January 29, 2016
It’s a topic that has come up often in our Allies in Prevention Coalition
Meetings: How do parenting topics and resources apply to those raising children with
special needs? In many cases, families are all facing the same struggles —
how to discipline, deal with sibling rivalry, find childcare — but at the same
time there are unique challenges that deserve special attention and support.
This fall, SCAN worked with community partners to develop four new fact
sheets focused on parents raising children with special needs:
- Building Family Resiliency for Children with Special Needs
- Choosing Caregivers for Children with Special Needs
- Preventing Sexual Abuse for Children with Special Needs
- Strong Sibling Relationships for Children with Special Needs
We hope to continue to develop materials for this parenting community (including translating these first four fact sheets into Spanish this spring), and we encourage parents to reach out for support from organizations such as:
- Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) – www.cec.sped.org
- Wrightslaw – www.wrightslaw.com
- NAMI – www.nami.org
- ARCs – www.theARC.org
- VERA Institute of Justice – www.vera.org
- Childcare Law – www.childcarelaw.org
For school support, also reference:
- Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities (VAISEF) – www.vaisef.org
- Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) – www.mansef.org
- DC Association for Special Education (DCASE) – www.dcase.org
- National Association of Private Special Education Centers (NAPSEC) – www.napsec.org
- Definitely Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC) – www.peatc.org
What other resources can we share to support this special groups of parents? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!