Special Needs

Articles

You opened a 529 plan years ago to save for your child's college education. Since then, your child received a disability diagnosis, and college...education. Since then, your child received a disability diagnosis, and college may no longer be the primary path forward. The money you set aside doesn't...

Your 19-year-old graduated with a certificate of completion, not a diploma. College isn't the right fit. You're looking at vocational programs that cost $15,000 upfront and don't guarantee job placement. Meanwhile, there's a federally-funded...

...is approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. You work for an employer sponsor while completing coursework through a technical school or community college. Programs typically last one to five years depending on the occupation. You're an employee during the entire program, with a paycheck and wage increases...

...with Disabilities (AAPD) runs a paid summer internship program that places college students and recent graduates with disabilities in congressional offices,...The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) connects federal agencies with college students and recent graduates who have disabilities. Federal agencies are...

...living. That means the school isn't just teaching your child to read or do math anymore. They're supposed to be preparing them for what comes next: college, vocational training, supported employment, community living. This planning should answer real questions: What skills does my child need to hold a...

...The catch is timing. Some of these tools require your child to have capacity at the moment they're signed. Waiting until a medical crisis or until college orientation week usually means that window has closed. Planning before age 18 gives you options. Planning at 19 after a hospital stay leaves you with...

...websites. You've read brochures. Every college claims "comprehensive disability support"...arrives. This guide breaks down five colleges with strong disability support programs...support programs are built the same way. Colleges deliver accommodations through three...rankings. Level 1: Standard Support The college has a registered Disability Resource...

...needed before they could ask. College ends that, not gradually but...depth. So students arrive at college never having requested an accommodation...they struggle, not because college is too hard, but because they...you're not. But that's not what college requires. What college requires...what college requires. What college requires is procedural knowledge:...

...student has been accepted to college. The acceptance letter doesn't...accommodations they need. Every college has a DRC, sometimes called...documents don't transfer to college. The college can't act on them....don't transfer to college. The college can't act on them. Your student...DRC Find the office on the college's website...

...you're heading to college, and you assume...day you enroll in college, the law that protected...disabilities. In college, that obligation...Act, which require colleges to provide accommodations...this way because college students are considered...support they need in college, but the process...the school. In college, you own the process....to the student. Colleges must provide equal...

...starts in elementary school, when your child learns to name what they need and ask for it in situations they can handle. By the time they're navigating college disability services or workplace accommodations, they've practiced hundreds of times in lower-stakes settings. Parents often ask when to start teaching...

Most families applying for college funding know about Pell Grants, student loans, and disability-specific scholarships....VR will provide to help you reach it. If your counselor determines that college or trade school is necessary to achieve that goal, VR can pay for it. The...