special needs Archives - Business RadioX ®

Wes Massey with Commerce City Schools

April 27, 2026 by Tom Sheldon

Northeast Georgia Business Podcast

Wes Massey with Commerce City Schools

00:00 /

Wes Massey

The vision of Commerce City Schools is to work together as a community to provide students with a safe environment where they are loved, advocated for and inspired to learn as they receive a high-quality education that prepares them for a successful future.

Our Community Partner for this episode of Northeast Georgia Business Radio is TruVista Communications. TruVista provides a full spectrum of services for all your communication and entertainment needs, including Internet, Video, Voice including Wireless, and Security and Home Automation. Visit them today!

Dr. Steven Palmer, The Cottage School

September 13, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Dr. Steven Palmer, The Cottage School

00:00 /

Dr. Steven Palmer, The Cottage School (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 518)

Dr. Steven Palmer, Executive Director, joined host John Ray to discuss how The Cottage School serves students with learning differences. Dr. Palmer discussed the school’s business place model, individualized learning plans for students, how TCS navigated the pandemic, the growth of the school, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The Cottage School

The Cottage School provides an educational environment for students with learning differences in grades 3-12. They pride themselves on meeting the student where they need to be met. They also recognize that all students learn differently.

TCS offers a unique combination of small class sizes and a business place model, along with the implementation of study skill techniques to provide a unique educational experience. This combination along with the outstanding faculty and staff work together to provide an opportunity for students with mild to moderate learning differences, where they can achieve academic and social success.

TCS has been recognized for excellence by distinguished educators, counselors, and psychologists and was named by the Masters in Special Education Resource Guide as one of their Top 50 Best Private Special Needs Schools in the United States. Of significant importance, the school is recognized for its results by the most valued audience of all – students and their families.

Company website | Facebook | Instagram

Dr. Steven Palmer, Executive Director, The Cottage School

Dr. Steven Palmer’s professional experience includes serving at every level – teacher, principal, Executive Director and Superintendent. Prior to joining The Cottage School, Steve was Superintendent in Michigan. Steve led major efforts resulting in increased student achievement and significant improvements in teaching, learning and school status. His central work focused on enhancing the educational culture with “Best Practices” and ensuring that all high school graduates were prepared for college and careers.

Under his leadership, His high school received national recognition from U.S. News and World Report as One of America’s Best High Schools. Steve previously served as CEO and founder of a state-of-art aviation high school for the Dick DeVos Foundation. He has also served as Principal of three special education K-8 schools with 600 students with learning differences.

In addition, Steve has been a national presenter on various special education topics and educational “Best Practices”. A member of numerous national, state, and local boards, Steve has participated with national agencies and associations to reform special education.

Steve’s academic background includes a Doctorate in Education, a Master of Science in Educational Leadership, a Master of Science in Counseling, a Bachelor of Science in Education, and a minor in Business, and Certifications from various states in Special Education and Educational Leadership.

Some of his accolades include: Dr. Landis Special Education Administrator of the Year, S.T.A.R. Administrator of the Year, Tandy Scholars Outstanding Teacher, Teacher of the Year, South Lake High School, 1 of 3 finalists for the Lake County Teacher of the Year, Educator of the Year Finalist Branch County Michigan, Disney’s Teacher of the Year Finalist, South Lake High School Teacher of the Year, Radio Shack Outstanding Teacher, Clermont Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year, presented Key to the city of Orlando Florida, and North Fulton Chamber Non-for-Profit Leader of the Year.

Questions and Topics in the Interview:

The TCS program
What makes TCS different as a school
Thriving during a pandemic
National teacher shortage
Growth of the school

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked-from-scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.

