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Searching for a Roommate: Medicaid Waiver style| Part 6

This is Part 6 in a series of posts about moving my son Aaron, who has the label of autism, from one county to the adjoining county where we live.

Part 5 contains links to the previous posts: Cash Cows and HUD Interviews| Part 5

Note: The HUD Section 8 rent voucher pays for the rent. The Medicaid Waiver pays for the direct care staff who take care of Aaron.

Ball One in the Air: HUD

HUD Timeline:

May-July County Board of DD set up three home visits with potential housemates for Aaron.

June 30 We, Aaron’s Guardians, requested to move his HUD rent voucher to W. County.

July 6 Signed HUD paperwork in the sending county.

July 15 Met with HUD counselor in the receiving county and completed paperwork.

July 16 Asked for our first 30 day extension from sending county.

Aug. 8 Asked for our second 30 day extension and now have until the end of Sept.

Oct. 31 120 days is up. Aaron loses waiver if he hasn’t signed one year lease.

Typical World:

After the third step, the person has a list of landlords who will accept the Section 8 rent subsidy and it makes sense that they find a place within the 120 day timeline.

Disability World:

After the third step, the person has to begin another complicated process with the County Board of Development Disabilities, to find accessible housing for people with disabilities, match a housemate.

Ball Two in the Air: Medicaid Waiver level of Funding

The housemate must not only be able to get along with Aaron and vice versa, but there will need to be a level of service need for the 24/7 care the two people will require. Because this is funded through the Medicaid Waiver, the housemate must also have a Medicaid Waiver. (There are currently thousands of people in Ohio on the waiting list for Medicaid Waivers—so this is the tricky part.)

This is where the 120 day timeline become freakin’ scary. It is not a coincidence to me that the deadline is on October 31—Halloween.

Ball Three in the Air: Housemate

Aaron has had the same housemate for over thirteen years. They have gotten along great. This was one of the reasons that, when everything else was going wrong, we stayed in the current residential setting. Aaron and Jack are pals. This will be the hardest part of leaving the old house.

Finding a good match will also be the most important and most difficult part of moving to a new house.

As I tell our story of the three houses and housemates we have visited, just remember: I COULDN’T MAKE THIS UP.

House One: rural, rural

We met with the parents of the potential roommate/housemate at Bob Evans restaurant. The meeting went well so we decided to get the two young men together the next day. Their son also has autism and just graduated from school.

The parents renovated the house and it was nice, but extremely small. The location was on the other end of the county.

I’m not sure it would even meet the minimum requirements for a HUD rental because the bathroom was so small and inaccessible. I’m talking sitting on the toilet and touching the tub with your knees. There is no way the staff person could give Aaron a shower–there is no room.

Our hearts went out to this family who were trying to do the best they could. Their son was a lovely person, but was not a good match for Aaron. Aaron sank on the couch and was biting his hands and was overwhelmed during the visit. Later when I begged Aaron to use facilitated communication and tell us anything, the only thing he typed was “bad.”

A representative of a small family run residential service company was also there. She seemed nice, but she couldn’t give me much information about her company other than the owner just had some family issues.

We learned the young man did not have enough funding with his Medicaid Waiver for full-time residential help, so the family brought him back to their house three days a week. This was why they were desperately seeking a roommate with a Medicaid Waiver because then the split costs would allow the two men to live in the home 24/7.

The residential services company and the county case worker come with the house–(one per house). So, when we asked about the case worker we were told the parents really liked him because he shared with them that one of the potential housemates was a convicted felon, and they were so grateful he told them (when he didn’t/shouldn’t have) and they could make sure their son was safe. (RED FLAG).

TAKE AWAY:

Parents are trying to problem solve the best they can to provide for their family.

They wanted to be actively involved in their son’s life.

This family could afford to purchase a small house, near their home.

They could afford to renovate, furnish it and make sure it was maintained with lawn care….

They couldn’t afford the residential care 24/7.

Potential housemates could be convicted felons. Case workers may/may not have to tell you.

Parents could take their child home a couple days a week if the Medicaid Waiver funding was inadequate.

When I asked the parents what their son thought of the 4
day/3 day arrangement they responded: “Well, our son gets confused, he is really excited to be in his own place and would rather stay there.”

When I asked the parents what they thought of the arrangement, they said:
“We have taken care of him for over 20 years with no help. His mother couldn’t work and took him to all his therapies, gave him his bath and entertained him. We never had any help, so 4 days a week is the best it’s ever been.”

These parents were fellow pioneers. Tom and I would have loved if it would have worked out for Aaron and their son to be roommates, but our priority is Aaron—not, would we enjoy being with these parents.

Next post, I’ll talk about the second home we visited.

The bottom line is: WHO WOULD AARON WANT FOR A HOUSEMATE?

COMMENTS

Any thoughts? I love for you to share your stories in the comments and social media.

Have you ever had to blend the requirements of two/three/four agencies?

Is this useful information? OR, is this like watching your parents show slides of their summer vacation in Death Valley?—boring.

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward.

Mary

Related Posts:

Home More than a Place

Balancing my Son’s Needs and Mine

photo credit: bixentro

Part 5 | When did Aaron become a Cash Cow?

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.

In the last four posts, I’ve been documenting our journey toward moving Aaron, our son with the label of autism and developmental disabilities, to a new county with his HUD “housing choice voucher program” and Medicaid Waiver:

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.

HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 2

HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 3

Part 4| HUD Tips for Parents of People with Disabilities

“Back on the Ferris Wheel” Analogy…

In Part 4, Aaron and I were stuck on top of the ferris wheel, rocking back and forth as a lightening storm is approaching—tired, scared and trying to keep from hurling our lunches–while far below, the “professional” ride engineer fumbles with buttons, trying to remember if he was supposed to push the forward or backward button….

OR

Ahem. I wish this were fiction, no one will believe the truth and ensuing drama.

When we left off, Aaron and I were waiting for an appointment with the HUD officer in the “receiving county” to accept/deny our “30 Day Notice of Port”:

1. I don’t know these people. And, I really am trying to follow the rules.

2. The 30 days deadline is approaching quickly.

3. The officer from the “receiving county” doesn’t make appointments over the phone. Their policy is to send an official letter with a date and time–and you need to be there. (This is one of the shocks when you aren’t considered to be middle class any more.)

