Disability Support > Caregiver & Family Support near

The title of this manual, Welcome Stranger, is purposeful. An Alzheimer’s patient becomes a stranger in that their behavior, likes, dislikes, and actions change from what we have previously known and lived with in prior years.
This guide is not intended to be a primer to understanding Alzheimer’s disease but rather to provide a few meaningful ways to make the job of care giving less onerous and life more pleasant for both parties.
Click here to download.
A caregiver provides assistance in meeting the daily needs of another person.
Many people may find themselves caring for a family member or friend in some way or another, which can be rewarding but stressful.
In this meeting attendees can share and support each other with information, fellowship, and prayer.
Meetings held via Zoom (occasional in person meetings).
Email us for meeting information.
Parent’s Night Out (PNO) is an enrichment activity program for children with medical conditions or disabilities (aged 3-15 years) and their siblings (aged 3-14 years).
PNO events consist of engaging games, crafts, and activities thoughtfully planned around a central theme. CAMP provides a snack and drink for all participants during the event and requests that Campers bring a sack dinner from home to enjoy with their peers.
The Parent's Night Out program is completely underwritten by CAMP. Because of this, there is no fee to attend.
Counselors and healthcare volunteers care for the needs of all campers, allowing families and caregivers a chance to recharge.
Activities (weather permitting) include canoeing, horseback riding, arts and crafts, outdoor cooking, nature, and more.
Respite Weekend Camps are $750 per Camper.
Respite units may be used to cover the cost of attendance.
For families paying out of pocket, CAMP has a Tier Pricing Program.
Family Weekend Retreats are designed to adapt all recreational activities for campers with mild to severe medical conditions or disabilities while including the entire family.
Family Weekend Retreats are held at Camp CAMP in Center Point, Texas, on a beautiful 55-acre property along the Guadalupe River.
Throughout the weekend campers and their families participate together in traditional camping activities such as canoeing, horseback riding, swimming, music, sports and recreation, arts and crafts, and outdoor cooking.
During these inclusive weekends, which begin Friday evening and end Sunday afternoon, families enjoy private, climate-controlled cabins. All meals are provided, and CAMP can accommodate many special diets. Campers must be accompanied by at least one parent/guardian to provide direct support during the event.
Family Weekend Retreats are open to new and returning camper families, with priority given to those who have never attended a retreat and/or those who were unable to attend one during the previous year.
Due to the generosity of Methodist Healthcare Ministry of South Texas, Inc., which has underwritten all program expenses, there is no fee to attend.
A deposit will be required to secure your family's spot (refunded in full following retreat attendance).
ReadyKidSA is your one-stop resource for raising Happy Healthy Ready Kids.
ReadyKidSA is a coalition of organizations across Bexar County that builds on successful child and family programs in San Antonio. Our partners offer a wide range of support services designed to help individuals and families navigate the different challenges that arise with each phase of life.
Find the right resources to fit your needs:
Provides children and young adults with disabilities a place to go during school holidays and summer.
Serves ages 8-21
Monday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Thursday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Saturday: CLOSED |
Sunday: CLOSED |
Parents Night Out is offered on Friday evenings from 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM. This program provides care for children with special needs and their siblings. Parents use this time to rest, pursue their own interests, or have a date night to reconnect with their significant other. This vital respite helps strengthen families and relationships.
Click here for more information.
Though every child learns at a different pace, sometimes they encounter conditions that pose developmental delays. The Center for Health Care Services ECI program provides assessment, therapy and other assistance you need to help your baby and your family learn to navigate around the challenges.
CHCS ECI is part of a statewide program for families with children, birth to 36 months, who have exhibited symptoms of developmental delays or disabilities. Family support and specialized services help you strengthen your ability to find the resources you need to improve your child’s development through daily activities. CHCS ECI works with parents or caretakers to help you find learning opportunities within your family’s normal routines of bath time, mealtime, or play time.
Children, birth to 36 months.
ECI includes early intervention case management, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language, caregiver education and support services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or medical conditions leading to developmental delays, and who reside in Bexar County SAISD, ECISD, HISD, SISD, and SSISD School Districts.
Our agency champions healthcare access for all individuals with disabilities. We believe that people with disabilities should have access to healthcare coverage and services that meet their unique needs and that all services should be readily available, affordable, accessible, and accountable.
To achieve these goals, Disability Rights Texas’s efforts include individual casework, training programs, and advocacy for public policies that support access to quality healthcare and services for individuals with disabilities.
