Bones Unfiltered Podcast : Special Needs Edition #9, featuring Sharon Raymond

In Episode #9 of the Bones Unfiltered Podcast : Special Needs Edition, we feature Sharon Raymond.  Sharon shares her family's journey raising her Autistic daughter Jessie, a client of the Lee Specialty Clinic, reflecting on challenges, growth and hope or families navigating Autism.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Bones Unfiltered Podcast. Bones Unfiltered Podcast!

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Gentlemen, welcome to today's episode of the Bones Unfiltered Podcast. This is a special needs edition. I'm your host, Bones, and today I am in the presence of this wonderful young lady sitting right here next to me. Her name is Sharon Raymond, and she is a mom and advocate for her daughter that has autism. Her name is Jessie, and we're gonna get to talk a little bit about everything. This episode is gonna be really jazzy because we not only get to hear the good and the bad sides of a child with autism through the eyes of a mom, but we also and we get to kind of go through her life's journey. But the cool thing about this episode, too, is as you all know and have been watching, we have definitely been very big on wanting to support the Lee Clinic uh here in Louisville, Kentucky. And uh and apparently, I mean, this is a wonderful program that is based uh in here in in Shively in Louisville, but it's really the only one in the area for Kentucky. So they see a lot of people. They got a huge waiting list to get to this wonderful program. But this program is designed for special needs community, mainly adults, uh, where it's kind of a one-stop shop. I mean, they help them through a lot of different things, but also do work hand in hand with a lot of the specialists that these individuals may have. So this is a wonderful program. If for those of you all that are new to this, uh as I am uh slowly unlearning about this awesome program, um, the cool thing about this program is um they do so much good for the community. The sad part about this program is they're they're under unfortunate attack with budgetary cuts. And we want to try to make sure that that doesn't happen because it's people like Jesse, Miss Sharon's uh child here, that well, she's not a child now. Hell, she's an adult. Yes, she's she is now. Um tell me a little bit, Miss Sharon. Um, kind of tell everybody a little bit about let's let's go let's go all the way back to the beginning. So you obviously have this beautiful young lady, which there she is right there. I mean, look at look at that smile on her face. Yes, that is such an adorable picture. So much joy and happiness on that face right there. Yes, but I want you to kind of tell me, like, once you had your you know, Jesse, how long did it take you to find out she was autistic? And what were the triggers that kind of made you start seeing things before you actually found out that kind of said, Hey, something's not right here?

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Well, she was um probably around six to eight months old, and she wasn't reaching her milestones. And um, you know how you express everything to the pediatrician, and the pediatrician says, uh, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry. Well, um the he finally agreed to get first steps in. First steps are the ones that said, Oh, I think there's something more going on, just some speech issues or some OT issues. And we were evaluated at age two from um Weisskoff. It's called Weisskopf back then. And uh uh she was diagnosed at two years old, stating that they never brought up autism, but they said that she had intellectual disabilities and that she will never learn to read, write, or know math at age two. So um I at age four, we finally got the diagnosis of um autism because of all her repetition behaviors, and she's not following two-step commands, and so her journey after after that was just a lot of therapies, um T um uh PT and uh that's that's that we didn't find out till she was 26 years old why she is the way that she is. Um Wow, that's amazing. But but um that's and she had a really difficult time all through school.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

And where'd she go to school at, Sharon?

SPEAKER_03 4:53

She went to school in Oldham County.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Oh, in Oldham?

SPEAKER_03 4:56

In Oldham County, yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Now, did she have a difficult time? Was it was it just because of learning the material or or was there was there some unfortunate bullying that happens, which we all know that tends to happen and especially in schools in younger, younger eras of school.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Uh ours verbally abusive. I don't think from other kids, I don't think she would understand that. It was more that she had 15, maybe 10 to 15 seconds of focus, not there, just wanting to walk around and STEM. And uh her biggest issue was transitions. So if you wanted her to go from one room even to the lunchroom, um she would throw herself in the hallway and sit there, and she would sit there all day.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

No, Dad. So not a big fan of change. She she likes her routine. Is she a routine-driven young lady?