4. By Day 10 of not hearing from them, I am getting nervous the 30 days will run out before we even get an appointment. Everyone seems to be taking vacation time, and then there is the carpet….

5. No one is returning my phone calls. Again, I’m thinking it is vacation and the damn carpet….

Evil Carnival Clowns

A supervisor for the Residential Company we are leaving keeps harassing me that we are not including him in our meetings. “What meetings?” I keep asking him.
Here is where it gets interesting:

Remember back to Thanksgiving Weekend, when the mailman declared Aaron’s house as “vacant” and refused to deliver the mail. See post: Caregivers| This isn’t my job

All mail is sent to main office
Well, since there was a systemic problem with staff not picking up the mail and forwarding bills…the administration of the residential company made a policy to have all mail sent to their main office.

So, the bills do get paid with this new policy.

But all other mail may, or may not, get back to the house ie. Aaron’s birthday card from his grandmother came to the house 2 weeks late.

So, the same residential staff, who couldn’t bother to reach 6 inches outside the door and open the mailbox, is supposed to drive to the main office (10 miles each way—non reimbursed) and pick up the mail.

So the letter from HUD sat in the main office for two weeks. (Voila—date, time, 30 days timeline….)

And, since the mail is going to the main office, any letter which looks important is then screened by the administration. (VOILA—oh my, they are having a meeting and we aren’t invited. Oh my, it looks like we are going to lose Aaron’s waiver money, and maybe he will take the whole house to another company….

Oh my, we will lose the cash cow….

So, the 30 day deadline is ticking away. I am calling the HUD office hysterical I can’t even get an appointment, and the letter with the date and time is sitting in a mailbox in the main office of the residential company I think is totally incompetent and the reason we are leaving the county to begin with.

Plus, since the residential company is trying to sabotage this because they are losing Aaron’s cash cow, they certainly don’t care if the parents miss the deadline, because as all service providers know, “parents are irresponsible.”

So, by the time I get the letter, the appointment is the next day, the same day as the speech evaluation we have waited for, for six months.

Actual Visit with HUD representative

Good news

Once I actually talked to the “receiving county” representative, she was wonderful and we became human beings again.

We scheduled the appointment for the following day. I was on time, she was on time and for the next 2 hours, she reviewed all the forms, policies, restrictions against parents owning the HUD property, and I walked out of her office with Aaron’s packet of forms to be presented to the landlord. She even gave us a list of potential landlords.

We left the meeting with a hug and best wishes. I felt this was a woman I could work with and was excited that we had jumped through this hoop successfully.

Back to Disability World

Now, if Aaron was just poor and had his Section 8 rent voucher for our new county, we would just go shopping for the best apartment/house that would accept the voucher. Because of the low rent, it would be difficult, but doable.

But Aaron isn’t just poor. He also has a severe disability. So, now we begin the journey of looking for not only a landlord (not parents) who will accept the Section 8 voucher, now we must find a roommate who also is looking for a place to live and who has a Medicaid Waiver to compliment Aaron’s waiver.

Medicaid Waiver

I cannot emphasize enough how lucky we are to have the HUD portable voucher. I also have to shout to the heavens a huge thank you that we have a Medicaid Waiver voucher. Without either one of these programs, we would not even have a chance of having a life for Aaron–or traveling this journey toward Aaron living close to us, with a good roommate and the 24/7 care he needs.

From: Mary E. Ulrich [mailto:marye.ulrich1@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2011 8:39 PM
To: Administrator of New County
Subject: Aaron Ulrich

Dear Mr. ____,

HUD

Today I asked for the 30 day extension on the HUD rent subsidy, so we have until August 31.

I met with HUD staff in both W and B County.

Our 2 hour meeting in W County involved filling out all the paperwork, and we are now ready to go in W County.

I learned that if Aaron uses the rent subsidy he must stay in that place for a year before he can move. If Aaron is not placed by 120 days he will lose the voucher completely and go back to the bottom of the 3-5 year waiting list.

If I understood it correctly, Aaron could move into our home during the 120 day period. He would not be using his HUD voucher during this time; W County HUD would be holding it for him. We could use this time to establish his W county residence so we could get a support coordinator, etc. I’m not sure how this would affect his Medicaid waiver, but at least he would be out of the clutches of the current residential company and we could get a support coordinator.

According to HUD, In-home support staff can be family members, or not. They would get an extra bedroom in the home if they live there full time. (Not shift workers).

We were given a list of apartments and rental homes in W County that take Section 8 clients. Another housing option is just to check out houses for rent and then ask the landlord to take section 8.

There is an exemption for parents to own the house, but in the 13 years Wendy (the HUD representative) has worked in W County only one was ever approved. So it is a hard sell. (But we could try if we need to.) That person was deaf and blind and the argument was that it would be too hard for him to learn the physical layout of any house other than the one he had grown up in.

Other CompaniesTransportation Money

Aaron is over his transportation budget to go from his current home in to Goodwill/Easter Seals Day Program. At his current rate, he will be out of transportation money by Sept.

The long bus ride (around 90 minutes each way) is still causing him to have increased behaviors (chewing his shirts, biting hands, toileting accident…)

Residential Company

Aaron’s current company is very difficult to work with and putting pressure on us. The supervisor said to move the Medicaid Waiver Support services from one county to the next is also a complex process. (And I’m not sure how cooperative they will be, so we might need extra time.)

Roommates

We would appreciate any phone numbers of potential roommates as soon as possible.

Thanks for all your help. I’m sure there is another person looking for someone like Aaron.

Mary

I am posting the administrator’s response. I like this person. I think he is competent, showed a lot of empathy and truly wants to help. I just want others to see what the process looks like from a parent’s point of view. I also think the 120 day maximum extension period should have some flexibility for special situations.

From: _____________name of administrator
To: Mary E. Ulrich
Sent: Wed, Jul 27, 2011 9:07 pm (notice the poor guy wrote this at night after office hours, before he left for vacation—that gives him bonus points IMHO).
Subject: RE: Aaron Ulrich
Mary,

I am still actively seeking possible housemates that may be a good fit for Aaron. I have requested ___(service coordinator) assist with connecting Aaron and a gentleman living in (county seat). She will be speaking with this person’s SSA to determine if he believes they may be a good match. I am hesitant to involve the other family at this time unless the match may work. I am hopeful it will and then we will assist with connecting you and his mother.

