Mobility technology can enhance the lives of young children with disabilities in ways parents often never consider. Learn about how it can help your child beyond getting from point A to point B!
Welcome to the second part of my travel series! In the previous post, I wrote about how I found my love for traveling through my trip to Madrid and Paris. Looking back, not only do I realize that these trips took place during very different phases of my adult life, but they also mark the different phases of my CP in recent years. Although CP is the result of a non-progressive brain injury, many folks experience a decline in their physical abilities in their adult years — the inevitable effect of aging, not just for those with disabilities, but for everyone.
In the next couple of blog posts, I’ll write about some of my favorite trips that I took over the years. I’ll travel down memory lane of all the new places I explored in recent years and eagerly wait until my next trip.
My cousin, Reeva, had recently moved to Kyoto, Japan to learn Japanese for a year, and she convinced me to visit her there. I didn’t know anyone else living in Japan and Reeva was going to be there short term, so I couldn’t possibly pass up going! I was admittedly pretty nervous about traveling all the way across the world— a 24-hour long plane trip, including a layover— especially to a country that uses a language that isn’t remotely like anything I was used to. But, again, I wasn’t going to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Medicaid Waivers, Katie Beckett or TEFRA are all forms of benefits that an "waive" medicaid financial restrictions for parents of children who have a developmental disability acquired prior to the age of three. Kidswaivers.org has provided a comprehensive, interactive website of all available medicaid waiver programs by State across the US.
NCART Standing Device Funding Guide contains all the information needed to choose, measure, and write a letter of medical necessity for a standing device.
Standing devices and standing wheelchair devices are frequently prescribed and often denied equipment options for individuals with cerebral palsy. The attached paper provides evidence and guidance to help appeal to insurers for this equipment.
Complex Rehabilitation Technology serves to enhance the lives of individuals who utilize it with the goals of maximizing health, wellbeing, participation and independence.
RESNA (Rehab Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America) is a great place to find highly qualified rehab and assistive technology professionals in your area. They also have provided their research to help providers and the families they serve make decisions about powered mobility for young children.
Jen Lyman provides a parent perspective on powered wheelchair standing devices as it relates to Dr. Lisa Kenyon's research article.
Many people do not know the difference between SSI and SSDI. It can be very confusing for a family or individual to understand what is available, and whether they will qualify. Very often, the recipients and their families do not even know which benefits they are receiving. But it is important to understand some basic information about government benefits. This post will focus on the two most common government benefits and give you a brief overview of how they work.
Setting up a Third Party-Special Needs trust as part of estate planning is essential if the individual with a disability is or may be eligible for means-tested government benefits. A properly set up Third Party Trust ensures that the funds left to the individual, whether through gift or inheritance, are not considered countable assets when applying for means tested benefits
In 2014 the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act was passed. The ABLE account is a tax-advantaged savings account for individuals with disabilities. The individual with the disability is the account owner and anyone can contribute to the account – the account beneficiary, family, friends, even a Special Needs Trust.
A special needs trust is a written legal agreement that enables an individual with a disability to qualify or remain qualified for means tested government benefits, such as medicaid, SSI or even medicaid waivers.