A metro Detroit family has developed “Dani Plan” as a convenient, user-friendly tool and online file system that contains information about day-to-day living for those with special needs.
The website, daniplan.com, is now live for anyone to use. Debbie and Joel Pearlman of Huntington Woods built the subscription-based site to help families like theirs. Their daughter, Danielle, better known as Dani, was diagnosed with Autism before the age of 2.
Today, Dani is 23 years old. She is nonverbal but understands and communicates in her own way. As she got older, the Pearlmans realized they didn’t have a documented plan others could use if anything happened to them.
“The thought of us not having all the details of Dani’s life laid out in a way others can understand is disturbing,” Joel Pearlman says. “How would they remember to give Dani her medications? How would they know her favorite foods? Make sure she has her headphones so loud sounds don’t hurt her ears? The list of details is long.”
Those questions inspired a metro Detroit family to develop Dani Plan, a convenient, user-friendly tool, and online file system that contains information about day-to-day living for those with special needs.
The family started to create a Word document, a process they describe as “tedious and unstructured” without a way to the share documents securely. So, Joel began to map out a tool for any family to use. And Dani Plan was born.
While the site was created for a “what if” situation, the Pearlman’s quickly realized it would be a beneficial tool for daily living as well. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 61 million people in the U.S. — or one in four adults have special needs — including cognitive, hearing, vision, walking, self-care, or independent living difficulties.
“Ultimately, I believe having a Dani Plan is an invaluable way of making sure your loved ones and the people taking care of them have all the information they need for a happy and easy transition,” Joel says. “It’s the least we can do to make sure they maintain the respect and dignity they deserve.”
The website enables families to organize key contacts, medical information, daily routines and other things like housing, communication, therapy, food and diet, safety, financial information, and legal information in a secure and sharable platform. It also enables users to set custom reminders for medications and plan updates.
There’s a free 21-day trial and subscriptions start at $9.95/month. To learn more, visit daniplan.com.