Unfortunately, I am not able to approve Aaron living alone in his own home with 24/7 staffing. The quickest option for Aaron moving to W County is to reside with you. He can receive homemaker/personal care services in your home with a provider of your choosing. If you choose to move Aaron into your home, I will continue my efforts in finding a suitable residential home for Aaron.

I must add that I cannot guarantee a suitable home will be available for Aaron within 120 days of moving.

I understand that this matter is very frustrating to Tom and yourself but I believe finding a good housemate for Aaron is the first priority. While the HUD matter is a concern, I may not be able to solve this dilemma within HUD timelines.

To complicate matters more, I will be on vacation beginning 7/28 and will return 8/8. I have requested ___(a service coordinator) give you a call once she communicates with the potential housemate’s SSA. I am still hoping we can resolve this quickly. Thanks.

__________ name
Service and Support Administration Director
W County
O:
F:
Emergency #: 1-800-

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

COMMENTS

WILL THE FERRIS WHEEL LAND SAFELY?
WILL MARY AND AARON SMOOTHLY MOVE ON TO THE NEXT RIDE?
WILL ANOTHER FAMILY TAKE THEIR SEATS ON THE FERRIS WHEEL?
WILL THE “RIDE ENGINEER” LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FORWARD AND BACKWARD BUTTONS?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward.

Mary

OTHER RELATED POSTS:

Signing Your Life Away (Literally)

Dream Plan for Aaron (Part 4)

Please recommend ClimbingEveryMountain.com to any other family or professional caregivers. It’s a great way to show how much you care.
If you are receiving this issue of climbingeverymountain.com as a forward, and would like to get your own subscription, sign up for “notice of new posts” on the home page (top left).

photo credit: kevindooley

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 4: Are we having fun yet?

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.

In the last three posts, I’ve been documenting our journey toward moving Aaron, our son with the label of autism and developmental disabilities, to a new county with his HUD “housing choice voucher program” and Medicaid Waiver.

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.

HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 2

HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 3

Disability Ferris Wheel

Round and Round and Round we go. Where we’ll stop nobody knows….

WHY AM I SHARING THIS?

Social Workers and other professional solve problems all the time.

BUT PARENTS DO TOO!

We just don’t have the experience, contacts, resources and the emotional distance. So, even if we do have the intelligence and problem solving skills, it takes us longer to figure out the system and put it all together. If we are really considered part of the “team” our communication, resourcefulness and advice/concerns are respected and valued.

Our child’s need is often the first time we are trying to solve this particular issue. I often tell professionals, I had to become and expert on early childhood when my son was a baby and young child. Then there was school-age, and now that we are in the world of adults, I need to become an expert on all the adult life spaces where Aaron lives, works, recreates, and interacts. And this is why I’m learning about HUD, residential agencies, non-profit housing boards, county boards, Medicaid, Medicare funding for communication devices, apps on IPADS…. the list is endless.

I hope that makes sense, because the letter (below) shows some of the frustration, some of the complexity, and some of the layers of needs for just our one son. And, all of this happened in just one week.

And since our lives–and our child’s life–hangs in the balance, we don’t have months to resolve the issues.

They always say the best way to teach or to write is to “show, don’t tell.”

I want to “show” what a parent’s life might look like.

A social worker might be taking care of just the residential piece of a person’s life. A teacher, just the school piece. Those are complex, I’m not knocking their jobs.

A nurse or doctor works on the medical piece. A communication or speech therapist, or a dentist, or a transportation person, or even a residential staff or supervisor only handles one tiny piece of the daily life puzzle.

BUT PARENTS OR SELF-ADVOCATES HAVE TO DO IT ALL.

Often, I feel like we are all on a giant ferris wheel hoping to someday get off. But the wheel just keeps on turning…and all of our life is going past in a blur of meetings and appointments and we are getting nowhere. What do you think? Do you feel like you are stuck in the little car on the top of the ferris wheel and the guy below is purposely letting you swing back and forth with your legs dangling in the air. (Ugh, feeling the queezy feeling.)

Here’s my letter, from last week, to our day care staff person and our social worker. Note: I love these two people, so they are worth communicating with.

Letter to Aaron’s Adult Day Program Coordinator and his Support Coordinator.

Hi P___ and L___,

Tom (Aaron’s dad) spoke to the direct care staff person last night:

1. She hadn’t bothered to open Aaron’s backpack or daily communication notebook from the day program.

2. Tom told her to find the electric razor in the bag and see if she could figure out how to use it. Last week, Aaron had cuts on his face from the straight razor, so at the “meeting” everyone decided Aaron was to use an electric razor. (This is the same woman who used shaving cream and ruined the last electric razor, so we wanted to be specific.)

3. He also told her Aaron hadn’t had a BM since 1pm on Sat. (that’s over 55 hours) and asked her to consult the toileting chart in the communication notebook.

4. He told her to give him yogurt, some of the fiber stool softener, and try to put him on the toilet.

5. The direct care staff person listened, but we have no faith she will do anything.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

RAZOR

We traded electric razors when we picked him up this weekend to see why the staff was having such a hard time using it. When Tom checked the electric razor he found out no one had emptied the hair inside the razor in ages and it was full, full, full. Apparently, these were women and they didn’t use razors, so didn’t know they had to be cleaned. Who knows how long … gross, gross…we won’t go there.

Once Tom cleaned it out, the razor worked great. Previously, Tom has showed staff how to clean it out, but apparently they were too lazy, didn’t care, forgot, or were incompetent.

Residential Agency

Because of our continued frustration with the direct care staff, and other agency changes (like they went bankrupt) We hope to get Aaron out of his current agency’s care ASAP. I’m still aggravated his residential supervisor insisted on that meeting last week, and lied about Aaron losing his Medicaid Waiver, because he knew that would motivate us to come. But, basically he wasted our time and was on a power trip to show parents their place….

HUD

I found out each county has different timelines, paperwork and rules. I met with the “receiving county” counselor from HUD and she was wonderful. The meeting took about 2 hours, and I’ll talk about that in another post.

I dropped off Aaron’s current “nondriver” state ID at the HUD Warren Co. office. I also met with the Butler Co. HUD person and signed her paperwork for the extension. (probably drove close to 60 miles). Called current landlord and she FAXed the extension letter.