Music Therapy: An Interview with Allison Jarrell, Metro Music Makers

August 25, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Music Therapy: An Interview with Allison Jarrell, Metro Music Makers

00:00 /

Music Therapy: An Interview with Allison Jarrell, Metro Music Makers (Episode 79, To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow)

Allison Jarrell, Founder and CEO of Metro Music Makers, was Dr. Jim Morrow’s guest on this episode of To Your Health. Allison defined music therapy, talked about working with both elderly and neonate clients, the impact of music therapy on behavior, various other therapy methods, and much more.

To Your Health is brought to you by Village Medical (formerly Morrow Family Medicine), which brings the care back to healthcare.

Metro Music Makers

Since beginning with a focus on in-home private instruction, Metro Music Makers has expanded to offer our services online all over the country, and to schools and healthcare providers as well.

Their team of trained, dedicated, and passionate teachers have all received extensive training in teaching online and in-person, and they bring their passion for music and education into homes and lives everywhere.

MMM’s mission is to extend the benefits of musical ability to people of all ages and abilities through superior music instruction and therapy. Their students can study virtually any instrument, and they offer multiple performance opportunities throughout the year, including traditional recitals, festivals, and community events, as well as virtual recitals and showcases for our online students.

They believe that music is for everyone and that any individual is capable of learning how to play an instrument regardless of age, gender, skill level, disability, and ethnic background. To ensure that they uphold the highest standards in music education, they provide a professional development program for their instructors to cover topics related to music and the fine arts, teaching music, learning styles, child development, online teaching, and business basics for professional musicians.

Company website | Facebook | LinkedIn

Allison Jarrell, Founder and CEO, Metro Music Makers

Allison Jarrell founded Metro Music Makers as a private Atlanta-based music studio offering in-home music lessons. She has been teaching since 1992 (sometimes as many as 78 students per week herself), with students ranging from 3 years of age to senior citizens, and those with special needs. In addition to overseeing a variety of instructors in the Metro Music Makers family, she is a board-certified Music Therapist licensed in the State of Georgia. Allison’s music therapy experience includes working in special needs classes, in private behavioral therapy and research with children diagnosed with autism, in music therapy and research with neonates, as a music therapist at a drug and alcohol rehab for teens, and as a music therapist in mental health settings working with adults diagnosed with a range of disorders including schizophrenia, PTSD, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and dissociative disorders.

Originally from Easley, South Carolina, Allison attended the Greenville Fine Arts Center, and earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Florida State University (cum laude). She also served a six-month internship at San Antonio State Hospital (a mental health institution). Allison pursued a career as a singer/songwriter after college, recording three EPs and one full-length album. While touring, she was hired by Mars Music, Inc. to implement the Babies Make Music program in the metro Atlanta area.

In addition, Allison was a finalist in the Greenville Symphony Orchestra Russian Music Festival Piano Competition in 1990 and a semifinalist in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition in 1990. She toured with the band Life As Mary from 2000-2003, including an exciting showcase with A & R exposure at the 2002 Atlanta Music Conference.

Allison’s flexibility working in diverse positions and environments gave her the training needed to begin Metro Music Makers in 2002. As parents learned about her music therapy background, she began to get requests for adaptive lessons for students who might not otherwise find success in traditional lessons.

Allison is currently a member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, the Music Teachers National Association, the Georgia Music Teachers Association, the North Fulton Music Teachers Association, and the Music Therapy Association of Georgia. Additionally, Allison serves as a judge for events sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers and the Georgia Federation of Music Clubs.

Allison’s students have achieved many honors over the years. She has seen over 225 of her students make top marks in the National Piano Guild Auditions and National Federation of Music Clubs Festival since 2003.

Allison believes that the process of learning how to play a musical instrument and learning how to create music relates to everything else that we accomplish in life. “We are teaching the future leaders and innovators of tomorrow,” she says. “As a teacher, when I really think about that and about the influence that lessons may have in my students’ lives, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to work one-on-one with young people over the course of many years.”

In fact, now that Allison has been teaching for a number of years, her favorite times are catching up with prior students over lunch or coffee. “It’s exciting to see what my former students do with their lives as they grow into adulthood,” she says.

