Unique Solutions for Special Needs

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- The financial challenges presented by family members with a disability or special needs can be daunting.

Over the past decade, the number of U.S. students enrolled in special education programs has risen 30%, according to the National Education Association. Approximately 21 million families in the U.S. are caring for a member with special needs, and one in every 26 families is raising a child with a disability, according to U.S. Census statistics.

The financial challenges presented by family members with a disability or special needs can be daunting, and the need for answers is growing.

Scott McDonald, a California-based certified special needs adviser for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, has focused on disability and special needs issues for the better part of 25 years.

The Merrill Lynch Special Needs Financial Services Program, which was established in 1999 to serve the needs of this community, is billed as the only program of its kind.

"It's a very specialized field, but it is also an opportunity for us to make a difference for people who really need it," he says.

McDonald sees the number of families dealing with disabilities and special needs continuing to surge.

"Autism rates continue to rise," he says. "Elderly people are living lot longer and the incidences of dementia and Alzheimer's disease are on the rise because they are living longer. There are also issues where the disabled might have had a 10-year life expectancy 50 years ago and now have 30- or 40-year life expectancies. A child who is a 6-year-old with cerebral palsy who is in a wheelchair and can't feed himself properly is still is going to live 35 to 50 years, and his 38-year-old parents are not going to be in the mix in the future. Therapies are letting people live longer and better, but that means the greater need for proper budgeting."

There are also economic forces at work that place additional stress on caregivers and make such planning even more crucial -- a historic intergenerational wealth transfer, unemployment among parents who care for a child and the rising cost of care among them. There are also issues with government benefits, cuts in services and restrictions on services.