For information related to this topic that is provided in American Sign Language (ASL), visit our Healthcare Videos on ASL Page.
ECI resources: For information about services for children with delays or disabilities who are 0-3 years old, please see our Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Resource page.
Click here to access all of our healthcare resources, educational, and advocacy information.
Parents caring for adult children with IDD often prefer to keep their child at home as opposed to alternative living arrangements such as moving them to a community home, apartment or nursing home. Likewise, there are many loving Texas families who have chosen to welcome a non-relative adult with IDD into their home and join in their family activities.
Mission Road's Host Companion Care program partners with families to provide professional training, oversight, and often immediate and urgent assistance. We help families and caregivers create and maintain a safe home environment where adults with IDD can flourish socially, emotionally and physically.
Adult Host Companion Care provides:
- Meal preparation
- Medication management
- Social interaction & activities
- Transportation services
- Personal care (toileting, bathing, dressing)
- Aiding in daily recreational & vocational activities
Mom’s Morning Out allows parents with children with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD) some much deserved free time.
Families living in San Antonio and Bexar County caring for a child, age 6 to17 years, with IDD.
$40/child for 4 hours of care.
Mission Road Developmental Center provides in-home and family support services to children and adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities who choose to remain in their own home.
Mission Road’s Home and Community-Based (HCS) Services and other Waiver programs ensure the individual’s welfare in the community and prevent or delay institutional placement. A team of professionals and family members develop a plan with the individual seeking services to identify the goals and services that the adult needs to continue to live in his/her own home.
The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission monitor and license the program.
A few of our children living at Mission Road are members of loving and participative families. These families partner with us to care for their children overnight, throughout the week and on weekends as is helpful. We provide each child with professional, 24-hour AWAKE care by trained, attentive staff allowing the child to thrive and grow into a successful and happy adult.
We provide our partnering families with time and respite from the 24/7/365 care that often overwhelms families with children with special needs.
The children in our Boarding School program join us as residents in our cottages and participate completely in all campus and programming activities. The children attend public school at Harlandale ISD as full time students utilizing the exceptional special needs education program of the district.
Families maintain complete and full access to their children and are welcomed to the campus any time, day or night, to monitor and oversee their child's care. Parents are encouraged to attend all campus events and field trips. Parents continue to include their children in family activities that are part of their family tradition.
Children ages 3 to 17 years with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.
Mission Road Boarding School is a private, fee-for-service program contracted annually, billed monthly and priced individually based upon the needs of the child.
During this most difficult but meaningful part of life’s journey, THE MEDICAL TEAM hospice is at hand, providing experienced, skilled hospice services, with compassion and respect, at home. We honor the life of our patients, while offering families much-needed assistance and support. Hospice is a way to continue life’s journey with the best quality of life and the best care possible. h Hospice care is available throughout our Texas locations and includes:
- Personal care, tailored to the patient’s and family’s ever-changing needs
- Dedicated, trained caregivers
- Support for the family’s journey
- Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
https://vimeo.com/329614317?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=96755643
Kyo provides therapy tailored to your family. We design individualized ABA therapy based on your child’s unique needs and interests, with dedicated support to help in the areas where you need it most.
What is ABA Therapy?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) uses behavioral principles to increase the independence and quality of life of children with autism and their families. Our ABA therapists work together with families to develop the plan that will work best for each unique child.
Children and people with autism.
We believe all families should be able to access high quality ABA therapy services. Kyo is proud to be in-network with most major health payers as well as medicaid in most states. We are expanding our list daily! To find out if you have coverage for our ABA therapy services, contact our client services department at [email protected] or 1 (877) 264-6747.
Monday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Tuesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Thursday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Friday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Saturday: CLOSED |
Sunday: CLOSED |
Hospital-to-Home Transition
For a medically complex child or adult, the transition from hospital to home can be a difficult one. Our mission is to make this process smoother and less overwhelming by assisting with everything from coordinating the discharge process with the hospital case manager, to settling in after the first time you take your baby home. No matter your situation, having the right help in place can make a world of difference to you and your family.
Our prescribed pediatric extended care services let your kids be kids. Our state-of-the-art facility was designed with children in mind, allowing them to play, dream, and grow — all while meeting their physiological, developmental, nutrition, and social needs. Our goal, through PPEC, is to impact the lives of our medically complex children from the early stages of life all the way into early adulthood.
What is PPEC?
