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Disabilities/Special Needs
This section contains Disabilities and Special Needs related LINKS and is divided into the following subsections:
General
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.
About.com: Parenting Special Needs Children
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.
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).
National Adoption Center's Adoption Quest
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.
Parent Network for the Post Institutionalized Child, PNPIC: PNPIC is a support network devoted to understanding the medical, developmental, emotional and educational needs of children adopted from hospitals, orphanages and institutions throughout the world.
ParentPatch: Scroll down to the ‘Topics’ Section under the ‘Special Needs’ header and find articles on: ADD/ADHD, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Hearing Impairments, Learning Disabilities, Speech/Language Disorders, Tourette Syndrome, and other topics. There is also a section on the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for children with special needs and/or learning disabilities, which includes an in-depth summary of the child’s and parents’ rights relating to school services for their child.
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.
ADHD
About.com: Attention Deficit Disorder
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.
Attention Deficit Disorder Association, ADDA
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.
Autism
About.com: Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorders
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.
The Maze: 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). This site includes about 700 links to other autism sites, on every conceivable autism topic.
Developmental Disabilities and Learning Disabilities
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 sofware 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.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
The Arc: An outstanding Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Resource Guide.
In Colorado: Denver FAS Parents' Support Group: The Denver FAS Parent Support Group is supported in part by the Colorado Fetal Alcohol and Substance abuse Coalition and the UCHSC FAS Prevention Outreach Project
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.
FAS Community Resource Center (FASCRC)
FASlink Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Information, Support, & Communications Link
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Excellent site for information and links.
National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Reactive Attachment Disorder
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.
Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children, ATTACh
Attachment Disorder Support Group
Tulsa Today: This is a series of excellent articles on attachment disorder written by Linda Smith.
Sensory Integration Dysfunction
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.
Developmental Therapy Associates,Inc.
Marie's Sensory Integration Site
Rainbow Kids: Sensory Integration
Rainbow Kids: Sensory Integration Disorder
The Relationship of Learning Problems and Classroom Performance to Sensory Integration
Sensory Integration International (SII) - The Ayres Clinic
Sensory Integrative Dysfunction in Young Children
Yahoo Directory: Sensory_Integration_Dysfunction
Page Last Updated: January 2, 2004
