Last week was really busy, but a lot of fun! I worked my regular hours, but on Thursday I went to Lake Compounce with the mom and some other friends from the respite group. It was a really nice day. My mom and I spent our time in the water….Lazy River, the wave pool, and then the Merry go round. I don’t like the roller coasters and the other rides. I am very afraid of heights!! The water in the Lazy River was kind of cold, especially when it came down on my head from the big pipe!! There was a lot of water! My mom had to paddle us to the side so we didn’t go under them all. I wasn’t a big fan!!
The wave pool was fun, but a little scary at first. There were some very big waves coming at you! I stayed in the area where the waves weren’t so big, and my mom stood behind me. She said it was good for me to practice my balance and work on my core strength. I was just having fun!
On Friday, I met a new friend/support staff. His name is Cameron. I really like him. We had so much fun together. He is very into being healthy and being active, so he took me to the gym! We did some weight lifting. He taught me the right way to do some exercises with the machines. It was hard, but not too hard! I am looking forward to doing more!
Then we went to Target. Because I struggle with my weight and snacking sometimes when I am home, he introduced me to some healthier snacks I could try. They were “Shameless Gummies”, and they were so good!! We shared the whole bag, except for some that I saved for my mom to try. I asked my mom to order some for me to take to camp next week, along with my veggie sticks. I am going to do my best to eat healthy and exercising, and lose some weight.
After our shopping trip, we got lunch at Chipotle. Cameron helped me make good choices of what to put in my rice bowl. I ate half, and took the rest home for later. I was proud of myself.
Next came mini-golfing and riding the Go-Karts! So much fun!! I almost had an accident when it was time to park the g0-kart…lol..I was going too fast! I can’t wait to go again though!
I really had so much fun with Cameron. I am excited to work with him more, and learn more things about making healthy choices and learning more exercises. We have plans to go to the gym more, go swimming, and maybe hiking. But first…..CAMP!!!
I head to PALS in Boston on Sunday!!
A NOTE FROM MOM:
Finding support staff that are trustworthy and who have a heart for working with people with different abilities, is not the easiest job! We have been thru a couple, and we feel very blessed to find Cameron! He is a very impressive young man, currently working as a paraprofessional, and going to school to become a special education teacher! Thank you to his mom, Regina, for thinking that Chelsea and Cameron would make a good team. We are so excited to have him as part of Chelsea’s “village”.
Working with DDS and the state to get support hours, never mind finding the right person to fill them, is a challenge in itself. Support hours are based on the person’s LON…or Level of Need. Chelsea’s LON is a one…which is a blessing and a curse. She is extremely capable of becoming a very independent young woman, but she needs help to get there. With a LON of one, she doesn’t qualify for very many hours of support. She currently is getting a total of 24 hours of community/residential/in home support and 5 hours of job support, each week….and we have had to fight for them all. Some of her hours are self-hired, which is where Cameron comes in, the rest are agency supported, currently by MARC. When I was working for the school system and getting out of work at 2:00 every day, weekends off, summers off, etc. it was easy for me to provide Chelsea with what she needed. Now that she is a young adult, and I work as a memory Care program manager at an assisted living community, my availability is limited…so help is needed. We are thankful for the hours of support Chelsea does have, but just wish that the Commissioner and all who had a part in determining how much funding is allowed, would look at the system again, ask parents for their input, and maybe make some changes.
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