Special Parents Confidential 01 Support Groups

What this episode covers

Support Groups – Guest: Carol Lippert. Special Parents Confidential Episode 01 For our first episode of Special Parents Confidential we talk about support groups for parents. Our guest has some valuable information, especially if you’re not apart of a support group right now. Why are support groups important? If you have access to support groups in your area, you know they can be a great resource for parents of special needs children. Being able to talk with other parents of children who have similar challenges as your own children can open up avenues of information that you might otherwise not have available. But what can you do if there aren’t any support groups where you live? Our guest for this interview, Carol Lippert, was confronted with that situation when she and her family moved to Grand Rapids, MI from Los Angeles. Her oldest son has autism and there were no support groups for parent of autistic kids. So she started her own support group. She talks about how she did it and what you can do if you are in a similar situation. Can you start your own support group for parents whose children have similar issues as your own? How do you find members? Where can you hold meetings? Will there be start up expenses or can you run your support group for free? Are there laws covering support groups? Do you have to have a tax-free exemption, like a charity? Do you have to have any special training to run a support group? Do you have to have special insurance or other legal protections like a business? Do these meetings need to have formal recognition from your city, county, state, or the federal government, or can they be just an informal group of friends getting together? We have the answers for you.