I never had to get a "social worker" OR a "service coordinator" with my daughter, Moon. However, after I gave birth to AJ, I KNEW something wasn't right. Therefore, from word of mouth, we took him to Kern Regional Center. Now I KNOW what a "service coordinator" is. For some reason they don't always "teach" them to be advocates for "autistic" children... no matter how much they want to learn more. It is rather sad when a person wants to learn more about this disorder to KNOW how the other children and parents feel, and here there is no free education for them from the county.
Then you also have the salvation army. I know paper work has to be filled out around October time. This is also for lower income families. I would contact the salvation army church to get further info.
plus don't forget the local churches..
hope this little bit of info helped.
Maria
another thing you may want to consider help with is the upcoming holidays. i do not know if every state has the joy fund, but it is a wonderful organization that helps to provide christmas (or winter holiday) for families that may or may not qualify for the others. so even if you get denied for the other services, check this our with your case worker or guidance counselor, and utilize it. every little bit helps!! they also give you food to make a christmas dinner with. i know it is only august, but it would not hurt to get on that list early!
hth,
kate
That is SOOO TRUE! You may think August is early to think about the holidays, but they come upon you faster than you realize! And it comes faster every year! LOL Or I'm just getting old...
Here in South Texas our newspaper runs a column with needy families and their backgrounds. People can either donate in person or remain anonymous. We have other programs as well. We have the SOS (Supply Our Students) too. Dang, I think I should have signed up for that one. For 3 kids' supplies (just what the school required) we spent around 100.00. That was the cheap stuff at Wally World! We also have the Angel Tree. That is a Christmas Tree with name tags as ornaments. You choose a tag and purchase a gift for the child listed. It gives the age and gender and now includes a little wish list. And There's the Toys For Tots as well.
Here they don't start that until November. And you have to go through your social worker now. It is another program that other people took advantage of. So now either the social worker will refer you to it on their own or you can ask them to do that.
Tammy