Financial Resources

It is not cheap to raise a child these days.  And if you are talking about raising a child having any type of special needs, the expenses go up exponentially.  It should be the last thing you have to think about while caring for your child but finances are at the top of many parent's worry list as in: "How do we afford therapy, doctors, medications, special foods/diets, tutors, respite, special equipment, adaptive toys, home improvements (the list can go on and on) needed to accommodate or treat my child's condition?" The sad fact is that many parents can't afford it.  As a result many parents with a special needs child or children go into debt.

I remember a mother who had three children, two of whom were on the autism spectrum.  In a very candid interview she said that the cost of helping her children almost put them out of house and home.  Autism had just about bankrupted her family.

My co-authors and I know first hand how difficult it can be to pay for all the that goes into caring for a child having special needs.  I remember when Max was diagnosed my husband had gotten his first "good" job.  Yet despite having decent insurance we were denied most services to help Max including speech therapy.  If Max had a lisp or stuttered then insurance would have covered the cost of speech therapy.  But helping a child with little to no communication skills was not considered worthy of assistance.  We paid out of pocket for this service, which even back then was quite expensive, at $100 per 50 minute session once a week.  There were some weeks when we debated whether to cut back on food expenses or his speech therapy.  It seems like a crazy choice to even think about but when it is your child you would do anything to help them.  I would have done anything to hear Max speak. There were years where I butchered my hair by giving myself hair-cuts, I gave up buying new clothes, and our dining out experiences were limited to drive throughs. Yet the debt still accumulated despite our sacrifices. 

We have all been there.

Having made it this far to the teen years with my son, I do have a lot of hard earned wisdom to share about getting the best treatment for your child at the lowest cost.  We will be discussing how to navigate the dreaded insurance maze and how to evaluate the worth of equipment, services, and therapies.  In addition we are going to provide a lengthy list of resources on how to find financial aid to help your child and family survive these tough economic times.

Remember that if you have any tips to share on how to stretch your dollars while raising a child with a disability please share them here on NotYourTypicalChild.  We would love to hear from you!

In the meantime here are some resources on the topic of financial assistance for those families caring for a child, teen, or adult child having special needs.  Remember that we are not responsible for the usefulness or functionality of any of information provided on external websites.  Use your own discretion in deciding which information is pertinent to your child and family.

• Social Security Administration:  Benefits for Children with Disabilities
  
  
• Military Homefront:  Exceptional Family Member Program
  
  
• National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
  
  
• eSpecial Needs:  Funding Resources for Special Needs and Adaptive Equipment
  
  
• BraveKids