To: Sending County HUD and Receiving County HUD

Re: Aaron Ulrich, HUD extension

From: (guardian)

July 17, 2011

On behalf of my son, address, we are still in the process of moving to ___ county. We are requesting a 30 day notice to continue at current address in current county.

Thank you.

Mary E. Ulrich (guardian)

Apparently, we will need to repeat this process again next month, if things still aren’t completely in order.

HOUSE in Receiving County

Potential Good News:

The landlord (non-profit company we have had for over 13 years) is going to get back to me next week (person on vacation, of course) about buying a house in our new County.

We think they do a good job.

Aaron could use his HUD voucher and rent from them.

If they buy a house, Aaron would have to start paying rent by his 120 day limit or lose his voucher.

So (vacations or not, new babies, new staff, new carpet or appointments not withstanding) Aaron has to be in his new County by the 120 day limit.

I called and left a message with the director of the new county.

This would solve the problem of “parents owning the house.” You know those evil parents who always try to take advantage of their children:)

IF IF IF this works, we would then have to begin the process of moving Aaron’s Medicaid Waiver to a new company, and

Then we would need to get a roommate, and make sure, not only are the two guys compatible, but also their funding is compatible.

This is a positive bit of news. YEA, *crossing fingers*

DOCTOR APPT

Aaron’s Medical Doctor said to continue the same meds for another month. He said it didn’t look like the Zoloft was helping much, but it was such a small dose he thought we would just see how he did. Aaron was as calm as ever in the Dr’s office. It’s amazing, we try to explain his anxiety attacks and he’s sitting there with his leg crossed, playing with his baseball cards happy as can be. Aaron’s blood pressure was better than anyone’s in the room. Next appt. August 29. Aaron really likes the Doctor.

Communication: S/LP

The speech therapist from last week’s appt. said she wasn’t going to recommend Aaron get an IPAD because she knew his medical card would not pay for it. She would, however, recommend the PECs program. My friend, Patty from the Arc gave me a copy of formal regulations which said Medicaid might pay for the device after Medicare turned it down.

After I passed on that information, a couple emails and calls, we told her we would buy the IPAD device, but we needed a speech therapist to tell us what apps… worked with Aaron.

She recommended a therapist who worked with adults. (Ironic that this is the same place Aaron went for speech therapy for over 15 years.)

I told her Easter Seals also had an IT guy who might be able to recommend some tech applications.

I’m thinking we’ll buy the device, and then if Aaron lives close to us, we can figure out how to get him to therapy (it will be a reasonable distance.) Aaron’s Doctor gave us a prescription for the speech therapy.

Thanks for all your help. Can’t wait to see what this week brings.

Ps. Penny, Would you send me a note to let me know if Aaron had a BM? I forgot to give you Aaron’s yogurt for the week, will you be shopping and able to pick some up? I think you have plenty of raisons and other fiber snacks.

Maybe we should start doing midnight dances or sacrifices to Mother Nature.

Comments

Please share your thoughts. Do you have any tips for housing for people with disabilities? Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all. (Helen Keller) Is it possible to look at this HUD journey, as a trip on the ferris wheel? The highs and lows are just part of the adventure? Have you ever felt stuck at the top?

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,

Mary

Related Post:

The Right to Communicate and What Parents are Communicating: We are the experts.

Please recommend ClimbingEveryMountain.com to any other family or professional caregivers. It’s a great way to show how much you care.

If you are receiving this issue of climbingeverymountain.com as a forward, and would like to get your own subscription, sign up for “notice of new posts” on the home page (top left).

photo credit: diegodiazphotography

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 3

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.

In the last two posts, I’ve been documenting our journey toward moving Aaron, our son with the label of autism and developmental disabilities, to a new county with his HUD “housing choice voucher program” and Medicaid Waiver.

Here’s the recent status report:

1. On June 29th, Tom (my husband) and I met with two administrators from the residential provider and toured a prospective house for Aaron, recommended by the County Board of Developmental Disabilities. (This is our third different home to visit; the first two roommates were not good matches.)

The two administrators, residential providers, seemed competent and ask the right questions. The one administrator had a sister with a disability.

We shared Aaron’s ISP (Individualized Service Plan) and talked about Aaron’s needs.

Of course, the critical deciding factor will be Aaron’s compatibility with the other two roommates.

The ranch house was only a mile from where we lived. Aaron’s bedroom and most of the house were structurally sound, but there were some issues with the bathrooms needing to be remodeled, a sunken living room (which would be dangerous for Aaron who has a movement disorder and lots of balance issues) and the biggie, would the private landlord take a HUD voucher?

2. We filed with HUD for a 30 day notice to PORT to another county on June 30th. (Had to be in by the 1st of the month.)

3. We signed the physical paperwork with HUD (and the wonderful counselor) on July 5th.

4. Almost immediately, we got a nasty call from Aaron’s current residential company because they were so “shocked” we were unhappy. (Duh, if they had listened at even one of the meetings, they would have known this, clueless is not even close.)

5. Paperwork arrived in new county on July 5th. I called to set up an appointment only to be told they would send me a letter, and they set the appointments–not the consumer. (Okay, power struggle). Plus, the office was getting new carpet so the woman in charge wouldn’t be able to call me back. (Power power struggle). Lots of sighs at our house.

6. On July 5th, Aaron, Tom and I went to revisit the proposed home. We had a cookout with about 20 people including the two roommates and their families. The head of the residential company went into labor and couldn’t attend. The case worker who is in charge of this house (everyone in the house has the same caseworker) also couldn’t attend because she was on vacation until July 12.

7. We’ve been waiting and waiting… so the clock is ticking…the sand is shifting through the hourglass, the … every other cliché you can think of…we only have two more weeks left in July and the 30 days will be up.

Question:

Wonder if there is any loophole in HUD regulations that says, “The thirty day notice is for thirty days, unless the staff person is on vacation, having a baby, or is getting new carpeting in the office.”

What are the chances Aaron will find great roommates and happiness and quality care?

Another month from now will I be sending you all “HUD Tips… Part 25″?

“Will there be enough cliche pictures for all these parts?”

Can’t wait to tell you what happens next.

Comments

Please share your thoughts. Do you have any tips for housing for people with disabilities? If you rented houses, would you consider accepting the HUD rent subsidy voucher? What other cliches can I use? (Up the creek, cat up the tree… “Like the sands of an hourglass, so are the days of our lives….???????)

