URS Adult Services Help Families in the Miami Valley
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – United Rehabilitation Services, also known as URS, provides for the needs of hundreds of children with disabilities here in the Miami Valley but what happens when those kids grow up?
That’s when URS adult services steps in to lend a helping hand.
“You know he’s 23 years old but he’s really 2 years old,” Erica Hubler said.
That’s how Erica Hubler describes her son Kain, who’s been coming to URS since he was just 18 months old.
Kain is blind, has cerebral palsy, and many other challenges but thanks to URS, both mother and son are reaching their full potential.
“I have a career, I have a degree, I have that level of ‘I didn’t worry that he wasn’t being taken care of’ just having that peace of mind has been a huge support for me. There’s nowhere else and even now as an adult even more there’s nowhere else,” Hubler said.
Erica knows that’s true because she explored all the other options for Kain and quickly learned that only URS can meet her family’s needs.
“All the other centers close at 3 o’clock and I’m like ‘who gets off work at 3 o’clock?’ well we can bring him and drop him at your home and ‘who’s gonna stay with him until i get home?’ you know what I mean, so it’s important.” Hubler said.
It’s also just as important for Vickie Bennett and her son Jason, who’s been non-verbal and in a wheelchair his whole life. They can’t imagine their lives without URS.
“It has been a godsend for him and me… I’m a single parent and this allows me to work outside the home I know he’s in a safe environment that he’s being tended to and stimulated they do computers art p.t. and he absolutely loves it,” Vickie Bennett said.
While Jason is busy at URS, Vickie works full-time at a Kettering grocery store, a job that requires some flexibility, but thanks to URS, they make it work.
“I don’t have to ask for special privileges or days just work my schedule because URS works with me on that and him coming here and I don’t know what we would do actually if we did not have URS to come to.”
URS Helps Ease Burden for Local Family
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – They often say it takes a village to raise a child.
It’s a sentiment one Miami Valley family knows all too well. Part of their village is the folks at United Rehabilitation Services.
On a typical day five-year-old Max relies on mom and dad for most of his basic needs.
“I mean it’s really not that hard of a job because he’s so sweet and cute, but,” says his mother Casey.
But for Casey and Jason Boston there are some things that require extra effort. Like getting dressed in the morning.
“He has joints that hyperextend, and his fingers move in the wrong directions, so getting him in a shirt isn’t always the way you would dress a typical child,” Casey said.
The Bostons learned about Max’s chromosome disorder when Casey was pregnant. His condition is so rare there are no other cases with his exact make-up.
Casey said, “So it’s really been a trial and error and learn as we go process, not just for our family, but the multiple specialists that we’ve seen.”
Throughout his five years, Max has seen more than 20 specialists. Before they discovered United Rehabilitation Services, Casey was taking two to three-hour lunch breaks every week to get Max to his different therapies.
Now, five days a week he goes to pre-school, daycare and therapy services all in one place.
Casey said, “So URS has been really helpful in giving us that time back, and that comfort knowing that there are nurses on staff so if something does go south with him quickly, they’re right there and they know to call.”
Most recently, Max has been experiencing seizures and one of his teachers did make that call. Casey made it just in time.
“As I’m talking to the teacher maybe for 5 or 6 seconds, he starts having a seizure.”
Casey says the teachers cleared the classroom immediately while a nurse got his emergency medication and they called 911.
“They were very very supportive. The teachers stayed in the room with me, when the ambulance arrived and to help explain what he had been like leading up to that moment. They were just super super great,” said Casey.
As they learn more about Max’s condition, the Bostons say their goal is to help Max become the best version of himself and to be able to care for himself as best he can.
The staff at URS play a big role.
“They’re really great communicators and I do get text messages from his preschool teacher. She sends me pictures of his day,” Casey said.
They also send Max home with special projects and artwork so mom can proudly display them. A reminder of the connections he’s making every day.
Something his parents hope he’ll carry into adulthood at URS.
“They’ll, you know, know him from when he was going there as a preschooler and build that relationship. And it really is about relationships,” said Casey.
Join us for our annual telethon to benefit URS on WDTN Sunday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
It’s presented by IBEW and NECA. Brian Davis, Mark Allan and Brooke Moore will be on hand taking your pledges.
URS Setting Special Education Students up for Long-Term Career Success
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Northridge High School is partnering with United Rehabilitation Services (URS) to help a group sometimes left behind.
Together, they’re piloting a program that gives students with disabilities the tools and confidence to be successful after high school.
The district’s special education services helped develop a Job and Career Readiness class for its high school and middle school students.
Northridge Superintendent David Jackson says many students in the district’s special education program have limitless potential, but can be discouraged and overwhelmed finding a fulfilling job after high school
“They have these interests and talents and abilities, but they don’t understand what jobs might be available to them,” Jackson said.
Basic life skills like cooking and cleaning make the program similar to a family consumer sciences course, but a partnership with URS helped develop it into a career building seminar.
URS helps students identify their strengths and interests, facilitates site visits to employers and coaches them in everything from resume writing and interviewing to workplace etiquette and maintaining a budget.
Senior Seth Tucker said, “I think it will help me be better at what I do in a job and be more successful.
URS says many local companies welcome employees with learning differences and special needs, and are willing to groom them for skilled positions and career advancement. For many students, it opens up opportunities that weren’t initially apparent to them.
URS Employment Services Manager Jeremy Nelson said, “A lot of industries are really in need of these kinds of workers and a lot of times the student don’t realize there is a need.”
The district says it’s seen a noticeable difference in the attitudes and outlooks of the students in the Job and Career Readiness program.
“Kids are attending school more often, we’ve seen a soaring attendance from the kids in this program and then there’s a new excitement about life,” said Superintendent Jackson.
URS is expanding the program and hoping to make it available for schools around the Miami Valley.
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