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In this Issue:
President's Message
COVID-19 Cases At Group Homes, Institutions Going Untracked
Schools Struggle to Educate Students With Disabilities Amid Pandemic
Against The Odds, Teen With Cerebral Palsy Overcomes COVID-19
This is Where We Will Be...
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Dear Clients and Friends,
Well, my friends, we now live in a different world. We don't know what tomorrow will look like yet, but the good news is, we have TODAY! And we have a holiday weekend coming up, even though we might be celebrating it too in a new way. For us here in the Protected Tomorrows offices, it has been about 9 weeks in quarantine, all working from our homes. We have learned to make it work quite well, and in fact, we are busier than ever, identifying new ways to share information with families. These new resources we are planning to provide now and throughout the rest of the year will reshape our services so that hopefully, we can help even more families.
We'll be sending you the details of our new educational programs in the near future.
For now, throughout this uncertainty, I personally have tried to focus on positive things that are right in front of me that perhaps I've been missing when so busy traveling to speeches, workshops, and running our companies. The spring time is just a beautiful time that I think I was often missing when I was moving so fast. I spent some time just enjoying my pups that have been keeping me company through this quarantine... even watching goofy Augie sleep in his quirky way! I've included some of my pictures I thought might put a smile on your face.
I wish you all a peaceful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend holiday!
Mary Anne Ehlert,
Founder & President
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Powered by Protected Tomorrows and presented by Mary Anne Ehlert, President and Founder of Protected Tomorrows, we are proud to offer you our sixth in a series of educational webinar classes:
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7:00pm - 8:00pm CST
The maze of government benefits can be overwhelming. Let's take one step at a time so that you can apply for those benefits you are eligible for, and become aware of what might change in the future. Families can play a big part in government benefits, and we might not even know it. Learn about the impact our parents, our spouses, and/or our children might have on our available government money.
Mary Anne Ehlert will host this free online Zoom webinar on May 21st, 2020 from 7:00 - 8:00pm CST.
Click here to register!
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COVID-19 Cases At Group Homes, Institutions Going Untracked
by Michelle Diament | Disability Scoop
With no official government tally, one group is working to identify how many people with disabilities have contracted or died from coronavirus while living in congregate settings.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network has created an
online tool that compiles data from local governments and media reports across the nation. The figures account for individuals with disabilities living in nursing homes, institutions for people with developmental disabilities, psychiatric hospitals, group homes and other facilities.
To date, the advocacy group estimates that there have been more than 18,000 deaths and an additional 90,000 people who have contracted COVID-19 in these settings. However, some of the numbers include cases among staff members too and the self-advocate organization said it's working to limit the tally to just residents with disabilities.
Click here to read more.
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Schools Struggle to Educate Students With Disabilities Amid Pandemic
by Lauren Camera | U.S. News & World Report
Advocates worry that the 7 million students with disabilities will be left behind in distance learning.
Setting up distance
learning for the 55 million students who were forced out of school by the coronavirus
pandemic is a challenge, but it's even more of a challenge for educators to figure out how to best educate the 7 million students with disabilities. And those students, who are less likely to be able to access online education, are also at much greater risk of falling behind.
"I like to look at things realistically," Eriel Jeffrey, a special education teacher and coordinator at the John F. Kennedy High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, says. "I'm not really sure what else we can do to really help and give the kids the services that are usually what they get in school because of contact. The kids we work with need that close proximity that we can't provide right now."
"I am nervous," she continues. "The ones that will fare well are the ones that are in households where somebody is able to work with them specifically and consistently throughout this and can provide structure."
Click here to read more.
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Against The Odds, Teen With Cerebral Palsy Overcomes COVID-19
Zoey Had Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy. Now New Jersey Girl Has Coronavirus.
Melanie Ollick Komninos's daughter, Zoey, already battles cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She has a nurse to help her as she struggles every day.
Then the nurse was potentially exposed to the coronavirus. Since then, for Zoey and her family, it's been one struggle, one day of hell after another.
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Over the past two weeks, Melanie has been with Zoey at pediatric intensive care unit at Hackensack
University Medical Center. Her daughter has been on a ventilator, and in an induced coma.
After weeks of this, Zoey, 14, is finally getting better, even though they're not completely out of the woods yet.
Melanie has stayed with her, waiting with her even though she's potentially going to get herself
sick, too.
For Melanie, however, she's hoping Zoey can be an inspiration to many - especially those with special needs -
and their parents who are pushing through outbreak, even as the the threat to them is greater then
others.
Click here to read more.
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This is Where We Will Be...
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