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,

Mary

Other Related Posts You Might Find Interesting:

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.

HUD Tips for People with Disabilities| Part 2

Forgetting Spells, Inclusion and Happy Endings

photo credit: John-Morgan

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 2

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience to the best of my ability. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.

Parents and Guardians of People with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities often feel helpless, surrounded in myths.

We are told we have no choice in our lives: we should just “live with” our conditions; and even worse, we should be thankful for the services we have—no matter how awful.

HUD Myth #1: HUD rent vouchers CAN be transferred to another county.

For many years I was told we would not be able to transfer the HUD voucher for Aaron, our son with the label of autism.

Now, maybe some regulation just changed, or maybe the truth was buried in the millions of words on the most complicated website I know (HUD.gov) but until recently this was the common myth everyone used. NOT TRUE.

Aaron is the “head of household” and his “housing choice voucher” (HCV) is “portable.” This means Aaron could move to another county– and even another state if they have a HUD program. The giving and receiving counties have to agree on some things, but it can work.

This is amazing news for us:

1. It means Aaron will be able to live close to his family.

2. And after his parents die, Aaron will be able to live close to his brother Tommy, who will become his guardian. Tommy is a radio frequency engineer and gets transferred around the country.

3. It means Aaron can move to a place which offers him better program options.

This week I met with a HUD counselor and had the best experience. She was knowledgeable, friendly and cared. She took a personal interest in helping us. I can’t say enough good things about her. She is our blessing of the week.

The request for a transfer is quite simple. I sent this email and then met with the counselor to sign the official forms the following day.

Request to PORT

June 30, 2011

I , (name) at (address) am giving my 30 day notice to move my HUD voucher to (name) County.

Thank you,

Signature

Additional Information:

• As I understand it, the deadline to file for the transfer is the first of each month. This was a little tricky because I learned of this at 4:55 pm on June 30th. So, I had to make a decision in the 5 minutes before the office closed for the month. If I would have filed on July 3rd, the 30 days would have started on July 31. So we would have lost a month.

• If you are the guardian, you will need to provide proof with your official guardianship paperwork.

• The next working day (after the holiday) I met with the counselor from the “sending” county to sign the official paperwork.

• The counselor then faxed the paperwork to the new “receiving” county and gave notice to the owner of Aaron’s house. This was a shock to the residential company and the owner contacted me before I could even catch my breath. Which was an unpleasant experience I knew would come eventually, but I didn’t expect it that day.

• Aaron’s housemate will no longer have the rent subsidy, but he can apply to HUD. The county has an emergency “bridge” rent fund until he gets one, so he will be okay.

• I am to contact the new county and make an appointment with the HUD counselor.

• If this was a normal HUD family rental situation, the new counselor would hand me a list of available HUD houses or apartments to rent, and then I would begin a selection process with potential landlords.

• Because we are part of “Disability World” we have another whole set of issues (next article).

Timelines: The sand is shifting in the hourglass

Aaron’s rent will stop on his current residence on July 31. If we still don’t have a new place for him to live, then we can petition HUD to get another 30 days extension but will need a letter from his landlord saying that is okay.

If we can’t find anything by August 1st we can ask for up to a 60 day extension from the local housing authority in the new county.

If we do not use the voucher by 120 days, then it is GONE—Poof! And we would need to apply again, if and when they open the window on new applications.

Change is possible, but not easy

So, the die is cast. The decision is made to move. And while there is relief, there is hope for a better life…I’m trying hard not dwell on my fears. I know this is a step in the right direction, but geez… I do keep getting the image of Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, looking into the hourglass with panic in her eyes.

Next article, I’ll talk about how Disability World complicates “just find a place to rent.”

Comments

Please share your thoughts. Do you have any tips for housing for people with disabilities? Have you ever just taken the leap of faith that all will work out? Am I nuts? Should I just have sucked it all up and stayed where we were? Do you ever experience a “counselor” in a government agency who is so helpful, you just want to give them a hug?

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,

Mary

Other Posts You Might Find Interesting:

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1.

What would you do? Case of Trash vs. Treasure or Staff vs. Person with Disabilities

Drinking Beer and the Dignity of Risk

photo credit: shapeshift

HUD Tips for Parents and Guardians of People with Disabilities| Part 1

Housing for Urban Development (HUD.gov) has a “housing choice voucher program” (HCV) for people with disabilities and other low income families. They describe it as a three way partnership between HUD, the owner and the family.

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on HUD. I am sharing my personal experience to the best of my ability. Please check with your local HUD.gov office.

Over ten years ago, I learned about the HUD rent vouchers from my brother Steve, and the actual process was like trying to win a radio show contest: There was an open enrollment period on one day, call between 1:00 and 3:00 pm and the first 100 callers would get application forms. Another open enrollment period may or may not happen again.

On that particular day, I went to the County Board of Developmental Disabilities and using all five phone lines, we dialed in as fast as we could. Fortunately we “won” the chance to get an application. Because we were the first with intellectual disabilities in our area (of course) it took us a year to sort out all the details and paperwork for two non-married people to be considered a “family” with common housekeeping. Thanks to other pioneers like us, the Fair Housing Act, ADA, and other federal legislation I think this is easier now.

Supplemental Rent Subsidy

Aaron, our son with the label of autism, and his housemate only pay 1/3 of their income for rent, which is under $100 each and a rent supplement is paid directly to the landlord by HUD. It is based on the “Fair Market Rent” (FMR) and varies from city to city.

Aaron’s voucher allows him to rent in a neighborhood, not a segregated housing project. It is probably not the highest rent a landlord could get, but it offers a long term renter and a guarantee check each month. Most of the available HUD houses are in less expensive neighborhoods.

A non-profit board became our landlord. They even got a grant from the state for the $10,000 down payment for the purchase of the house. I understand there are some programs to help make the houses accessible under ADA, if it is necessary. We will be looking into that in the future.

Aaron was named the “Head of Household” which means he can take the voucher with him. It is “portable” and he could move it to another county or even state. It is my understanding, not all waivers are “portable.”

Additional Information

There is only one voucher for each house. I always thought this was a gift Aaron gave to his housemate.

Systems Change

I also am proud that our pioneer efforts have given many more people with disabilities and their families the opportunity to live in neighborhoods. My advocacy efforts at this “system change” have helped others. In our county, now most people with disabilities are either on HUD rent subsidies, or on their waiting lists.

