Health Condition and Disability-Specific Resources
Russian Resources for Families and Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Hands & Voices is a nationwide, parent-driven organization supporting families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing without a bias around communication modes or methodology.
Hands & Voices working in partnership with the St. Petersburg Early Intervention Institute provides a Russian translation of materials aimed at improving services and child outcomes.
Seizure Action Plan Examples and Resources
A seizure is a medical emergency. A Seizure Action Plan (SAP) contains tailored guidelines on how to respond during a seizure, based on the patient’s medical history. It includes health and medical information specific to the patient and helps others recognize seizures and the appropriate steps to take to keep them safe from injury or damage caused by prolonged seizures.
The Seizure Action Plan Coalition has several Seizure Action Plan examples and resources in English and Spanish to help you create your own plan. Resources are also available in other languages.
Epilepsy Alliance America manages the Seizure Action Plan Coalition.
Sertoma Organization for People Affected by Hearing Loss
Sertoma provides information and support to people at risk of or affected by hearing loss. National and local chapters across the United States support hearing health through a variety of programs and activities. Sertoma services include annual scholarships, access to amplified hearing devices, teen and college-level service programs, the “Adopt-an-Agency” program and more.
Sertoma offers two scholarship programs:
- The Scholarship for the Hard of Hearing or Deaf is open to students with clinically significant bilateral hearing loss. Graduating high school students or undergraduate students pursuing four-year college degrees in any discipline are eligible for the scholarship.
- The Communicative Disorders Scholarship is for graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in audiology or speech-language pathology from institutions in the United States. The program awards these scholarships in the spring to help offset the cost of tuition, books and fees incurred during the following school year.
See Sertoma’s website for eligibility requirements. The program accepts applications between Nov. 1 and March 31 each year.
The Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission has a list of Service Animal Resources. Information includes Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, programs that provide animals and more.
For questions, please contact the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission.
Sign Language Interpreter Directory
The Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission maintains a directory of sign language interpreters. You can search the directory by an interpreter’s name or by region/county.
Signed By Stories aims to raise mental health awareness, advocacy, education and support for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, late-deafened and deaf-disabled through storytelling.
Signed By Stories is working to create a community where deaf and hard-of-hearing people can:
- Join together and share their mental health stories
- Receive validation for their experiences
- Learn how to better support their own and the larger community’s mental health needs
- Have a platform where both deaf and hearing people have the knowledge, tools and feel empowered to take action to improve the current state of mental health care for deaf people
Sleep Help for Individuals With ASD
Autism Speaks offers parents helpful tips for establishing good sleep hygiene and tool kits targeting sleep strategies for children, teens and adults on the spectrum.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers toolkits for people with sickle cell disease and professionals navigating the disability application and evaluation process. The toolkits provide detailed information, examples of the types of medical evidence required for individuals with sickle cell disease, and tips to help with the disability application and evaluation process:
Southern Illinois University Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Carbondale
The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD) at Southern Illinois University is an interprofessional training and research center providing information and services to area residents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. CASD offers ASD screenings, clinical services for children, adolescents and adults, webinars and support.
CASD faculty and students provide a variety of training and services, many at no cost to families and their children. Help is available in the following areas:
- Speech/language
- Social skills
- Emotional-behavioral concerns
- Toileting
- Sleep
- Picky eating and more
For more information, call (618) 453-7130 or email autism@siu.edu.
Spanish Language Resources for Families & Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Hands & Voices (Manos y Voces): Unbiased parent-to-parent support and Spanish-language resources for families and children who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (La Asociación del Habla, Lenguaje y Audición): The organization provides Spanish-language information for the public and families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing.