There are a lot of places for families of people with developmental disabilities. Sometimes, the hard part is finding out where they are.Below are links to a few critical resources for everyone in North Dakota to know.

Disability Services Division - part of the North Dakota Department of Human Services. The division is responsible for policy and program development, oversight, and delivery of service in these two areas. Developmental disabilities staff arrange for support and training for individuals and their families. Vocational rehabilitation staff assist people with disabilities to obtain employment and provide rehabilitation services to increase their independence.

Show me the money. For information on some financial resources, click here.

For a much more extensive reference on resources for families of persons with disabilities, you can click here to download the 110-page resource guide generously provided by the University of North Dakota. Here you will find information on every imaginable service from child care for children with disabilities to payment for specialty health care to senior companions.This guide focuses on North Dakota but also includes some national organizations. Contact information (phone, address, and email) is included for North Dakota offices.

What Does it Mean that My Child Has a Developmental Disability?

Handling the shock of diagnosis is a terrific page that discusses families' questions when first learning of a diagnosis, their steps in gaining knowledge about their family member's diagnosis, and outstanding advice on parenting a child with special needs.

A whole new language

If you have a person with a developmental disability in your family, you will soon be hearing a whole lot of acronyms, that is, people using just the initials to refer to laws and programs that may affect your family member a lot. We really, really, really encourage you to ask questions in any meeting with anyone when you are not sure of what they mean. We know that is not something a lot of people from our reservations are comfortable doing, but it is for your family, your child, your grandmother, your aunt or someone else important to you. To give you a hand, though, here are some acronyms we are sure you will hear and what they mean.

FAPE - Free, appropriate public education. Your child has the RIGHT to a free, appropriate, public education. Remind the school of this if they tell you that they are not able to take your child due to his or her disability.

FAS, FAE or FASD - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Effect or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder are all different diagnoses for children who are impaired due to being exposed to alcohol in the womb. This page from the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome explains acronyms that may be heard quite often by family members of people with developmental disabilities related to alcohol.

IDEA -- you will read or hear about this a lot. It is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It is very important because it is a federal law that spells out some legal rights of persons with disabilities and their families.

IEP - Individualized Education Plan - a plan developed with parental consent that gives goals for a child

IFSP - Individual Family Service Plan - a plan for providing services to children birth to three years of age who have disabilities.

LEA - Local education agency - usually a school district.

VR - vocational rehabilitation. This web page gives you a whole list of acronyms related to vocational rehabilitation.