SPEAKER_03 5:54

She is very driven with routine, yes. Um, you know, we we have like a chart on the back wall here, like Monday we're doing this, Tuesday we're doing this, and we have uh what caregivers coming over. Um, she doesn't know how to tell time, so we're trying to teach her how to tell time through colors. Like it's on blue, this is when um, you know, so-and-so's coming over. Um, but we're still working on it, you know. One day she seems to know her colors, and other days she doesn't. So she's tricky.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

It's amazing too how that how that works with them because it's like some of the easiest things they may not get, but then they'll turn around and they'll do something that'll just blow your mind. Right. And you're like, how in the heck can you do that? But you can't remember, like, say, your colors. It's it's so amazing how that works.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Oh, yeah. I mean, she can tell you that's a table, that's a car, that's the sign for target, but she can't tell you that's letter A or letter B or uh letter C. I guess alphabet has no meaning to her.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

So that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Now I did notice, and and I don't know if it if she does, or if this was just coincidental. Um, I did notice. Well, actually, in order for me to do that, I am gonna have to do this. There we go. All right, um, this picture here made me I it I saw it on your when I was stalking your page, I saw it, and I went that I wonder if there's a correlation with this because I tend with autism, it's weird. Musical instruments seem to be a very big theme, yes, with people with autism. Yes, so explain this photo here.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Um so my daughter, um, well, my son, one of his friends at the time could play the piano just by ear, he was great. My daughter, he would come over and he'd start playing, and she would curl up under the piano.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

Yes, so they she just loves music. Um, and I don't know if it's from the vibration, but she wanted to be there under the piano as they as he was playing.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Wow, that's so neat. Yeah, but I yeah, I it is amazing how the autism, it just seems to me like music is a huge proprietor there.

SPEAKER_04 8:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

So uh so I definitely wanted to bring that picture in and just ask you about it because I thought, well, maybe she could play. And you know, it's so amazing that uh how that works too. I you know, I've got a buddy that um, you know, his his kid, you know, I saw the piano and it made me think of that because we were at a party and his kid sits down on this piano and just starts playing, and we're like, wow. I was like, damn, I didn't know your kid could play that good. And he goes, I didn't either, he's never played. And I'm like, how can that just what just blows your mind? Because it's like something like that, yes, that people strive for years to be able to accomplish. Some people, and some people can just like a light switch, just get it. I think it's just unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

Some people, you know, people with autism have a special gift, and her special gift, I think, is that this girl does not forget a name. She um can name people as far back when she was four years old. No doubt has been obsessed with when she was four. She we were at church and she met this uh baby and her name is Katie, and to this day she still looks for Katie, and she doesn't understand that Katie is now, you know, 18 years old. And she remembers more, and you know, I've shown her pictures of Katie growing up, but it just hasn't clicked. But uh, but she she can remember caregivers' names that I can't even remember that she had when she was six or seven.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

That's unbelievable. And I I don't know how she does see. I can I'm terrible with names. Oh, I uh faces now. I can see a face and I can even progressively age that person, go 10 years without seeing them, and then all of a sudden or 20 years, and then you see them at a target, and you're like, I'm like, I I know I know you, but I don't know where, or I don't know your name. And then the next thing you know, we start talking, and it's like, oh yeah, you were so and so, you did this, blah, blah, blah. You know, so uh it but it's amazing how some people can like her can just remember dates, times, you know, names. It's just yes, it's unbelievable. Now we are gonna get into it in a minute because the nice thing about Miss Sharon here is she's gonna kind of share her story about the good and the bad and the ugly of of autism. Because, you know, most most everybody, and same with Facebook. I mean, if you pull up anybody's Facebook pages, what do you generally always see on Facebook?

