SUCCESS STORY
Gilday
Day by Day and With a Lot of Help Written by Jessica, Gilday’s Mother
As a parent of a child with autism I have often been asked, “How do you do it?” The simple answer is day by day and with a lot of help. We receive so much assistance from Franziska Racker Centers it’s hard to keep an accurate list of all the services and programs. The best way to describe our relationship is “partnership.”
My son Gilday, 14, has benefited from Racker Centers’ services since we moved to Ithaca in 2001. For a decade now, we have traversed many life changes with the support of our Service Coordinator Bev Rhein Fitzpatrick. Bev loves Gilday … there is no clearer way to describe her care for our son. She has guided us and partnered with us on so many issues including life and school transitions it is hard to imagine how we would manage without her. "The progress isn't just for him, but also for the people around him. He's learned that the people around him care very much and they are working together with him for progress," states Bev. Bev coordinated programming and opportunities for Gilday to develop social skills and truly experience a sense of belonging in the community he lives in; not just with the Racker Centers but with other key stakeholders such as the Ithaca Youth Bureau, Family & Children's Services of Ithaca, and the community as a whole. She has helped us navigate school needs, recreation services, respite, counseling, and even two psychiatric hospitalizations and an 8-week therapeutic residential placement.
Gilday is now a student in the Racker Centers' Counseling for School Success/Turning Point Program at T-S-T BOCES. This has been a very welcomed development for our family as Gil needs an educational environment that meets his social-emotional-behavioral challenges and allows him to live at home and remain a member of the Ithaca community. Gil’s counselor at Turning Point, Nikki Hanrahan, and his teacher, Jalil Beuchel, have made great strides with Gil since he began the program in October, 2010. We finally feel hopeful again after a really tumultuous time over the last two years.
Gilday pictured with his Turning Point Team made of up Racker Center's staff Rebecca Mosher, LCSW-R Day Treatment Counselor, Nikki Hanrahan, LMSW Day Treatment Counselor and Jalil Buechel, Special Education Teacher at TST BOCES
Community Support Services (CSS) and Service Coordination have been significant for Gilday over the years. Community Support Staff work together with individuals with disabilities and their loved ones to create opportunities for achieving their dreams. Service Coordinators, work along with individuals and their families to find and utilize available services throughout our community. There are many goals for Gilday in the programs, but simply put, he experiences friendship and belonging. Kids with autism want friends and they want to belong … they just need creative ways to make it happen as these skills aren’t innate in autism spectrum individuals. Gilday’s CSS staff member Jacob Kozlowski is one cool dude. When Gilday is asked what he enjoys doing with Jacob, he says, "We go hiking and to bookstores, and sometimes go for Pizza." And Jacob has a car too! Gil enjoys having such a hip friend. We feel such a debt of gratitude towards Jacob. I’m not quite sure how we’ll ever be able to repay all his kindness. He has gone beyond his CSS duties by coming to Gil’s birthday, coming over for dinner, and has even helped us with much-needed babysitting, always with a positive and cheerful attitude. He never seems ruffled by some of Gil’s behaviors. They’re friends, simple as that.
Gil’s main interest in life is animation. His favorite production company is PIXAR. The film Toy Story 3 was eagerly anticipated by Gil. He told everyone he interacted with that the movie was scheduled to debut on June 18, 2010. He then inquired if the person had seen Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and if not, he would begin a complete account of the story lines! Since I am a fan too, we planned a Toy Story 3 party at the mall cinema. Bev and Jacob came on their own time to attend Gilday’s party. We had a great time and Gil entertained all the guests with a Toy Story trivia contest. Just like our family and friends, Racker Centers staff were there with us to celebrate something important to Gil. Friendship and belonging!
Gilday pictured here with Jacob Kozlowski, CSS and Bev Fitzpatrick, Service Coordinator at Gil's "Toy Story 3" themed Birthday Party
I always say that having autism creates a “barrier to entry” for invitations to parties and sleep-over’s. The level of support needed to help navigate the social world requires families to really be creative in making opportunities for our special kids to interact with other people. The Racker Centers' Overnight Respite program at the YMCA has been such a blessing for Gil. He always has an awesome time and gets to experience a sleep-over just like other kids. We know he’s safe and guided along socially so it is always a welcome break for us. When I ask Gilday, “How was the sleep-over at the Y?” his response is priceless. “Too short!”
Our relationship with the Racker Centers has been an integral part of our life for ten years and surely will be in the future too. How do you do it? That question I am often asked has an answer … with a lot of help from the Franziska Racker Centers.