House of Cards

I’ve written about some of our experiences and the multiple agencies being like a House of Cards 1, House of Cards 2, House of Cards 3.

I like to think of myself as a “glass half full” person, but when the agency which was providing residential support went bankrupt, I knew it was time for a fresh start to recover from the abuse and neglect we had dealt with these past ten years. More in the next article.

Comments

Remember there are no “right or wrong” answers.

Please share your thoughts. Do you have any experience with HUD? Any tips for housing for people with disabilities? Have you ever just thrown in the towel and started over?

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,

Mary

In the last post, What would you do? | The Case of the Lourdes holy water, I asked for your advice. Here are my next questions:

photo credit: dcosand

What do you do when you go to pick up your child from their home with residencial services and find problems with their personal appearance?

True Story 1: Shoes

Scenerio A

We walk in the front door to pick up Aaron, smile at him and then ask the caregiver, “Are Aaron’s shoes on the wrong feet?”

My husband and I trade “looks,” sit next to Aaron on the couch and change his shoes.

What do we say to the staff person?

Scenerio B

What do we do if Aaron’s housemate is the one with his shoes on the wrong feet?

True Story 2: Socks

We are helping Aaron undress at night. We untie, take off his shoes and find out his socks are turned upside down. The heal of the sock is squished up near the top of his foot causing a red mark. The sock has a grey area clearly showing where the heal of the foot is supposed to go, but it is on the top of his foot.

What do we say to the staff person?

True Story 3: Red Marks on Face

We give Aaron our biggest smiles as we walk in the front door of his house and immediately notice there are red marks near his nose, mouth and the sides of his face.

Mom says, “Aaron has red marks on his face, how did that happen?”

Staff person says, “I saw that, I’m not sure what that is, but I put some cream on his face.”

Mom goes over and traces the marks on Aaron’s face, “Gee, it looks like a scrape or burn.”

Staff is still sitting in her chair, but has put down her cell phone.

Dad says, “It looks like a scrape or burn from a razor. Which razor did you use, the electric razor or straight razor?”

Staff answers she used the straight razor?

Dad asks, “Did you use shaving cream? Was the razor dull?”

Staff person gets very defensive and swears it was a new razor and she used the shaving cream.

So, what would you do?

True Story 4: Roommate’s shirt

We are undressing Aaron for his bath. We notice the t-shirt he is wearing is too tight, we can hardly get the shirt over his head. Aaron bites his hand and is clearly aggravated. When we check, the t-shirt has Aaron’s roommate’s initials inside the collar.

So, what to do?

Aaron, our 36 year old son with the label of autism, has lived in a house with another man for over thirteen years. They have a 24/7 staff person who has the responsibility for his shower, grooming, dressing, and all self-help areas.

These examples have happened not once, not twice, but in the last thirteen years, many times. Again, this was on days when the staff knew we were coming. Who knows how many times Aaron went to his day program with shoes on the wrong feet? How many Saturdays has he been dressed in uncomfortable clothing.

So, what to do?

In the comments please share your thoughts and ask your social networks of Twitter, Facebook, etc. if they have any answers.

Comments

Remember there are no “right or wrong” answers.

Please share your thoughts. What would you say to Aaron? To the staff person? To Aaron’s case worker? To the administration of the company providing residential services? To anyone else?

What attitudes and messages does this convey for the individual, the family and/or the culture?

You can’t fire a person because of upside down socks—so how do you resolve this? How many times do you forgive these mistakes before you give them the boot?

As a parent, how do you choose your battles for advocacy? After all, these people take care of your child every day.

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,

Mary

Related Articles:

Home: More than a Place

Caregivers Part 1

Caregivers Part 2

Caregivers Part 3

There is no spoon| Disability Style

photo credit: Lawrence OP

What do you do when someone wants to cure your child with Lourdes Water or the “laying on of the hands”?

True Story

“Where’s Aaron?” my mother asked while I was still putting the phone to my ear. I explained Aaron was at his house and we wouldn’t be seeing him until the weekend.

“Well, as soon as you pick him up, you need to bring him here. My friend got holy water directly from the fountain of Lourdes and she gave me a small bottle.”

I took a deep breath and knew exactly where this conversation was going. My youth was filled with The Song of Bernadette and books of Saints and miracles.

With more enthusiasm than I’ve heard from my mother in years, she said, “I’ll make the sign of the cross on his forehead and we’ll see if we can cure his autism and disabilities.”

I hesitated and didn’t say anything, but mom gushed about her friend’s trip, the history of Lourdes, photos of the shrine, and the walls of abandoned crutches each with written testimonials and pictures from the people who were miraculously cured.

My mom was eager to start her letter of Aaron’s miracle.

So, What do I say:

1. Mom means well. Her religion is important to her. She would love to be the one to “cure Aaron.”

2. This isn’t the first time this has happened. I’ve had strangers in the grocery line want to “lay hands on Aaron and cure him.”

3. I really don’t want to go down this road again.

So, what to do?

In the comments please share your thoughts.

Comments

Remember there are no “right or wrong” answers. Please share your thoughts. What would you say to my mother or another person who wanted to try and cure your child? Would you allow her to use the holy water on your child? What attitudes and messages does this convey for the individual, the family, the church, the culture?
Have you tried any miracle cures? If you don’t want a cure, what does that say?

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward,

Mary

Related Articles:

What is Charity and Love?

America the Beautiful
Family| The Circle of Life

A Quarter’s Worth of Advocacy

Better than Church

photo credit: Bobasonic

In the last post, Memorial Day and People with Disabilities I talked about how Aaron, my son who has autism, worked at a cemetery after he graduated from high school.

To the best of my recollection, this is how it worked:

The Landscaping Mobile Work Crew

Definition: Supported Employment Model: Mobile Work Crew

A small crew of persons with disabilities (up to 6) works as a distinct unit and operates as a self-contained business that generates employment for their crew members by selling a service. The crew works at several locations within the community, under the supervision of a job coach. The type of work usually includes janitorial or groundskeeping. People with disabilities work with people who do not have disabilities in a variety of settings, such as offices and apartment buildings. Supported Employment

Sometimes Cemeteries are for the living.

JOB ANOUNCEMENT: The cemetery board posts the lawn maintenance jobs for bids in the local paper.

