Disabilities and Finances: Online Info

There’s a lot of information on the Web about government services and financial planning for children with severe disabilities. Some of the sites:

* https://thearc.org, sponsored by the Arc (formerly the Assn. for Retarded Citizens), which has information about creating “special needs trusts” and setting up guardianships for a mentally retarded child.

* https://www.nod.org, sponsored by the National Organization on Disability. The site contains recent news of interest, including court decisions, and offers fact sheets about what government services are available and who to contact to find out more about them.

* https://www.nichcy.org, operated by the National Information Center for Children & Youth with Disabilities, offers state-by-state resource sheets and a hyperlinked Q&A; that provides additional information about everything from diabetes to Down’s syndrome.

* https://www.jobaccess@careermosaic.com, jointly sponsored by Ability Magazine and the CareerMosaic site, offers information about job opportunities for people with disabilities.

* https://www.plan.ml.com/specialneeds is a site recently created by Merrill Lynch to highlight financial planning suggestions for parents of severely disabled children.