Prescribed pediatric extended care, or PPEC for short, is provided at a non-residential center that serves medically complex or technologically dependent children under the age of 21 who require short, long-term, or intermittent medical care due to medically complex conditions.
The ACP PPEC provides services to medically complex children who cannot attend a regular daycare. Our services meet the child’s physiological, developmental, nutrition, and social needs. We provide nursing and psychosocial services, developmental therapies, caregiver training, and personal care support to our children.
Advanced Care Partners entered the adult care market when our patients started to age out of the pediatric programs we serve. Every family that transitions from caring for a medically complex “child” to caring for an “adult” understands how challenging this time can be. As our children age, they often require more specialized and intensive care. We build strong bonds with our families that last a lifetime, just like the care we provide. From birth to adulthood, we are your partner for in-home adult care every step of the way.
Nursing Services
We offer nursing services (also known as private-duty nursing) for medically complex patients through the Medicaid COMP and NOW waiver, private insurance, and private pay. We provide care for:
- Neurological Disorders
- Cardiac Conditions
- Respiratory Disease
- Gastrointestinal Disease
- Metabolic Disorders
- Neuromuscular Disease
- Technology Dependent: Oxygen, Tracheostomy, Ventilator, Feeding
- Tubes, Monitors
- Other Complex Disorders and more
We offer pediatric home care services — including pediatric nursing and personal care support services — for children covered by Medicaid programs, the Katie Becket Waiver, private insurances, or private pay. We specialize in caring for patients with:
- Tracheostomies
- IV Therapies
- Tube Feedings
- Wound Care
- Colostomy Care
- Neurological Disorders
- Endocrine Diseases/ Disorders
- IDD Individuals
- Quadriplegic/ Paraplegic
- Cardiac Defects
- & Other Complex Needs
Our Private-Duty Nurses are equipped with the skills to accompany your child to school if it is required by a physician. School nursing services can be added to your child’s plan of care and the nurse assigned can help your child with physical tasks, such as:
- Accompanying the child on the school-provided transportation
- Providing medical care during the school day such as:
- Medication administration
- Tracheostomy and ventilator care
- Additional care ordered by a physician
- Assisting a child with classroom activities
- Serve as the child’s care advocate
Individuals living with physical disabilities or special needs have unique care requirements, and in many cases, mobility is limited and some level of home care is required. At BrightStar Care of Metro San Antonio, we provide a personalized approach to care, case management, and disability assistance for our clients.
Quality Home Care:
BrightStar Care care professionals are trained to help those with disabilities and special needs such as Spina Bifida, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Cerebral Palsy and spinal cord injuries, giving them the support they need to live as independently as possible. From disability aids and accessible transportation to personal care, our advanced and specialized expertise in this area ensures our clients’ safety, and empowers you and your family to get the most out of life.
Our disability care services include:
- Pressure Relief: Mobility issues can lead to pressure sores, debecutis ulcers and, in severe cases, the need for wound care. BrightStar Care caregivers are trained to provide pressure relief every 15 minutes for wheelchair-bound patients, and to turn bed-bound patients every two hours to prevent complications caused by prolonged immobility. Our CNAs are also trained in the transfer of patients using Hoyer lifts and slide boards, and use the proper techniques to help patients avoid injuries and falls during transport.
- Care for Special Needs Children: Babies, infants and children living with disabilities or special needs have unique care requirements. BrightStar Care trained professionals specialize in administering in-home pediatric care and can provide comprehensive case management and support for children with special needs.
- Special Event and Respite Care: Whether you need assistance caring for your loved one during a wedding or holiday celebration, BrightStar Care care professionals can provide help on a short-term basis so you and your family can make time for a vacation or receive additional support during a special event.
- Travel Companionship: Travel and transportation can be challenging for individuals with disabilities and special needs. BrightStar Care provides travel companion care to help make travel accessible for people with special needs, enabling them to experience more in life.
- Medical Procedure Transportation: BrightStar Care care professionals are available to help those who need assistance with a scheduled medical procedure or doctor’s appointment. Your compassionate care professional will:
- Pick you up at home and taking you to the hospital or doctor’s office.
- Wait until the procedure is completed and signing you out.
- Safely transport you home.
- If needed, stop at a pharmacy, grocery store, or restaurant if you need prescription, medical supplies, groceries, or food.
- Make sure you are safely settled in your home after your procedure.
