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8 child care options in Dallas-Fort Worth for kids with special needs
Come January of each year, Fort Worth mom Angela Darby starts to stress about where she will
send her 14-year-old son, Jordon, who has autism spectrum disorder and is nonverbal, for child
care over the summer. (Their names have been changed at her request.) Until a few years ago,
Medicaid paid for an agency to provide in-home summertime care for Jordon while Darby worked
as an administrative assistant for
the federal government. (https://dfwchild.com/)
Darby was le with few options when Medicaid cut o this funding: The single mom had to work,
and both her mom and Jordon’s older brother were unable to watch Jordon for extended periods
of time.
So Darby started to si through local child care options for a facility that would provide her son
with the individual care he needs. Since Jordon only speaks in two-word phrases, he can easily be
misunderstood and can become frustrated, a di cult situation for inexperienced caregivers.
Through trial and error, Darby has found that some programs are be er than others. “In some
places, he just wasn’t ge ing the care he needs,” she explains. “No one was trained to deal with his
behavior. He would get upset, and nobody could help him.”
This year she will be sending her son to the same facility she used last summer, which allows her
to view Jordon’s day through a video camera and monitor whether sta is watching him.
Darby’s stru gle is a familiar one for parents whose kids have disabilities or need round-the-clock
medical management. While the rare child care facility will accept a child with serious medical
needs or behavioral challenges on a case-by-case basis, parents’ best bet is nding a program
developed speci cally to help kids and young adults with special needs ourish. To help you
out, we’ve curated a list of local child care options designed to do just that.
Bryan’s House
Ages: 6w-14y (varies by program)
Overview: Serving both neurotypical children and kiddos with special needs such as autism,
cerebral palsy, respiratory disorders and speech delays, Bryan’s House provides weekly child care
for ages 6 weeks–5 years and vacation-time child care for ages 5–14 during school breaks. There
are 70 kids in the weekly program with an additional 90 children during school vacations.
Hours: Monday–Friday 7am–6pm
A Typical Day: A typical day involves family-style meals (to help kids practice
serving themselves), large group time with activities like music, small group time for art and
STEM projects and choice time during which students get to decide what they’d like to do.
Good To Know: In addition to providing child care, Bryan’s House operates as a full
socialservice agency with a case manager assigned to each family to help them navigate education
and health care.
Cost: Tuition is $125 per week, but case managers will work with families to see if they qualify for
funding from additional sources.
3610 Pipestone Road, Dallas, 214/559-3946; bryanshouse.org (h p://bryanshouse.org/)
The Clubhouse for Special Needs
Ages: 13-22 years
(https://dfwchild.com/)
Overview: Like Angela Darby, Darlene Hollingsworth couldn’t nd suitable care options for her
son who has Down syndrome. She founded The Clubhouse For Special Needs over a decade ago
as an a er-school day care, but it’s since expanded to a full-day program and now serves more
than 60 young adults with special needs.
Hours: The a erschool program is Monday–Friday 3:30–6:30pm; the full-day program is Monday–
Friday 7:30am–6:30pm.
A Typical Day: Young adults can do what they want to do, when they want to do it. And there’s
plenty to choose from—activities in the Westernthemed facility include meals in the Rusty Nail
Café; pool, air hockey and video games in the Workout Corral; and puzzles and table games in the
Parlor.
Good To Know: The Clubhouse has plans to triple its square footage by building an additional
facility—including a gymnasium—in the near future.
Cost: $400 per month; $120 per week; $12 per hour. Scholarship opportunities are available.
1308 Harwood Road, Bedford, 817/285-0885; theclubhouse.org (h p://theclubhouse.org/)
Emma’s House
Ages: 14-25 years
Overview: Yet another parent who took ma ers into her own hands: Emma’s House opened in
2012 a er the founder stru gled to nd child care for her 14-year-old daughter, Emma, who has an
intellectual disability. The small program provides a er-school care and vacation-time care for
young adults with autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome and other special needs.
Hours: A er-school care is Monday–Friday 3:30–6:30pm; vacation-time care is on
weekdays with no school from 7:30am–6pm.
A Typical Day: The 1,800-square-foot facility has a cafe area, an electronics room, a game room
and a quiet room. Supervised by counselors and volunteers, young adults spend their time
snacking, reading books, hanging out on the computer and listening to music.
