New Single Mom With Adult Autistic Child Seek Grant Money To Keep Home
by Cheryl
I have a son (Jared) who is 20 years old. He was diagnosed with severe autism and OCD when he was 2 years old. I have been a stay at home mom his entire life due to his severe SIBs (self injurious behavior). No other person is available/capable of watching him, or picking him up from school at all different hours when he would need to come home. Jared used to bash his head on walls, floors or any hard surface he could access, up to 150 times a day. Over the years, the head banging has lessoned quite a bit. Doctors, therapists and myself accomplished this with a lot of hard work. I spent a lot of time at school, being available to come get my son at odd hours due to staffing changes, meltdowns at school, as well as talking to teachers. But, because he still needs 24/7 supervision and help with daily living skills. He has issues with smells and destroys quite a bit of furniture, walls. After the divorce, I could not rent an apartment. Jared would quite literally be able to go through drywall. Also, he is loud and only sleeps a few hours a night, so renting was not an option. I took every cent awarded to me in the divorce to buy a house. It is an older house but very solid, close to Jared's school and the neighborhood he has grown up in. After buying the house, and fixing the electricity and bathrooms, I recently found out I have to replace the furnace. Because I was awarded the lump sum of money in the divorce, it didn't matter that I used it to purchase a home for Jared; the state still taxes that money. I owed over $5,000 in state taxes and $2,000 in property taxes. I can't earn money to pay what I owe because I can't work due to my son. I have to be on call to help him become a great adult with a future, happy and able to work. We are trying to live month to month on SSI and a small amount of alimony that will stop shortly. There is no way I can pay thousands of dollars in taxes and still feed my son, keep electricity on, heat the house this winter. My son has come so far in the past years. This is his last year of school, so even those few hours when he does get to stay all day at school will be gone, so any chance of even temporary employment for myself will be even more difficult/impossible. We don't go "shopping" or go to the movies. I buy our clothes and any needed items at the local thrift store. I shop at Aldi's, day old bread store. Jared requires some special sensory items, which I try to find as used or fixable etc. I am extremely thrifty and have gotten by okay, but I don't know how I will be able to continue to care for my son, in his home where he is comfortable, happy and making great progress without some help. It would cost so much more for the state to try and place him in a group home or institution and is certainly not in the best interest of Jared, who is capable of learning a job skill (he is working at a job program through his school a couple hours a day, few days a week and continues to do better and better!) When Jared was two, they said he would never talk, or use the bathroom. They were wrong, with a lot of individual attention, 24/7 care, he can talk, use the bathroom, feed himself, dress himself and read. He uses the computer and loves to learn and work. I bought this home for him knowing it would be a safe environment for him to continue to learn and grow and be a productive member of the community. Now we are faced with owing thousands in taxes and losing our home. I've always found a way to get by in the past, to face this now when Jared is doing so well and trying so hard, is so very hard, disheartening. I am asking please for help so that Jared can continue to progress and be a happy, contributing member of the community. Thank you. Cheryl.
      Go to the Accessible.org Home page. 
|
