Creating Opportunities

Dominic was so excited for today! He and his sixth-grade classmates were going to a movie at a movie theater! What's really cool is that he will be able to order his own "snacks." I asked him what he was going to eat. He told me, "popcorn and pop!" Wow, what an incredible opportunity for Dominic's class, don't you think? When I was in sixth grade, the special education students were kept so separate from the rest of the school that we rarely saw them, much less have any interaction with them. The administration at Dominic's school goes above and beyond to make sure that he and his classmates always feel "included." Back in October, I got this e-mail from Dominic's teacher:

"I printed out 100 sign up forms for peer-to-peer this year and I got a call from the front office this morning telling me we ran out and I needed to print out more :)"

As if that wasn't cool enough, in November, I got this e-mail:

"I just got an e-mail from one of the 6th grade tech teachers, one of his groups is creating a PSA about choosing kind, focusing on Autism Awareness. The students were wondering if they could have Dominic participate in their video. It would be during his exploratory 4th hour. I just wanted to see if him being in a video would be okay with you before scheduling anything!"

I was able to get a preview of the "script" the kids wrote. It was pretty darn awesome. I was incredibly impressed by their insight and understanding. Earlier this year, I became program director of a disability ministry. I am responsible for implementing and creating programs. Back at our picnic in July, we had a group of special needs adults that came after the food was gone and things were winding down. I instantly felt a "connection" to this group because they were just so happy to be there! They came to our bowling event in October and the gal that brought them told me, "thanks again for all of these amazing opportunities."

Dominic has been receiving music therapy for several years and I knew I wanted others to participate, so our ministry had our first music event in September.

It was so well received, I have planned another event for January!! We have had ecumenical worship services and at the beginning of November, we had our fourth special needs Mass - we had almost 50 people attending. We had three individuals with special needs doing the readings and Dominic was able to be an altar server! I am currently working with Dominic's private speech therapist on an instructional video so anyone who wants to be an altar server can!

I have many other programs in the "works." In a few weeks, our ministry will be having a holiday event. Included will be a special needs Mass. I have gotten to know an awesome couple who have a daughter with Down Syndrome. She has gone through all the preparation to receive her First Holy Communion. Her parents want her to make her First Holy Communion during the Mass. I feel honored and blessed that we have "created" this opportunity for their daughter. It will be a special day for sure! I can't wait!

Those "Steps" to Independence Can Be Hard

We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...

Why We Pursued Guardianship of our Son with Autism

Last Thursday morning, my husband, Dominic and I went to our county's Probate Court and had Dominic's Guardianship Hearing. My husband and I are Co-Guardians, and we were granted "Partial Guardianship," which means Dominic can make some of his own decisions (future educational and vocational placement options, what to wear and how he wants to spend his free time), but my husband and I will make his medical, health care, legal, contractual and major financial decisions. The subject of Guardianship in the disability "world" has been and continues to be a controversial and divisive topic. I was a panelist for an Autism Conference this past summer and presented on what it's like to have a child with Autism. Towards the end of my presentation, I mentioned that Dominic had just turned 18 and that we were going through the Guardianship process. When the attendees could ask questions, the first person that went up to the microphone started telling me that I was...

Presume Competence

Since we have traveled outside of the United States since Dominic was very small, we have had to get him a Children's Passport every five years. Since his current one expires in February of 2024 and he is now 19, we had to apply for an Adult Passport. I don't know why my husband and I picked Dominic's first day of school and Michigan State University moving in their students, but the appointment was yesterady at 3 p.m. We had gathered all of the documents needed and then went into a special room in the East Lansing Post Office just for Passports. The three of us sat down and the clerk asked Dominic his age. He said, "19." Since we were also getting his picture taken for the Passport, he went into a separate room, where she took a picture of him and then let him look at it to make sure he liked it (it will be his picture for the next 10 years)! He said he did, so he sat back down with us. The clerk filled out a bit more of the paperwork and then she let Dominic s...

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