In Helping Families Raise Children with Special Health Care Needs at Home, Drs. Plaunché Johnson and Theodore Kastner of the American Academy of Pediatrics, write "Most parents desire to raise their children with special healthcare needs at home." This is no simple task for even the most extraordinary of parents.

What does it take to parent such a child? Johnson and Kastner offer a medical perspective; their article follows.  The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a wealth of information.  There is a brief article about the Center below. The CDC includes links to other sites as well.

The foe of any family providing care for a medically fragile or developmentally delayed child is isolation.  Without a supportive community and access to needed resources, few parents will survive the financial and emotional strain.  No family can be an island.  We offer one story that illustrates the role we must have if children are to be kept free of institutional facilities or state custody. 

Childkind's Transition Support Services program was created for parents who want to raise their medically fragile or developmentally delayed children, but need assistance connecting with the wealth of community resources they will need.  It can prevent the kind of isolation that so easily undermines their ability to be good parents.

Finally, we wanted to alert you to a recentently published book: Annie's Ghosts by Washington Post reporter Steven Luxenberg. A link to hs NPR interview is included. One reviewer noted the book would promote "positive thinking" towards people with developmental challenges.