Special Needs

Find support for parents of children with special needs. Learn how to advocate for your child, raise funds for needed equipment and find helpful organizations.

Filter by: Advocacy, Assistive Technology, Autism, Schools for the Blind, Support, Visual Impairment

A group of four yellow labs

Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment

Guide Dogs of America

Guide Dogs of America is dedicated to its mission to provide guide dogs and instruction in their use, free of charge, to blind and visually impaired men and women

toy doll with guide dog

Advocacy, Toys

#ToyLikeMe Brings Disability Awareness to the Toy Box

#ToyLikeMe is bringing revolution to the toy box by advocating major toy companies to include representations of disabilities in their product lines.

smiley face sandwich in a lunch box

Cooking and Kitchen Play, Visual Impairment

Making Lunch Time More Fun for Blind Kids

We've rounded up some tips and fun ideas to help you plan ahead to make your child's lunch quick to assemble, plus fun and healthy too!

little girl sticking out her tongue

Support, Visual Impairment

What I Will Say the Next Time Someone Asks an Insensitive Question About My Deafblind Daughter

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Do people ask you questions about your blind child? What do you say?

A couple laying in bed together

Parenting, Special Needs

Why I’m Talking About Sex and Intimacy as a Special Needs Mom

A call to couples and parents raising special needs kids to prioritize sex and physical intimacy in their relationships.

an unhappy orange cat

Parenting, Special Needs

8 things I am so done with as a special needs mom

It's hard to keep things together as a special needs family. I'm losing patience and I feel totally selfish for being so annoyed with the world, but I'm going to...

DCMP blue text logo

Assistive Technology

Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP)

The Described and Captioned Media Program provides a library of free-loan described and captioned educational media for students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind.

Chasing the sock thief cover art

Braille and Literacy, Visual Impairment

BlindArt Creative Tactile Books for Blind Preschoolers

BlindArt plans to develop a series of four tactile picture books for preschool children which follow the adventures of two silly characters.

Savannah

Eye Conditions and Syndromes, Visual Impairment

Pediatric Cortical Visual Impairment Society (PCVIS)

The mission of the Pediatric Cortical Visual Impairment Society is to advocate for improvement in the quality of life of children with vision loss due to brain disorder, disease or...

speaker silhouette background with title

Advocacy, Visual Impairment

5 TED Talks by Presenters Who Are Blind

Here are five TED Talks given by presenters who are blind. Not only are they entertaining and educational, each speech is perfectly balanced with the right amount of seriousness and...

3 Paralympic Medals with orange ribbon on black background

Special Needs

New Paralympic Medals Will Make You Wish You Were Competing!

The exciting new design incorporates braille and sound for Rio's 2016 Paralympic Games!

Dory, Destiny and Bailey from Finding Dory

Visual Impairment

What You Might Not Know About Destiny the Whale Shark in Finding Dory (HINT: Maybe she needs a white cane?)

There's been a lot of talk about how Dory's disability is represented in Finding Dory, but not so much buzz about the visually impaired whale shark character, Destiny. Let's change...

a family in a row boat

Visual Impairment

15+ Summer Camps for Blind Kids

There are many annual summer camps your blind or visually impaired child or teenager can attend. We found 15 camps for braille, sports, independence, leadership and more!

child playing with EDA PLAY TOBY iPad app

iPad Apps and Accessibility, Visual Impairment

EDA PLAY TOBY: Visual Training iPad App for Visually Impaired Kids

EDA PLAY TOBY is a free iPad app that can help visually impaired kids learn to use the vision they have. It's a great app for kids with CVI!

rolling the ball by the goal

Play, Visual Impairment

Everything You Need to Know About Goalball for Visually Impaired Athletes

Goalball is a fast-paced and active physical sport that does not require vision to play. It's a fun recreation for children who are blind.