JOB DEVELOPER:

The County Board of Developmental Disabilities (CBDD) job developer bid the job. Because of the size of the cemetery, the administration of the cemetery awarded several contracts. (For the five years I was involved, the CBDD got one of the contracts each year.)

Paid

The CBDD paid the workers minimum wage from this contract. Each member of the Mobile Work Crew was already on Medicaid/Medicare and the seasonal wages were within the limits of their SSI and SSDI requirements.

The job developer negotiated the details of the contract as well as was the contact person for any problems between the cemetery administration and the board as well as members of the mobile work crew.

Natural Supports

The cemetery provided the equipment. There was a garage-type lounge for all the crews and workers with a table and restrooms. They could mingle with the other workers from other lawn companies (non-handicapped) in the lounge. There was some natural support from the other workers who were doing the same jobs and the same sweating.

SUPERVISOR OF MOBILE WORK CREW

There were six people with disabilities and a supervisor on the crew. The supervisor was a year long salaried employee of the county board of developmental disabilities. She had experience working with people with disabilities and had been trained as a special education teacher. She had total responsibility for keeping the workers safe, happy AND getting the job done. If she needed extra help, she would go to the job developer or her other CBDD staff.

Aaron’s job coach was under her supervision (because she was in charge of the whole job) but worked independently with Aaron.

TRANSPORTATION

All the adults with disabilities would be transported from their homes to the sheltered workshop. The supervisor would drive a small van, similar to the vans the other lawn service companies used, from the sheltered workshop to the cemetery and then back to the sheltered workshop for the trip home.

Inclement Weather

On days when it rained, the crew could stay home if they wanted, or hang out at the sheltered workshop. If there was work at the sheltered workshop (usually not) they were able to jump in. If there was no work they could hang out with their friends and play cornhole, bingo or whatever the activity.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Ongoing Support

Before the crew began work, the supervisor and job developer made task analyses of each of the jobs. The individuals with disabilities applied and interviewed with the supervisor. If there was a good match, the training, modifications and accommodations were added to the individual’s Individual Service Plan (ISP).

OVERVIEW:

Who knew there were mowers about a foot wide which fit easily between the older tombstones? There were four mowers in this mobile crew.

There were two weed-wackers or whatever they are called. (The cords swing around and cut the weeds which the mowers miss.)
There was a “task analysis” of each job.

They were trained on the job. (They didn’t practice cutting the concrete in the parking lot to get ready*smile*)

Because the job was repetitive, it was a perfect fit for many of the workers. They knew exactly what they were supposed to do, and after a short time, were independent in many parts of the job.

If any of the workers needed adaptations (shorter hours, more breaks, special gloves or boots…) these were included in their ISPs (Individual Service Plans). Therapists (Occupational Therapist, Speech/Language and Physical Therapist) were available for the initial evaluations/training, if necessary.

Establishing Routines

The supervisor would start the day with some conversation, some joking around and individual attention to each of the crew members. They would get a short break mid-morning, they brought their own bag lunch, and a mid-afternoon break. But most of the day, it was sweaty and hot and lots of hard work—serious business.

The supervisor made sure the crew members had sun-screen, hats, appropriate clothing, solid shoes (no sandals), water….
She also worked side-by-side with the workers. She made decisions to go to another section if a funeral was in progress, if the area was underwater…; she pulled weeds… and did whatever it took to make sure everyone was successful, and the finished job met the requirements of the cemetery board.

Partial Participation

Aaron, my son with the label of autism, does not have the skills to run a lawnmower or weed-wacker. He would not be able to be part of the mobile work crew of 6 workers who are mostly independent on the job once they are trained. Because Aaron was in the official “transition” from school to work, he was eligible for a job coach from Rehabilitation Services.

So, because he had the physical support of a job coach, Aaron had the opportunity to join the workforce.

Is there some job he could do at the cemetery? Could he partially participate in this work?

After doing an ecological assessment of the job, Kim (Aaron’s job coach) decided Aaron could pick up the sticks before the lawn mowers came. So Aaron and she would drive a golf-cart to the area where the crew was mowing, and then they would collect sticks, dead flowers, and other stuff left on the graves, put them in a trash container tied to the back of the golf-cart and then take it to the dumpsters.

Aaron loved this job. First of all, he loved Kim, the job coach. She made him feel important, she helped him when he had trouble bending over, she helped him put the sticks in the trash container, she helped him wheel the container to the dumpster. Kim, looked at every piece of the job and asked herself, “How could Aaron at least partially participate in this job?”

Plus, Aaron loved riding in the golf-cart. When Aaron did particularly well, Kim would give him an extra long ride around the large monuments.

The side benefits were Aaron made a small amount of spending money, he paid into social security, he was out in the sunshine (with lots of sunscreen) and glowed with health, he was physically strong from all the exercise, plus the emotional benefits: he knew he was contributing, he was part of a group of people who valued his work, he could make all the noises he wanted (and wouldn’t wake up the dead), he enjoyed riding in the golf cart, instead of physical therapy practicing his balance climbing steps to nowhere—he had a functional way of practicing his balance in the real world. He had a great friend and mentor in Kim. It was a terrific experience.

And, for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veterans Day… Who was the person who put the flags on the tombstones?

It was Aaron.

Trivia too good to pass up: One of the cemetery monuments is enclosed and heated. Yes, the person who died years ago was so afraid of being “cold”–they stipulated in their will that the space above the grave would be heated (including a back-up generator in case the electricity failed.) That is a powerful “fear.”

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward

Mary

Comments:

Have you ever seen a mobile work crew of workers and wondered how it worked? Is partial participation better than no participation? Should people with disabilities be allowed to work?

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Partners in Employment

Mom and her son in Japan

Wretches and Jabberers Review| A Jab to the Heart

Last Saturday, Aaron and I went to see Wretches and Jabberers. The director of Aaron’s new day program at Goodwill/Easter Seals, Miss P., went with us.

The movie raised so many emotions, lessons, buried feelings and experiences I literally couldn’t write or even talk about the movie for a couple days. The movie was a Jab to my heart and my memories. Here are a few of my thoughts:

Past Experiences with FC

In 1993 wrote about our story in First Hand: Personal Accounts of Breakthroughs in Facilitated Communicating (FC) edited by Anne Donnellan and recently (2011) in Real People, Regular Lives: Autism, Communication and Quality of Life by Sally Young. That is a very long story full of joy, sorrow, despair, hope and many shattered dreams.