SPEAKER_03 10:48

You see all happy stuff, all happy stuff.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

That's right. You hardly ever see all the good the bad side of that coin. And and there's good and bad to both. Um, and when I mean bad, I don't mean bad like it eat like she's evil. I mean like she has a bad day. Um they're human just like us, but sometimes their frustrations build to the point where they boil over because they don't know how to properly release that stress.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

And Miss Sharon's gonna kind of talk about this, and she sent me some photos that we're gonna get into here in a minute. Um take us through the a bad time, like okay, take us through a day of the bad time that you've experienced.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

All right. So, well, during um while she was in school, I would get phone calls throughout today throughout the day. Um, I've even had um the police come to my door saying, you know, need to go pick up your daughter. And this was like in in middle school not middle school, it was more high school, just because she could not handle um the noise situation or the clutter of all the kids or stuff on the wall. And she would hit peers, she would um do property destruction, and nobody seems to know what her triggers were. That's the hard thing, is and still to this day we don't know what her triggers are. I mean, she was worked with um, you know, uh behavioral analysis, and she's still in the in with behaviorals, so she has come a long way. Um, but you know, one minute she could be happy as can be, and the next minute she's throwing things off the table or you know, throwing a planter across the room without reason. Um multiple times she's happy, she's eating, and the next thing you know, her food goes flying across the room. And we're like, Jess, why did you just throw that? She she can't answer why questions. So we're we're working on that is to, you know, Jesse is verbal. Um, she can express her wants and needs, but to s really have a conversation with her, you can't really have a conversation like if you say, How was your day? You know, you can't give her open-end questions. But but um, you know, I do I do this alone. Um, you know, her father um uh left her in in in her she has two two older brothers, and he um left her when she was about seven or eight and said he never wanted to see her anymore.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

Contact with the boys, and that was really hard on the boys, you know, saying, you know, you want to see us, but not our sister. But anyway, um so there was a time where she was so out of control that we had those um uh the MFN or the you know, the fighting thing, the pads that you hold. We've had to hold we had those pads like kickboxer uses, so you hold those pads just as protection because she would um come at you and try to hit you or push you, and nobody knows why. Um there are times where she would flip over the dining room table, she would uh throw things out of the cupboard, so everything has locks on it. Um, and she can do a lot of property destruction, but not know why she's doing it.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Yeah. Now it was the school that she went to was in Oldham County, was it was it set up to deal with the special needs community, or was it really not they didn't really have a very strong program? Because I know some schools kind of specialize in that, yeah, whereas others don't.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

When she was in elementary school, um I would say no. Um, they did not. They did not know how to, and again, she's 26 years old, so they didn't know how to handle a child with autism. I mean, they would sit her in a chair and put blinders up to try to keep her, you know, so she wouldn't get distracted. That didn't work. Um was the hardest for. I ended up taking her out of high school. Uh, middle school was her best because and it was a lot because of the teacher. Um I'll give her a shout out. It's it's uh her name's Kelly, and she's a wonderful um uh was a middle school teacher. She's retired now, but I mean her heart and soul went into all of her kids in high school. The teacher that she had was a new teacher. She would put up uh Jesse would transition in in the hallway and it was too overwhelming. She'd sit down, they'd tell her to get uh wrestling mats and wrestling mats, not because she was aggressive, it was because um they didn't want to show her any attention during that time. And the teacher in front of her would say, Don't talk to her, don't look at her. And that is so inappropriate because she knows what you're talking about, and she's going through a hard time, but yet you're telling other people not to try to console her or to or to help her. Help her.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Yeah, and that's BS.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Oh, yeah, it was terrible.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

The high school and it's amazing how some schools they've got the program where it's very nice, and then some people they unfortunately their their community just doesn't have that kind of resource, right? And uh, and some people just don't know how to deal with those kind of outbursts because it is if you've never experienced one, it is interesting, uh and it is kind of daunting um when they do lash out because they don't know what they're doing. So you you you get aggravated. I know I even I would get so aggravated with my son with some of the stuff he would do. And even if it was non-violent stuff, just you know, just just simple some of the things that he does, I'm like, why would you think that is even okay to do? And but and it's just because I tend to sometimes forget myself that I need to put myself in their shoes to try to see it through their eyes. And I'm not very good at doing that myself at times, but um I think now the when she found the Lee Clinic, did they is that what they specialize with her? Is it's kind of behavioral?

