Friends of Tennessee Infant Parent Services is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization working to enhance the potential of infants and young children with disabilities by offering support to their families and the early intervention professionals who serve them.

Download our 2005 Annual Report

What is Friends of TIPS

We are a non-profit organization comprised of parents, early intervention professionals, and concerned community members who seek to provide support for the special needs of families who have children with disabilities and developmental delays.

Friends of TIPS offers support and services to over three thousand Tennessee families served through the TIPS School.

Friends of TIPS offers funding for: respite care, adaptive equipment, loaner hearing aids, assistive technology, family educational opportunities, educational toys, and emergency and bereavement support.

Friends of TIPS programs include: family learning days, parent support groups, workshops, lending libraries, toy closets, and information networks.

Description of Services

  • Respite Care: Primary caregivers for children with special needs seldom get a break from their daily routine. We help families with the cost of professional respite care and offer respite day camps.

  • Adaptive Equipment: Babies with special needs often require specialized items that can be very expensive. We help families purchase items such as specialized car seats, adapted feeding items, and adapted toys.

  • Loaner Hearing Aids: Hearing aids are expensive and most of the time not covered by insurance. We provide loaner hearing aids upon the recommendation of the managing audiologist.

  • Assistive Technology: We help families to access electronic devices and assistive technology that allows their child to communicate.

  • Family Education: We support parents’ efforts to learn about their children’s disability. We give grants to families to assist with the costs of attending conferences and workshops.

  • Emergency Support: Every family has emergencies, and TIPS families can turn to us for help. We make grants for emergencies based on financial need.

  • Bereavement Support: Some children with special needs pass away before they graduate from our program. We offer grants to help cover the costs of funerals and memorials.

  • Family Learning Days: We have events all across the state for families to learn more about their child’s development, meet and network with other families that have children with special needs, attend seminars and enjoy entertainment and refreshments.

  • Support Groups: Everyone needs someone who understands them. We help fund start up cost and on-going expenses for parent and sibling support groups statewide.

  • Workshops: We sponsor workshops for parents, siblings, care providers, and professional educators in an effort to insure that everyone involved in the life of a child with special needs has the information they need.

  • Lending Libraries: We maintain lending libraries at each chapter where parents can research their child’s disabilities in order to make more informed decisions about their child’s care.

  • Toy Closets: Most of our families live on one income and juggle huge medical bills, making it difficult to afford toys. We provide toy closets at each chapter where families can borrow educational toys that are age and ability appropriate for their child.

Support for the TIPS Professionals

  • Parent Advisors Awards: We provide funds for Regional Lead Teachers to show appreciation to the Parent Advisors – dinners, small gifts, or awards.

  • Workshops: We host professional development workshops for Regional Lead Teachers and Parent Advisors, providing materials, refreshments, and other things not covered by state dollars.

  • Professional Conferences: We support TIPS professionals in their goals to maintain the highest level of training and expertise in their field, by providing grants to pay travel costs, registration fees, and other costs associated with attending professional conferences.