Aging Parents Fear Future for Their Adult Children with Disabilities

KING FERRY, N.Y. -- Helen and Mike Littlejohn had three biological sons and one on the way when they decided they had it in them to adopt some hard-to-place children.

Isaac Littlejohn is one of 12 children.

Along came two girls with psychological disabilities. Next, a daughter with shaken baby syndrome.

Once their house was outfitted for a wheelchair, they adopted Isaac, an 11-year-old who could not walk or talk but laughed and played.

His two brothers, who had been eating lead paint, needed homes too.

"We said, well, we have to have them all together," Helen Littlejohn said.

Finally, the couple offered homes to two children who had been sexually abused.

That made them parents of 12 children - three with severe developmental disabilities.
"Our hearts were bigger than our logic," she said. "We went ahead and did it and thus started our future."

Thousands in Indiana Finally Get Services

INDIANAPOLIS -- Thousands of Hoosiers with developmental disabilities are coming off the Medicaid waiver waiting list and getting the services they need.
A year ago, 20,000 people were waiting for services, but that number has been whittled down to 13,000.

Funding Challenges Familes with Adult Children

Neil Stevenson and his son, Niles,
at home.

GEORGETOWN, Del. -- Neil Stevenson's son is 33 years old, yet he still lives at home. That's because he has nowhere else to go.
Stevenson calls his son, Niles, a "forever child." He's intellectually disabled, but because of a seizure condition, it's hard to find adequate medical services to supervise him. And Niles doesn't qualify for group housing -- that is, unless Stevenson and his wife either abandon him or die.

As Virginia Prepares to Close Centers, Agencies Await Flood of Need

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia will close its training centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the next 10 years, putting more than 1,000 individuals into community-based programs that already have lengthy waiting lists for their services.
Residents in state institutions will return to their communities and to a system of group homes and day programs by 2021 as part of an agreement between the state and the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement ends legal action against the state started by department. The agreement will phase out four of five state institutions, which currently house about 1,000 residents total.
The state has agreed to provide funding for more than 4,000 additional people to be treated by community services agencies by 2021. But officials admit that will not cover all of the need. Thousands of people across the state have qualified for care in community programs but are receiving minimal treatment because no state funding is available.

12 Years and Waiting for Autism Waiver

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Matthew Gibson is a 22-year-old with Severe Autism. He also has obsessive compulsive behavior and has shown signs of Tourette Syndrome. Everything seemed normal with him until he was suddenly diagnosed at two years old. Since then he's not been able to speak and needs 24-hour care.
"The older he gets the more frustrated he is that he can't talk, he's smarter than people realize, he's just trapped in his own body",said Matthew's Mother, Annie Gibson.

10-Year Wait for Home May Grow Longer

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- When Jeanne Fehr got word after a 10-year wait that her 31-year-old daughter, Nealy Rothe, would likely get state funding to live on her own, Fehr was thrilled.
Rothe, who has Down syndrome, works a part-time job but would need help managing money, taking the bus and with some chores if she were to move from the Milwaukee home she shares with her mother. Rothe said she is looking forward to having her own apartment.
But that excitement was tempered with Gov. Scott Walker's proposed freeze on enrollments in the state's Family Care program, which helps pay for community care of elderly and disabled people.