Providing Support
for School

It’s difficult enough navigating the medical system, but many parents of children with Duchenne face challenges while seeking accommodations and support through their school systems as well. At Children’s Health of Dallas, the neuromuscular team understands this complicated journey and has developed efforts to help parents ensure their child with Duchenne or Becker will be successful at school.

Cornelia LeSeane, LCSW, a social worker for the Certified Duchenne Care Center at Children’s Health of Dallas, is instrumental in helping parents work with the school to develop appropriate IEP and/or 504 plans. Cornelia meets families during the multidisciplinary clinic to assess their needs and facilitate referrals to the hospital’s School Services Program. This unique program is composed of educational specialists who act as liaisons between the families and the child’s school. They work with parents to identify the child’s needs and/or accommodations while providing guidance on IEPs and 504 plans. By having this service within the center, it allows the neuromuscular team to work with the liaisons to ensure not only medical needs are met while the child is at school, but helps to educate the school staff about individual needs. 

“Collaborating with the Educational Specialist has been an essential part of our patients’ overall neuromuscular care. More specifically, school planning for mental health needs and behavior intervention plans have been a major component of our patients’ success in school”, LeSaene says.

Having this program is one of the amazing services the PPMD CDCC at  Children’s Health of Dallas offers to their patients. To learn more about the Children’s Health of Dallas’ neuromuscular team, please visit our website or email careteam@parentprojectmd.org for more information. 

In addition, you can find additional school resources here or schedule a time to meet with a PPMD staff member through PPMD For You.