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Who Should Manage Your Child’s Special Needs Trust?

Kid hands holding coins in a jar together as saving concept for family or education.

by Steve Morris A good synonym for trustee would be agent or, better yet, super agent. Our law refers to super agents as “Fiduciary.” The trustee is responsible for managing the special needs trusts on behalf of the person with the disability. When a trustee is named, that trustee is given, both by the maker […]

Future Employment Options for Your Child with Complex Needs

Don’t underestimate the value of successful employment for your child who is blind or low vision with complex needs. Successful employment provides: All of these contribute to a positive self-concept and a satisfying, emotionally healthy life. Although work brings enormous benefits, finding the right job can be challenging. Rather than seeing obstacles as dead ends, […]

Helping a Child with Multiple Disabilities Develop Their Senses

A teen boy in a wheelchair holding and exploring a basketball inside a gym.

Our senses are our gateway to the world. They are how we obtain information, gain understanding, and interact with the objects and people around us. Suppose your child has blindness or low vision and additional disabilities. In that case, your child will need to use all of their functional (remaining) senses—vision, hearing, touch, smell, and […]

Orientation and Mobility and the Expanded Core Curriculum

Two students holding canes facing teachers.

What Is Orientation & Mobility (O&M)? This area of the expanded core curriculum (ECC) focuses on two broad, interrelated components: orientation (knowing one’s position in relation to other things in one’s surroundings and keeping track of how these relations/positions change as one moves through the environment) and mobility (the physical act of moving from one […]

Functional Vision Assessment (FVA)

Various materials used to determine functional vision.

The functional vision assessment (FVA) is for children with low vision. It is an assessment of how a child uses their vision in everyday life, so it is usually not done with children who are totally blind or have light perception only. Since a child’s visual condition and abilities can change over time, the FVA […]