Get help early. If you think your child might have a physical or developmental problem, talk to your doctor. Early care makes a big difference in your child’s development. By law, there are free services for children from birth to age three and for children 3-5 if they are at risk of developing slowly. Visit www.dds.ca.gov/earlystart for more information. or locally call 1800-404-5900. For children 3-5 years who you may have concerns you can call your local school district for more information.
If your child has a disability or chronic illness, your best support may be other parents who have children with similar disabilities. Other parents can help you find information and resources. To find a parent group, call your local hospital or Family Resource Center. Call Parents Helping Parents your local Family Resource Center 408-727-5775.

Regional Centers help children and adults with developmental disabilities, such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy and autism. They can provide treatment, equipment, family support and other services. Most services are free.

It is important to support your growing child. As your baby grows she/he needs love, nurturing and opportunities to learn through play. Help your child find ways to do things on her/his own or with as little help as possible. Let him/her be creative and make mistakes. Have him/her practice making choices and decisions. He/She will need these skills as he/she grows. Look for older children or adults with your child’s disability. They can be role models and provide support and information.

Services for Children with Disabilities or Special Needs

• California Children’s Services can arrange for specialty care for children with costly medical conditions. Find out if you qualify. Call your Health Department or visit www.dhs.ca.gov/pcfh/cms.
• For services for children with vision or hearing disabilities, call Santa Clara County Early Start Program 1-800-404-5900.
• For services for infants with hearing loss, call Newborn Hearing Screening for local services call 1-800-404-5900.
• See if your clinic or health plan has a social worker who can help you get services.
• Your child may qualify for Social Security or Medi-Cal even if your family doesn’t qualify. Call Social Security 1-800-772-1213.
• For legal help call Protection and Advocacy 1-800-776-5746 or visit www.pai-ca.org.
• Family Voices is a national organization that advocates for the health care needs of children with disabilities. Call Family Voices 1-888-835-5669.
• Area Boards advocate for children and adults with developmental disabilities. To find your Area Board, call California Early Start 1-800-515-2229.
• Learn more about your child’s disability. For more information, visit www.familyvillage.wisc.edu and www.healthfinder.gov.
• Parents Helping Parents (PHP) helps Santa Clara County children with special needs receive the resources, love, hope, respect, health care, education, and other services they need to reach their full potential by providing them with strong families, dedicated professionals, and responsive systems to serve them. For more information visit www.php.com.