SPEAKER_03 17:38

Yeah, behavioral, yes. And they're the ones that found her genetic diagnosis.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Oh, they did, no doubt.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

And she has a condition that's only 130 in the world have it, but it's you know, it's autism, it's sleep disorders, it's um uh neurological disorders. Um, and it's called Shine syndrome. And so, you know, she had been on 17 or 18 different medications um to try to find something that would help regulate her, but they've all made her worse, and they finally found something that's working for her. But uh, we're in the process of uh now uh thinking that she might have another genetic disorder where some medications aren't gonna that she can't take. So they are a blessing in disguise because they are the only ones that will keep digging and digging to find out how to help her instead of you know just pushing her off to the side and saying, Oh, let's try this medication or this medication. And so I can't say enough good things about Lee Clinic. They are the ones um Jesse was at a camp um through um a Christian camp, and one of the people, one of the people that uh was working with her in the cabin saw that Jess was um basically in crisis mode, you know, crying all the time, not you know, not wanting to do anything, not wanting to transition. And she happened to be a crisis nurse at the Lee clinic who didn't know me, who didn't know Jess, but just knew Jess for that weekend. And she says, I think we can help you. Let's get you into this clinic. And from there on, they have just been a blessing.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

That is awesome. Now you said too, uh, a lot of the a lot of the help from organizations, it took you a while to get to that. Um, would you say she was 16 before she started actually getting some assistance? Um, or maybe I'm thinking myself, because I know that was pretty much the case with us with Brandon. It took a long time.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

Um well through all through high school, um one of the uh higher ups in the special ed department was was bending over backwards for her. I do have to say that. Um they were trying to get her in to different schools, and it was going to be on Oldham County. They would pay for that because in the public, they if they cannot provide a service, they have to find a service. So we try they tried all these special ed schools, none of the special ed schools would take her because of her um aggression, because of elopement, because she needed one-on-one. And even though they provided one-on-one, one school had told her, Well, she has trouble with transition, so if she sits down in the parking lot, that'll make us liable. And I'm like, Well, that's what you guys deal with. And and it was like, I think $25,000 school that the Oldham County was going to pay for, but yet they said, nope, the the school's not gonna take her.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

And that's a shame. And you know what? A part of me, and I may be wrong, it's just my opinion, folks. But I think lawyers are to blame for that because I think we've we've allowed this country to get to where you can sue for every damn thing that if a kid would sit down in a parking lot, you're liable. And it's like, are we really having to deal with this kind of crap? But uh, but the answer sadly is yeah, and yeah, what a shame.

SPEAKER_03 21:25

Um has to deal with it, you're a professional.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Yeah, you would think, yeah, you would think it's like that's part of your job, you know.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

Now you sit there with her and you protect her until she's ready to get up where you get two people and hoist her up and walk her in.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

That's right. Now you're saying that uh I did not know that she has insomnic episodes.

SPEAKER_04 21:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Um, so you just mentioned that now. Uh tell everybody how that affects you because obviously, if you if you've got a child uh it at her level of autism that is insomnic, well, that can also be a Recipe for disaster because she could get up in the at three in the morning and do God knows what. Yeah. So with you doing it alone, that's gotta be really trying on you. So kind of walk us through how you deal with something like that.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Well, you you have to do what you gotta do. So there would be times where she would do get two to three hours of sleep, and then up it was uh busy things like trying like one day she took everything out of the cupboards, everything out of the refrigerator, and just put it all in the living room. And so you just gotta let her do it because if you stop her, you know, you gotta pick your battles, I guess. You know, don't I want to get you know, beh have see the behaviors, have more destruction, or do I just let her go ahead and do this and then we'll deal with it um at when she's sleeping, I'll just go ahead and clean it up kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Damn, that's amazing. And because I don't know if I I I don't have the patience, like it says a lot about you that's unbelievable. But you're right, you do got to pick your battles, yeah. Um, and then and and speaking of the picking those battles, we're gonna go ahead now that we're talking about this. Uh we're gonna show uh Miss Sharon was nice enough to to send me some some photos that a lot of people may not because a lot of people may be like, Well, I don't want to show that it's kind of an it may be embarrassing or whatever, but this is the kind of stuff that people with that have special needs children may have to deal with. She was this time. Say that again.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

She was in crisis at this time, meaning that um this lasted for probably like a week, this kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

