Information For Parents Of Children With Special Needs

Raising children is a demanding and on-going job. When your child has special needs those duties become more complicated and demanding.

What You Should Do

Keep a Care Notebook

In caring for a child with special health care needs, families get information and paperwork from many sources. A care notebook is designed to help organize the information in a central place to assist both families and providers.

Begin planning for your teen's healthcare transition early in adolescence

Planning for healthcare transition should start early in adolescence (around age 14) for all teens. However, each teen is unique and will be ready to transition to adult healthcare at a different time in his or her life. Discuss transitioning with your teen early on, and start talking to your teen’s pediatrician as soon as possible about what might be appropriate for your teen. For more information, see our Healthcare Transition Guide for parents and caregivers.

What We Do

Office of Special Needs is dedicated to providing families of children with special needs with support, guidance, and encouragement regarding the health care of your child from birth through the transition from adolescent to adulthood.