My Top 3 Admin Habits as a Special Needs Mom

When stepping into the world of “Holland” I foresaw financial struggles, emotional fatigue, loss, etc., but one thing I wasn’t expecting – or maybe I just underestimated – was the admin tasks that would mount up on my husband and I. Being a parent already involves a whole lot of administrative tasks, but I feel like having a child with a disorder adds even more to our plate. I have always been organized, and I’m very grateful for that as it has helped me navigate the secretarial side of things. I hope my tips help you too!

Making Phone Calls

Whether it’s making phone calls to make appointments, schedule in home therapy appointments, reordering durable medical supplies, or call insurance, making phone calls is a huge part of a parents life. These are things I’ve done personally that have helped me navigate phone calls!

• Schedule the Timing: In my experience, making apts, reordering supplies, and scheduling takes about 20-30 minutes. Calling insurance, you can be looking at 1-1.5 hours – simply expect this so that its easier not to get frustrated. You can use earbuds to listen to the hold music and multi-task! I wipe down bathrooms or fold laundry while I’m on hold. 
• Make Call List for the Week: Every week I run down my list of who I need to call, whether its checking all the voicemails, returning calls from email, or taking care of tasks for that week. Sometimes if its insurance, I may have to call every week in order to get something done. I put the top calls for Monday or Tuesday when I have the most energy, and easier calls like scheduling apts at the end of the week. When you write the call tasks on your list, you also may want to add the phone number – it helps to have it close at hand in case you end up being in a rush the day of the call. 
• Be Kind: being kind can save a lot of energy on the phone – remember the person on the other side has no idea what life you live and what your child’s medical complexities are. Being kind is free, and it can save you a lot 😉 
• Take Notes!!! Don’t underestimate the importance of the date you called, who you talked to, and what they told you!

Planner

For me, I have always used a paper planner in order to organize my life (I get mine from plumpaper.com!) Life is super busy now, between running my own business, blogging, social media, my spiritual life, and taking care of Paige. So, these are a few things I do!

• Use Different Color Pens for Each Category: This was an idea a friend gave me and it has been awesome! Visually it helps every day to know what categories I’ve completed, and it also gives me a good idea of how I’m doing in every area of my life. So often I’m doing great in Dr. Mom category but maybe I’m struggling in my spiritual life. My goal is to have my spiritual color on my list every day to remind me that’s even more important than my life as a special needs parent. 

• Plan your week on the weekend: Every Friday, I make my to do list for my business since my goal is to not even think of work on Saturdays and Sundays (highly recommend that, btw!). Then, on Sundays I add my personal activities. I think of everything I need and want to do, look at the appointments for the week, and then plan around it. I have one page of all my tasks (in different colors!) Then, throughout the week, I make a to-do list with those tasks copied for every day and I add things as I go. It helps me feel accomplished, and on anxious days I simply follow my to do list and know everything will be OK. 

Medical Records

My daughter has a complex condition – she has over 10 doctors we see, and we’ve moved since her diagnosis as well. We have different portals for each doctor, different numbers, different care instructions, etc. I try to update it about every 2-3 months unless significant things have happened. I want to know that we have everything doctors would need with us at all times! 

So, I have a Google Drive with all of Paige’s information. I download files from each portal and have them in her own file, then have a USB of it in her emergency bag at all times.

Here are some tips for a Google Drive:

• Folders
  • One per hospital/clinic (So we have one for Children’s National, one for Texas Children’s)
    • Divide hospital folders by specialty (so we have about 10 specialties, and I can easily organize each one)
    • I go into each portal for the hospitals and download their after visit summaries/clinic notes and date them, then put each one in the folder. And no, I’m not great at remembering – I update maybe every 2 months!
  • One personal folder (I’d have this one password protected especially)
    • Care instructions 
    • Insurance Card
    • State Program info 
    • SSN 
    • Think of anything somebody would need if her caretakers were all the sudden not in the picture!
  • Severe events record
    • Keep logs of any serious events, like seizures or other abnormal behavior, and save in a folder with each corresponding video you take. You can then share these via link with doctors who allow that. 
• Sharing with Doctors: Ask permission and see if they can be shared via email, otherwise you can download any folder as a zip and send to the clinics admin page
• Save a USB of the folder in your emergency bag or purse! Something you can easily give over in an emergency

I am not an expert by far, but these tips have helped me a lot in navigating my new life as a special needs parent. It helps me not stress over things, and keeps me sane so that I can properly advocate for my daughter.