You may have known since birth (or before) that your child has special needs. Or you may have realized it later, when your child didn’t sit up at an appropriate age, or had problems learning to read. Children who have special needs have a wide range of conditions, both mild and severe. While each and every challenge can’t be addressed in depth here, the hope is to provide some much needed info and direction to help navigate the road ahead.

The first thing to address is how your family dynamic will change. You and your spouse may find you need to change your daily routines to accommodate your child’s needs. For instance, you may decide to divide household tasks differently or share equally in the responsibility of caring for your child. In this way, both of you can develop an understanding of how to respond to your child’s needs.

Just as you’re making adjustments to living with your child with special needs, so too are his or her brothers or sisters. Siblings of a child with special needs may go through much the same grieving process that you do. It’s important that siblings of children with special needs have opportunities to discuss their feelings and to learn appropriate coping strategies.

Coordinating medical care is another challenge you may face. You may often need to act as an advocate for your child’s best interests. To be effective in that role, you’ll need to be prepared. It will be in your best interest (and your child’s) to learn all you can about your child’s condition and prognosis.

The other part of healthcare is obviously the cost. Private insurance may cover some of the costs of your child’s medical care. Check your policy for things like whether you need a referral from your child’s pediatrician to see specialists; if you can choose your own providers or must you select them from an approved list; what limits exist on how much the insurance will pay for certain types of care; whether medications your child may require are covered; whether assistive technology (e.g., hearing aids, prosthetics, wheelchairs) is covered; and the procedure for appealing a decision to deny payment for services. These are all things you’ll want to know going in.

Beyond private insurance, the Medicaid program is the most important source of funding for health services for children with special needs. The program offers a basic health insurance plan for most of its beneficiaries, payment toward long-term care for individuals with disabilities and funding for programs for individuals with developmental and physical disabilities. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program administered separately by each state. Contact the Arkansas Department of Human Services for more on the programs available to children with special needs and their families in Arkansas.

Depending on your family situation, you may also need to find suitable childcare. Sooner or later, you’ll also need to explore the educational needs of your child. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is designed to strengthen academic expectations and accountability for children with disabilities. Under IDEA, all children with disabilities are entitled to a “free and appropriate” public education. You can again gather information on some of the early childhood programs that may be available to you, like Part B Early Childhood, from the Arkansas DHS. Another outstanding resource in Little Rock for care and education of your child is ACCESS Schools. They conduct weekly tours, which may be an easy place to start gathering information and finding answers to some of your questions.

If you need help paying for child care, there are a variety of programs that offer financial assistance. DHS is, again, a good place to start. In addition, your child may be eligible for the Head Start program. Head Start is a federal program for preschoolers and their families with low incomes that provides developmental and social services, including education, health, and family needs assessments. For more information on Head Start, visit the Head Start Bureau Home Page.

Planning and monitoring your finances is especially important when you have a child with special needs. Everything from the medical, educational and child care costs discussed here to insurance needs and planning for your child’s future needs your full attention. Seek help in tackling all the challenges ahead of you. There is a larger network of people that want to help you get it all right than you realize. You just have to know where to look.

In upcoming issues, we’ll take a closer look at the financial options available to help plan for your child’s future. From special needs trusts to the newly signed Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, we’ll explore how you can plan for the best possible future for your child.

(See Part 2 of this article, Planning for Children With Special Needs Into Adulthood)

Dale Nicholson III AAMS® is a Financial Advisor at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC, located 100 Morgan Keegan Dr. Ste. 200, Little Rock. Dale can be reached at (501)671-1147 or dale.nicholson@RaymondJames.com. Any opinions stated are those of the author and not necessarily those of Raymond James.