Why Arent There More Help Out There for Special Needs Children

I feel ya on this i also have a brother that is very disable and my mother has took care of him for 31 years and has had this same prob you are haveing i thinks it's BS that people like you and my mother cant get the right help for these kids.. I work with kids who are disable and they are my life i'm not sure where you live but if you ever just need a brake and time for your self plz feel free to e-mail me if your in the nashville area.. I my self have a 10month old that was born too soon and the doc are sayin he is goin to be disable he cant do much of any thing but lay around but i love all kids who are disable they take my heart.. I wish ya the best sweet heart

T.,
I am a special education teacher and I would like to help you find answers to your questions. I moved here from TN and I am wondering why there aren't more appropriate services for these children. Maybe we can find the answers together. Email me at

____@____.com

have you tried children special services...there is usually an office at the health dept..we use the one in Tipton county..it is a service like an insurance ..that will only cover stuff related to your son's illness

Hi T.. I work for a local DME company here in Birmingham and we specialize in pediatrics...I know that Medicaid does not like to pay for things like wheelchair ramps and bath equipment. Have you tried going through Children's Rehab Services? They help a lot of our clients get funding for stuff that medicaid won't pay for. Also what is your son's diagnosis? The MDA as well as Easter Seals helps out a tremendous amount also.

I see that you are in Mississippi....We have two branches over there.....I would be glad to put you in contact with them....

I know someone who works with MR and hanicapped patients so I can probably find out more information later on tonight for you but you need to get involved with places that specifically deal with hanicapped and MR clients.
Look in the phone book under social services and start calling. Once you get in contact with them, they will appoint a direct care person to help figure out what you need and then help you get it.
I don't know the names of any specific places in your area but I do know those are the places that will help you. I know one of our local ones is Kids Inc so it may be under a similar title. http://host1.bondware.com/~nashmed30/news.php?viewStory=1206 is a site for Nashville TN and maybe they can give you an idea about what kind of help you could get.. possibly even contact them to find one in your local area.
I'm sorry I haven't been able to help you more. My oldest son is blind and I've had to fight for him to get any kind of help, we still haven't been able to get him on SSI. There are more services available to MR and Physically handicapped then there ever was. There is help out there, it's just finding where to go that's the problem.
I can find out more information tonight if you need me too, I may have to find out a bit more information from you (like his exact diagnosis for example) but I'll do all I can to find out where you need to start. We can't let our kids fall through the cracks because they've got a disability.

Hi T., my name is S. and I have an 8 year old autist son. Yes we are also on medicaid because other insurances refuse to pay. But anyway, I understand how you feel. It took me 3 years just to get Jacob's school to admit that he has a dissability. He is now in second grade and they just right after Christmas holidays started giving him regular services. Our OT at childrens said that she has about done all she can do. He is only 8, so what about the rest of his life? He was recieving a dissability check until I got married and all of a sudden they decided he wasn't disable anymore and cut off his check. Believe me I understand your frustration, and people who have typical kids do not understand what a typical day is like.
God Bless,
S.

Hi T.,
My name is R.. my son is 11 yrs old & is handicapped as well. i am not sure what area you are in, but i am in the Corbin, Ky. area. Because i do have a child with special needs, i work with early intervention, (which does home-based therapy with children birth -3yrs old) as a Parent Consultant. i don't know about everything, but i might be able to help with a few things. there are grants that are givin out each year for things like ramps, but you have to apply and they only choose a few. there is only limited funding for the 2 grants that i know about. - i can try to get more details about that for you. also, is there equipment or other things like that, that he needs? my son has medicaid and they paid for alot of things that he needed. like a bigger car seat, and a feeding chair, a walker, a wheel chair. it has been very wonderful. i could have never paid for those things.
please get back to me and i will do all i can to help you. most of the things i have found out about to help my son, was because i just kept calling, and asking lots of questions of every place i could think of and every social worker i could. there isn't much info just handed out. it can be very agrivating!!!! i know how you feel. but please get back to me. i am only in my office 1 day a week,-usually Thusday, but you can call or email me anytime, and i will get back to you.
hope to hear from you soon,
R. Steely email: ____@____.com
1-800-348-4279 ext.25
110 Johnson Ln.
Barbourville, Ky. 40906

T.,
I have 3 sisters with special needs. My parents have found local resources which help network them with medical equipment, respite and other events like outings, camp, etc.
The organization is called ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens) and you can access their website at http://thearc.org/#
I hope this helps. I know how frustrating your situation can be.
L. G

Well, first off what kind of disabilities does your son have? What kind of help are you looking for? If he has medical then what else do you need? Maybe I can help you figure out somewhere that can help you.

T. I completely understand your anger. I have the same problem finding help with my 11 year old son who is special need because of a growth on his brain. It is very frustrating to keep running into dead ends. I cant even get a school to let him go to it. He is either to high risk, or not disabled enough, for whatever that means. Parents like us need to get together and form a group that pushes the government both local and federal to help us more. Keep in touch, us special needs parents have to stick together. good luck hun, and love to your son.

hi there i work with specail need adults every day and there is alot of help out there not sure what part of the state that you are in but i work for north mississippi regional center out of oxford and they can either help you or direct you in the right direction. i undertand what you are saying about people treating them diffrent i see it everythime we take them on a outing it is sad and the majority of people i see doing it are adults