Week Six

As Kaylee entered senior year, Trish and Brody set up a meeting with her IEP team to get suggestions of different options for Kaylee’s future after high school. They feel that she should continue her passion with horticulture because they have seen tremendous improvements in her behavior as a result of it. However, they agree that because she is leaving school, it doesn’t mean therapy and learning should stop. There are options for her to grow as an individual cognitively, socially, behaviorally, and physically. A member of Kaylee’s IEP team mentions that a student of their school in the past entered a program where they continues therapy in any areas necessary but they were also learning many life skills (such as cleaning, cooking, going to the store, etc.). This could be a great opportunity for Kaylee to continue her therapy. In addition, they would teach her proper ways to conduct herself in a work environment and the proper social rules and cues to follow. This would give Kaylee the option to meet new people, develop in various ways, and continue her passion with horticulture. Trish and Brody were very glad that they set up the meeting with her IEP team. They left feeling like they had a plan for Kaylee’s future and that she would get the best care possible. The next step was to look for programs around them and to find Kaylee a job in horticulture. As Trish and Brody went home, they sat down with Kaylee and explained to her what their plan was. She seemed very excited especially to find a job. She has wanted a bit more independence and this will be a great learning experience for her socially and will help her earn some of her own money (which she was very excited about).

As Kaylee finished up her senior year her IEP reflected on her development. She made some great progress socially, with the help of her best friend Taylor! Kaylee’s speech continued to need work, especially with creating complex sentences. In addition, as Kaylee would get more and more excited about something (usually about movies, shows, and horticulture) when she was talking to her parents or Taylor she would mix words together and become less intelligible. This proved to be a consistent problem as Kaylee became more social. Her speech therapist worked with her with different strategies to use when she starts to get increasingly excited. She gave her more appropriate ways to use inflection in her voice to show how excited she was about something and taught her how to breathe and pause at appropriate times. In addition to her therapy, her speech therapist has been in contact with her new speech therapist at the school Kaylee will be attending in the fall. Therefore, her speech therapist can pick up where Kaylee’s current SLP left off.

Trish feels completely happy about the progress Kaylee has made, especially in the past year. Trish said that having Kaylee take classes at the Vocational Technical School was the smartest thing they have ever done. Her whole life has changed as a result. She is much more social and affectionate with her parents, she is happier now that she has a true best friend, her behavior problems are decreasing, and she has found something she is really passionate about. They decided to send Kaylee to a school called “The Pathway School” in Pennsylvania. Because the school is far from where they live now, Trish and Brody are going to move to PA in a little house or apartment while she is in the program for two years. This will not only be a great start for Kaylee but it will also be a great start for Trish and Brody. They also feel like it will decrease her behavioral problems. She tends to misbehave more when she doesn’t see her parents for an extended period of time, so this will help and will allow them to be there with her as she progresses though the program. Trish however is worried that Kaylee will struggle now that she and Taylor are apart. But, Brody reassures her that Kaylee will find a friend just like Taylor at this school. Trish continues to try to convince Taylor’s parents about Taylor attending the same school.

As the family is very excited about their new beginning, they are also sad to be leaving behind friends and family. As they venture to Pennsylvania, they notice the beautiful mountains and friendly people and they feel more at ease. Brody had come down the month before and already picked out a small ranch style house for them, they began moving in. After days of unpacking and setting up their new house, they finally were settled in. Trish loved her house and her neighbors were so friendly, she began applying for jobs and she was also able to put in an applications for Kaylee to work in the horticulture business. Luckily, she heard back the next day from a place and she landed the job. Kaylee was so excited and Trish finally felt like things were falling into place for Kaylee. Trish sat down with Kaylee’s boss, Fred, and talked to him and his wife, Sally, about her condition and some difficulties she has. They were completely understanding and they felt like this would be a perfect job for her and they saw how passionate she was.

Fred and Sally became Kaylee’s second family. They loved her like she was his own. This made Trish and Brody feel much more secure and made them happy to see people really enjoying Kaylee’s company. Kaylee loved The Pathway School. She made so many improvements with speech, behavior, social barriers, etc. In addition, she had met a great group of friends that she really connected with. She loved going to school and work and she finally seemed really happy. She also made such a deep connection with her therapists and teachers at the school. One thing they instilled in Kaylee was a love for volunteer work. They showed Kaylee how rewarding volunteer work was and now Kaylee volunteers all over the place because she loves helping people. This has really improved Kaylee’s social skills and her speech. After two years of attending The Pathway School, Kaylee officially graduated at the age of 21. She was very sad to leave her teachers but she made a great group of friends (Sam, Tim, Ashley, and Emily).

Kaylee continued to work at Fred and Sally’s and continued her volunteer work. She progressively was given more responsibilities at work, and this really excited her. She also was given bonus checks for when she had good behavior and did excellent work. Kaylee did a great job saving her money and Trish and Brody saw how independent she was becoming. Kaylee continued to spend time with her friends and as she did that, she began to have feelings for Tim, and he felt the same way. She told her parents after a while of going out on dates and spending time together that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Although she was 21, Trish and Brody were very concerned. They never has to really deal with the fact that she like a boy. They needed to talk to her about it but wanted to do it the right way. In addition, at 23 years old Kaylee wanted to get her own apartment with the money she had been saving since a lot of her friends lived independently. She had learned a lot of the skills in school however Brody and Trish were very unsure about this, they assumed Kaylee would be living with them forever. They told her they would think about it and let her know. This frustrated Kaylee but she understood.

As Kaylee turned 24, she and Tim had been dating for 3 years. She had started to get serious and he said he wanted to marry her. She was so excited but she said she wanted to wait a little longer and save more money. Kaylee’s parents were still apprehensive because they had never thought or prepared themselves for these types of situations. They were happy to see Kaylee so happy and in love but also realized she is not fully capable to take care of herself. They didn’t see how she would be able to handle the responsibilities and stress that come along with marriage.

Decision point: Does Trish and Brody allow Kaylee to find her own apartment or do they try to find another alternative (for example, a group home)?

Questions:

What are some additional skills and therapy Kaylee could learn and participate in at a program, for example at The Pathway School?

How much does The Pathway School cost?

What is the proper way to talk to Kaylee about relationships and sex education?

What are some housing options for individuals with Down syndrome?