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(CNN) -- For many families, the nation's lurch toward the so-called fiscal cliff evokes either mind-numbing confusion, measured optimism or downright fear.
But for Lisa Slifer, a single mother of three, the consequences of failing to come to a deal are all too real.
Slifer's son, Kara, 11, is autistic. He and his mother depend heavily on state, local and private programs that receive grants from Washington. Many of those funds could be cut back if Congress and the White House can't avoid the automatic and drastic spending cuts tha