do you have a “guidebook” on your child?
Have you taken time to record all of the essential details about your child that only you know? Information about their doctors, therapists, medications, food allergies, daily routines, key relationships, likes/dislikes…etc. Do you regularly update this information so it’s always accurate?
At ENABLE, we understand from personal experiences that there is SO MUCH information about your child that only you know.
Are you confident that if you went away for a long weekend — or if a more permanent transition occurred — someone else would be able to step in and give your child the love and care he or she needs?
In other words, do you have a “guidebook” on your child?
If not… you need our LIFE PLANNING tool! Our fully guided tool makes it EASY for you to create this guidebook by walking you through interactive questions about your child and your family. We’ve taken the guesswork out of making sure you’ve recorded every important detail!
Not only that, but you can store all of your answers inside your online planning portal account so you can easily update your plan as life events happen and details about your child change.
What is Special Needs Life Planning?
Life Planning is the second step toward creating a comprehensive Special Needs Plan. You may be familiar with a Letter of Intent and/or Family Narrative. Your Life Plan should include both of those elements, plus additional essential details about your child.
The ENABLE Life Plan helps you systematically record every essential detail of your child’s life by guiding you through a series of multiple choice and essay questions.
What this means is—your Life Plan will include details about your child’s daily routine, personal preferences, doctors, therapies, and medications, and much more—organized in document that’s easy to navigate and update—containing all of the details about your child’s life that perhaps right now you only know in your head.
Benefits of Life Planning:
The true benefit of creating a Life Plan is the peace of mind that comes from knowing that if something happened where you had to leave your child—for a quick trip or through a permanent transition—that someone else would have all of the necessary information in an organized, easily accessible and updatable document, that would allow them to step in to love and care for your child as seamlessly as possible and carry out the vision for their life that you have planned for.
What information will my Life Plan include?
The ENABLE Special Needs Life Planning tool guides you through the following five modules:
- Information About Your Child/Loved One with Special Needs
- Health History and Medical Records for Your Child/Loved One with Special Needs
- Government Benefit Information for Your Child/Loved One with Special Needs
- Information About Your Family
- Your Transition Plan
Module 1: Information About Your Child/Loved One with Special Needs
The first module of your Life Plan will address the following topics:
- Birth Information
- Clothing and Shoe Sizes
- Daily Routine Information
- Times and Preferences
- Hygiene Habits
- Meals and Dietary Requirements
- Personality Traits
- Leisure and Recreation
- …and more!
Module 2: Health History and Medical Records for Your Child/Loved One with Special Needs
The second module of your Life Plan will address the following topics:
- Diagnoses
- Physical Abilities
- Allergies and Other Dietary Needs
- Medications
- Devices
- Medical Professionals
- Medical Insurances
- …and more!
Module 3: Government Benefit Information for Your Child/Loved One with Special Needs
The third module of your Life Plan will address the following topics:
- Federal Benefits and Services
- Income Benefits
- Medical Benefits
- Housing Benefits
- State and Private Benefits and Services
- …and more!
Module 4: Information About Your Family
The fourth module of your Life Plan will address the following topics:
- Information about Parent(s)
- Information about Sibling(s)
- Legal Relationships
- …and more!
Module 5: Your Transition Plan
The fifth and final module of your Life Plan will address the following topics:
- In Case of Emergency
- Vision for Your Child’s Life When You’re No Longer Able to Care for Him or Her
- Key Milestones and Major Life Transitions
- …and more!
How often should I update my Life Plan?
We highly encourage families to update their loved one’s Life Plan every six to 12 months as key details are likely to change over time.
How do I learn more about Special Needs Life Planning?
To learn more about Life Planning, check out our blog post Life Planning: If You Won a Weekend Getaway, Would You be Prepared to Leave Your Child with a Family Member?