Allison also was a one-time snake handler (a long story involving removing a baby snake from her house that turned out to be a copperhead!) and a one-time opera singer, (I Pagliacci) in 1991). She and her husband David have an adorable young son, Elliott, who began music classes at the age of six months. Elliott loves strumming the family’s guitars and playing the piano keys.

About Village Medical (formerly Morrow Family Medicine)

Village Medical, formerly Morrow Family Medicine, is an award-winning, state-of-the-art family practice with offices in Cumming and Milton, Georgia. The practice combines healthcare information technology with old-fashioned care to provide the type of care that many are in search of today. Two physicians, three physician assistants and two nurse practitioners are supported by a knowledgeable and friendly staff to make your visit to Village Medical one that will remind you of the way healthcare should be. At Village Medical, we like to say we are “bringing the care back to healthcare!” The practice has been named the “Best of Forsyth” in Family Medicine in all five years of the award, is a three-time consecutive winner of the “Best of North Atlanta” by readers of Appen Media, and the 2019 winner of “Best of Life” in North Fulton County.

Village Medical offers a comprehensive suite of primary care services including preventative care, treatment for illness and injury, and management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and kidney disease. Atlanta-area patients can learn more about the practice here.

Dr. Jim Morrow, Village Medical, and Host of To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow

Dr. Jim Morrow is the founder of Morrow Family Medicine. He has been a trailblazer and evangelist in healthcare information technology, was named Physician IT Leader of the Year by HIMSS, a HIMSS Davies Award Winner, the Cumming-Forsyth Chamber of Commerce Steve Bloom Award Winner as Entrepreneur of the Year and he received a Phoenix Award as Community Leader of the Year from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Peggie Morrow and together they founded the Forsyth BYOT Benefit, a charity in Forsyth County to support students in need of technology and devices. They have two Goldendoodles, a gaggle of grandchildren and enjoy life on and around Lake Lanier.

Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

The complete show archive of To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow addresses a wide range of health and wellness topics.

Elisa Goodwin, Mission: Hope, and Stacy Georges, Special Needs Respite

May 18, 2021 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Elisa Goodwin, Mission: Hope, and Stacy Georges, Special Needs Respite

00:00 /

Elisa Goodwin, Mission: Hope, and Stacy Georges, Special Needs Respite (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 356)

Elisa Goodwin, Mission: Hope, and Stacy Georges, Special Needs Respite, joined host John Ray to share the service work of their respective nonprofits, success stories, how listeners can get involved, and much more. North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Mission: Hope

Mission: Hope is a Christ-centered organization committed to equipping churches and leaders to bring about sustainable transformation in isolated villages.

For over 20 years, they have tackled critical needs in some of the most remote areas on the planet. Led by the vision and adventurous spirit of Dr. Ben Mathes, their organization has provided medical care for millions and led thousands of people to experience new life in Jesus.

In 2017, Rivers of the World changed its name to Mission: Hope to reflect its broader reach beyond the river.

Their goal today is to continue building upon our rich history. While their work has expanded beyond the river, our heart and vision remain the same: doing whatever it takes to bring hope to the hopeless.

Their model looks at a village as a whole, working with the local leaders and churches to distinguish their assets as well as their greatest challenges. Their process heavily involves indigenous leadership for assessing the village and providing solutions to needs. Together they transform impoverished villages into sustainable ones.

Company website | Facebook | Instagram

Elisa Goodwin, President/CEO, Mission: Hope

Elisa Goodwin is currently President/CEO of Mission: Hope, an Atlanta-based, international nonprofit serving through local leaders in the world’s most remote villages to build sustainable solutions to their most urgent issues. She has spent the last 15 years in nonprofit service. Prior to that, she was a bank executive in small business banking and retail for more than two decades. For those considering for-profit vs. nonprofit careers, she can definitely provide perspective. Elisa attended Towson State University and received a B.S. in Mass Communications. She also received an MBA from Clark University. Her office is in Alpharetta, Georgia on the Jackson Healthcare campus

Special Needs Respite, Inc.

