Jon Moves Out

When Jon was 22 years of age an opportunity opened up for him to move into a home with 3 other men with special needs. I was nowhere even close to saying yes but after a lot of prayer we decided that we would try. I cannot begin to express how very hard this was for Jon and for us as parents. I must say that in the beginning it seemed like Jon adjusted quicker than I did:) He had some good times here but after some time we knew that he was not adjusting as well as he should. Because he shared the home with 3 other men he found it much too busy and too loud which he doesn't do well with at the best of times.

The last year that he lived in this home was a very difficult one and he called out for help in the only way he knew how, by being very destructive and injuring himself as well. In these moments of frustration he would throw whatever he could lift and bang his head against walls. Twice he broke the living room window, by banging his head against it really hard. He also put a lot of holes in the walls with his head. His home started to resemble a war zone. I'm sure he must have had some concussions. One time he struck his head hard on a broken chair and ended up with black eyes and we believe a broken nose. The doctor checked it and seemed to think it was better to let it heal without surgery. When outside, he would frequently bang his head on a rock. He visited the ER so many times. One time I remember the doctor saying that he couldn't keep doing this as the flesh was so 'mushy' and wasn't healing well enough in between gashes and that he couldn't stitch it properly. Try to imagine those hospital visits..not pleasant. He had started wearing a helmet during this time and had to wear it most of the time especially during those times of frustrations.

Jon came to stay with us every weekend and when it came time to take him back to his home he didn't really want to and often put up a fight. Our walls at home didn't fare any better then at his house!

It was decided by all involved that it would be better for Jon to move to a new home where he would live by himself with 24 hour staffing. Getting funding and a suitable home had to happen first. After applying for funding, the 'go ahead' was eventually given to search for another home for Jon. We are very thankful to enVision who worked hard to accommodate Jon's needs.
These were very difficult times but God supplied the strength needed.

Philippians 4:13 ' I can do everything through him who gives me strength.'

Day Program

After Jon graduated from high school he was ready to enter the day program. He had been going there once a week for some time with an EA from the school so that he could adjust to the new environment. He was hestitant to become involved. His first 'job' was to help make plastic flowers. Jon was not impressed and everyone around him found that out very quickly. They came up with different 'jobs' for him and some worked okay. Some of the jobs were recycling and paper shredding. I think that for Jon there was just too much extra sensory overload for him at this day program as there were many clients in the same building and the noise disturbed him. He seemed to like it best when he had something to do outside or was taken out for drives in the country. Staff had to find ways to keep him busy and entertained and they did a wonderful job. One staff used to put items in the trunk of her car that she knew Jon liked and would let Jon rummage around in there and take what he wanted. Jon enjoyed many outings..swimming, going to the snake pits, the planetarium, amusement parks, the zoo, bowling, movies, visits to parks and lakes and many others. Jon was in this program for a number of years before it was decided that he would do better with his own program managed from his home.