Cerebral Palsy Law Blog : Cerebral Palsy Lawyer & Attorney : Burke & Eisner Law Firm : Medical Malpractice Lawyers & Attorneys

Maintaining accurate medical records on your child is a must. However, record keeping tends to become more difficult when the child has a condition such as cerebral palsy. This is because children with special needs spend more time at the doctor’s office and often see multiple specialists.

Organizing medical records can help you give your child the best care possible. It will allow you to provide doctors with an accurate timeline of diagnoses, treatments and procedures your child has undergone, and in this way, you can help your child’s medical providers coordinate their efforts.

So how do you keep track of your child’s medical history? In the current issue of Parenting Special Needs online magazine, one mother shares the secrets that have worked for her.  The article even includes a downloadable PDF for recording the contact information of your child’s providers.

If you haven’t already developed a record keeping system of your own, this looks like a good place to find some useful advice and get started.


 

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These are difficult economic times for many families across the country, especially for those trying to provide for a child with cerebral palsy or other special need. Medical care, housing, transportation, assistive technology — these are just a few of the things families of special needs children must budget into their finances.

However, it’s not just families who are suffering. Some state and local governments, and many charitable organizations are also feeling the strains of the current economic crisis, and this has led to some cutbacks with regard to the aid they are able to provide to the special needs community.

If you have a child with cerebral palsy and are experiencing financial difficulties, you may be eligible for help from the federal government. The website USA.gov provides information on government loans, grants, aid and other forms of financial assistance. It might be worth your while to look into.


 

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The winter holiday season is one of the busiest in terms of travel, and many families prepare weeks or even months in advance to ensure their travel plans go as smoothly as possible. For families of children with cerebral palsy or similar disability, planning seamless travel often requires some additional considerations.

Listed below are some travel tips and resources for families traveling with a special needs child:
 

• Notify the airline in advance if you will need assistance
• Tag all equipment and mobility devices with identification information
• Pack medications separately
• Ask a security officer for assistance through the checkpoint if necessary
• Arrive early to give your family extra time to make it through security
• Be patient

Remember also that you have a right to remain by your child’s side during the security process and that the security officer is not permitted to remove your child from his/her mobility device.

For more helpful travel tips and advice, visit the Transportation Security Administration website or check out United Cerebral Palsy’s webpage on travel.

Happy traveling!

 

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Choosing toys for a child with disability can be a challenge for parents. For children with cerebral palsy, parents must take into consideration their child’s physical impairments as well as any communicative or cognitive difficulties.

Fortunately, there are a couple of great resources that can help parents find interactive toys and even local play groups for their child:

·         Lekotek.org – This organization seeks to make play accessible to special needs children, and has 32 sites across the country that play sessions for families, computer play and software lending libraries, toy lending libraries and other play services to support children and their families

·         Ableplay.org – This website provides information and ratings on toys so parents can make the best decisions for their child. Parents can search for toys based on specific needs or disabilities, including cerebral palsy, see product ratings and find out where to buy.

Both sites also offer newsletters so parents can stay up-to-date on the latest toys, games and play products for children with special needs.

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