Respite care is a form of short-term substitute care for children with special needs, be it mental, emotional, or physical, and is provided by someone other than parents or the usual 24/7 caretakers of the child. It gives parents a break from their exhausting job.

As a group, parents of special needs children are more stressed, and even more at risk for divorce, or worse. Also, according to ARCH National Respite network, three-fifths of family caregivers age 19-64 surveyed recently by the Commonwealth Fund reported fair or poor health, one or more chronic conditions, or a disability, compared with only one-third of non-caregivers. Respite is something that parents of special needs children desperately need. Although programs in Georgia exist to help these parents, such as the NOW waiver, there is a very long waiting list and very little money available. Many families, as a result, don’t have funds available for such an essential service, putting a strain on them physically, emotionally, and financially.

Special Needs Respite helps bridge the existing funding gap that many parents have when trying to get childcare for their special needs child. They can provide funds that will pay qualified caregivers to care for these children when no other way to pay is available to the parents.

Company website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Stacy Georges, Founder and Executive Director, Special Needs Respite

**Stacy Georges, Founder/Executive Director, Special Needs Respite**

Stacy Georges holds a B. A. in Therapeutic Recreation from Purdue University. Becoming a parent was her real education with all its challenges, and especially interacting with parents who had even more challenges with children with special needs.

Founder of YourRespite special needs child care, Stacy started Special Needs Respite to help meet the needs of even more parents of children living with special needs. She is available for speaking engagements to churches and civic groups to further the community’s understanding of how to minister to Special Needs families.

Stacy and her husband, Tom, reside in Roswell, GA.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

Why should people partner with Mission: Hope?
What does transformation look like?
How are you seeking holistic transformation within your own team?
How important is stewardship to you? Share a success story.
What is the most immediate need?
What are volunteer and mission trip opportunities?
How did Special Needs Respite get started?
What does Special Needs Respite do?
What are needs caregivers runs into?
How can people help Special Needs Respite?

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray, and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett

August 13, 2020 by Garrett Ervin

Giving Back To Gwinnett

Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett

00:00 /

Jamie Hamilton, Tom Sheldon and Mike Maloney

Mike Maloney & Jamie Hamilton/Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett

For more than 30 years, Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett (SNS) has been educating and empowering children and young adults in Gwinnett, DeKalb, Newton, and surrounding counties who need a dedicated and flexible school setting to maximize their potential. They nurture and challenge each student at their own level while instilling a positive self-image and love for learning that will last a lifetime. With a unique individualized education and behavior model, cross category and severity grouping, parent driven planning, and a dedicated team of educates, they have created the premier special needs educational experience in the region.

Giving Back to Gwinnett
is presented by

The Georgia Advanced Directive for Health Care

April 10, 2019 by Garrett Ervin

Gwinnett Studio

The Georgia Advanced Directive for Health Care

00:00 /

Senior Salute Radio brings timely information to leading age Boomers and Seniors addressing the issues of aging, care-giving and maintaining quality of life. Learn from both professionals and regular people going through the process with their families.

The Estate & Asset Protection Law Firm was established to serve the legal needs of senior citizens when their health care needs increase. The Firm focuses its entire practice on Asset Protection and Estate Planning matters, which encompasses the areas of Medicaid Planning, VA Benefits Planning, Special Needs Planning, and Estate Planning. Victoria Collier has grown her law practice through her personable nature and good management skills. The office is located in downtown Decatur, GA. The Firm makes house calls to those clients who are unable to come to the office. They understand that you might not be able to make it into the office, so they have no problem coming to you! Take comfort in knowing that it is the mission of Victoria Collier to support her clients in the creation of a long-term care plan for preserving assets, maximizing independence, and enhancing quality of life.

