.

But I will say she had a wonderful teacher that pointed out the dyslexia to me. And I didn't see it because whenever I was sitting down doing homework with her, she started to do something wrong.

- Yeah, masking. - I would point it out to her and get her back on the right track. But when she was at school, she wrote an entire paragraph backwards.

- Awesome. - I know. - Her teacher was like, she's dyslexic.

“I was like, I think she might need an exorcism.”

- I've been inspired by her. - A couple of letters, but a paragraph good for you. - That's awesome. - A paragraph. - That's amazing.

- Yeah, 'cause I was like, this teacher's line, there's no way. Then when she showed me the paragraph, I was like, yeah, we gotta address this. - Right.

- Well, men heal them up. Frequency is negative and positive. Like when you put your fingers together, it's the entire batter, batter is connected. Some folks are there on their protagonist journey.

Some folks are there on tagin' this journey. We're just not designed to know which is which. We just see blue and red. See when you hear the noises when you're on track. She could be walking this way when we're walking that way.

Have you ever looked at a view mirror while you're filming go, it's way cooler when we're moving backwards. Try walking backwards. Try it.

It's the thing. You have the ability to just speak backwards. We just trained to do this and go, this is a sound that's coming out of my mouth. It's English.

She out of no, it's just frequency and noises. If I did this backwards, I guarantee you, this Lexia would be non-existent.

We're just always moving forward.

- Yeah. - Sorry, that's just a theory. - That's a good one. I mean, I love that. - Yeah.

It's like watch 10 it by Christopher Nolan. You'll realize folks are walking in their positive journey and some folks are walking in their antagonist journey. Blue and red, it's just, it's that simple. Some folks are just wake up and they're designed and like,

all right, we're gonna teach how to walk, but I'm designed to walk backwards. I have the ability to look without my eyes. No, you don't, shut up. Here's a stupid book that Osmooros have to read

and learn from why, when I can talk and speak backwards. - Oh, not my daughter. They were trying to teach her to write with her right hand, even though she's left-handed. - Why?

- Anyway, I got involved, it didn't work out well. - Of course, yeah, no, because they're just, and I good for you for fighting the good fight and knowing when you're fighting a losing battle, but you're still gonna get me wrong.

- Yeah. - What, what is your daily affirmations? What's your ritual when you wake up? Do you jump in an ice bath to your journal? Or do you go right into the fire?

- Right into the fire. I mean, I do, well, after I've had my coffee. - Oh, thank God. - You need to meet time for yourself. Before you go in there.

- But I normally have my cup of coffee and then I'm posting the videos that I'm doing nail

“because chances that's how I'm supposed to build my business,”

I trust Chad, GPT, and-- - Did you give me a chance to be great on camera? - Yeah. - We're just gonna make it, and I'm getting the information out there.

- Yeah, you do. - What's that GPT are you using five? 'Cause you used five, you can actually make it us an expert out of field. So you'll essentially have a legal team now,

'cause you can just have it.

- It's focused, it's amazing, and it must be five.

- Yeah, I can get a team. (laughing) - I love where you live there. - Yeah, give your job GPT a name, like develop a relationship with that, and you'll start realizing

that it'll start doing things that you didn't tell it to do 'cause you're creating that, that frequency of energy. - It does, it does, yeah, it's pretty great. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, you're living in the world where they just realize that plants have sentient feelings

and they can actually think. - But you know what's odd to me is what schools now 'cause they're so like, don't use Chad, don't do anything else like-- - Don't put a set of a job.

- Don't put a set of jobs. - Don't put a set of jobs. - Someone's gonna revolutionize a homeschooling program to teach them AI, to teach them how to use this, and it's happening, it's happening with Roblox,

it's happening with Fortnite.

where you can grab and create something

and not have some boring professor preach their rhetoric and tell you, this is the birds in the bees. - Shut up. - It's 2025, man, can't real. - Yeah.

- Yeah, dude, the president just destroyed the east wing to the White House. What a reality do you think we're living in? - Yeah. - Like just throw all tradition out the door

and let's let's move forward together. - And you know, he's a brick in the US Department of Education. (laughing) - Would you like the talk about then? - I mean, we could or not, but cause it's too funny.

- Well, people don't agree with my views on it, but-- - What are your views on it? - My views on the Department of Education is well, there's the money piece of it and I'm like, well, that the funding will just be distributed

by a different corrupt government organization. That's all that's gonna happen there. And as far as them standing up for kids civil rights, I've reached out to help for them for lots of my kids

and they've never helped a single one of them.

So from that aspect, I'm not gonna miss them.

“And in fact, I think they actually distract parents”

from actually seeking help from other agencies and might actually help. - Yeah, can I tell you, really discussing the sages in this piece of advice? - Sure.

- Treat them like it's their idea and talk to them like you're on a date with them. Like they just wanna feel flatter. Don't give them the stats. Don't give them the bowling board shit.

Like you're heard out and just walk in there

and wear the loudest heels

and just dominate the frequency and they you'll just see everyone. What's that? They'll start looking and then when they know it's you, just flirt, hey, how's it going?

I do this and just, (laughing) yeah, do not bore them, change you to, just come at them like I'm gonna present to you

“the best thing that's ever happened to you”

and it's gonna be all your idea, but it's mine and you're gonna fund it. That's the best piece of advice I've seen in the kids. Yeah, when I go to these networking things and people look at me,

"Oh, you must find these people one of these progressives." I was like, "No, man, my mate, "for public and Christian conservative." This is what we look like now. - Yeah.

- Yeah, try me. (laughing) No, it's cool and the reason why I'm armed is because it folks like you, you sit there and give people like me

the confidence to go, you're right, you're right, move forward. This is why we built inside success, and you're sitting at, and she's like she,

“inside success is her, she is like a thing.”

Think about the process, all this. - Oh yeah. - Happy Friday, my love. - Thank you. - How can people find you and how can people learn more about you?

- People can find me on TikTok. I go live the 7th of every month at 7.30 pm for our pub-ed happy hour where we have cocktails or mock tales if you're that kind, and we talk about school issues.

- Beautiful. - So there's that, and then I have a Facebook page, my website, of course. I think I'm on Instagram, but I'm not great with it. I do post videos there too.

- Yeah, get your message out there. Get your message out there. The more you publish, the more you put it out in the world, you'll see beautiful things, transpire. Such an honor.

- Thank you so much. - I'm so happy that we had this moment. With that, this is April and I'm Ray, and we are inside success.