Raquel's Story

The year was 1992. The Springbrook screening team is escorted to the fifth floor of a New York City public hospital. They enter a large, dimly lit room with children in cribs and wheelchairs. Raquel is in one of these cribs.

That she wants attention is clear from her screeching and waving. She does not use words. She cannot walk, feed or take care of herself. She is eight years old.

Raquel, now known affectionately as Rocky, was born with the odds seemingly stacked against her. At her birth the doctors told everyone that she would never be able to walk, talk, or read. Her prognosis was grim and she spent her first eight years consigned to the pediatric ward of a public hospital. Raquel moved to Springbrook shortly after the staff visited her in the hospital.

Over the next 13 years, she learned to read, write, feed herself, and care for daily needs, prepare simple meals and help monitor her own medications. Raquel graduated from The School at Springbrook and moved into one of Springbrook’s Community Homes with three other young women.

Now 25 years old, Raquel is her own strongest advocate and is adept at very strongly making clear what she thinks is best for her. She enjoys shopping, travel and talking on the phone. Raquel has beat the initial odds projected for her life and has achieved goal after goal, while living a full life.

For all who know or have met her, Rocky is a blessing and an inspiration.

Angela's Story

Angela is a friendly, sensitive, and caring young woman who has accomplished so much in the past few years. While in school, she lived with her parents, who provided for her every need. While attending the BOCES Y.E.S. Program, Angela met Don, a very likable young man with a strong sense of family. Don and Angela married in 2006 and Angela moved in with her husband, who already had his own ISS (Independent Supports and Services) apartment. They both currently receive Medicaid Service Coordination through Springbrook.

With supports in place, Don and Angela successfully live on their own. Don recently began working at Scholet Furniture and has done very well with the assistance of The ARC Otsego’s Supportive Employment Program.

With encouragement from her husband and Residential Habilitation services through Springbrook, Angela has expanded her life skills. While Don is at work, Angela cares for their home and cats and has progressed from making only a small selection of meals with her mother’s assistance to preparing a variety of new and nutritious meals, often with the help of her husband. Don and Angela work together to create a menu and grocery list, pay their bills and budget their money for the month. They are able to access their community for shopping, visiting family, going to church and other recreational activities.

Don and Angela have made great progress since marrying, as individuals and as a team. They both enjoy being productive members of their household, the community and society. With a variety of supports available, they are able to feel comfortable and confident living independently in the community.

John's Story

When John first arrived at Springbrook, he was a young man without any direction in his turbulent life which was severely compounded by a disability very few really knew anything about. John was not able to visit his family for an extended period of time as his emotions and aggressive actions simply could not be controlled by his widowed mother. His community integration was limited due to requiring two staff with him at all times as well as two staff riding with him to and from his day program. John did not have the coping mechanisms to manage his actions… or himself. In an attempt to assist him with acclimating to his new environment, John incurred intense intervention meetings from his housemates. He needed to know how his actions affected others.

John also had an uncanny knack of consistently setting unrealistic goals for himself which furthered his discontentment. Such unrealistic goals left him without hope or a clear path to the future. He wanted to become everything from an airline pilot to a professional football player. Regardless of the methods employed, it was most difficult for John to understand one simply does not become anything without first planning and working towards the goal they would like to achieve. He would react in an aggressive manner when the reality of life was presented to him, despite the understanding and alternatives proposed. John simply did not or refused to have the ability to understand.

As time went on, John slowly began to learn to take life one step at a time. Nothing was going to magically appear or happen for him. He learned to accept life as it was and to make the changes he knew he could achieve. One realistic dream of his was to get out and to earn his own money. He began working at the ARC Otsego’s Sheltered Workshop one day per week … then two days … then three and worked his way to achieving full time status because of his success with his employment. More important, John is happy and has realized that satisfaction comes in not what you do but how one achieves the outcome. He has become successful and satisfied with his sense of accomplishment, which so many would have never thought possible.

