Including All Kids: Improving the Health Care System for Kids with Developmental Disabilities

Health problems that adversely affect the well-being of children and youth with developmental disabilities set the stage for life as an adult that may be further, and perhaps unnecessarily, compromised. There are significant challenges to ensuring health care access for children and families with special needs, here in our rural, medically underserved state. Families often struggle throughout the process of accessing care– from getting the right diagnosis, to finding specialty care, to accessing community resources for even the most basic of health services.