Now What? Part 2

No magic genie popped out of a bottle and handed us the blue print of how we were suppose to help our son.  There was no booklet or manual either to give us the step by step instruction of everything we needed to know, and how to get our kid the services and funding he needed after diagnosis.  We were provided a few suggestions from the people at Zach’s pre-school regarding where we might get some help, but there was no direct linkage to the services.  I have been working with offenders for more than 17 years and I have seen guys get out of prison, report to their parole officer, and shortly thereafter have a referral for substance abuse or mental health treatment.   In a perfect world there should have been a direct referral to a case worker after my son’s diagnosis, but it just did not happen. 

Do not sit around waiting for a cold call from a person with a government agency to get you started, because you will be waiting until eternity.  Do not waste your time wondering if some savior is going to knock on your door to give your child all the therapy he needs and the resource to pay for it all.  You need to get on the telephone or pound the keyboard of your computer until your finger tips are a bloody mess to find the things your child needs.  You need to become the squeaky wheel or the annoying fingers down the chalkboard to get the attention of the people who can help your kid. 

 I cannot take credit for any of the services and funding Zach has received over the years, because I was not the one spending countless hours on the telephone or banging on the computer to find the resources.  All the credit goes to my wife, Debby, for she was the one digging around for funding to pay for services through county agencies, and cold calling organizations to get Zach speech and occupational therapy.  Funding and services are out there you just need to spend a lot of time looking for them and asking government agencies about the various opportunities.

Stay tuned for “Now What” Part 3