No doubt. Yeah, but what here's here's the first photo I'm gonna bring up, and I'm gonna let Sharon tell you all about it.

unknown 23:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Well, now what room of the house? I'm assuming this is probably your dining room.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Yes, it's the dining room, and that is a uh wooden table that seats um six people, and it had the the leaf in it. So it was and it it's amazing how strong these these kids are. She was in high school when she did that, and we don't know what caused it. We you know, she's this is when uh a caregiver was with her. I had to come home from work, you know. Thank god my employer was so understanding because I just have to pick up and leave. And we called the behavioralists out, and then when she calms down, we just have to clean it up.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Now I see the table up at the top. Now, what's the what's the uh rectangular? It it almost looks like a cabinet of some sort.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

The cabinet, and so I've had to um take the cabinet, shove it up against the wall. She just flips it up, flipped it over, and it was and if you don't allow her to do this, then she's gonna come after you.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Oh, so the violence turns towards the human instead of the object, correct? Wow, so and that could be scary because I mean, obviously, I mean, she's 26 years old, folks, and she can flip tables, and you know, so so she's she's strong. So just imagine what she could do. Yeah, and this is what she does someone else, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:33

Right. I mean, she would never pick up an object to hurt you, and we she I don't think she understands that she's hurting you, she's trying to tell you something and we don't know what it is, and that's the frustration just builds, yes, God love her, yeah, and then the next day she could just be happy as can be and cooperative and loving, and you know, but days like those, you just want to cry for her. It's like what is going on that could cause anybody to feel that kind of I don't want to say rage because it wasn't rage, it was more like find trying to find a relief.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

Yeah, yeah. What what a that's so sad.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

But here's another one now. Tell us now. This uh obviously is it's slightly different room, maybe. I see we're by some steps. Would yes, what exactly was this uh that she flipped over?

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Uh that was uh just a shelf that I would put her laundry on, and that could just be a matter of her, you know, because um I have like um a living room, I have like a big square. Okay, so she paces around the house and she goes to four different rooms, and then um when she gets um agitated or something uh we don't know what it is, she'll just flip it over and get angry, and we don't know why. That's our biggest thing, and that's what the Lee Clinic has done for us. Now, she hasn't had an episode like this probably in about four years, I'd say.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

And that's due to the Lee Clinic, due to the wow, absolutely, yes. There you go, ladies and gentlemen. If if that if that's right there, that story that Miss Sharon just said, if that doesn't tell you how amazing and beneficial the Lee Clinic is just from that story alone, I don't know what the hell would. Yeah, because four years of not having a violent outburst like that because of the great people at the Lee Clinic that are working with Jesse, helping her find appropriate releases, that's that's just unbelievable. Right, right, it is unbelievable that it's gone four years that she said that's not not to jinx it and knock on some wood, you know.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

But uh wow, don't do minor things, she'll still throw her food, um hitting so you know, not hitting like she used to. Um you know, once in a while she did, but it wasn't on a daily basis like it was before.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Wow, that's that's awesome progress. I'm loving hearing that. Yeah, here's another photo. Now, obviously, this is uh facing into your kitchen.

SPEAKER_04 28:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

She had a whole box of something that hadn't even been opened yet. She threw on through on the ground along with all this other stuff. And then is that your refrigerator that she literally moved out of the hole that where it was at?

SPEAKER_03 28:44

Yes, she removed she put she pulled the refrigerator all all the way across the room.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

Gee, many Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 28:53

It wasn't even um, you know, it was not like she was after food or anything.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

Right. She just was releasing whatever pent-up aggression that she needed to get out. Yes, God love her, yes, but that shows I mean that's some some hella strength right there, especially a refrigerator.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

Yes, and and that's the thing with you know, um, people with who are autistic and they get into these rages, they are so unbelievably strong. And it's you you just gotta let them do it. You know, I don't I you know, even the behavioral, you know, she's had a lot of behavioral help. And they're like, you know, just once she's done, then we talk about it, then she tries to help clean it up, but she's gotta, you know, go calm down and then we come back to it.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

Now that she's you know, older and she does throw something, she will go pick it up now.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

So oh, nice. So well, that shows great progress right there.

