Month 3 Letter of intent

Our Passion

Introduction to Charting the Lifecourse tools

Programs and schedules

Housing and Personal care

Questions Every Super Parent of Special Needs Children wants Answered!

10 Tips to enhance learning this school year 

Let's continue to work on a family letter of intent

All families should create a letter of intent. It provides information and details about your family when you are no longer here to provide it. I can not tell you how many times I have called my mom to get information about an illness or accident on myself, so this information is valuable for every family to have but vital for families with individuals with disabilities. I get it is a daunting task..... SO let's break it up into monthly bite size bits. One eats the elephant one bite at a time!! Month 1 1. Information about Father. A. General Information a. Full Name b. Social Security Number c. Complete Address, Phone Numbers Home and Work d. Date of Birth e. Place of Birth: city, state, country f. Fluent Languages g. Religion h. Race i. Blood Type j. Number of siblings k. ? US Citizen B. Marital Status: Current Marital Status, Date of Marriage, Place of Marriage, Number of Children from Marriage. Then add the same information for any previous marriages. C. Family: List complete names of father’s siblings and parents, For those still living list their addresses, phone numbers, and pertinent biographical information 2. Repeat step 1 for Mother 3. Your Child or Children A. General information a. Full Name and what name they like to be called. b. Numbers: Social Security, Complete Address, Phone, Height, Weight, Shoe size, and clothing size. c. More details: Gender, race, fluent language, religion, and citizenship. d. Birth: List birthday and time, and any complications. Give Birth weight and height, place of birth and City and state were raised. e. Siblings: give detailed information both geographical and emotional (closeness to individual with disability) Include details on any spouses of siblings as well. f. Other relationships: friends or family child knows and likes, provide a description of the relationship. g. Guardians: if an adult has child been declared incompetent, Named Successors, provide details for any and all guardians, h. Advocates: list the people in order who you foresee acting as advocates for your child after your death. (Speak with them) i. Trustee: indicate if you have set up a Trust for your child and provide a list of Full Names, addresses and phone numbers of all trustees. j. Representative Payee: Indicate if you have one and provide the details. k. Power or Attorney: Indicate the type and provide details of individual. l. Final Arrangements: Describe any arrangements that have been made for your child’s funeral and burial. List individuals or company to contact. Also list any payments that have been made and what is covered by those payments. If you have not made specific arrangements indicate if Burial or Cremation is preferred.

Welcome to 2023!! I don’t know about you, but the years seem to be passing by at warp speed. My grandparents always told me this would happen but I didn’t really believe them, guess lesson learned always trust your elders. So what is new for 2023? First off in 2022 I completed the Charted Special Needs Consultant certification. I am always looking to improve skills so that I can help families achieve their dreams. So following that same principle, this year I am working on becoming an ambassador for Charting the Lifecourse. This program falls directly into my beliefs and mission that all individuals have the right to define their dreams and chase them. Charting the Lifecourse provides person centered thinking tools to provide practical strategies for gathering meaningful information and facilitating conversations about goal setting, problem solving, and action planning. I look forward to learning more and sharing and using these tools to help families of all ages not only define their dreams, but be able to communicate their goals and plans to all stakeholders. In recent research, I discovered that the number one challenge for most families is conveying their goals/desires to professionals. Sadly. many parents have ideas about what they want for their child’s future, but get sidetracked by what professionals believe their child’s capabilities are. Therefore, I want to teach parents how to communicate effectively with professionals using the tools available in Charting the LifeCourse so that their child’s best life and dreams becomes the focus and driving force in planning meetings. It is never to early to utilize person centered thinking to plan and design the program that works best for your family and your child. In 2023 let’s work together to chase your family’s dream.