Regardless of one’s station in life, gaining control of yourself by constructing a concrete plan to achieve satisfaction, independence and contentment is perhaps the greatest accomplishment of all. John has achieved this by his inner strength, his courage to face life’s adversities and to overcome his challenges by pro actively preventing them from dictating his life.

John now realizes each person plays an important role in life regardless as to how important the position we may hold, how much money we make, or where we live. He has evolved from being the target at intervention meetings by his peers to those same peers voting him an officer of the Cook St. Advocacy Group as well as serving as secretary for the Community Homes Advocacy Group.

Today, John visits with his family are frequent, longer, enjoyable and has even included a family vacation. His mother who for years worried about her son is now as proud as any mom could be states:

“When John went to Cook St. he was a burden (a loveable one), now he is truly a treasure. I used to cry and ask God why did you do this to me? Now, thanks to Springbrook and all of John’s hard work I truly say God did not do this to me … He did it for me.”

Kim's Story

Kim has been at Springbrook for over 13 years and currently lives at one of Springbrook’s Community Homes. Beginning at a very young age, Kim had to wear a helmet to help protect her head from self engaged head bangs on various surfaces, including the walls and floor. Kim has gone thru several behavior plans to find one that was the least restrictive for her and the most effective in assisting her in retaining and promoting her individuality and also allowed her personality to blossom, into the fun, witty and beautiful young woman that she has become. Today, Kim has overcome having to wear a safety helmet.

Even though Kim has lost most of her sight and is declared legally blind, she has adapted to her environment and has not let that keep her from going out into the community, and has even discovered a new found passion of going to the movies. Kim giggles at the loud noises and the bright, big screen. Kim also enjoys going to concerts and listening to nature sounds.

As a young girl, she was very tactile defensive and wouldn’t like it if anyone touched her. Through many years of helping Kim understand and accept affection, she has developed skills so that she can trust people and situations. It is very rewarding to see Kim independently seek out people, and will give them a hug, a kiss on the cheek, grab their hand because she wants their attention. Many people who knew Kim when she was younger have commented on how surprised they are to see Kim engage in this kind of behavior. Through the efforts and perseverance of her team at Springbrook, Kim has found a new and positive ways to communicate her wants and needs.

Bobby's Story

Bobby came to Springbrook in September 1998. At the time he was an active individual who would steal anyone’s heart. He had been diagnosed with a drug resistant form of epilepsy, characterized by multiple seizures of varied types which occurred on a daily basis. The pattern of this disability generally causes people to lose skills in association with uncontrolled seizures. The pattern of treatment is to try anticonvulsant medication in ever higher dosages in an attempt to provide some relief from the seizure activity.

Bobby was typical in that the condition held true to its pattern of ongoing skill loss. His physical coordination seemed to wane as time went on and the supports he required were increased. His periods of non-responsiveness were becoming extended and eventually he could no longer eat sufficiently by mouth to support his growing body. The student we had all come to love was only a shadow of his former self as periods of activity were few and far between.

In December of 2003, a relatively recent technological innovation in the United States was proposed for Bobby’s treatment. This entailed the implantation of a Vagus Nerve Stimulator which directs short bursts of electrical energy to the brain via the vagus nerve. The intent of the intervention is to either shorten or avert the seizure process in its entirety, thereby reducing reliance on anticonvulsant medications. The results of this intervention can only be described as extraordinary. Bobby’s activity level has increased, rivaling that of the young student who was placed here back in 1998. His attentiveness to his surroundings and impish interactions with staff members have grown steadily. He has begun eating by mouth again and his independence with ambulation continues to increase daily. He is once again participating in leisure activities and likes to check out the “girls” wherever he goes.

Much to our delight, skills we thought may have been irreparably lost, were not lost at all. They had only entered a period of dormancy as a consequence of his epilepsy. Bobby continues to make progress on a daily basis and we are looking optimistically at continued skill acquisition rather than trying to simply slow the pace of skill loss.