Please read this entire post as the information may not be in the order you need to pursue but is menat to give you resources.
Call your local independent resource living center ILRU Directory of Centers & SILCs (Vol. 26) 2004 Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILC). Click on California.
http://www.ilru.org/Directory/SILC.html on Monday and ask for referrals to a family law attorney with experience with disability issues, they may even have a list of attorneys they can send you. Please understand, disability law and family law are two different areas of practice and may have totally different assumptions and practice. In the mean time goto this site for general information about how the courts work, being disabled doesn't necessiarly qualify you to free representation in family law.
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/lowcost/getready.htm
Many counties have an office for family law facilitators and mediation available, these services may be available to you at no lost and allow you to work out your differences, these may be found in the telephone directory. You can also go online to
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/trial/courtlist.htm for more information and in some cases may actually file your case: California Superior Court EZLegalFile - Legal Paperwork Assistance .EZLegalFile is an interactive program that will help you fill out the forms necessary to request or respond to papers for a variety of legal issues.
http://www.ezlegalfile.org/
and access Ca. Judicial Council forms needed for you case
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/ .
Not knowing the reason for your disability limits what direction I can give beyond general. Frequently, as you know, non visible disabilities are misunderstood nor does having a disability give you additional rights over another person, although there may be some protection and allowances for reasonable accommodations under ADA to level the laying field. “The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal civil rights statute, requires all state and local governmental entities, including the courts, to accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities who have an interest in court activities, programs, and services. Rule 989.3 of the California Rules of Court seeks to provide a workable and orderly framework for compliance with the ADA and state laws. Questions and answers about the provisions of rule 989.3 are contained in "Persons With Disabilities: Q&A on Rule of Court 989.3," accessible at”
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/access/publications.htm
In California, Rule 989.3 allows for access to the courts and reasonable accommodations, this can vary from physical access to other accommodations, you can call the courts and ask for a MC-410 form, one has to be filed for each case. This is an administrative order separate from your case but must be filed with each case, if there are questions about your accommodations these are between the judge and you or your representative, ex parte and cannot be objected to by OP, that doesn’t mean that they won’t try or even that the court will understand that is the process, here is a link to that form, one that can be printed, one that is fillable online.
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/documents/mc410.pdf http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/fillable/mc410.pdf The court can mail or give you a copy if they have it in stock. There are no instructions and not all counties have implemented it, your county is required to have an ADA coordinator so ask for their assistance, but you will have to be proactive. Also go to these sites for more information about this very important form because it will clarify it’s use so that you or others can resolve a problem before it arises, California Courts: Rules: Title Three: Rule 989.3. Requests for accommodations by persons with disabilities. (a) [Policy]
It shall be the policy of the courts of this state to assure that qualified
www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/titlethree/title3-102.htm
www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/titlethree/title3-64.htm [ More results from
www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/titlethree/ ]
[PDF] Persons With Disabilities: Q&A on Rule of Court 989.3 ... implement the ADA in the state court system. Following are some questions commonly asked about rule 989.3: What is rule 989.3? Rule 989.3 is a state court rule
www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/access/documents/accfair.pdf besure to print this one out as some courts issue this as instructions with the MC - 410 but may have copied every other page of a 2 sided document making it difficult to understand.
Access to the Courts. A Guide to Reasonable Accommodations for People with Disabilities. Second Edition - Update April 2003 - 5026.01.
http://www.pai-ca.org/Pubs/502601.htm
also apply for fee waivers at the general information site it is one of the links.
Is your slow son, qualified as disabled, if so is he DD, SED, LD or other? Is he a client of the regional center? It is important that if he is disabled that you make sure that is qualified before age 18 as this will determine many lifetime benefits, it also will provide many resources and case management for the family. I say this because many families fail to do this leaving their child without a support system in the future. This is also important because there is a lot of stress in a family with one disability, let alone 3 and there may be resources for your family that might help you all deal with these issues and eliminate the additional stress of divorce. The DRM Regional Resource Directory: ... Support for Families of Children with Disabilities (San Francisco ..
http://www.disabilityresources.org/CALIFORNIA.html
