Easter Seals Disability Services

Corey

When he was little, Corey Klein wouldn’t go into his family’s four-foot-deep pool unless he was wearing a life jacket, arm swimmies and a tube.  And even then, everyone else had to stay at least five feet away from him.

That’s why it was such a huge accomplishment at Easter Seals camp this summer when Corey jumped into water way over his head and swam several hundred feet between two islands.  Easter Seals camp at Agassiz Village is located on Thompson Lake in Maine.

Corey, who lives in Auburn, has a form of autism that makes it hard for him to communicate with other people.  The Easter Seals camp session he attended was geared to youngsters like him, who benefit from small groups and high staff-to-camper ratios.

This kind, sensitive 13-year-old doesn’t talk a lot about his experiences, but Shelley Klein could tell that her son had a great time at camp.  He made friends, and besides swimming, he liked playing Gold Rush and sliding around in the mud.

His experiences at camp gave Corey better self-esteem and a sense of independence, she believes.

“We always worry about how he will be received,” Shelley said of another camp Corey had attended.  “We had never found a good program where we knew he would be both physically safe and emotionally safe.  At Easter Seals camp, we weren’t worried about him.”

Corey’s parents also appreciate the scholarship that enabled him to attend camp.  “And [Easter Seals Camp Manager] Colleen Flanagan is wonderful,” Shelley added.  “I can’t say enough about her.”

To thank Easter Seals, Corey and his family participated in the Walk With Me fundraiser in Worcester in September.  Next year, they plan to organize a whole team of friends and family members to join them in raising money for Easter Seals services. 

Corey has plans of his own.  He hopes to be back at Easter Seals camp next summer with his friends.

“It’s great to know there’s a camp program like this,” Shelley said.
                            

 Twin brothers Sam and Zak Erickson have always had a great relationship and are getting closer with each passing year. 

But that’s where the similarity ends for these 12-year-old boys, who are sixth-graders at the Atlantic Middle School in Quincy.  Zak likes Harry Potter books, may become a Broadway star and thinks about going to Harvard one day.

Sam is more the construction-manager type.  He’s a gigantic Red Sox fan, asks lots of questions and likes to tell everybody what to do.  He can be charming and funny, but he also has a stubborn streak a mile wide.
 
Sam’s ability to ask questions and advocate for himself will be increasingly important to him in the coming years.  That’s because unlike Zak, Sam has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and has to work hard to make his speech understood.
 
Easter Seals Assistive Technology Specialist Kristi Voelkerding first met Sam and his educational team when he was in elementary school.  With help from Kristi and his teachers, Sam has been working hard to succeed in the classroom and become more independent.

Patti Erickson, his mom, says Kristi and Sam are a great team. “They get along very well,” she said.  “Kristi’s demeanor is kind of quiet, but then she can be very funny.  That all rolls with Sam.”

She and her husband, Jon, also appreciate Kristi’s work with Sam’s teachers. “Kristi is very patient and knows how to politely suggest how things should be done.” Patti added.  “They all appreciate her expertise.  She helps them understand what Sam can do.”

Kristi also is helping Sam’s parents understand the possibilities that are open to him.  “We have aspirations for Sam,” Patti said, “and with help from Kristi and the folks at Easter Seals, he’ll be able to get to where he can go.”

The services Sam is receiving were made possible by a partnership between Easter Seals and the Quincy Public Schools.

Because of a rare disability, this blond, 9-year-old boy can’t speak, walk or use his hands, and his fragile health makes him unable to attend school.  Instead, the Boston Public Schools and Easter Seals are working together to help him and his family at home.

In his summers at Easter Seals camp, Zach Richards did all the typical things that campers do and had a great time in the process.  He also picked up something along the way that most people don’t associate with summer camp work experience.

This North Andover teen and his younger brothers, Tyler and Nathan, are veteran Easter Seals campers who spent many happy summer weeks at Agassiz Village in Maine, starting as campers.   Zach went on to a job as an Easter Seals teen leader and, most recently, a counselor at the camp.

Like his brothers, Zach has coordination and balance difficulties, but he’s good at archery and a lot of other sports.  At camp, he taught archery, helped supervise a boys’ cabin and has been a fine role model for campers both with and without disabilities.

“I got hands-on experience working with kids and I also learned about leadership,” he said of his work at camp.  

Zach is making great use of that experience.  During baseball season, he’s a Little League umpire and groundskeeper and during the school year, he works part-time at a local CVS/pharmacy store.  CVS is a dedicated partner of Easter Seals in providing work experience for people with disabilities.

At CVS, Zach works the registers, unloads trucks and arranges products on shelves, among other things.  One day recently, he even trained a new employee in how to use the registers.

Store manager Mark Quimby hired Zach because he liked his personality.  “It has turned into a really good situation,” he said.  “Zach shows up on time, he’s very bright and he provides great customer service.”

Now 17 and a high school senior, Zach hopes to continue on to a four-year-college next year to study sports management.

With the money he has earned, Zach recently became the proud owner of a 2000 Dodge Stratus.  He took out a loan and is making the payments himself.

“By working at camp, teens like Zach learn professional behavior, develop communication and teamwork skills, build their self-confidence and learn to carry their weight in an employment setting,” Easter Seals Camp Manager Colleen Flanagan said.  “Zach has developed into someone who is independent, hard working and very trustworthy.  He’s a teen you can really count on and he’s also a great guy.”

But the tricycle cost more than Kriss, a single working mother, could afford.

So she turned to the Massachusetts Assistive Technology Loan Program, which offers low-cost loans to people with disabilities or their families so they can buy technology and other devices that will increase their independence. Easter Seals operates the program.

Kriss is grateful to Easter Seals and especially to Leo Tonevski, the loan program coordinator, for helping her through the loan process.  “Leo was just super,” she said.  “He went out of his way to help me.”

Hannah got to choose the tricycle’s color and picked her favorite yellow.  On nice days, she loves going for rides on it on the flat road along the beach near her house. 

“The tricycle has made a huge difference in Hannah’s life,” Kriss said.  “Without it she would have been cooped up in the house, bored out of her mind and very frustrated.  It’s also exercising her legs and it made me realize how out of shape I’ve gotten!”

The Massachusetts Assistive Technology Loan Program is funded through state and federal grants to the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.  Easter Seals handles the loan distribution in partnership with Sovereign Bank.