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 overlooking Lake Mattoon. Year-round programming includes summer camp, respite weekends, bowling and parties.

For more information or to take a tour, call (217) 895-2341 or email officemanager@campnewhopeillinois.org.

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 is available under “Family and Community Resources” on ISBE’s Family and Community Engagement webpage.

The Illinois State Board of Education’s Inclusion Brochure provides an overview of early childhood inclusion, the benefits of high-quality inclusive programs, teaching models that support inclusion, and more. It can also help families and professionals to better explain least restrictive environment (LRE) and inclusion.

The brochure is also available in these languages:  Arabic Inclusion Brochure, Cantonese Inclusion Brochure, French Inclusion Brochure, Japanese Inclusion Brochure, Mandarin Inclusion Brochure, Polish Inclusion Brochure and Spanish Inclusion Brochure.

The Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) and the Specific Learning Disability (SLD) Support Project’s Dyscalculia and Dyslexia Handbooks provide information and guidance on dyscalculia, dyslexia and related disorders for educational professionals, school leaders, families, guardians, and students. The handbooks aim to provide a better understanding of dyslexia and strengthen programs to meet the educational and social-emotional needs of children and adolescents who struggle to learn to read.

The Dyscalculia Handbook helps educators, families and students better understand dyscalculia, a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to understand numbers, calculations and mathematical reasoning.

The Illinois Dyslexia Handbook outlines how to identify signs of dyslexia, describes evidence-based instructional practices that improve academic outcomes and highlights available resources and services to support students and those who work with them.

You can use the handbook alone or with the Dyslexia Toolkit. The toolkit’s ever-evolving collection of resources includes laws, websites, videos  and podcasts for families and educators.

Visit the Specific Learning Disability Support Project (SLD Supports) website for these resources and more.

Miracle Flights provides free commercial airline tickets to pediatric patients ages 17 and under in need of life-changing medical care far from home. Families must meet certain requirements and apply online using the online application for requesting each flight.

The organization also provides flights for service dog retrieval and/or training. Miracle Flights’ service dog program is open to all individuals who need help retrieving/training their service dog.

For questions, please contact Miracle Flights by calling (800) 359-1711 or emailing communications@miracleflights.org.

The Sunshine Foundation helps make dreams come true for children ages 3 to 18 who have severe or profound illnesses or conditions. Referrals can come from anywhere in the United States for children with severe or profound physical/developmental/intellectual challenges or trauma from physical/sexual abuse and whose families have limited income.

Dream requests can include:

• Staying at the Sunshine Foundation Dream Village and visiting area theme parks and attractions
• Funding towards a special gift or item of interest
• Funding towards medical or adaptive equipment that insurance may not cover

For questions, please contact the Sunshine Foundation by emailing dreamvillage@sunshinefoundation.org or info@sunshinefoundation.org.

Dare2tri is a nonprofit specializing in adaptive sports. It encourages recreation, racing and competition while cultivating a sense of community among all athletes, not defined by physical ability but by their determination and will to succeed.

Dare2tri offers free training opportunities for athletes with physical disabilities and visual impairments throughout the year for children and adults. Its programs include:

• Play for All at Chicago Children’s Museum
• Kids Tri Camp for youth ages 6 and up
• Learn 2 Tri beginner-level training camp
• Multisport clinics and more

For questions, contact Dare2tri at (312) 967-9874 or info@dare2tri.org.

The Kids Wish Network provides programs to help inspire hope, create happy memories, share comfort and reach kids in life-altering situations. The organization grants wishes and provides programs across the country to children between the ages of 3 and 18 who are facing extraordinary challenges due to illness, hospitalization, homelessness, and abuse. Anyone can refer a child.

Kids Wish Network services include:

• Lifetime Wishes – grants customized wishes to children who are battling a life-threatening medical condition
• A Child Forever – comforts families devastated by the loss of a child by offering funeral assistance and ensuring a proper end-of-life ceremony
• Holiday of Hope – brings holiday happiness to children facing poverty, addiction, homelessness and life-altering situations
• Hero Wishes – helps brave kid-warriors who have survived tough and often tragic life circumstances
• Project Toy Drop – delivers gifts and laughter to at-risk youth and kids of American servicemen or women

For questions, please contact the Kids Wish Network at info@kidswishnetwork.org or (727) 789-0008.

The Dream Factory is a volunteer-driven children’s wish-granting organization. Volunteers raise funds in their communities to grant dreams to local children ages 3 through 18 who have a life-threatening illness or are critically and chronically ill. Dreams are granted through local chapters. Referrals can be made by:

• A parent or legal guardian of an ill child
• A treating physician of an ill child
• The ill child

In Illinois, contact:

• The Dream Factory of Central Illinois at centralillinois@dreamfactoryinc.org
• The Dream Factory of Southern Illinois at southernillinois@dreamfactoryinc.org