Resources

The following websites are useful for Professionals in the fields of Early Childhood Education, Special Education; Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapists.

Early Childhood Teacher Resources:

• Association for Early Childhood International (AECI)
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
• National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE)
• National Black Child Development Institute
• National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)
• New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute
• New York State Association for the Education of Young Children (NYSAEYC)
• The Association for Child & Youth Care Practice, Inc
• The Division for Early Childhood (DEC)
• The New York City Association for the Education of Young Children

Special Education Teachers:

• Council of New York Special Education Administrators (CNYSEA)
• National Association of Special Education Teachers
• National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
• The Council for Exceptional Children  (CEC)

Occupational Therapists:

• The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA)
• The American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF)
• National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
• New York State Occupational Therapy Association (NYSOTA)
• New York State, Office of the Professionals, Occupational Therapy

Physical Therapists:

• American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)
• New York Physical Therapy Association (NYPTA)
• New York State, Office of the Professions, Physical Therapy
• The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy

Speech Therapists:

• American Academy of Audiology
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

New York State Speech- Language –Hearing Association, Inc. (NYSSLHA)

Resources for Parents

The following websites may be helpful for parents with special needs children.
Autism/Asperger’s:

• Offers information about Asperger’s Syndrome as well as strategies and checklists.
• How Might Asperger’s Syndrome Appear to a Parent?
• Early signs of Aspergers Syndrome (English as well as Spanish).
• Online Asperger’s Syndrome support group.
• Austism symptoms and early signs.
• 14 things a parent should know about the autism spectrum.
• Familes for Early Autism Treatment.
• Signs and parenting tips of Non-Verbal Learning Disorders.

Behavior:

• Outlines Positive Behavior Support, often called PBS, which parents can use to create a better environment for the entire family. (Spanish version)

Books:

• Elmhurst Public Library list of books for children with special needs.
• Amazon.com's books for children on special needs children.
• Children's books about special needs from Oak Park Library.
• A Guide to Children's Literature on Disability.

Children's MIlestones:

• A chart to show your child’s development from 3-15 months.
• Developmental milestones of your child from birth to 5 yrs of age in physical, social/emotional, thinking and communication.

Choosing Toys:

• “Which Toy for Which Child” - A consumer's guide for selecting suitable toys. 
• The best developmental baby toys.
• Special Needs toys.

Communication:

• This guide helps how to replace negative “no!” language with positive language.
• Here are some guidelines for making communication with your young child more effective and more fun.
• Offers suggestions on how to talk so children will listen and winning ways to talk with children.

Development and Growth Delay:

• Offers guidance on what to do if you feel your child may not be developing at the rate they should.
• Categories of different areas of development
• Offers monthly checklist for fine and gross motor skills

Discipline:

• The Child Welfare League - alternative ways on how to discipline children.
• The “discipline basics” and guidelines for setting limits, rules, and consequences. (Spanish version)
• Suggestions on how to teach 2-3 year old toddlers  good behavior. (in .pdf form)

General Parenting tips:

• Children learn about the world from playing.-- this outlines the benefits of play.
• This national organizations focus is to improve the life of infants and toddlers.  Offer excellent resources on their site.

Hispanic/Latino:

• National Latino Children's Institute
• Committee for Hispanic Children and Families

Learning Disabilities:

• Nonprofit website for parents of children with Learning Disabilities and ADHD.
• Language-based learning disabilities are problems with age-appropriate reading, spelling, and/or writing. 
• National Center for Learning Disabilities.

N.Y.C. Organizations

• Food Bank For New York City works to end hunger and increase access to affordable, nutritious food for low-income New Yorkers .
• NYC Department Education’s Family Information and Action  is led by Ojeda Hall, whose top responsibility is listening to parents, helping them access information, and becoming active partners in their children’s education
• NYC Department of Education - List of disability definitions.

NYC Resources for Children with Special Needs:

• Center for Children's Initatives (CCI)
• Child Development Suppport Corporation
• Day Care Council of New York, Inc.

Siblings of Children With Special Needs:

• This link from the University of Michigan focuses on the siblings of special needs children and how to best help them with these challenges and opportunities:

Single Parenting:

• Offers suggestions on how best to cope with this unique challenge.
• This is a support group specific to single moms and this link offers advice for parenting a child with special needs..

Speech and Language Delay:

• How can I tell if my child’s speech and language is on track?
• Speech and Language Delays with a checklist and explainations.(in Spanish)

Stress:

• Parenting is stressful! Here are some tips for coping with stress.
• Offers stress management and relaxing tips for parents.
• How to recognize the signs of stress and offers suggestions of ways to cope.

Toilet Training:

• Toilet training a special needs child has unique challenges.