How I keep paperless files for my kids with special needs

If you have a child with special needs, you know that on top of caring for your child comes managing a mountain of paperwork. At the first support group I attended for parents of kids with special needs, an experienced parent urged us all to keep records. Her adult son needed a medication adjustment and she couldn't remember exactly which medications had worked in the past and at which doses. I took her advice and it has already paid dividends.

The amount of paperwork that follows each of my sons is astounding. There are Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) from school, medical test results, prescriptions, seizure action plans, reports from doctors, letters and notes from therapists, insurance forms and so much more. Because my sons came to us through foster care and adoption, the paperwork pile is even deeper — or it would be if I hadn't hit on a digital organization system that works for me. Except for the few documents that must be kept as originals such as birth certificates and Social Security cards, I keep nearly all files on my computer and backed up in the cloud. Here's how.

1. As much as possible, I request information be sent to me in PDF form by email so physical papers never have to hit my mailbox. However, most of my children's care providers don't have systems for electronically sharing documents that are secure enough to comply with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects the confidentiality of health information). That means I'm usually stuck with paper.

2. As soon as paperwork makes it into my home, I sometimes let it age on the kitchen counter for two to three months before I do anything else with it. I strongly recommend you skip this step.

3. I scan everything. I like the free DocScan app for my iPhone and iPad from IFUNPLAY. It's easy to use and can create PDF or JPEG documents. I like that I can scan wherever I am and don't need to sit at the computer and use the flatbed scanner.

4. I file my sons' paperwork in logical computer folders and subfolders, just as a would if I were filing them in a cabinet with fat hanging files and thinner manila folders.

• Each of my sons has a main folder with his name on it.
• From there, each has a set of category folders: Dentist, Legal, Medical, Mental Health, School, Diagnoses (named Autism, Cerebral Palsy, etc., which is where I file general information I learn about each diagnosis).
• Under each of these categories are subfolders.
  The Medical subfolders include: Health Insurance, Immunizations, Vision, Doctors (I have a folder for each doctor by last name).
  Mental Health subfolders (in my state, developmental disabilities are handled through the community mental health agencies) are: Person Centered Plans, Respite and Programs (listed by program name, such as Autism Center and Community Living Support).
  School subfolders include: Audiologist (because this is done at school), Behavior Intervention Plans, IEPs, Report Cards, School Nurse, Transportation and Teachers (each teacher has a folder by year).

5. I use the free Dropbox cloud service to store and back up all of my information. Instead of keeping things in the My Documents folder on my computer, I keep them directly in the Dropbox folder that was placed on my computer when I installed the program, which is easy to do. That way I don't need to drag my files anywhere to back them up, which I would probably forget to do.

If you would like to try Dropbox, you could sign up from this Dropbox referral link so we would both get some bonus space.

Later I'll share how I keep a running log of my sons' medications and changes made over the years.

How I organized my homeschool library.

I'm so pleased that I have finally been able to organize my 1,330 volumes (plus others yet uncataloged) in a way that lets the whole family find books easily and put them away properly. I was sick of the kids getting interested in a topic or asking a question and having to tell them, "I know we have a book about that, but where is it?"

I searched and searched for ideas before starting the project several months ago and came up empty. Let me know if this is helpful to you!

1. I obtained all the shelving I could. An old desk with shelves, a TV cabinet and other pieces helped fill the need. Anybody want to come and build me some custom shelving? Homeschoolers can never have too much.

2. I decided on categories for my books. I wanted them to be specific enough to be able to find books when needed, yet broad enough that it wouldn't be over-organized with only a few books per category.

• Board Books
• Early Readers
• Storybook sets (Seuss, Curious George, etc.)
• Series (Little House, Encyclopedia Brown)
• Language and Sign Language
• Math
• Science (I have subcategories here to keep them together: Magic School Bus, Let's-Read-and-Find-Out-About-Science, National Geographic set)
• Farm
• History and Geography
• Bible/Religion
• Art
• Music Books
• Character and Communication
• Holidays and Seasons
• Five in a Row/Before Five in a Row
• Sonlight C
• Sonlight 1
• Sonlight 2
• Workbooks (Explode the Code, coloring books)
• Homeschooling Theory/Practice
• La Leche League Library
• Parenting and Childbirth (not LLL)
• Picture books
• Cookbooks
• Novels
• Chapter books
• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (the 20 books it recommends using)
• Sports
• Magazines

Some books fit into more than one category, so I pick the one where I need them the most. For example, books used with our school curriculum this year might be history related and chapter books, but I label them Sonlight 1 because I need to have them available with the curriculum.

3. I cataloged my books by registering for a free Amazon.com Your Media Library account and entering the ISBN numbers. There are other choices for tracking books, such as LibraryThing. Amazon's Your Media Libary allows a spot to note the location of the book. This is where I enter my self-named category from above. You could also choose a physical location, such as "hallway shelf" or "girls' bedroom."

4. I obtained lots and lots of colored dot, star and other stickers. I found that the Avery dots are not only expensive, but are removeable. I wanted permanent, inexpensive ones. I found that the cheap brands such as Z-International actually stick better; just make sure they're labeled permanent or test one out of the package. I found assorted sets such as these at Walgreens and variety stores. Often they're sold for garage sale tags.

If you're willing to pay more for huge quantities, you can also buy them from library supply companies such as these from Demco. Another option would be to cut strips or hole punch or decorative punch shapes from address labels or colored adhesive sheets. You can even use those circular reinforcers you put on hole-punched paper.

I color code my books, but you could use a certain number of strips or dots to indicate each category instead. In cases where I didn't have enough colored dots, I doubled up. I put a little one in the middle of a big one to mean a different category.

5. I applied the stickers to the books' spines. I put the bottom of each sticker one inch from the bottom so they would be nice and neat when all in a row on the shelves. The width of a standard ruler would be just right to help align them easily.

6. I tried to assign one or two shelves per category of book, then put the books on the correct shelf.

7. I printed out a color-code key so my family can figure out where to find and reshelve things (well, at least find them). I just printed the list of categories and stuck an actual sticker from that category on the paper next to the appropriate name.

8. I haven't yet labeled the shelves, but I really should. That would make it easier so my family could find books at a glace without having to check the key each time.