Monday, August 23, 2010

Autism: Long Term Supports In the Year 2000+

Many parents of children with Autism start to wonder at some point what will happen to their children when they are gone. Some families wonder what they can do if they do not have the resources to plan for a trust fund for their child.

Unfortunately state institutions are many times seen as an unsafe choice. There are reports which come out on a regular basis about the poor treatment children with Autism receive in institutions and nursing homes.

Even when families have resources such as trust funds people with disabilities may not be happy. In the long term that is what we as parents want for all of our children. We want them to be happy.

Luckily there are different ways we as parents can plan for our child. Some of those plans may include financial instruments, some may include paid supports, and hopefully some will include non-paid supports.

Although financial resources may seem to be the most important that is not necessarily true. Rules and regulations about financial resources can change. The economy can change as we have seen in recent years. These changes can easily eat up what parents see as an adequate amount of money.

Because of changes in the economy and stresses of an aging population, legislators are more and more being pressured to control costs. This of course means that some of the paid supports that parents are depending on at some point may not be available in years to come. It is tricky to plan in any great way for these changes.

One of the resources families with a child with Autism are looking more and more towards are those unpaid, natural supports. Whether Circles of Support, friends, neighbors, or fellow church and club members the big questions are where do we find them and how do we get them.

This is a critical point in time. Finding those long term supports, learning how to use them, and watching them flourish are more important to family members than ever.

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