How to Get Help for Your Special Needs Child

Often parents who have special needs children are left on their own to figure how best to help educate and care for their child. It’s up to you to find the right program or specialist, and then you have to figure how to pay for it all, especially if what you need isn't covered by insurance. But the state of Florida has resources that can help. They offer different kinds of scholarships that can help pay for special services or products. One of these scholarships is called the Gardiner Scholarship, and you can read below to find out more about this program and how it can help your child.

The Gardiner Scholarship

The Gardiner Scholarship is a program that is run by the Florida Department of Education, which is meant to help parents who have special needs children. Unlike other scholarships, the Gardiner Scholarship doesn’t have to be used exclusively for private school tuition. It can be used to help parents pay for special programs, products, or tuition. The other difference is that the parent doesn’t directly get the scholarship money. Instead, any money will go directly to the chosen provider or product. That means that a parent much choose a service or product that accepts Gardiner funds.

Does My Child Qualify?

For your child to qualify for the Gardiner Scholarship, they must have an accepted medical diagnosis. Some of the disabilities that qualify are autism, Down syndrome, Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Williams syndrome, deafness, traumatic brain injured and others. You can visit the Department of Education’s website to see a full list of disabilities that the Gardiner Scholarship can help with. If you do not have a diagnosis, you can use a IEP as evidence of your child’s disability.

What Can the Gardiner Scholarship Help With?

The great thing about the Gardiner Scholarship is that it offers $10,000. You can use the money to help pay for private school tuition, speech therapists, occupational therapy, instructional materials, or can contribute to prepaid college accounts. The Gardiner scholarships Tampa is a great option for parents to get their special needs child the help they need.