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Oh, yes, yeah. I mean, she'll go do her have Jesse time that gives her time to calm down, and then come back and start cleaning it up, and she'll even apologize now.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

So wow, and hella good progress then.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

That's really that's something else. Here's another yet another photo, folks. I mean, she flipped over a recliner. I mean, that's uh and well that's the oh yeah, there's the fridge, yeah. Yeah, so so this was a whirlwind of just right. This was probably were were all four of these photos, were they all in in conjunction of each other at the same time period, same same event, or was a few of them uh at maybe different times?

SPEAKER_03 30:46

Different times, different times, and if you notice like the fireplace, and I I can't have anything on any shelves or anything.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

See how there's nothing on the yeah, there's no knickknacks, no knickknacks, no nothing.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

It's a very m minimalistic house.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

But I guess I could see why you do that, because if not, you're that's just more crap that you gotta pick up or that could potentially get destroyed or anything else.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Yeah, you got a beautiful house though.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Yeah, I tell you what, that's those are thanks for sharing those photos. Um I know I know that's probably you know, some people couldn't have done that.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

Yeah. Um But you know, there's a lot of people out there who don't see what it's like with somebody who has profound autism, who can't explain their feelings, who um you know it's not all about their little quirks or or you know, things like that. It it's it's a day it's a day-to-day struggle, you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Now is she the only child you have that has autism?

SPEAKER_03 31:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

So the boys everything was turned out okay with them and yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:05

There's no autism in either side of the family.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Um you know so she was the first in your family that you're aware of.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Yeah, so she's now 26. Now, did she with what what did she um did they have well you said you pulled her from school, so I guess this question is gonna be pointless, but um did you w work her all the way up with schooling through the age of 21? Um I know like my son, he went to DuPont Manual, yeah, and he got to he got to quote walk the aisle, but he didn't really get to graduate. Like he got it, but it wasn't like legit, I guess. And then he ended up transitioning, going to Aaron's trade school until he was 20, till he was 21 years of age, and then of course they helped him with job placements.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

Yeah, oh that's nice. Um yeah, we I took her out at uh I think she was it was mid school, she's maybe 17 and a half. Um, so no didn't know nothing, but you know we were just going through the motions and it was more upsetting to her. I mean, I could drive try to drive, I would they tried sending a bus. She wouldn't get on the bus. You know, there there are days she wouldn't get on the bus. Then I'd have to drive her to school, and then when we got to school, I couldn't get her out of the car. Um, you and it took three people to get her out of the car one time because I'm like, I got to get to work. I got her, and you know how awful that is to feel to say, Here, drag my child out of the car so I can go to work.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

Yeah, but sadly, I mean, being a single mom, you had to. Yeah, like you you had to make tough decisions you may not have wanted to do, but you're like, Well, it's gotta happen. Right. Oh man. Now, what were what what did you do in job wise? Or or are you still doing the same thing? What do you do job wise?

SPEAKER_03 34:07

Ultrasound tech.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

So really now. Do you do it at hospitals or do you do it at doctors' offices?

SPEAKER_03 34:13

Doctor's office. So if I don't show up, then their patients don't get the help that they need. So it's right. I mean, it was the anxiety was unbelievable when she was in school. And every day it is. It's like, is the caregiver gonna show up today? There are caregivers who say, Well, um, I'm not gonna work for this kind of money um on somebody who at this level, I want to go work with somebody who's on a level one and get the same pay.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Oh, so level one would be no no real worry of violent outbursts, or it's like easy peasy.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

And whereas Jesse's on the other side of that spectrum.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

And believe it or not, Jessie um, because of her this genetic disorder, she has what they call, I think it's a taxia, where it's motor planning. So she can't get dressed by herself, she can't brush her teeth, she can't wash her hair. Um, just because she can't doesn't know the motion. Like if you tell her to close her eyes, she can't close her eyes. If you tell her to um, you know, put your hand on your shoulder, she can't do that. But if she's got a scratch on her shoulder, she'll go like that.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

You know.

