QCA Adaptive Sports Association is a non-profit, volunteer-led organization in the Quad City area offering a safe, accessible and accepting environment for people with physical disabilities to enjoy adaptive sports and recreational opportunities. Sports programs include:

• Wheelchair basketball
• Tennis
• Rowing
• Softball and more

Equestrian Connection provides therapy programs for children and adults with mental, emotional and physical challenges and disabilities. Programs include hippotherapy, therapeutic riding, art therapy, job training and more. Class instructors are clinically licensed occupational and physical therapists, experienced clinicians and instructors, and trained volunteers.

Programs are available in individual and group settings. For more information, call Equestrian Connection at (847) 615 8696.

Disability Vote IL provides voting resources and information for the disability community. The site offers updated nonpartisan videos, webinars and information on elections, how to register to vote, and promoting accessibility of voting technology and polling places. The website also includes information about:

• The Be My Eyes app that helps people who are blind or have vision impairments with voting
• Transportation to the polls
• In-person, nursing home and hospital voting
• Important dates

The U.S. Department of Education’s Assistive Technology (AT) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) resource page can help guide parents and professionals who support children with disabilities who need AT devices and services for meaningful access and engagement in education. Information is available in English and Spanish.

The page also includes “Myths and Facts Surrounding Assistive Devices and Services.” This publication aims to increase understanding of the AT requirements under IDEA. It also aims to:

• Dispel common misconceptions about AT
• Provide examples of the use of AT devices and services for children with disabilities
• Highlight the different requirements under Part C and Part B of IDEA

You can also review “Myths and Facts Surrounding Assistive Devices and Services” in Spanish.

Children’s Wisconsin’s G-tube Notebook videos offer information and step-by-step help for taking care of a child’s feeding tube. The videos include an introduction to understanding feeding tubes as well as videos specific to caring for and changing tubes in English and Spanish.

Children’s Wisconsin’s PEG tube video provides information and demonstrations on what to expect after the tube is placed, including:

• Care after surgery and helping the site heal
• Types of PEG tubes
• Tips for caring for and stabilizing the tube
• Primary tube change
• Common problems

The Oley Foundation is a non-profit home nutrition therapy community and advocacy group working to enrich the lives of people living with home IV nutrition or tube feeding. The Oley Foundation provides a wide range of resources covering education, community, awareness and innovation.

The “Caring for My Child with a Gastrostomy” video from St. Louis Children’s Hospital provides information on understanding your child’s gastrostomy appliance and how to care for it at home.

This educational video focuses on the gastrostomy tube (g-tube), the gastrostomy button appliance and answering a variety of frequently asked questions.

“Caring for My Child with a Gastrostomy” is broken into segments and available in full. Be sure to select the appropriate video based on whether you want to learn about the gastrostomy tube (g-tube) or the gastrostomy button appliance.

Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides this video on “The Basics of Caring for a Child With Feeding Tubes.”  Lurie also provides the parent guide, “Supporting Nutrition: Understanding Tube Feeding.” The reference guide includes personal stories and information on:

• Administering feedings through the feeding tube
• Changing the dressings and cleaning around the tube
• Problems that may occur with the gastrostomy tube or the insertion site

Lurie’s website also offers tube-feeding resources for children and adults with cystic fibrosis and an overview of the types of feeding tubes for children.

Please note this information is not a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be individual circumstances in your child’s healthcare that cause a variation in treatment.

Camp New Hope offers year-round recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities ages 8 and older. Camp New Hope is accessible to all and located on 41 rolling acres on the shores of Lake Mattoon. Year-round programming includes summer camp, respite weekends, bowling and parties.

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has created a useful tip sheet with strategies to support parents and guardians who help children complete homework. The “Homework Help Strategies for Caregivers” tip sheet includes a link to a database of helpful homework support websites. It can be found under “Family and Community Resources” on ISBE’s Family and Community Engagement webpage.

School and district professionals as well as school board members can also find tip sheets on how they may help with best practice regarding homework.