Helping Your Child with Special Needs Become an Adult
February 16, 2023
Planning for your child with special needs as they enter adulthood has practical and legal aspects. Begin
Planning for your child with special needs as they enter adulthood has practical and legal aspects. Begin
Support and empowerment are provided to people with special needs and disabilities through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). More options for individuals and families who support them to live as independently as possible are available. Multiple options are available to create and amend legal frameworks to best serve persons with special needs. Requirements continue to change, and laws and resources will differ between states.
Trusts set up for loved ones with disabilities are typically supervised by the grantor (the individual who creates and funds the trust). However, it is crucial to choose a successor trustee who will continue properly managing the SNT to benefit the special needs individual. When selecting a reliable, honest, and capable successor trustee, there is much to consider since trusts often operate on the honor system unless there are egregious circumstances that the courts must address.
In protecting the futures of their children with special needs, families face unique challenges and opportunities. Providing appropriate medical, educational, recreational, and employment opportunities for your special needs child can result in a lifetime of pursuing public and private programs and services. Too often, the parents or persons responsible for financial and medical management of the special needs child receive misguided advice to disinherit them.
How are special needs defined? The term special needs refer to those with learning difficulties, behavioral or emotional problems, or physical disabilities requiring specialized education. For example, individuals with autism, ADHD, Asperger syndrome, Down syndrome, dyscalculia, dyslexia, deafness, blindness, and cystic fibrosis fall into the special needs category, as do cleft lips, missing limbs, and more. The US government combines this group into the overall classification of disability, and current US Census data estimates the US disabled population to be 12.7 percent or 41.1 million individuals.