People with Autism Thriving Thanks to The Arc Co n tin u e d F Ro M page 1
terri Spurrier, coordinator of community employment, says tony has found a home at unifirst. “the floor supervisors at uniFirst are engaging and frequently ask tony for help,” she adds. “He is continuously learning new skills and his goal is to stay at uniFirst and learn to operate the equipment there.” that makes sense, given that tony knows a lot about cars. “tony will get in my car and if he hears a clink or a clank, he’ll tell me what’s wrong. or he may observe that my tires look bad. then he’ll tell me where to buy new ones and suggest that i use his name so i can get a discount,” says Spurrier. that kindness is part and parcel of who tony is, Spurrier adds. “He’ll ask about you and what you’re interested in. He is an incredibly thoughtful person. He used to work at united Cerebral palsy of Central Maryland, and he has a real soft spot for people who have significant challenges.” Sly Bieler attributes tony’s success at the arc to the agency’s knack for providing enough individual day supports—but not too many. and he believes that listening to what is important in tony’s life and letting him direct where things go is significant, too. “tony does best when he does things according to a schedule he develops.” Chedva Vim
tony says he’s successful because the supports the arc provides enable him to keep his job. He says the agency also helps when he has “emotional meltdowns.” it’s hard to imagine that he has time for those, considering how busy he is.
“Chedva has grown in her socialization and life skills, and she is better integrated in to the community,” Vim says. “She is just much happier.”
“i hang out with friends from St. elizabeth’s. We have an alumni group. i play video games and i read books by James patterson, Clive Cussler and ingrid Lee. i also visit my grandmother in Minnesota every summer, so i’m a fan of the university of Minnesota golden gophers basketball team. and i love my cat, Fiona, named for the princess from Shrek.”
Vim is happier, too. “i wish i had known about the arc 10 years ago. i wouldn’t have had to bang my head against the wall every time i needed something. the arc make things very easy, and the people there make me feel as though it is a pleasure providing services to us. everything they do goes far beyond an expression of caring.”
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Gratitude beyond measure
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t’s hard to tell who is happier with the arc Baltimore: Rochel Vim or her 20-year-old daughter Chedva, a student at St. elizabeth’s school. Chedva receives 10 hours of respite care a week. “the arc helps find respite workers who are so wonderful,” Vim says. “they care about Chedva and treat her with respect and intelligence. the arc’s caseworker talks to Chedva and remembers what she likes.” one-on-one time with respite care workers is something Chedva very much looks forward to. She loves to go shopping with them and she enjoys when they take her to the Jewish Community Center so she can swim or socialize. She also likes eating out and going to respite care workers’ homes to cook and do crafts. Chedva’s mom says she has seen a lot of progress in her daughter since the family began receiving supports from the arc around three years ago.
“i don’t have enough words to express how wonderful the arc is—or how the staff always makes things work. as an example, Chedva is on a strong medication which makes it imperative that she not get overheated. Her doctor recommended that we get a generator in case we lost power again during the summer, and there was no way we could afford that. i spoke to ori [natividad, special projects coordinator], and the arc found the resources to pay for it. When i went to pick up the generator at Home depot, there was a little problem, and ori stayed on the phone with me as if she had all the time in the world, even though it was a Friday afternoon and she probably wanted to go home for the weekend.
April is Autism Awareness Month
“another thing i remember is the time a request couldn’t be carried out, and our caseworker told me, ‘i was up all night worrying about how to tell you.’ i thought that was so lovely.” Vim explains that predictability is crucial to maintaining Chedva’s emotional equilibrium. “the arc provides such decent, predictable Co nt in ued o n Fo LLoWi ng pag e
www.thearcbaltimore.org
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