This website, Step Up for Students,  provides two options for parents: low-income or special needs.  These two options should be considered when you are looking for alternative education plans for your special needs child.  The first choice most often is for the use of Mackay Scholarship.  Mackay is based on the student having an IEP at their public school and kindergarten aged.

The special needs scholarship of Gardiner Scholarship is $10,000.  You have to have a specific medical diagnosis to qualify for this money and the school or therapy has to also accept this scholarship.

The step up for students low income scholarship is an option available to parents that do not have an IEP or a medical diagnosis that qualifies them for Gardiner.  It is income based with a total scholarship 100% at approximately $6,630.  There are also partial percentage scholarships too with lower values.

I write about this option because the income scales are available online with the total monthly gross income for a family of four is $4,184.  Eligibility Chart   When we talk about having children with special needs there are many complications that come with that child.  One of those is often that one parent will not work or work less to provide the level of care needed.  Financial stress in finding services and paying for those services is high.  If a family, does not have the money to get a medical diagnosis and pay for therapy and daycare then possibility this scholarship award could work in their case.

We would all love to believe that early intervention is going to find, place and help develop children in delay but the relativity is it’s not going to be at 100%.  Having all the information does help parents make choices.  I know that looking into the Step Up For Students Scholarship for my daughter can be an option.  She is a “neotypical” kid but what if I could place her on the same campus as my son.  Although, he may use the MacKay Scholarship to go to an autism school what if I could use the Step Up scholarship to include her on the main school.