Just came across a new site that might be of interest to many military parents with special needs' kids. I'd like to say that I came across it myself, but a friend of mine (Hi Jean!) showed it to me! Thought I'd share the information
STOMP Project - Specialized Training of Military Parents. Sounds like boot camp for military parents, right? But it's a great site for parents of special needs' kids!
STOMP, a parent-directed project exists to
empower military parents, individuals with disabilities, and service
providers with knowledge, skills, and resources so that they might
access services to create a collaborative environment for family and
professional partnerships without regard to geographic location.
Check it out at www.stompproject.org!
With a population of 1.5 million active duty military members, each day
around the globe, there are an estimated 540,000 active duty sponsors
each caring for a family member with special medical or educational
needs.
STOMP is the only National Parent Training and
Information Center for military families providing support and advice
to military parents without regard of the type of medical condition
their child has.
Parents of children with special needs face many challenges:
- Feelings of isolation and anxiety.
- Difficulty navigating disjointed services.
- Severe financial worries.
- Inadequate information.
These challenges are compounded when the family concerned is military.
While all military families face certain challenges such as frequent
PCS moves/military member being placed in harm's way/deployments, our
families with special needs family members face additional difficulties.
While not every situation can be covered, I'm sure there's a lot of information that can be useful to many! As a special needs mom, myself, I figure I can use all the information I can get my hands on! Hope this is helpful!
