Causes and Effects

Developmental disabilities are a complex problem with many different contributing factors. The three biggest factors are health, economic, and social causes. Health causes consist of genetic dispositions, premature birth, and early physical trauma. Children can be born with developmental disabilities due to genetic differences. If a child is born prematurely, health risks can lead to problems developing the brain. Finally early physical trauma like being dropped on your head as a baby can also lead to developmental disabilities. Economic factors can predispose children to risk of developing developmental disabilities. Children in low income families without services like health care or access to consistent nutritious meals can lead to them developing developmental disabilities. Children with developmental disabilities need intervention often before the age of 3 and many families don't realize their child's needs intervention until later in life. A social factor causing problems for children with developmental disabilities is access and supply of third party services. Developmental services are therapeutic methods that help children cope with their disabilities in a healthy manner. Socially there is not enough importance placed on the needs of neurodivergent individuals which results in lack of funding and awareness.

The problem of a lack of access to third party services for children with special needs in Florida has many impacts. The impacts are primarily social and personal, but this lack of access also has small impacts on the economy. The impact on the economy is that if the population of children who need these essential services don’t get them, then they will have a more difficult time when they are older getting jobs, which leads to a portion of the population that isn’t employed and contributing to the economy. The three main impacts of a lack of access to third party services are high family stress (Falk et Al., 2014), greater chances of needing more services later in life (Cogswell et Al. 2022), and being more likely to become homeless later in life (Backer & Howard, 2007).

Family Stress

A main impact of a lack of access to third party services for children with special needs is that families with children who have special needs often experience high stress levels and having a lack of services increases the chances and the severity of the stress. Lack of social and economic support are both reasons that families often cannot get access to special needs services outside of schools. Social support is the ability “to receive the desired support and help at the time of need from the surrounding social networks including their spouse, relatives, friends, coworkers, or a community” (Park, 2022), and a part of that community could be third party services offering respite care, which is short-term care that offers temporary relief for the primary caregivers (Respite Care Programs). Economic support is having access to additional finances from family members, friends, or a community to help pay for services or care. These are both factors that can restrict a family’s ability to get access to third party services because social support is often needed for watching other children while the special needs child is at the service or even to help maintain the basic household functions, and without economic support, many families can’t afford the third party services and their children have to go on without receiving the services and care that is needed.

Lack of social support is a significant predictor of high stress and depression levels in mothers and fathers of children with autism, and lack of economic support is a significant predictor of high stress levels for mothers as well (Falk et Al., 2014). These high stress and depression levels can lead to bad mental health for parents and also can lead to negative impacts on the other people living in the house with them. The high stress and depression levels also mean that those parents have a harder time doing everything in their lives, like parenting and working, as well as they might otherwise be able to (Hardman).

Need for More Services Later

Another main impact of a lack of access to special needs services for children with special needs is that they will most likely require even more services later in life for their needs (Cogswell et Al. 2022). Children with special needs are almost always behind in some part of their cognitive development than their peers if they don’t receive services to help improve the development of their cognitive skills, which is a part of special needs services. If a child with special needs doesn’t receive the services that they need while in early childhood, their cognitive development will fall even further behind than their peers (Cogswell et Al. 2022). This can lead to needing even more services when the child gets older in order to try to catch up with their peers. This need for more services means that families have to pay more than what they would have paid if their child had received the services that were needed early in life, and that the child’s skills before receiving the services would be worse than if they had received the necessary services when they were young.

Higher Chance of Becoming Homeless

The final main impact of a lack of access to third party services is being more likely to become homeless later in life (Backer & Howard, 2007). If children with special needs do not receive proper services to improve their cognitive functions, then they would have a higher chance of becoming homeless. Cognitive impairments, such as developmental or intellectual disabilities, “can significantly affect an individual’s ability to obtain and maintain stable housing, and to benefit from supportive services” (Backer & Howard, 2007). This means that if children with special needs and cognitive impairments grow up without receiving all of the services that they need, then that can lead to them having a difficult time finding and staying in places to live. People with developmental disabilities are at the most risk of becoming homeless at two points in their lives (Backer & Howard, 2007). The first point is when the person is young and ages out of a care system for children, such as foster care, or in-school special education services (Backer & Howard, 2007). In many cases these young adults and their families may have a difficult time finding or getting access to adult support systems or services, and unless the young adult has a strong, supportive family, “they are at high risk of becoming homeless” (Backer & Howard, 2007). The second point of vulnerability to becoming homeless is when the parents of the person with special needs die. “If plans for support and stable housing are not in place before the death of the parents, the individual is more likely to become homeless” (Backer & Howard, 2007). If the person with special needs never got the services to improve their cognitive function, physical abilities, or social skills, then they would have an even harder time not becoming homeless in these situations than if they had gotten those important services.