Community Corner

Moms Talk: Kids With Special Needs

Please join us by asking questions, raising issues and participating in an ongoing conversation on any subject regarding children and parenting.

Each week, Tucker Patch will bring you Moms Talk, a corner for parents to huddle and discuss whatever parenting issue is on our minds. We're asking readers to contribute questions they need answered, and we're enlisting other parents, educators and specialists to help answer those questions. 

This week, since we don't yet have reader input, I thought I would ask a question I had a few years ago. My family was new to the area and includes a special-needs child, so our question was: Where are the best resources to help us, to help our child be all that she can be?

Since you're reading this online, you probably are Internet savvy and have done your own research. But there's one place you may not find on the Web that can be invaluable: Access Resource Center. It's a nonprofit that will help you navigate the bureaucracy in DeKalb County to get the resources your child needs. And they offer daily support groups for parents. The organization doesn't have a website. It's located at 949 Hairston Road, Stone Mountain. Phone: 678-205-4167.

Find out what's happening in Tuckerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In Tucker, a group called Answers & Alternatives meets at the Tucker Recreation Center every fourth Monday. Their aim is to "provide opportunities for parents to network with other families and professionals in order to make informed decisions on quality of life issues that affect their children," according to the website.  

A support group for parents of autistic kids meets at the Redan-Trotti Library once a month. This month, it's Feb. 26, 2 - 4 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Tuckerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If you live in Gwinnett County, there's a county-wide support group for parents of kids on the autism spectrum, called Spectrum (click here for more info). It meets on the first Thursday of each month. 

There's a magazine just for us! justkids, Atlanta's Family Guide to Special Needs. It has a long list of resources, including speech, occupational and physical therapists. 

AMC movie theaters offer viewings of just-released movies for kids with sensory issues once a month. The sound is turned down, the lights are turned up, and kids can move around or talk or whatever they need to do. Gnomeo and Juliet was shown this week, and Mars Needs Moms is scheduled for March. Click here for more info and to find a participating AMC near you. 

Please join Moms Talk by asking questions, raising issues and participating in an ongoing conversation on any subject - not just Special Needs - regarding children and parenting.  


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