Cerebral Palsy Scholarships

Cerebral palsy scholarships are available for children with cerebral palsy for attending camps, schools, colleges, and other programs. Finding cerebral palsy scholarships can be as simple as contacting the camp your child would like to attend. Special needs camps can be costly, but that doesn’t have to be a deterrent when seeking a quality special needs camp experience. Your local county mental health or family services office, religious organizations, and local charities such as Easter Seals, United Way, YMCA/YWCA, United Cerebral Palsy, and Lions and Elks Clubs can be valuable sources of information, referrals, and even scholarships. The New Jersey Elks, for example, offer 700 to 800 camp scholarships each summer, available through local lodges, to Camp Moore in Ramapo, NJ, which accepts individuals age 7-18 with disabilities.

Although there is no national organization for scholarships, and United Cerebral Palsy does not have a national scholarship fund, scholarships can be found through local United Cerebral Palsy affiliates. They may offer local scholarship money or know of local resources for cerebral palsy scholarships.

One example is United Cerebral Palsy of Metro Boston, Inc. The John J. Ingalls Memorial Scholarship, administrated by United Cerebral Palsy of Metro Boston, Inc., will award $5,000 scholarships for college bound high school seniors, and current undergraduate and graduate students, residing in the State of Massachusetts, and diagnosed with a physical disability. The scholarship committee will award up to three applicants per year an unrestricted amount of $5,000 to be used towards tuition at an accredited college or university. The scholarship is named after Mr. John J. Ingalls, a Massachusetts resident, who through his generosity established this scholarship in his will.

Another is United Cerebral Palsy of San Luis Obispo's announcement of the launch of its first annual scholarship program, designed to support the full participation of children and adults with disabilities. The year’s funding is $7,500 with a scholarship cap of $1,500 per individual. They are looking for requests that will truly assist people in living, working, and participating in the community, with emphasis on equipment or community classes.

Cerebral palsy scholarship options include the following: contacting local civic organizations such as the Moose, Elks, Kiwanis, Rotary clubs etc, as well as church charities; your local Vocational Rehabilitation office may have funding for education, training or related services; contact the office for students with disabilities at the universities/colleges where you are applying or are already accepted; contact the school’s financial aid department and U.S. Department of Education has information on government grants and/or loans; search the internet for scholarships, private donations, web sites dealing with financial aid as well as asking about scholarship money in disability related, electronic discussion groups.

It never hurts to ask for help, especially when the benefits of a cerebral palsy scholarship can open new doors for your child. Contact your local institutions for further information on cerebral palsy scholarships.