Frequently asked questions: Local resources
Can I recommend a service or program in the local resource directory?
Absolutely! Perhaps you know that your fire department has a special needs alert program for first responders. Your child might be enrolled in a religious education program that he really enjoys. You might want to recommend a hair stylist or restaurant that has gone out of their way to accommodate you. Just click on Add a local resource. Fill out what you know and select "I found this resource and want to share it with others." While you may not know the person’s email or website, please include a phone number so families can contact the person.
Do you provide background checks for service providers?
No. One Place for Special Needs highly recommends that our visitors hire a professional service to do background checks on potential providers. These reports will be more detailed and accurate than doing it on your own. Please see our article on background checks for more information.
I had a bad experience with a provider? How do I let families know about it?
Members definitely want to know if someone is performing below expectations. You can go to the person or organization’s listing and click “Write a review” to give a 1-5 rating along with details about their service. Don’t forget to write about your good experiences too!
When should I add more than one listing?
All the information at One Place for Special Needs sorts geographically for the user. Please create multiple listings if you have more than one location so you are positioned correctly in the search results. Or you may wish to get a state featured listing.
You can also create more than one listing if you want to highlight various programs or services. For instance, an organization may wish to create a separate listing for their children and adult services.
If I add multiple listings, do I have to enter all my information again?
Not at all. When adding a second listing, you’ll see the message, “If you’d like to copy a resource you previously added, select it here.” If you click on the arrow you should see your previous listing. Select it and continue. Now just edit the information accordingly.
Some subcategories are the same in different categories. Do I have to list myself in each category?
No. Our search looks at all categories and subcategories. If one of our users searches for your particular subcategory, our system will pull up your information no matter which category you are in.
What do I do if my service or program is not available all year?
Please help keep our directory up to date by choosing the duration for your listing. This can be one month, three months, six months, one year or indefinitely. After the expiration date, your listing will become inactive. You may reactivate it the next time this program is available to families. This is helpful to individuals like teachers, who may offer their tutoring services only in the summer months.
Think of our local resource directory as the "yellow pages" of our site. If you have classes, summer camps or quarterly programs, put those in our event directory which is the "bulletin board" for new and upcoming programs.
What are featured listings?
Users see search results closest to their home and outward. Your info might appear on page 1, page 6 or farther depending on your proximity to the user. Free resources are also emailed to users within a 50 mile radius that have signed up for our email alerts. Featured resources give you a better position in our directory and/or extend viewership to the entire state or country. Learn more about featured listings here.
Can members review resource listings?
Absolutely. Our members gravitate to listings with reviews from other members. The directory can even be sorted by rating. If you are a service provider, you can be proactive by encouraging your clients to register and write a review about your service or program.
As the owner of your listing, you can't write a review for yourself. That is why if you click on your own Write a review link, it takes you here to our FAQs page. However, if anyone else clicks on your Write a review link, it will bring them to a form where they can write a review and give you a star rating.
Someone recommended me in your local resource directory. How do I take ownership of that listing?
Congratulations on being such a help to families that they've added your information on your behalf. Once you register onto the site, simply contact us and we will attach that listing to your username. Then you can update your information and no one but you can make changes to it. This is free to do.
I don’t want members to see my address.
Your city, state and zip code is necessary so members can search in their locales, but the street address is optional.
I don’t want members to contact me by email.
You are not required to include an email addres. You can enter a phone number and no email address so that members can only contact you via phone, or vice-versa. You might like that your email address is kept private here. Members fill out a contact form on our website that gets sent to your email.
Can I enter a different contact name then myself?
Yes. If you are entering information for your organization but you are not the primary contact person, you can list someone else in the Business Contact field.
I can’t find a subcategory that fits the service I provide. What do I do?
When you choose a category you can select subcategories to help describe your service or program. If none of them match, you can select “Other” and enter a description. If several organizations enter a similar service, we can add that as an official subcategory. You can also send an email message to to state your desire to add a particular subcategory.
I'm not sure where to place myself on your website.
Email us anytime and we'll help find the best place in our directory.
Here are some suggestions if you are a college student or would like to become involved but don't know what to do.
Special needs parents may look for one-on-one assistance with their child to learn new skills. This might be for academics, art, music, play and social skills. If this sounds like something you would like to do, choose the Educational programs and services category in Add a local resource. You’ll find check off boxes for art instruction, music instruction, tutoring services and more.
Special needs parents struggle to balance work and home life along with the needs of each family member and the child with disabilities. Any help that eases the workload is welcome. You might choose our Businesses category in Add a local resource. You’ll find check off boxes for any assistance (tell a family how you can help), housecleaning, lawn care, pet service, time management and more. If you speak a foreign language, you might offer services under interpreting services to help as a communicator between teachers, therapists and parents.
Special needs parents have a difficult time finding full and part-time sitters. Sitters for the summer and winter break are particularly in demand. Choose the childcare/sitter category to add your information.
Many parents have home therapy programs. If you are studying a therapy field (e.g. physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, developmental therapy) you can choose the Rehabilitation/Therapy services category and check off the box for Assistant (for home-based therapy programs).
Individuals with special needs may need extra support to live an independent life. You might choose the Independence/transitional services category. There are check off boxes for concierge/errand assistant, direct support worker and home care services.
I want to take my listing off the directory but I don’t want to lose my information.
At the end of your listing edit page there is a checkbox that says, “This service is active.” If you uncheck the box your service will not appear on the directory. This is especially helpful to teachers or students who might only offer services in the summer.
How do I delete my listing?
If you no longer wish to be in our local resources directory, click on Update info at the main menu and choose My local resources to view, edit or delete your service.