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tnpathfinder@vanderbilt.edu

Support for Parents

General resources available for parents who have children with disabilities.

Abilitypath.org

AbilityPath.org is an online hub and special needs community for parents and professionals to learn, connect and live a more balanced life - through all phases of a child's growth and development. The website combines social networking features with expert content from AbilityPath.org’s team of educators, parents, therapists and medical professionals.

Family Village

A global community that integrates information, resources, and communication opportunities on the Internet for persons with cognitive and other disabilities, for their families, and for those that provide them services and support.

Fatherhood Institute

An international website based in the United Kingdom. Provides information on men who are fathers of children with disabilities, or who are disabled themselves, or whose partners are disabled - no matter what their disability or health condition.

Junior League Family Resource Center

The family information headquarters at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Well-trained, understanding staff work closely with families and health care professionals to provide information to help families understand a child’s medical condition and about community agencies and support programs.

KidsHealth

KidsHealth is the largest and most-visited site on the Web providing doctor-approved health information about children from before birth through adolescence.

My Child Without Limits.org

MyChildWithoutLimits.org is an early intervention resource for families of young children ages 0-5 with developmental delays or disabilities, and professionals.

National Resource Center for Parents with Disabilities

A nationally recognized center that has pioneered research, training, and services for families in which a child, parent or grandparent has a disability or medical issue

Pacer Center

The mission of PACER Center is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents.

Parents Helping Parents

A parent-directed family resource center for children with special needs. PHP provides information, support, and training for families of children of any age with any kind of special need (mental, physical, emotional, or learning disability) resulting from accident, illness, or birth defect.

Parents Know, Kids Grow

Parents Know, Kids Grow is a grant funded by the Tennessee Department of Human Services and awarded to The Signal Centers of Chattanooga as the administrator of the project. The website is an online resource for parents, grandparents, and other caregivers to provide information and helpful resources for children on Child Safety, School Readiness, Children with Disabilities, Healthy Living, and Family Support

The Fathers Network

The mission is to celebrate and support fathers and families raising children with special health care needs and developmental disabilities.

See Also...

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Links

  • StudyFinder
    By participating in research, sometimes free services are provided that will directly benefit you or a family member. The studies listed in this section offer services and/or compensation in return for your participation.
  • Social Work Services - Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
    Provides assessments, crisis intervention, brief counseling, and referral services to individuals and families with developmental disabilities.
  • Journeys in Disability
    The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt have partnered to offer two free 2-hour disability orientation sessions, twice per year, which are aptly named Journeys in Disability.
  • Family Outreach Center
    Disability-specific programs associated with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and other organizations at Vanderbilt provide a broad range of treatment, research, technical assistance, education, and outreach services.
  • Family Information Notebook (FIN)
    Resource manual designed to help families move, steer, and keep balance as they work within their communities to care for their children.

Other Links and Resources

  • StudyFinder: Parent Stress Intervention Study
    This study will look at two ways to help lower stress and support parents. For parents of children with developmental disabilities may include autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, muscular dystrophy, behavior disorders and many other conditions.

Printable Materials and Resources

News Releases and Media Mentions

  • Parental Alienation: A Mental Diagnosis?
    Some experts say the extreme hatred some kids feel toward a parent in a divorce is a mental illness. The highly controversial concept of parental alienation is being described as one in which children strongly attach to one parent and reject the other in the false belief that he or she is bad or dangerous. William Bernet, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Division of Forensic Psychiatry, is quoted.