- College Resources
- Developmental Disabilities and Learning Disabilities
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Reactive Attachment Disorder
- Sensory Integration Dysfunction
About.com: Special Needs Adoption: Resources for those considering adopting a special needs child, including available subsidies, advocating for children, services available and personal considerations.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: This web site is designed to help parents and families in understanding developmental, behavioral, emotional and mental disorders affecting children and adolescents. It has an excellent links page to sites dealing with the emotional and psychiatric health of these two age groups. And the 'Facts for Families and Other Resources/Facts for Families' page contains an outstanding list of fact sheets providing concise and up-to-date information on issues and health disorders that affect children, teenagers, and their families. Some of the issues covered include: adoption (excellent), bedwetting, eating disorders, enuresis, foster care, grief, learning disabilities, lying, stealing, substance abuse, suicide, etc., as well as several excellent articles on medications prescribed for children and adolescents. Some, but definitely not all, of the health issues covered include: ADHA, AIDS, anxiety, Asperger's Disorder, autism, bipolar disorder, conduct disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, oppositional-defiant disorder, PTSD, Self-injury, Tourettes, etc.
In Colorado: The Arc of Colorado: The Arc of Colorado advocates for all people with developmental disabilities to ensure that they are full participants within their community.
Family Village: A global community on the Internet for children with disabilities and their families. Includes comprehensive directory of links related to specific disabilities, and many other wonderful resources.
Housing & Mortgages for People with Disabilities: MortgageLoan.com has developed a guide to help individuals living with disabilities, and their family members, in the process of buying a home of their own. Here you can learn more about the five important steps in buying a home and about financial assistance programs that are available for you living with disabilities, who want to buy a home.
Internet Resources for Special Children (IRSC): IRSC provides a wealth of information relating to the needs of children with disABILITIES by providing a comprehensive set of links to sites on specific disabilities (including FAS).
The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities, NICHCY: NICHCY is the national information and referral center that provides information on disabilities and disability-related issues for families, educators, and other professionals. Our special focus is children and youth (birth to age 22). Hablamos espanol.
In Colorado: Peak Parent Center: The Peak Parent Center is a federally-funded state information and referral center, run by parents of children with disabilities. The mission of the Peak Parent Center is to ensure that Colorado children, youth, and adults with disabilities lead rich, active lives and participate as full members of their schools and communities by providing training, information, and technical assistance, including best practices, to families and the professionals working with them. It also posts a calendar of Parent Support Activities.
In Colorado: Parent to Parent of Colorado: This is a parent-initiated, parent-controlled group that builds inclusive communities, and supports each other in parenting children with special health care needs or disabilities.
Special Child: This site is for parents of children with disabilities, created by a parent with a special needs child. It has an incredible amount of helpful information, including summaries of laws affecting disabled children (Legal Files); the impact of a special needs child on family dynamics (Family Issues); IEPs; an excellent summary of about 40 disorders (Disorder Zone); Parent-matching (designed to unite families with one another who have children with the same or similar disorders); and a bulletin board.
ADDitude Magazine: In addition to a wealth of original articles, news updates, and previews of ADDitude in print, there are Ask the Expert columnists providing readers with answers related to medicine, education, organization, and living. Look for special web events, AD/HD celebrity profiles, and discussion groups and forums.
CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder: CHADD is a national organization with hundreds of local chapters. Its website offers fact sheets on AD/HD for children and adults. The site hosts monthly meetings called "Ask the Expert" and contains links to other sites. There is also information about CHADD's annual conference and a section highlighting some of the latest research studies.
SERI Attention Deficit Disorder Resources: This is a collection of Internet-accessible information resources on ADHD from the Special Education Resources on the Internet, SERI, web site.
In Colorado: Autism Society of America, Colorado Chapter (ASACC): The ASACC is a non-profit organization that provides resources, support, and information to persons and families affected by autism. ASACC provides a quarterly newsletter, an information library, and conducts periodic in-services, conferences and workshops around the state.
Kid's Health: For people new to the World of the Autism Spectrum and also a good reference for the rest of us. Look into what Autism is, how to spot it, diagnose it (or get it diagnosed), and cope with a diagnosis (or without one).
ZAC Browser: Zone for Autistic Children
ZAC is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and PDD-NOS. This browser is for the children: for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom. For more information, go to http://www.zacbrowser.com/.
College Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
College is a huge step in a young adult’s life. Navigating a university campus and course load can feel overwhelming for any student. Deaf and hard of hearing students face an additional and unique set of challenges in their pursuit of a quality education. At BestColleges.com, a team of college planning experts have curated valuable resources in a new Guide, which includes:
- An in depth look at a student's transition into college
- A guide to college accommodations & assistive technology
- Key strategies, resources, scholarships & more for deaf and hard of hearing students
Please visit College Help for Hard of Hearing and Deaf Students to access the College Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
College Resources for Students with Disabilities
With more adaptive technologies and progressive legislature, prospective college students with disabilities have countless resources available to make the transition to higher education less stressful. A College Resources for Students with Disabilities guidebook http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/resources-for-students-with-disabilities/ was created as a guide to scholarships and financial aid for students with disabilities to help students and their families better understand the vast number of financial aid options available to them. Key elements of the guide include:
- A comprehensive review of all of the scholarships available, listed by disability
- Amounts awarded and deadlines for each scholarship
- Debt-forgiveness options for those who acquired a disability post-graduation
MoneyGeek.com has developed a comprehensive resource that covers financial planning advice for all stages of life, including financial planning for college students with disabilities. Their “Guide on How to Get Scholarships and Grants for Students with Disabilities” can be viewed at: http://www.moneygeek.com/education/college/resources/scholarship-guide-for-students-with-disabilities/. Particularly helpful sections are the lists of scholarships (by disability) and explanations of loan forgiveness and discharge options for those who acquired a disability after graduation. A more extensive scholarship search tool can be viewed at: http://www.moneygeek.com/education/scholarship-search/
Educational Resources Information Center, ERIC: ERIC is a national information system funded by the U.S Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide access to education literature and resources. The ERIC database is used to collect and disseminate professional literature, information, and resources on the education and development of individuals of all ages who have disabilities and/or who are gifted.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Practices: This site answers your questions about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), keeps you informed about IDEAs That Work, and supports efforts to help all children learn, progress, and realize their dreams.
Learning Disabilities Association of America: The Learning Disabilities Association of America is a national, non-profit organization whose purpose is to advance the education and general welfare of children and adults of normal or potentially normal intelligence who manifest disabilities of a perceptual, conceptual, or coordinative nature.
Learning Disabilities On Line: This site is an interactive guide to learning disabilities for parents, teachers, and other professionals. It provides some very useful information on building academic success for children with AD/HD. The site also has a 1st person section where children share their stories, a KidZone, audio clips from LD experts, and a bulletin board where parents and teachers can post their questions, comments, and support for others.
Scientific Learning: This innovative educational company was started to bring to the market the latest software training tools for children with language impairments and other learning problems. In addition to the company's FastForWord reading and language programs, parents can test their children to see whether they are having problems interpreting sounds - a major stumbling block to learning and reading. These are some of the same tools educators use to evaluate phonemic awareness in young children. Children will also have fun on this site in the KIDS! section. There is online coloring as well as a dozen interactive games that are challenging and fun.
Special Education Resources on the Internet, SERI: SERI is an outstanding collection of Internet accessible information resources of interest to those involved in the fields related to Special Education.
Wrightslaw: This site contains accurate, up-to-date information about effective advocacy for children with disabilities for parents, advocates, educators, and attorneys.
NOFAS Colorado: website provides a forum for collaboration of agencies and families and a unified voice for prenatal alcohol and drug exposure education, prevention, identification, and intervention.
FAS Bookstore: Your First Stop for Resources on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Family Empowerment Network, FEN: FEN is a national organization serving families affected by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects as well as the professionals involved in their lives.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Excellent site for information and links.
About.com: Reactive Attachment Disorder Guide Picks: RAD is the result of chaos and neglect early on in a child's life. The child is unable to trust, which in turn creates frightening and violent behaviors.
Tulsa Today: This is a series of excellent articles on attachment disorder written by Linda Smith - Part 1.
Tulsa Today: This is a series of excellent articles on attachment disorder written by Linda Smith - Part 2.
Tulsa Today: This is a series of excellent articles on attachment disorder written by Linda Smith - Part 3.
The Attachment Awareness conference calls have become the Conscious Connections Talk Radio program. Participate in these live radio broadcasts discussing attachment issues. Anyone can send in questions to email@example.com, and
the moderators will attempt to answer the questions during the show.
The centerpiece of ListeningtoParents.org is a discussion board for adoptive, waiting, and prospective parents to share their experiences.
About.com: Sensory Integration Guide Picks: Sensory Integration Dysfunction is an interruption in the ability to assimilate our senses into our learning environment. Children may exhibit overly sensitive reactions to noises, touch, taste, smells, and sight. The goal of sensory integration therapy is to create tolerance to a child's environment by promoting healthy sensory integration.
Sensory processing (sometimes called "sensory integration" or SI) is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your successful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration."
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, formerly known as "sensory integration dysfunction") is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. Pioneering occupational therapist and neuroscientist A. Jean Ayres, PhD, likened SPD to a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.
Research by the SPD Foundation indicates that 1 in every 20 children experiences symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder that are significant enough to affect their ability to participate fully in everyday life. Symptoms of SPD, like those of most disorders, occur within a broad spectrum of severity. While most of us have occasional difficulties processing sensory information, for children and adults with SPD, these difficulties are chronic, and they disrupt everyday life.