There is no doubt that having a child with DS will impact on most facets of your life. Added expense is a reality. There is however a range of financial and other practical assistance available to parents and guardians and it can go a long way to alleviating the strain of giving up work or taking a career break. The assistance available falls mainly under these categories.
Medical
Financial
Tax allowances
Employment leave
These and other useful tips are explained in depth here on Down Syndrome Dublin’s very informative website.
Sorting out your allowances can quickly become a bit of a tangle of red tape, as it involves different application forms and different criteria depending on who you’re dealing with. This can involve the HSE, the Department of Health and Children, Revenue, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs and others. Most of them are quite straightforward in their own right. Keep separate folders or files for each application because your little bundle of joy comes with more intensive paperwork than non-DS kids. And that’s not even mentioning the big fat bundle of hospital and medical information you’ll be gathering too.
Paperless office? Not quite there yet. 🙂
Our Jacob 