WHY WE WROTE THIS ​GUIDE

At ENABLE, we believe that your child was made on purpose— and for a purpose. We also believe that your child has the ability to live an impactful life that makes a positive difference.

Special Needs Planning should enable you to confidently answer the following questions:

1. “What does a purposeful and impactful life look like for my child today–and every day in the future?” 
2. “How do I make sure my child is able to live this GREAT life?”

This guide will help you understand the five steps of comprehensive Special Needs Planning and how you can create a plan that enables your son or daughter to live a GREAT life.

Your Special Needs Plan creates an abundant life for your child TODAY and builds a future for your loved one that is unique and tailored to his or her own abilities, hopes, goals, and dreams.

WHO THIS GUIDE IS FOR

All families need to plan for the future–typical or otherwise. However, the need to plan now is exponentially more important for families who have a child with special needs.

• Have the planning conversations you’ve had been focused primarily on your child’s unique hopes, goals, and dreams?
• Are you confident that your special needs plan was designed so that your child has every opportunity to live a life that allows his or her unique abilities to shine?
• Are the planning strategies you’ve implemented been selected to ensure that your child can live a GREAT life today, tomorrow, and every day in the future?

Did you answer, “NO” to any of these questions? Did you hesitate to even begin having these types of planning conversations because you didn’t want to be pushed toward adopting a limited mindset about your child’s future? If so—this guide is for you!

HOW MUCH OF THIS GUIDE SHOULD YOU READ?

This guide is designed for you to read cover-to-cover. Each new chapter builds upon the previous one. A core idea that we want to reinforce is that Special Needs Planning should be comprehensive – including a plan for all five areas: Vision, Life, Resource, Financial, and Legal. Reading this guide from start to finish will help you connect the many moving parts of Special Needs Planning and create a plan that enables your loved one to live a purposeful and impactful life today – and every day in the future!

HOW WELL AM I PLANNED?

Still trying to decide whether to invest your time reading this guide? 

Families who follow the ENABLE Special Needs Planning approach score 5 out of 5 in all five areas of planning, for a total score of 25.

Take our self-assessment to determine how well you’ve planned and whether your family is ready for the future!