Supporting Native American Families of Persons with Developmental Disabilities INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD AND LANGUAGE OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES The very beginning: You may have a lot of questions. Who can help me? What are these people talking about? Here are some basic answers.

First things first --- do you (your child) have a disability or not?

Funny as it sounds, whether you have a disability isn't a yes or no answer. The Americans with Disabilities Act says that a disability "must substantially limit a major life activity." Most people agree that if you have trouble walking, talking, seeing, or hearing, that is a disability. If you have trouble with taking care of yourself - dressing, eating, keeping track of your own money and paying for things yourself, that can qualify as a disability. If you have difficulty reading and writing, which interferes with your ability to get a job, that can be a disability.

For Social Security to get disability income payments you must not be able to do the work you did before and not be able to do other work. AND it is expected that you will continue to be unable to work for at least a year or that you will die.

Who Can Help Me?

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

• Handling the shock of diagnosis