Good To Know: Due to the program’s small size, Emma’s House is unable to accommodate young
adults in wheelchairs or with certain behavioral challenges.
Cost: $400 per week; the facility works with agencies to provide funding in speci c cases.
920 Bluebonnet Drive, Ste. 101, Irving, 972/839-1502; emmashouse.net (h p://emmashouse.net/)
ISW Academy
Ages: 2-16 years (varies by program)
Overview: Known for its learning gym full of sensory equipment, It’s A Sensory World! also o ers
before-school, a er-school and full-day care for 12 preschoolers ages 2–5, as well as private
school classes for 32 children ages 5–16. ISW Academy serves children with sensory
processing disorder, autism, cerebral palsy and other special needs, as well as kids without a
formal diagnosis who stru gle in a typical school environment.
Hours: The full-day program is Monday–Friday 8:30am–2:30pm; the half-day program is Monday–
Friday 8:30–11:30am or 11:30am–2:30pm. Before-school care is 7:30–8:30am; a er-school care is
2:30–5:30pm.
A Typical Day: A er circle time, preschoolers head to the large sensory gym, which includes two
trampolines, a rock wall, a slide and 12 therapy swings. Throughout the day, li les can look
forward to library time, art, music and playtime on the outdoor playground.
Good To Know: Sta coordinates with kids’ outside therapists
to make sure they’re
reaching individual goals. (https://dfwchild.com/)
Cost: Full-day preschool is $12,100 per year; half-day preschool is $4,600 per year; before- and
a er-school care available at an additional cost; scholarship opportunities available for some
families.
13617 Neutron Road, Farmers Branch, 972/239-8100; itsasensoryworld.org
(h p://itsasensoryworld.org/)
FAMILY (HTTPS://DFWCHILD.COM/CATEGORY/SPECIAL-NEEDS/FAMILY/)
Bullying is an issue with which many parents today are faced— and sadly, children with
di erences tend to be targeted.
While you are your child’s bi gest fan, greatest advocate and rst role model, it’s normal to
become stressed and have feelings of helplessness when you are unable to ensure that others treat
your child with dignity and respect. How you handle stress and sadness can have an impact not
only on your own mental and physical health
but on your child’s as well.
2. Take action as soon as possible. This can help you overcome feelings of helplessness and regain
a feeling of power.
3. Get help from a mental health professional to provide you and your child with coping
strategies during di cult situations.
(https://dfwchild.com/)
Being a strong advocate for your child will set a positive example of how to deal with obstacles.
Engage in self-care. Practice and model coping strategies. Listen and avoid criticizing. Be a
touchstone for your child.
Dr. Colleen Logan is program coordinator for the MS in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
program at Walden University’s School of Counseling. She is a Dallas-based counselor and parent.
FAMILY (HTTPS://DFWCHILD.COM/CATEGORY/SPECIAL-NEEDS/FAMILY/)
At least ve days a week, Erika Slater takes her body to the brink, running, riding and swimming
in preparation for whatever race she has lined up next.
Since 2002, she’s completed numerous half-marathons and sprint triathlons and achieved
her goal of completing ve half distance triathlons before turning 40 last year. (She nished six.)
“Training is my meditation time,” says the Coppell mom of three: Paige, 11; Hunter, 9; and Peyton,
6. “I come back fresh and reenergized. It gives me the endorphins I need.”
To Slater, training is much more than a coping mechanism. She views it as an analogy to Hunter’s
journey with autoimmune disease and autism. If he can persist so can she.
“Everything takes extra e ort for him,” Slater says. “He has to ght through every day to try to
retain some type of normalcy, just like I have to push during a race.”
Hunter was 9 pounds, 12 ounces at birth and healthy in every way. His pediatrician called him
“perfect.” But on Thanksgiving 2010 during a family trip to Wisconsin, things took a turn.
At rst, it seemed innocuous enough. Doctors diagnosed Hunter, 17 months at the time, and his
sister Paige with an infection, assumed to be strep throat.
While Paige improved, Hunter’s
fever persisted and he developed a full-body(https://dfwchild.com/)
rash. Thinking it was an allergic reaction to
antibiotics, the doctor prescribed prednisone. But Slater’s intuition—as a mom and a speech-
language pathologist—told her something was amiss.
Following a horri c ight home with Hunter screaming in discomfort the nal 30 minutes, the
toddler woke up with an eyeblinking tic. This is when Slater and her husband, Peter, began to
search for answers.