Additional options:
- We can stay with you in your home after the procedure and assist with meal preparation, bathing, toileting, laundry, light cleaning, and medication reminders.
- A Registered Nurse (RN) can visit after you are home and change your dressings, perform wound care or infection monitoring.
- An RN patient advocate can help coordinate care, treatment, and communicate between you, your family and healthcare providers. We can attend appointments with you and help you understand options and make the best possible health care decision.
BrightStar Care is ready to help.
Led by a Registered Nurse, our compassionate care professionals provide in-home support for children with disabilities such as spina bifida or cerebral palsy, as well as children with intellectual or developmental delays. These services may include assistance with feeding, transferring and repositioning, bathing or other daily needs.
Our goal as care professionals is to ensure that children with disabilities and special needs are receiving the care they need and the support they deserve. Experienced care professionals are ready to assist with:
- Bath visits
- Feeding
- Transferring/Repositioning
- Dressing
- Grooming
- Oral and personal hygiene
- Toileting
- Reporting conditions and changes to supervisory RN and/or physician
BrightStar Care can also provide pediatric nursing care for more advanced medical needs, as well as administer a wide range of therapies such as speech, physical and autism therapy.
Monday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Tuesday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Thursday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Saturday: CLOSED |
Sunday: CLOSED |
The Caring for the Caregiver program supports family caregivers through education, research, and practice.
We provide education through classes and workshops for family caregivers, opportunities for socialization, and clinical care to support families living with dementia.
Caring for the Caregiver holds many educational and socialization events throughout the year, including our Essentials of Caregiving lecture series and Memory Cafés. Click here for our events calendar.
Click here to read our latest quarterly newsletter or explore our newsletter archives.
Click here to tell us a bit about yourself and your situation and to get connected.
Do you help an older adult with:
- Personal care?
- Shopping?
- Going to doctor's appointments?
- Managing money or bills?
- Other problems or questions they have?
- Caring for a relative or friend may be something you never expected to do.
The Caregiver Support program provides:
- Information about available services
- Assistance in gaining access to services
- Support groups, and training to assist caregiver in making decisions and solving problems.
- Respite care to temporarily relieve caregivers of their caregiving duties and responsibilities
- Limited supplemental services that complement the care provided by caregivers, such as:
- Health Maintenance
- Income Support
- Residential Repair
- Emergency Response Systems
- Chore Maintenance
- Mental Health Counseling
You can access our services by contacting the Alamo Service Connection at 210-477-3275 or 1-866-231-4922.
Regardless of your age, you are a Caregiver if you provide routine assistance to a loved one 60 years of age or older who is frail, disabled, or has a chronic illness.
- 2020 National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP
Our mission is simple, to assist and support, through fellowship and action, the fathers and families of individuals with Down syndrome.
Free.
Monday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Tuesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Thursday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Friday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
Saturday: CLOSED |
Sunday: CLOSED |
Are you a mom of a child with Down syndrome?
Then Moms Offering Moms Support (M.O.M.S.) is for you!
Come meet new friends, participate in fun monthly activities, learn and share information and resources, and become an integral part of a community of mighty moms making a difference!
Free.
The Down Syndrome Association of South Texas welcomes all new and expectant parents and their families! The whole family is welcome to enjoy breakfast with us while learning more about the Down syndrome community. This meeting will be held quarterly as an opportunity for expectant parents and parents with children ages 0-3 to meet, socialize, and learn from each other!
Have you attended a New and Expectant Parent Breakfast in the past? We invite you back to share your experiences and support other families.
Click here to register for program.
Click here for program dates and times.
Masks are optional for this event at this time. If this policy changes, we will inform all registrants. We encourage you to check the CDC guidelines or talk to your healthcare provider to discuss what is appropriate for you. We will be taking temps at the door and ask that anyone not feeling well (exhibiting symptoms of Covid or any other illness) please refrain from attending.
Free.
Our Spanish Support Group is for any Spanish-speaking or bilingual family member who wants to spend time and build friendships with other parents of Down syndrome children.
Free.
The experienced team at Rehab Without Walls® is trained to work with patients who have been diagnosed with a wide variety of complex neurologic conditions, including:
- Progressive neurologic diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis
- Neuromuscular disorders such as muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Guillain-Barre
- Post-concussive syndrome
- Toxic exposure such as toxic leukoencephalopathy
- Brain and central nervous system tumors
- Brain infections
- Angelman syndrome
- Cerebral palsy
- Down syndrome
- Dysautonomia
- Encephalitis
- Meningitis
- Prader Willi syndrome
- Seizures
Regardless of diagnosis, our goal is to help patients who have neurological conditions live as fully and independently as possible.
