Resource Guide for Parents of Children with Disabilities

The purpose of this resource guide is to help you understand special education: what it is; how it works; who is involved; where to go with questions and concerns; when to ask those questions and raise those concerns; and why you as a parent have such an important role in making sure that your child’s educational needs are accurately assessed and adequately addressed.

To access resource guide, please go to the following link: https://www.scsd.org/departments-services/special-education/resource-guide-for-parents-of-children-with-disabilities/

From one parent to another…

Learning that your child has or even may be suspected of having a disability is difficult. Absorbing the information, while at the same time trying to figure out what to do about it, is stressful for most parents. It is easy to become overwhelmed by concerns about what it all means for your child’s future. While concerns about the future are understandable and certainly deserve to be addressed, it is really in your child’s best interest to try to take a “one-step-at-a-time” approach. Looking too far down the road and worrying about what might or might not happen can quickly cloud your thinking and make it harder to focus on your child’s immediate needs and how best to meet them. Try to remember as for all children — with or without disabilities — if we as parents do a good job of the present, the future will take care of itself.

The purpose of this resource guide is to help you understand special education:

• what it is;
• how it works;
• who is involved;
• where to go with questions and concerns;
• when to ask those questions and raise those concerns; and
• why you as a parent have such an important role in making sure that your child’s educational needs are accurately assessed and adequately addressed.

Our hope is that this will be a meaningful guide that will make your special education journey, however short or long it may be, as smooth and rewarding as possible for you and your child. It is also our hope that as you read through this guide you will realize that the special education road need not be traveled alone. At each step along the way there are many highly qualified and deeply caring individuals who will assist you.