The rst neurologist they saw threw out possible diagnoses of ADHD, Toure e’s
syndrome, sensory integration dysfunction and autism.
“I remember screaming in my head, ‘Autism? He de nitely doesn’t have autism!’” Slater says. “He
never lost his language.”
But he developed issues with his ne motor skills and social skills, and his sensory integration
regressed. He began to walk on his toes, express sensitivity to loud noises and ap his arms.
A er his three-year checkup, he was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder – not
otherwise speci ed (PDD-NOS), which falls under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorder
(ASD).
“I knew what they were going to say, but it never quite prepared me,” Slater says. “You receive this
diagnosis, and then you’re le to pick up the pieces. Why us? Why, when someone does
everything right and follows every baby book, does this happen?”
While Slater ensured that Hunter received every behavioral intervention available, there was still
the ma er of his medical issues. From recurring strep throat and ear infections to wheat
gluten intolerance and vitiligo,
autoimmune reactions waged war on the boy’s body.
Finally, when Hunter was 5, Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a neuroimmunologist at the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center, diagnosed him with autoimmune encephalitis, a
neuropsychiatric disorder in which the immune system a acks the brain. For Slater, it was like
crossing the nish line at a race. She nally had an answer.
In the years since, Hunter’s care has included behavioral therapy, hippotherapy, occupational
therapy and a strict gluten-, dairy- and arti cial color-free
diet. To manage the autoimmune
(https://dfwchild.com/)
disease, he takes daily supplements and receives quarterly immune treatments at Children’s
Health. Cognitively, he’s thriving. Though there are occasional setbacks, he’s in school full time
and on grade level with an average IQ.
“I feel like, with Hunter, recovery [from autism and autoimmune encephalitis disease] is possible,”
Slater says. “Some people raise their eyebrows when I say that, but the de nition of recovery is ‘to
regain something that has been lost or stolen.’ I feel like normalcy was stolen from us. We have a
new normal now. Every day we compete with autoimmune disease.”
For Slater and her husband, the director of customer strategy for Metro PCS, this new normal
involves long days and a lot of teamwork. The couple prioritizes date night and recently started
taking an annual trip. Most important, each one gives the other space to cope in his or her own
way.
“We’ve both accepted the fact that grieving takes time and know what the other needs,” she says.
“We try to help one another get that mental break.”
Time is a rare commodity for Slater, who works part time for a home-health agency. But with her
husband’s help and a exible work schedule, she’s able to meet Hunter’s needs, as well as those of
Paige and Peyton.
It’s a delicate balance for Slater, who’s had to train herself to take the “therapist hat” o when she’s
with Hunter.
Long before having children of her own, she had a heart for children with special needs.
Her desire to “make a di erence” drove her to pursue a career in speech-language pathology, in
which she’s helped families for more than 15 years.
Becoming the parent of a child with special needs, however, was a game-changer. Today, she’s “a
completely di erent therapist”—and person, for that ma er. From feeling the sucker punch of a
diagnosis to enduring judgmental glares at the grocery store, she knows what it’s like to be on the
receiving end.
“I’ve always been a compassionate person,” she says. “But now, in my mind, everybody gets the
bene t of the doubt. I wish people would give everybody a li le grace.”
Wanting to do even more, in 2015 Slater co-founded Competing for Recovery, a nonpro t that
connects area families and raises awareness of autoimmune
diseases. In its three years, the
organization’s tentpole event, an annual 5K (https://dfwchild.com/)
run in Coppell, has raised more than $30,000 for the
UT Southwestern research group CONQUER (Collaboration On Neuroimmunology: Question,
Understand, Educate, Restore) and Children’s Alopecia Project.
“Watching those people cross the nish line that rst year, my heart healed in so many ways,” says
Slater. “It’s so rewarding. It helps kids accept one another and helps parents who are lost.”
When other parents reach out for words of comfort, Slater returns to the race analogy, urging
them to continue pu ing one foot in front of the other, even when they’re running on empty.
“Grief is a big part of receiving that diagnosis, and it never leaves you,” she says. “It just comes in
waves. You have to persevere— not just for your child but for your marriage, insurance ba les and
doctors’ appointments. In the beginning, everything I did focused on trying to gure out why. Now
that I’ve stopped trying to get that why, it’s clearer for me. The why is not going to change how
life is. This is the new normal.”
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