Current Experiences with FC

The good news is when we got home from the movie, I sat with Aaron at the computer and for the first time in probably 10 years he typed with FC (Facilitated Communication).

“I OK” “Hi Mom” –just a couple letters–but it was a start.

Even better news is Miss P. said she would invite the technology people at Easter Seals to work with Aaron and see what kind of communication system we can set up.

Because Miss P. cared enough to give up her Saturday and go with us to Wretches and Jabberers, we have a common framework to begin our time together. There is no value I can put on this. It is priceless and HOPEFUL with a capital H.

Wretches and Jabberers Movie Review

There are two moments from the movie that are keeping me up at night.

1. Tracy is advocating in the Senator’s office about his concerns that budget cuts will mean he will remain homeless and reduce his support services. He feels a “tidal wave of emotions.”

2. At the end of the visit in Japan, Miki and Naoki Higashida say goodbye to the group and get into the elevator.

Tracy the Advocate

Most self-advocates, parents and professionals can understand Tracy’s wild emotions when talking about not getting the services he needs and his fears of getting the critical support system of his facilitator and support staff cut.

Unfortunately, the US Congress announced it is cutting Medicaid by 20%–yep, rather than tax the rich they are going to cut the programs for people with disabilities, the poor and the elderly–people like Larry, Tracy and Aaron. The Arc sent this alert (click here).

The nightmares and angst Tracy felt is the same that makes me wring my hands, stay awake at night…. I join Tracy in jumping up and down in frustration.

Tracy’s chance of getting enough funding so he won’t have to be homeless is worse now than when the movie was filmed. God Bless Us All as we face these life/death cutbacks.

Miki and Naoki Get on Elevator

In Japan, Naoki was one of the young people who type with support. (See picture above.) His Mom, Miki, coordinates the support system for her son. She is his facilitator, his personal care attendant, his friend and companion, his teacher, his speech/language/communication partner and she has had little support.

In the US, at least for the present, we have IDEA and mandatory school programs. But things are different in Japan, different in many other cultures.

This heroic Mom has had to research Facilitated Communication and everything else. There weren’t a lot of professionals in the film who were helping her. She seemed to be teaching the professionals and seemed very much alone.

As the presentation was over, and Tracy, Larry and the team were getting ready to go back to the US, the Mom gathered up her son and was getting into the elevator.

She waved, she smiled, and then… there was a moment when she choked up. I’m not sure if there was an actual tear (because my tears were filling my eyes).

There was a “look” in her eye. It said, “This meeting was wonderful. I finally found people who understand. But now it’s over. They are leaving the country and Naoki and I are back to being on our own.”

Parents know that “look”

Doug Biklen, one of the producers of the film, and I were on the TASH board together. For many years, I went to the TASH conferences and met fabulous leaders, educators, researchers and other parents who were working for people with severe handicaps. Together we were changing lives. We were doing important work and the lives of people with severe intellectual disabilities were full of hope and promise of an inclusive future where people could live, work, go to school, have families and friends in their home communities.

Each year, my friends and I would sell buttons, raise money, beg, borrow, and barter our way to spend a long weekend with these experts and advocates at the conference. We were up from dawn to late at night learning everything we could–picking the brains of anyone who would listen. It was exhilarating; we would gather ideas and hope. Then the conference would be over. We would give our farewell hugs, get into the elevator, and begin the trip back to our homes and the status quo of the lives we left behind. We had to become the warriors for our children. If we didn’t do it, no one else would.

Because of what we experienced at the conference, we were different; we had new ideas and hope. But there was no one locally to hold our hands. There was no one who would stand by us and help. There was no one who even knew what we were talking about. Almost none of the professionals who had the power to make change were helping us. When we accomplished something for our children, the “researchers” would include us in their books and scholarly papers, but mostly we were abandoned to make things happen by ourselves.

I know the look in Naoli’s Mom eyes. I have seen that look in my own eyes. I have seen the look in other parent’s eyes.

Here is a short video of Larry and Tracy at the TASH conference in Denver

Conclusion

Wretches and Jabberers is a powerful movie. Be prepared to feel strong emotions. Expect to learn new things aWretches and Jabberers Movie will be shown in another 100 cities around the US. Get a ticket and let us know what you think.

Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward.
All my best,
Mary

Due to Popular Demand, Wretches and Jabberers will be seen in 100 cities:

May 12th, 2011 at 7:30PM

The first cities have been announced in our “100 Cities. One Night For Autism.” Event being held on May 12th, 2011 at 7:30pm! Be sure to check out future editions of our newsletter for specific theaters and additional cities! Here is the list, in no particular order:
Derry, NH – Bijou, OR – Annapolis, MD – Birmingham, AL – Fort Collins, CO – Athens, GA – Des Moines, IA – Moundsview, MN – Asheville, NC – Allentown, PA – Greensburg, PA – Columbia, SC – Nashville, TN – Knoxville, TN – West Jordan, UT – Midlothian, VA – Eau Claire, WI – Grand Rapids, MI – Columbus, IN – Lansdale, PA – Washington, DC – Chicago, IL – Memphis, TN – Oakdale, MN – Lincoln, NE – Pickerington, OH – Sheboygan, WI – New Berlin, WI – Rothschild, WI – East Brunswick, NJ – East Windsor, NJ – West Palm Beach, FL – Dedham, MA – Farmingdale, NY – Providence, RI – Huntsville, AL – Plainfield, IN – Baton Rouge, LA – Kalamazoo, MI – Louisville, KY – Ypsilanti, MI – Toledo, OH – McCandless, PA – Fairfax, VA – Bakersfield, CA – Honolulu, HI – Lafayette, LA – Whitter, CA – Laguna Niguel, CA – Sacramento, CA – Colorado Springs, CO – Durham, NC

RELATED POSTS:

I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get in touch| Wretches and Jabberers (2)

Until Eternity| Anne McDonald

I love Aaron| I hate Autism

The Right to Communicate (2)| We are the experts

What if? | Bob Williams

Remarkable Parents and Advocates who Never Give Up

Please add your thoughts in the comments:

Do movies like this make people with autism more human? Like Tracy, have you ever felt, “a wave of emotion”?