Child Care Resource Service

Serving Champaign, Douglas, Iroquois, Macon, Piatt and Vermilion, IL Counties

Parent Services

Children with Special Needs

Choosing care for a child with special needs is essentially the same as choosing care for any child. In addition, you can do some things to make a better choice and to assure that the situation you choose will be supportive for you and your child. Many parents of children with special needs feel they have to settle for lower-quality care because fewer options are available to them. Now that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies, many more quality child care programs are becoming experienced in caring for children with special needs. We hope the information here helps you find the best care for your child.

Determining Your Needs

Besides the regular questions and issues regarding finding quality child care, you may want to consider these points:

Services - Will your child need to receive any special services by therapists or others while in the child care setting?
Transport - Should your child care provider be close to special service providers so you can transport your child easily for therapies or medical appointments?
Location - Must you find care in an area that your child's program bus will transport to?
Best fit - Does your child have any special health needs that would make a large group setting such as a center or large school-age program less desirable?

Screening Child Care Providers

Many providers who are not used to caring for children with special needs may seem somewhat fearful about caring for your child. This is normal. Remember how you felt at first? A positive attitude, and interest in learning more, and a belief that all children deserve quality care with other children are the most important considerations. Here are some other questions to think about as you screen providers:

Attitude - What is the provider's attitude toward disabilities in general and your child in particular? Is it frightened, overprotective, pitying? Or is there appropriate expression of interest and curiosity?
Routines -How does the program handle things like eating, sleeping, and toileting? Would it be a problem to fit your child into these routines?
Experience - Does the program have other children with disabilties? Have they cared for similar children in the past? (You may want to call the parents of these children to see how it worked for them.)
Barriers - Is there anything about the physical environment that would be hard for your child?

Talking to Potential Providers

It is more important to tell the provider about your child rather than about his or her diagnosis. Disability labels such as cerebral palsy can be very scary for a child care provider who does not know what this means. Tell the provider about what your child can and cannot do. Describe any special adaptations or routines that your child needs. For example, "Mac is four and has Down's Syndrome. He can run, draw with crayons (nothing recognizable!), and sit still for a very short story. His speech is about two years behind other kids his age. He is very shy and needs extra encouragement to play with other kids. His is also just learning to go potty on his own." Tell the provider about how your child acts around other kids when you're gone.

Making it Work

After you decide, be available and encourage questions. Make sure you share specific information about your child to help the provider(s) understand and provide good child care. Tell them:

How your child lets you know what he or she wants or needs.
How your child gets around.
What special equipment, if any, your child uses.
What kind of help is needed, if any, to feed your child or with any other daily routines.
What medicines your child takes, how much, and when.
If a special diet is needed.
What your child really likes to do.
What activities are really hard for your child.
What other agencies or programs provide special services to your child. (It's a good idea to give your child care provider written permission to talk with or share written information with special service providers.)

Child Care Resource Service has services for providers serving children with special needs available through technical assistance, training, and/or consultation and referrals to community agencies. Encourage your provider to call with any questions or concerns.

The Americans with Disabilities Act & Child Care (ADA)*

Information for Parents

Who Is Protected?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law protecting persons with disabilities. The law protects children and adults who:

have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of their major life activities, like walking, hearing, seeing, speaking, learning, etc.;
have a history of these types of impairments;
or are thought to have these types of impairments even if they really don't.

The law also protects persons who are associated with any of the individuals described above. Associated persons do not have to be relatives.

Who Must Comply?

Child care programs, both family child care homes and child care centers, regardless of size and whether publicly funded or not, are considered "public accommodations" and must comply with Title III of the ADA.

Child care programs operated by state or local governments, school districts or park and recreation departments, must comply with Title II of the ADA.

Child care programs operated by religious organizations are not required to comply with Title II of the ADA but they may need to comply with state anti-discrimination laws.

You will need to check with your state Attorney General's office to find out more about any laws in your state protecting individuals with disabilities.

What is Expected of Child Care Providers?

Eliminate restrictive admissions policies that single out children with disabilities and treat them differently;
Assess on an individual basis whether a particular child with a disability can be cared for in the program with reasonable accommodations;
Make reasonable accommodations so that children with disabilities can be included in child care programs.

What are Some Reasonable Accommodations?

Modifying basic policies, practices and procedures;
Providing auxiliary aids and services (equipment and services which are necessary to ensure effective communication) to individuals with speech, hearing and visual impairments; and/or
Removing physical barriers under certain circumstances.

How Can the Child Care Law Center Help?

While CCLC does not provide direct representation in disputes between parents and providers regarding ADA compliance, the Center can provide general information and technical assistance in understanding the law's requirements to both groups. Individuals may either call (415) 495-5498 during our service hours, 9:00 a.m. PST until noon on Tuesdays or Thrusdays, or write to us at:

Child Care Law Center
22 Second Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Additionally, the Child Care Law Center has two more detailed publications for parents:

Child Care and the ADA:
Highlights for Parents of Children with Disabilities
Child Care and the ADA:
Highlights for Parents
(a more general publication for all parents)

Each available for $5 plus $2 shipping and handling.

The Law Center also has three comprehensive publications for child care providers:

Caring for Children with Special Needs:
The ADA and Child Care
Caring for Children with HIV and AIDS
HIV and AIDS:
Employment Issues in Child Care

Each available for $10 plus $3 shipping and handling. The Child Care Law Center also has other low cost information available, including basic information about the ADA in languages orther than English. Contact us at (415) 495-5498 for further information.

Other Resources

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
(800) 466-4ADA (voice and TDD)

The ARC
(800) 433-5255 (voice)
(817) 277-0553 (TDD)

United States Department of Justice
(800) 514-0301 (voice)
(800) 514-0381 (TDD)

*This information is available in brochure and was developed with the generous support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.