Special Needs

Articles

...that wasn't designed for adults who had pediatric disabilities. Fewer than half of children with special healthcare needs aged 12 to 17 receive adequate...doctors knew what developmental milestones looked like in context, what medication side effects mattered for this population, and how to adjust care plans...

...know that stimulant medication can be helpful in...that do not rely on medications. According to the...But just more than half of these are taking...these are taking medication for the condition....whatever reason, medication is not really the...allow us to predict medication response, perhaps...indicate to us what medication may be most appropriate,...

Three and a half years ago, Diane Solomon was at the end of her rope. Her son Adam was in...psychiatrist. The psychiatrist thought he might have ADD and wanted to put him on medication, but they couldn't because that would speed up his brain and his heart...

...what should or should not be happening either. It has been a year and a half since we received our official diagnosis of Dravet Syndrome. I cannot count...difficult time getting insurance to cover expensive tests, procedures and medications. It is rare to have conversations that don’t include the words therapy,...

...not the whole story. Their amount of spin on ADD/HD research and the medications involved could make a child's top look like it was standing still. "But...level of Ritalin use and production. Canada’s Ritalin figures are under half...

...CBD guides address. You're asking whether it's safe to add to a seizure medication regimen that took months to get right, in a body that's already managing...parent asking about CBD for behavioral symptoms alone. The FDA-approved CBD medication Epidiolex was tested specifically in children with Dravet syndrome and...

You don't have time for self-care. That's not judgment, that's reality. Between medication schedules, therapy appointments, IEP meetings, and the daily logistics of raising a child with special needs, the advice to "take an hour for yourself"...

...parent handles the therapy schedule, coordinates school meetings, manages medication refills, and navigates insurance appeals while the other parent participates...with school communication, medical appointments, equipment tracking, and medication management. The work also extends beyond visible tasks. Emotional labor...

...the teenager down the street. You need someone who understands your child's communication device, knows how to position them safely, or can manage medication schedules. The ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center maintains a locator tool that connects families to vetted providers who offer exactly...

...responsibilities that should belong to an adult. It's not the occasional request to watch a sibling for 20 minutes. It's the 10-year-old who knows the medication schedule better than you do. The teenager who stops making weekend plans because they assume they'll be needed at home. The young adult who doesn't...

...15-year-old has been on the same medication routine for three years. You've managed...them to college, to a job, to the life they're building. At some point,...back. Why the Handoff Feels Risky. Medication management isn't filing papers or...physiological. A missed dose of a seizure medication, an insulin error, a skipped immunosuppressant:...

...loses both benefits the following month. Restoration requires reapplication, proof that the money is gone, and months of waiting. During that gap, medication costs resume, therapy stops, and home care disappears. This is fixable with advance planning. The key is keeping the money out of countable assets...