Raising a child with special needs in Nassau County, Long Island? Find support by connecting with other NYC families, parents, and caregivers in your community who have kids with special needs. Read on to find a group in Nassau County.
ADHD Parent and Teen Coaching, Education, and Support
Cindy Goldrich, Ed.M., ACAC
516-802-0593
cindy@ptscoaching.com
Cindy Goldrich is a certified ADHD coach specializing in parenting children and teens with ADHD. Goldrich conducts a seven-session parent coaching workshop series where specific strategies are developed to establish realistic rules and expectations, reduce homework stress, and improve compliance, self-advocacy, and communication skills. She also offers a bimonthly one-hour support group open exclusively to parents who are current and past participants of the workshops.
Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association
Locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk
Offers daytime and evening meetings to discuss various topics involving the needs of school-age children.
Autism Society of America
301-657-0881
Nassau/Suffolk County Chapter
P.O. Box 7472, Wantagh
516-404-2306; 631-404-8217
nypaac@yahoo.com
The Autism Society’s local chapters each have support groups that are all led by volunteer parents and care providers of children with autism, providing families with information, support, and encouragement.
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Local Chapter of Nassau County
P.O. Box 548, Levittown
nassau-county@chadd.net
This group offers monthly meetings and events for parents of children with ADHD, plus a seven-week Parent-to-Parent Family Training on ADHD beginning in March.
Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island
506 Stewart Ave., Garden City
516-739-7733 x400 or x425
Offers support groups for children and teens who have epilepsy, children who know someone with a seizure disorder, and parents of children who have epilepsy.
Fay J. Lindner Center For Autism and Developmental Disabilities
189 Wheatley Road, Brookville
516-686-4440
Creates an opportunity to speak in a group setting with other parents and caregivers to discuss challenges and share ideas in a supportive and positive environment.
Friendship Circle, Chabad of Great Neck
400 E. Shore Road, Great Neck
516-487-4554
friendshipcircle@chabadgn.com
Pairs children with special needs with caring, dedicated volunteers who form special relationships with them, and provides support to their families.
Friendship Circle, Chabad of Roslyn
75 Powerhouse Road, Roslyn Heights
516-484-3500
This group provides services and support for Jewish children and teens with special needs through the help of trained teen volunteers and professional therapists.
Friendship Connection Foundation
17 Maple Drive, Great Neck
516-422-4727
This nonprofit serves the needs of learning and developmentally disabled adolescents, adults, and their parents who are battling anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Weekly meetings are held at The New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury.
Grandparent Advocates Supporting Autistic Kids
480 Old Westbury Road, Roslyn Heights
516-626-1971 x370
This support and advocacy group is for concerned grandparents of autistic children. All adult family members are welcome.
Kindred Spirits: Parents of Children with Diabetes
Winthrop University Hospital
163 Mineola Blvd., Mineola
516-663-2350
Free monthly support group providing education, support, and camaraderie for parents of children with diabetes.
Long Island Twice Exceptional Children’s Advocacy Support Groups
Melissa Sornik, LMSW
516-724-7100
teca01@optonline.net
Support groups for parents of gifted youth.
Long Island Center for Social Skills Parenting Groups
259 Harbor View Drive, Port Washington
516-816-1285
Parenting groups are designed for parents of children who are “difficult” and/or have been identified as having special needs. Using techniques based on research that leads to results, parents not only learn how to foster self-esteem and self-growth in their child, they also learn how to take care of themselves. The combined expertise of the facilitators and the parents’ personal experience provides resources, networking, emotional support, and community.
Magicseeds
Great Neck
516-504-1881
This group offers periodic workshops where parents come together to discuss their children with special needs and the difficulties and issues that go along with parenting children with special needs.
Mental Health Association of Nassau County
Family Resource Center
516-489-2322 x1234
Offers support groups that assist family members who have relatives with mental illnesses and want to better understand mental illness, the mental health system, and all related programs and services.
National Alliance on Mental Illness Queens/Nassau
516-326-0797
A support group for parents of children with a psychiatric diagnosis.
New Survivors
18 Dunster Road, Great Neck
516-498-2004
Weekly group for parents of children with special health care needs. Also provides educational law information training.
New York Families for Autistic Children Parent Information Exchange and Support Group
718-641-3441
Schedule for 2012 not confirmed at time of press. For more information or to register, call the NYFAC office.
North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center
480 Old Westbury Road, Roslyn Heights
516-626-1971
Developmentally disabled children and their families can participate in parent and sibling support groups.
Parenting Resource Network Friedberg JCC
15 Neil Court, Oceanside
Parent “Warmline”: 516-240-6018
friedbergjcc.org
Offers regular workshops for parents of children with special needs. Warmline available Monday-Thursday 9am-7pm; Friday 9am-4pm.
Parents of Hearing-Impaired Children Support Group
New Hyde Park
718-470-8631
The group meets at 7pm on the first Wednesday of every month in the lower level conference room at Long Island Jewish Medical Center: Hearing and Speech Center. Free and open to the public.
Peninsula Counseling Center Affiliate of The North Shore - LIJ Health System
50 W. Hawthorne Ave., Valley Stream
516-569-6600
info@pccli.org
The center provides individual and family counseling to Nassau and Suffolk counties. Sibling support groups and referrals to social agencies and other professional are available. Peninsula Counseling Center serves a multicultural population with professionals on staff that are fluent in seven languages: Gaelic, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Yiddish.
Resources for Special Needs Kids
Wantagh
rosiemom2@ymail.com
A free online resource for parents to with discussions on therapies, success stories, tips, and more about children on the spectrum or living with developmental delays.
Spina Bifida Association of Nassau County
12 Hampton Road, Sound Beach
631-821-9028
kid3418@optoline.net
Provides parental/member support via monthly meetings and recreational activities and gives families an opportunity to share their feelings about the disability and lend support to each other.
Toddler and Preschool Diabetes Support
Winthrop University Hospital, 163 Mineola Blvd., Mineola
516-663-2350
Monthly meetings for families of young children with diabetes. Children and siblings are welcome to the group meetings and fun activities are planned for them.
Support Groups for Parents of Children with Special Needs in Suffolk County, Long Island