SPEAKER_03 35:33

All the motor. So so the caregiver has a lot of responsibility. You know, they've got to get her ready, they've got to make her food, they've, you know, they've got to see how much make sure that she chews her food because we've been in the hospital a few times with her taking such big bites that it gets stuck in her esophagus and then they have to go scope her. So, you know, it's it's the it's the point where, you know, caregivers, I think, are so important that they need to be paid on the work that they're doing, not versus everybody fits under the same umbrella.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Right. Well, and I can understand that. If it's you know, it's kind of like a lot of businesses do the um, you know, if you work second or third shift, you get shift if. Right. You know, well, it should be yeah, I I I totally can see that. If if you have a child that's on a spectrum that it kind of hits a a more higher level of intensity like that, then yeah, I I can s I totally agree with you. I could see, and I can see why people want to take the easy road out. Right. Um, but that doesn't help somebody like her, you know.

unknown 36:44

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

And here's let's just show another another picture of Jesse. I mean, she's so stinking cute. And I mean, look at her. And she obviously she loves purses. Uh because there's a lot of lot of photos with a lot of different handbags.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

You will not see her without a bag.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

No doubt. So she loves it. Now, does she got her her cool special stuff in there? Is there is there certain things that have to be in her purse at all times and go with her? Uh or is she just kind of just it just depends on the moment?

SPEAKER_03 37:15

I think it depends on the moment.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Does it?

SPEAKER_03 37:18

But yes, but you do not go in her bag without letting her know first.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

It took me a long time to figure that out. It's like, well, I wouldn't want somebody just going through my purse.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

No, and that's true. Yeah, I'm yeah, I can respect that.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Oh, just you got a baby doll in here, and but you have to because she'll leave uh uh an old food in there or she'll leave an old drink in there, and and oh no doubt. There's where she would want to go out with two bags, one backpack and another one. And that we've got her down to you're allowed to take one bag a day, but I tell you, that's one thing she collects. We probably have about 30 or more different bags, and she's allowed to pick one each day.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

That's so awesome. Yeah, Miss Valerie says she's very beautiful, and she is very, very pretty young lady for sure.

SPEAKER_03 38:14

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

And yeah, she is she definitely strong, Valerie. You're right about that. Now, did you uh did you happen to go? Uh, were you able to go? I couldn't. I had by the time I found out about all this, I'd already had stuff scheduled. Um, were you able to go on Friday to back to the uh courthouse? Or not courthouse, the annex building in Frankfurt where they were doing the uh hearings on the Lee Specialty Clinic, Medicaid cuts and all that stuff. Were you able to go?

SPEAKER_03 38:42

I was able to go to the Lee Specialty one, which was a huge turnout, and we were so blessed that uh everybody came out. Um, they had one, the main uh room, and then they had four overflow rooms um of people saying how important the lee clinic is, and uh it the support was just unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

And for those of y'all have never been down there, I've been down. It's those rooms are not small. No, they're they're large rooms, and um so to have four rooms that are filled by people with Lee Clinic. Oh, five.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

There were five because you had the main room and then there were four overflow rooms.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Oh, but well, there you go. Well, that's that just shows the magnitude of the amount of people that were there, yes, and uh, and of course, some of the photos, like um, you know, I might even have uh one of the photos from the other day of uh a lot of the yellow shirts. Um let's see, I think it's this one, and um, yeah, well, this was them outside the Lee Clinic, so they weren't this was not taken uh actually at the court, but that's it just shows the outside of their building too. It's very, very nice structure, very nice place. And and and I've heard Ariel said it's beautiful on the inside.

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Yes, it is, it's very nice. And uh an another shout out to the Lee Clinic, you know, my daughter has to have lab work a couple times a year. And we went from having to, and they this was with my permission, um, having to put her in an adult papoose to take her blood, and believe it or not, that papoose was very calming for her because it kind of gave her a big hug. Um, so she went from that to maybe taking an hour just to sit on the table. Now, how many places are gonna allow you to at your own pace lay on a table to get lab work drawn?