For example, Rehab Without Walls helps patients with neurological conditions:
- Maintain or improve mobility as much as possible
- Relearn fine motor skills
- Participate in exercises appropriate to their diagnosis
- Develop strategies to make daily life safer and easier
- Learn how to use adaptive equipment, assistive technologies
- Properly use medications and devices (such as infusions and implantable pumps)
- Manage the emotional challenges of their diagnosis
Like with all of our rehab programs, we work with the patient and family to set functional and personal treatment goals. We then create a customized rehab program around those goals. We also provide supportive services, connecting patients and families with support services in the community.
- Commercial health insurance: We work with 200-plus commercial health insurance companies. If you have a question about a specific plan or type of coverage, please contact us.
- Workers compensation: We work with all workers’ compensation companies.
- Medicaid & Medicare
- Private Pay
The Rehab Without Walls Post COVID/PICS Program is a coordinated interdisciplinary approach developed to care for patients following a critical illness, like Covid-19. This is designed for patients who have spent significant time in an acute setting with ventilator support and are returning home or to work. This program helps patients with long-term Covid-19 symptoms or long-term neurological effects.
Our combined team expertise provides a holistic and comprehensive approach to care. All members of the team consistently address physical and cognitive challenges to improve self-care and return to functional independence.
- Hospitalization and ventilator supported stay
- Stroke
- Guillain-Barre symptoms
- General deconditioning
- Amputation
- Cognitive decline
- Respiratory compromised
- Neuromuscular changes
- Nerve injury
- Decreased functional capacity
- Significant weakness
- Dependence on caregiver
- Depression/ Anxiety/ PTSD
PROGRAM GOALS
- Return to prior level of function and independent living
- Increase in strength, physical ability and endurance
- Decrease in respiratory symptoms and complications
- Increase in confidence and improve emotional well-being
- Increase in energy levels
- Understanding of oxygen use and medications
- Decrease of dependence on supplemental oxygen
- Decrease in depression and feelings of hopelessness
- Increase in quality of life
- Increase self-management and self-efficacy skills
- Improve breathing techniques through retraining
- Improve areas of cognition
- Reduction in hospitalization and re-admission risk
- Commercial health insurance: We work with 200-plus commercial health insurance companies. If you have a question about a specific plan or type of coverage, please contact us.
- Workers compensation: We work with all workers’ compensation companies.
- Medicaid & Medicare
- Private Pay
Each year, about 12,500 Americans are newly diagnosed with a spinal cord injury (SCI).* Many of these people are young and active. They have jobs and hobbies and family responsibilities. And then, quite suddenly, everything changes.
While neuro rehab can’t reverse permanent spinal cord damage, it can help people who have SCI lead the fullest life possible. For example, Rehab Without Walls ® helps our patients improve mobility, learn how to use adaptive equipment and manage the emotional challenges of their new life.
Our approach combines science, compassion and creativity to deliver the best results for each patient. Rehab Without Walls is unique and successful for a few main reasons:
Functional and personal goals
In addition to typical goals of spinal cord rehab, we work with the patient and family to establish more personal goals. Our experience and clinical studies agree that this approach keeps patients more motivated and engaged in therapy.
For example, functional goals might include improving standing balance and multi-limb coordination. By contrast, personal goals might include traveling to Europe within five years.
Many specialties, one team
Because spinal cord injury can affect so many parts of the body, we think it’s important for multiple specialties to work together. A team approach is also more efficient. For example, an occupational therapist (OT) and physical therapist (PT) might both go to the workplace with a patient. The OT will focus on navigating environmental barriers safely, while the PT will focus on coordination.
A physician oversees all team members. A clinical coordinator keeps everyone on the team aligned and also serves as the main point of contact for the patient’s family during the course of treatment.
Family member education and involvement
Like all catastrophic illnesses and injuries, spinal cord injury has a ripple effect on the survivor’s family.
That’s why we help both the patient and family develop coping strategies to adjust to their new reality. The health of the family and the health of the client are so interconnected that both need to be a part of the treatment process.
- Commercial health insurance: We work with 200-plus commercial health insurance companies. If you have a question about a specific plan or type of coverage, please contact us.
- Workers compensation: We work with all workers’ compensation companies.
- Medicaid & Medicare
- Private Pay