Graduates with intellectual disabilities face transition

DOVER — Often during graduation ceremonies schools take a moment to announce where each student will be headed next; the college they have been accepted to, the job or apprenticeship they are starting or the branch of the military they have joined. But for students with intellectual disabilities graduation is a very different transition.

Since the closure of the Laconia State School and a move toward inclusion, these students can access educational services from around age 3 to 21. Determining what comes next can be as complicated as going to college. The types of activities and how services are delivered have evolved over time, and two Dover-based providers, Great Bay Services and Community Partners have played a key role.

Community Partners is an area agency, representing one of 10 districts in the state set up after the closure of the state school. Deirdre Watson is the family support director at Community Partners where they work mainly with the families in transition, beginning about the time the student is starting high school.

“It’s never too early to start envisioning a future," Watson said. "We encourage families to plan early and take any kind of training that is out there. Read up on it; attend our family support conference, workshops and lectures.”

Watson said there are many questions parents need to consider: Is their child going to work, need support, and continue to live with them, need a guardian and apply for Social Security or Medicaid? “At age 18 there is a lot of work and a lot of pressure,” she said.

As the area agency, Community Partners must ensure services are intact and meeting the needs and choices of families. It provides some services and subcontracts with about a dozen providers including Great Bay Services.

Great Bay Services began in Dover in 1954 when a small group of parents wanted to find a place to educate their children as an alternative to the state-run school in Laconia. They founded the Great Bay Association for Retarded Children and played an instrumental role in how the state treats individuals with intellectual challenges. It had a large campus in Newington for many years, but as services shifted to getting individuals into the community, it moved to smaller, more suitable space back in Dover.

Gina Genest, director of programs and services for Great Bay, agrees for the student and family planning for transition needs to begin well in advance.

“It is always the family’s decision, but clients need to be out in the community most of the day,” Genest said. “In order to make that possible the staff at Great Bay must do a lot of relationship building.”

Jennifer Nickerson is the Sanford, Maine, site coordinator for Great Bay and spends a great deal of time making sure clients have the options they need.

“We look at their goals and wishes, desires and needs," she said. "Some want to go bowling, swimming or to the Y for fitness classes. Some have a goal of employment. The monthly calendar is very a labor intensive process and then I sit with every client. It is all about logistics.”

Nickerson said it takes time to build the relationships in the community to provide the opportunities for volunteerism, activities and employment. But for Great Bay clients it is more than just attending, they need to be incorporated in that community, not just be in it, but be a real part of it, she said.

In Sanford, there is a summer concert series and the first year Great Bay clients attended and sat off to the one side.

“The people from the community were on the other side, giving those, ‘I wonder what they are doing here’ types of looks,” Nickerson said. “By the end of the season that first summer, all the community members were sitting with our group, interacting with them … so that when year two came there was no separation. They were excited to see the clients again.”

Nickerson said it is important to make those community connections with clients so they can make them on their own and be part of something.

Finding meaningful employment

Lauri Ferguson, a job developer, and Amy Leblanc, an employment coordinator at Great Bay, also live by the relationships they build over time.

“In New Hampshire they are really gearing up now ... (the) past two to three years the state wants clients in competitive employment with or without job coaching services,” Ferguson said. “

Ferguson said at Great Bay their relationships with employers are strong as is their employment department, with about 56 percent employment among clients versus the regional average of 41 percent.

Two Great Bay clients, Anthony Lumi and Brad Sullivan found employment in the community and enjoy their work.

Anthony’s father Rudolph said it means a lot to him as a parent that his son has a job he enjoys and he is very proud of his son. “He was taking a class at Great Bay and then they did job training with him," Rudolph said. "He likes his job at the Marriott and he has been for three years part time,” Rudolph said.

Brad Sullivan has a job at the N.H. Air National Guard Base at Pease and even as his own lobster boat.

Brad’s father Tim said when they lived in Massachusetts the local school didn’t have much funding and the school wasn’t doing much for Brad, really just “warehousing him,” so when the family moved to Maine, Tim thought real-life experience would be better.

Brad worked with some of the fishing boats helping out and doing odd jobs.

Over time Tim got to know a truck driver who was 80 and had a son who was developmentally disabled who always rode with him. When a new driver turned up Tim asked about them and learned the old man had died, but no one knew what became of the son.

“That really got me and my wife thinking," Tim said. "If something happens to me what’s going to happen to Brad? When I took him for his next doctor’s visit, they directed me to Great Bay. It was a blessing.”

He said Great Bay walked them through the process and helped Brad get the job at Pease and he volunteers at Meals on Wheels washing dishes.

Brad has a small lobster boat and license but Tim has to go with him.

“The job and the volunteer work is good exposure for Brad and helps with responsibility and focus,” Tim said.

He said even though Brad has family support they want him to continue with Great Bay. If anything happens to Tim and his wife, Brad will already have those connections he needs.

After age 18

Another part of the transition is determining who will make the decisions after an individual turns 18. According to Watson, making lifelong decisions can be daunting.

“When a student turns 18 a decision has to be made whether the parents want to become the legal the guardian or if it is necessary to appoint one," she said.

This can be strange for parents who have always made decisions, but hospitals won’t accept a parent’s signature or allow them to make decisions if the child is over 18.

“We have a great probate court system in Strafford County and they try to make it as family friendly and non-intimidating as possible,” Watson said.

When it comes to planning, some parents choose participant directed and managed services, a family managed program in which they have a budget and decide how the money is going to be spent.

“The family might choose to hire someone to be an individual provider to take a night class, go horseback riding, etc.,” Watson said. “The plan must be approved and the state must OK how funds will be spent.”

Watson said Community Partners believes families and parents learn best from each other so the more opportunities to get them together the better, in support groups with socializing after.

“We had a financial planner coming in so that if families have resources they can explore how to leave something to a child without costing them their benefits," Watson said.

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