Laura Whitaker with ESP (Extra Special People)

September 27, 2018 by Garrett Ervin

Beyond The Cupola

Laura Whitaker with ESP (Extra Special People)

00:00 /

“Beyond the Cupola” allows invited customers, community, and team members of Oconee State Bank to have an opportunity to share their stories of success and inspiration, and/or how the “Remarkable” culture of Oconee State Bank has inspired them to mark lives in their own right.

Laura Whitaker/Extra Special People

Extra Special People is the legacy of one woman who had a passion for children and young people with special needs, and a vision of a place where they and their families could focus on their abilities instead of their disabilities. Martha Wyllie founded Extra Special People in 1986, offering high-quality affordable programs for “people with different abilities.” Twenty-one children enrolled in that first summer camp. By the time Martha passed away in 2004, ESP was serving 130 campers with a budget of $150,000 and had acquired a small facility where children could be served on-site.

The year following Martha’s death, ESP Summer Camp was in danger of being eliminated because of lack of funding. When a young camp counselor, Laura Whitaker, heard this, she pulled together the families and made a call to the community to save camp by raising $50,000 in just a matter of months. The founder’s family appointed Laura as the new Executive Director in January of 2006.

Since becoming Executive Director, Laura has led ESP to expanded programming, and the organization now serves more young people than ever before. ESP runs weekend and after-school programs, family support programs, and events in addition to summer camp. After a 5 year capital campaign, ESP opened the doors on a 14,000 sq. ft. facility in Watkinsville in June of 2016. Every day, ESP continues to provide a safe place that individuals with disabilities can call their own.

Through the magic that ESP creates kids, young adults, families, volunteers, donors and staff are changed!

Trust Planning Issues Concerning Special Need Individuals

January 28, 2015 by Garrett Ervin

Gwinnett Studio

Trust Planning Issues Concerning Special Need Individuals

00:00 /

Craig Frankel, Kristen Lewis, Fontaine Lee, Kathy Keeley, Adam Gaslowitz

On this episode of “Wealth Matters“, attorneys Adam Gaslowitz and Craig Frankel discuss issues concerning special needs individuals with guests Kristen Lewis, an expert on special needs trust planning; Kathy Keeley, the Executive Director of All About Developmental Disabilities (AADD); and Fontaine Lee, Vice President of Cumberland Trust.

The panel will discuss information relating to special needs trust planning and helping families understand their individual roles in a special needs trust.

Kristen Lewis/Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP

Kristen M. Lewis practices law in Atlanta, GA with Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and is a nationally recognized expert on “Special Needs Trust” planning for persons challenged by disabilities. She is an active member of the Special Needs Alliance, the Academy of Special Needs Planners, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the American Bar Association, the New York Bar Association Elder Law Section, the State Bar of Georgia Fiduciary Law Section, and the Georgia Planned Giving Council. She recently completed her tenure as Co-Chair of the Long-Term Care, Medicaid and Special Needs Trusts Committee of the Elder Law, Disability Planning and Bioethics Group of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the ABA. In her free time, she trains certified service dogs for Canine Assistants based in Milton, GA.

Ms. Lewis received her B.A. degree in French and political science, with highest honors, from Wellesley College in 1981. She earned her J.D. degree from Cornell Law School in 1984. She is admitted to practice law in both New York and Georgia.

