Financial Help for Special Needs Families

There is a woman in Illinois who helps families of special needs children/adults develop a financial plan for the future. Will your child be able to live independently as an adult? One thing the organization does is discover where your child could potentially live if you passed away. They also look at how to get grants to make that happen and even find resources to help your child get closer to independence. Protected Tomorrows can also help you find the best and most affordable place for an aging parent to live. Children with special needs become adults with special needs and most of the programs stop when the child turns 18 years old. It's a scary reality for a lot of parents. Here's the gist of what Protected Tomorrows does: (I believe the cost depends on what services you end up using, but I am not sure)

Protected Tomorrows, Inc. is an advocacy firm that enhances the lives of people with special needs through a comprehensive life planning process. Our nationwide network of Advocates creates Future Care Plans™, which addresses the needs of the individual with developmental disabilities, mental illness, physical disabilities, or cognitive and neurological diseases in the following areas:

• education
• residential
• financial
• legal
• health care
• government benefits
• employment
• recreation

The Future Care Plan is a comprehensive way to approach and address the fears, hopes and dreams of families with a special needs member whether that member has a developmental disability like autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or Angelmans syndrome; mental illness; or other diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), and Multiple Sclerosis.

Here's a story on Protected Tomorrows from ABC7 in Chicago. On a side note, it is so cool to me that the station has a reporter who is hearing impaired doing this story.

ABC7 story

About the Founder of the program: Our founder, Mary Anne Ehlert, CFP, had a successful career in financial planning when she decided to act on her lifelong desire to specialize in serving the families of the disabled. The source of her inspiration was very dear to her heart. Mary Anne herself had come from such a family. Her younger sister, Marcia, to whom she felt especially close, suffered severe mental handicaps due to cerebral palsy. And, although their parents were naturally determined that Marcia should get the best possible care, they had also for years been understandably confused how best to plan and provide for her future, especially financially.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Down Syndrome Awareness Month

I got an email from a local mom who had an emotional story to tell. It's something most moms thought about while they were pregnant, but probably never dealt with. Brandee did. She worried her unborn baby would have something wrong with him and that little boy was born with Down Syndrome. But Brandee quickly learned, her son's extra set of chromosomes did not mean there was something wrong with him. It was a blessing in disguise.

Here's Brandee's story:

My name is Brandee and my son, Terry, is 4 1/2. He has Down syndrome. Statistics are showing that with the increased availability of prenatal testing for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities, 85-90% of women are terminating their pregnancies once they find out their baby has Down syndrome.

Many do not realize that these children will and can grow to be productive members of society. They have developmental delays but are still able to walk and talk and dress themselves. There are individuals with Down syndrome who have graduated from college and live in society with minimal assistance.

Recent legislation has been passed that doctors have to give parents both the positive and negative sides of Down syndrome (where the negatives were really the only side presented) and provide resources and referral to the community Down syndrome support groups when giving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Times have changed, and no longer are parents encouraged to send their children to institutions and to pretend like they died. These kids are included in regular classrooms and are excelling. Their peers are experiencing the joys of having them as classmates and friends. Acceptance and awareness is becoming more the norm, and this improves the lives of all involved.

I have not met one person who has met Terry who doesn't instantly love him. He is lively and funny and so open with his emotions and his love. He finds the joys in the everyday things in life. He doesn't hold grudges. He laughs and loves and cries and gets mad. He is just like any other boy his age. He plays ball and wrestles with his dad, snuggles on the couch to read a book, tells us no, and gives hugs and kisses. I cannot imagine my life without him.

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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