Mother Of Disabled Son Seeks Grant Money For Transportation And Accessible Bath

by Lynette Martinez
(Independence, Missouri, USA)

I need transportation and a safe bathing system!

Hi! I am the mother of a very special young man who has disabilities. His name is Matthew. He lives in Independence, MO with me, his adoptive father and four other siblings. We are a one-income family.

He is unable to write his own letter, so I am doing it for him. Matthew has been diagnosed with a very rare disorder called Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS).

It is a complex seizure disorder in which other factors come into play at varying degrees of severity. Some of those other factors for Matthew are severe mental retardation, developmental delay, contractures, scoliosis, and autism.

Matthew's request for grant money is two-fold. The physical and mental disabilities he has require 24-hour care.

He is unable to bathe himself and must be transferred into a bathtub, which has become dangerous and hazardous for him and his caregiver.

The bathing system, which would make this process safe and effective in caring for him in this way, will not fit into the bathtub presently installed in our home.

We are seeking funding to replace this bathtub with a wider version into which the system will fit. We are also seeking the actual funds for this system, as we are unable to find a provider for it.

The second part of his request has to do with transportation. He has been in a special school for the severely disabled for the past 10 years and is turning 21 in September 2010.

At that time he will no longer qualify to attend the public funded state school with the bus transportation and will transition into a community-based day habilitation program.

He has applied for funding so that he may attend the day-hab program and it has come through. Yay!

Transportation to the program has become a problem as the provider who was most likely to provide the transportation is no longer taking any new applicants because of expansion issues.

Matthew's name is on a waiting list to receive this transportation and may need to wait six months or more for his name to rotate to the top for services.

We have been exploring other funding/resources/providers to solve the transportation issue, but have not been able to find any solutions, yet.

As his mom, I am also home schooling four of his siblings full time. Transporting him would not be impossible, but very difficult and costly at best.

Matthew would like to be able to attend his program daily in order to avoid behavioral issues and depression.

We are seeking government grant money to cover the cost of transportation to and from day-hab for Matthew until he is able to receive the funds and route opening in the local program with EITAS in our community.

We are also seeking funds for the bathtub replacement and the bath seating/transfer system for him to be safe in this activity.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Lynette Martinez.