Ms. Lewis co-authored an article entitled “Top 15 Tips for Estate Planners When Planning for Special Needs”, published in Probate & Property, Volume 24, Number 2, March/April 2010, which won the magazine’s 2010 Excellence in Writing Award for “Best Overall Article – Trusts & Estates”. She most recently authored an article entitled “The Crime of the 21^st Century: Financial Abuse of Elders” which was published in Probate & Property, Volume 28, Number 4, July/August 2014.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/kristen-lewis/22/901/32

Company LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/27889

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sgrlaw

Kathy Keeley/All About Developmental Disabilities

Kathy Keeley is the Executive Director of All About Developmental Disabilities (AADD) which focuses on creating a meaningful life for individuals with developmental disabilities through family support, employment and community engagement. Prior to joining AADD, she had her own consulting firm providing strategic planning and business planning to large cities and nonprofits throughout the U.S. She is a social entrepreneur having started the first loan fund for women-owned businesses in the U.S. and the first micro-enterprise association of lenders. She is the former Chief of Staff for a Mayor, launched the Calvert Foundation, and provided technical assistance in nearly 30 counties on economic and business development. Keeley came to AADD to jump off Delta flights and make an impact in her home community with a focus on restructuring one of the longest serving nonprofits focused on developmental disabilities in Georgia.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllAboutDevelopmentalDisabilities

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AADDorg

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aadd

Fontaine Lee/Cumberland Trust & Investment Company

Fontaine Lee is currently the Vice President and Business Development Officer with Cumberland Trust & Investment Company, an independent trust company with headquarters in Nashville, TN. She opened the Atlanta office for Cumberland in the Fall of 2010 and is responsible for business development in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Fontaine began her career at Citigroup in Institutional Fixed Income Sales and Trading where she focused on tax-exempt offerings. After receiving her M.B.A from Emory University, she transitioned from capital markets into private wealth management. Since that time, she has held business development roles at Atlanta-based Reliance Trust and with a multi-family office. Fontaine also spent two years at the Coca-Cola Company working in marketing research.

A native of Atlanta, Fontaine is actively involved with the Atlanta Vanderbilt Club and is a graduate of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation Destiny Fund program, and co-authored the L.E.A.D. program for Leadership Atlanta. She sits on the board for the Agape You and Family Center and is on the Marketing and Development Committee for Whitefoord, Inc. She has also served as a board member for Executive Women of Goizueta, the women’s alumni organization for the Goizueta Business School. In addition to her M.B.A., Fontaine has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/fontaine-mcdaniel-lee/0/381/1a9

About Gaslowitz Frankel:

Gaslowitz Frankel LLC is an experienced trial practice firm specializing in all aspects of complex fiduciary litigation, representing individuals, companies, banks, and fiduciaries in will, trust, and estate disputes; investor and financial advisor disputes; shareholder/partnership disputes; contract disputes; complex commercial disputes; and appeals.

If you would like to listen to past episode of Wealth Matters please visit our YouTube Channel.

Remember to tune in the last Wednesday of every month at 8:30 a.m. to listen live to our show!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EstateDispute

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstateDispute

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/estatedispute

Arc of Georgia Leadership Shares Tips For Caring For Your Child With Special Needs

March 22, 2012 by Stone Payton

Burr Forman's Results Matter Radio

Arc of Georgia Leadership Shares Tips For Caring For Your Child With Special Needs

00:00 / 0:30:13

Parents who have a child with special needs like a physical and/or intellectual disability face many challenges. On today’s show Deirdre O’Brien, Executive Director of the Arc of Georgia and David B Glass, Vice President of the Arc of Georgia and Principal with Glass Financial Group were kind enough to share some real tips from their own life on how to care for a child with special needs.

The Arc of Georgia is a 50+ year old non-profit organization that advocates for families and people with developmental disabilities. The Arc works to develop programs, funding and public policy that assists these people realize their goals of learning, living and working in the community.

David discussed some of the financial issues families of a disabled child have to deal with. He suggested building a team of trusted advisors (including a financial/tax planner and an attorney like James McCarten from Burr and Forman who are experienced in special needs planning) to help manage the complexity that is involved. Deirdre mentioned that a well meaning financial gift from a family member can disqualify a child from receiving government assistance so you have to be very careful with your finances. They both mentioned the importance of setting up a trust to ensure that your special needs child is set up for life.