Results
Special Needs > Down Syndrome
Your Early Intervention Roadmap for Down Syndrome: Therapy Options from Birth to Age Three
...diagnosis alone is enough to qualify in most states, with no additional evaluation required. The three primary therapies are physical therapy (PT), speech-language...later, language. OT focuses on fine motor skills, sensory processing, and self-care tasks like holding a spoon or transitioning to solids. The therapies...
Medical > Psychiatry
When Behavior Becomes Self-Harm: A Parent's Guide to Managing Self-Injurious Behavior in Children with Intellectual Disabilities
...attention-seeking. It's self-injurious behavior, and...behavioral therapist, or 911. Self-injurious behavior (SIB)...assessment to psychiatric evaluation to crisis care. What Self-Injurious...evaluation to crisis care. What Self-Injurious Behavior Is....head-banging, hand-biting, self-scratching, hair-pulling,...distinct from stimming (self-stimulatory behavior),...
Parenting > Early Intervention
Advocating for Your Child with Special Needs in the Early Intervention System
...secure and happy) self-help (eating, dressing)...right to request an evaluation if you think your...multidisciplinary evaluation of your child at...services Refuse evaluations, assessments, and...Resources. Requesting an Evaluation. If you're concerned...doctor can request an evaluation at any time. To request...time. To request an evaluation, contact your state's...
News > Advocacy
Trump's Budget Would Eliminate All 67 University Disability Research Centers. Here's What Families Need to Know.
...state for more than 60 years, providing early intervention programs, autism evaluations, and training on developmental disabilities for families, self-advocates,...autism evaluations, and training on developmental disabilities for families, self-advocates, and professionals. In 2024, UCEDDs served more than 1.3 million...
Social Engagement > Support Groups
Finding Your People: A Complete Guide to Support Groups for Special Needs Families
...than you arrived? This is the practical guide to finding, joining, and evaluating support groups for special needs families. Not inspiration, just mechanics....groups address your reality more directly than parent-focused spaces. Self-advocate...
Special Needs > Asperger Syndrome
Alexithymia and Asperger Syndrome: Difficulty Identifying Emotions
Alexithymia makes emotions hard to name, not absent. What it means for Asperger syndrome, therapy, and everyday self-awareness.
Parenting > Adulthood
Letter of Intent for Special Needs Planning: What to Include
...daily job. The one where you know your son needs his socks put on seam-side out or he'll be picking at them by nine a.m., or that your daughter can self-administer her insulin but needs someone standing nearby who won't say anything unless she asks. Here's what belongs in it. Daily Routine, Hour by Hour....
Education > Early Intervention
Finding Your State's Early Intervention Program: A Self-Referral Guide for Parents
...you: every state's early intervention program takes referrals directly from parents, no doctor's note required, and you can make that call today. Why Self-Referral Exists. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) built early intervention around a "Child Find" obligation: states...
Lifestyle > Travel
How to Request Pre-Boarding When Flying with a Disability
...gap: not a missing accommodation, but a missing sentence. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, U.S. airlines have to offer pre-boarding to passengers who self-identify at the gate as needing additional time or assistance getting to their seat, stowing an assistive device, or settling in before the rest of...
Legal > Government Benefits
Maryland Delayed Its DDA Wage Cuts One Day Before They Started. Here's What Self-Directing Families Should Do Now.
...Administration was set to cut what it pays self-directed care staff, the state told...co-founder of Concerned Citizens of Self-Direction Maryland. "We've had reports...counted. The plan called for cutting self-directed care wages by roughly a third,...requiring small vendors who work under self-direction to become licensed DDA providers,...
Lifestyle > Self-Care
Caregiver Burnout Recovery Timeline: What to Expect
Recovery from caregiver burnout takes 6-12 weeks with evidence-based interventions. What to expect at each stage.
Lifestyle > Self-Care
Micro Self-Care: One-Minute Practices for Overwhelmed Caregivers
You don't have time for self-care. That's not judgment, that's...unhelpful and insulting. But self-care doesn't require an hour...your day. The Case for Micro Self-Care. Traditional self-care...Micro self-Care. Traditional self-care advice assumes you have...of uninterrupted time. Micro self-care assumes you don't. It's...