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Story #1
There’s a 42-year-old woman living in the greater Ogden area who
suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) 10 years ago. At the time,
she was married and had two children. After the accident, her
husband divorced her and she lost custody of her children, due to
the long-term results of the injury. She’s lost all short-term
memory and needs constant reminders of who she is, what day it is,
where she’s going, etc., and she also has seizures. The frequency of
the seizures increases as she feels more stress. These long-term
results are typical of a person with TBI. Enable has worked with
many individuals who are TBI in the past with success.
Initially, her aging mother and stepfather remodeled their basement
into a small apartment and moved her in. Her Mother died during the
past year and her stepfather, at the urging of his biological
children, wants her to move out. She has nowhere to go. She wants to
work and is capable of working under restricted conditions, such as
those at Enable. She needs a repetitive job that she can learn and
do every day and a Job Coach who understands her limitations and can
help her know which days are workdays and which are weekends. She
would also need transportation. The state has no money to help her
because she has a low score and will likely be on the waiting list
indefinitely, until she becomes homeless or develops medical need
that is so demanding that a family member can’t administer the
assistance.
Story #2
A 33-year-old woman who is intellectually disabled is living at
home with her 70 year-old mother. Fifteen years ago, this young
woman graduated in Special Ed from high school but has also been
home since. She has been on the waiting list for services for all 15
years. Her score is very low (15) because she has somewhere to live,
financial support and no medical problems.
The 70-year-old mother reports she would like to get the daughter
into some other housing arrangement before she (the mother) dies and
would also like to retire. She is concerned that if she retires, her
income won’t support both herself and her daughter. She continues to
work and will do so until she can’t. In the meantime, the daughter
would like to work, but needs someone to help her find a job, job
coach her for a few months and teach her the transportation system.
Story # 3
A 27-year-old man with intellectual disabilities moved from Ohio
to Utah with his mother due to a domestic violence situation they
endured in Ohio. Her family lives in Utah and they have moved in
with her aging parents. He was receiving services in Ohio and
working on a farm, which he enjoyed and did well with. Since moving
to Utah, he isn’t eligible for services, because he’s not a
resident. When he becomes a resident, he will qualify but probably
not receive services because he has family and a place to live.
His mother moved him to Utah to escape domestic violence and now he
is unemployed which is hard on him. His mother is seeking employment
herself and trying to re-establish a life for herself and her
dependent son. It’s not likely that he’ll ever receive services in
Utah until she dies.
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