For many people with physical disabilities, the path to true community inclusion often stops at the bathroom door. That’s because there are hardly any public places with accessible restrooms that also include an adult-size changing table. “It makes you isolated, even more than you already feel as a person with a disability,” said Kim Boulter, …
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Bill Ryan admits to being skeptical about hiring Emma Snailham as a bus assistant for the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. After so many surgeries on her hands, he worried she wouldn’t have the dexterity to safely secure a wheelchair. Ryan may never have been so happily wrong. Not only could Snailham handle the …
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Boundless Health is welcoming patients to a newly renovated facility that will serve as a hub for primary, dental and behavioral-health care for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. “We are going to be one of only a few organizations in the entire country who provide this unique care,” Dr. Patrick Maynard, president and CEO …
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After a two-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Community Star Awards will return on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Villa Milano. The Citizens Committee for Persons with Developmental Disabilities is once again sponsoring the event, which recognizes 12 outstanding individuals and organizations for their service to people in Franklin County. More than 400 people …
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Had it not been for a visit to a special-education classroom with a college dormmate, Dr. Angela Ray might have kept to her initial plan and wound up with a job in public relations. But the school experience affected her deeply. “These are the people I need to serve,” she remembers thinking. Ray graduated from …
Read More The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated the COVID transmission-risk rating for Franklin County from high to medium. In light of that positive change, all facilities operated by the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities will shift safety protocols to mask-friendly or mask optional. “Mask friendly” means that we want staff, …
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For almost all of his life, through childhood and adolescence and well into middle age, Tom Gisler had no way to understand why he felt so different. When he finally was diagnosed with autism, he was 59 years old. “Turns out I wasn’t lazy, I wasn’t stupid,” Gisler, who’s now 63, said with a smile. …
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During the early days of the pandemic, with most schoolwork and socializing taking place on a screen, Sierra Olsen came to an important realization about her future. “I decided that I didn’t want a job where I just sat in front of a computer,” she said. That knowledge eventually led to a summer position with …
Read More Due to the increased number of COVID cases and the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant in our community, we are asking all staff and visitors to wear a mask in buildings operated by the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. This request applies to home visits as well. The Omicron variant is highly contagious …
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The DownSyndrome Achieves (DSA) Biobank is now offering at-home services to families willing to donate biological samples for use in medical research projects. “We’ve partnered with a third-party phlebotomy company to collect blood samples in participants’ homes,” said Lito Ramirez, CEO of DownSyndrome Achieves and the parent of a teen with Down syndrome. “This will …
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