SPEAKER_01 40:49

Oh, yeah. No, hardly no place.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

There was one time they waited two hours for her to finally get comfortable for them to do lab work, and she now can go in there without me, without a papoose, and just lay there and get her arm drawn or get her blood drawn.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

No doubt. So she's progressed that far. That's awesome. Yes, that is really awesome. And and Ariel said in the my last podcast, she said, and and it it it goes with what Miss Sharon's saying here, folks. You know, that shows how patient the Lee Clinic is because they've had Ariel was saying that they when she was doing her clinicals, they had a patient that did not want to come in, just didn't want to get out of the car. So, guess what? The the good staff at Lee Clinic, they went to him in the parking lot. They sure took care of it there.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

They did that with my daughter multiple times.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

Oh, really? No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

She came out to the car, she would see Jesse in the car. Dr. Swanson, who's her psychiatrist, he would come out and talk to her in the car because she wouldn't get out. And you're not gonna take her out when it's you know 10 degrees out and fear that she's gonna sit on the ground because uh heat or um coldness doesn't really affect her when she's got her mind put to something.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:18

Out in the parking lot. So many times they that they have a uh behavioralist there, they would come out to the car to try to talk to her. She's had her speech and her OT all come out. Every everyone is willing to come out to the car and help you either get them in the car or try to do what they can for them while they're in the car.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

That is so awesome.

SPEAKER_03 42:39

Another place, I don't know of any place in the state of Kentucky that would do that.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

No, I don't I I don't either. And nowadays, I mean they they definitely want to get rid of you as fast as possible. They do, and um generally, and not saying lee clinic folks. I'm saying I'm talking like if you go to a doctor, I mean, everything is so fast-paced because you know, we're all so very impatient people.

SPEAKER_03 43:06

Yeah, well, and doctors on a lot of doctors now that there's this where the hospitals own the doctors, the doctors are being told what to do. You get this much time with this patient, you get this, this, and this. So they don't even have the time to do that.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

And see, and that's a shame. It may kind of make you wonder, you know, is it is it possible that we could. I understand everything in today's world is fast-paced, and I get that, but is sometimes it makes me fear fearful that it are we getting so fast paced that we could actually make mistakes because we're rushing too fast, right? Um, that kind of makes me wonder sometimes, you know. But um, this picture here was actually this was one of them that was just from the last their last meeting, which was on Friday.

SPEAKER_04 43:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Um, and that's them obviously they didn't. Have the so much of the yellow shirts, but they got the the uh the the uh green signs now.

SPEAKER_03 44:05

Right. And that was for they wanted to cut the Medicaid um you know by four percent this year, and then I think it was either six or seven percent next year. So that means your caregivers would have to take a pay cut, her case manager would take a pay cut, uh her community guide would take a pay cut when these people haven't gotten raises in years. So uh that's what that whole thing was about is why are you reducing Medicaid by four percent? Uh, and you're you're picking on the vulnerable people who can't speak for themselves. Um, I have I reached out to my senator and she called me back, and she has always been there for me. And then she had another uh gentleman by the name of Michael Hall, who was um pretty high up in the Medicaid. I I I don't know what his title is, but he called and he said, Don't worry that day. He's called me after the meeting. He goes, There's not going to be a pay cut, but nobody else knows that. And that's what he had told me, but I haven't been able to see it anywhere that they are not going to do the pay cut.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

I hope they don't.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

You know, because you know what's what's really sucks about, especially the Lee Clinic, is they deal with the the adults. Yeah and and and I had mentioned this once before, and I'm gonna say it again that you know that in my opinion, the the those are the ones that they take from first, and they're the ones that you know Jesse's fortunate she has a loving mother that's that's her advocate and that takes good care of her. But there's a lot of people out there, folks, that once especially we age, you know, people start dying off in your life, and when that happens, then next thing you know, these adults that are disabled now become alone.

SPEAKER_04 45:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

Uh, and sometimes the only people they may have is like the Lee Clinic to help keep their life in with some sort of structure.

SPEAKER_04 46:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 46:04

And the thought of wanting to take that away is just and then I noticed on the news after they did, you know, the uh save the lee clinic thing, you know, the picture I just showed and stuff on Friday, you know, they had mentioned the fact that um they had mentioned sorry, I'm sorry, I gotta this damn phone lady keeps calling me trying to tell me about some PlayStation crap. And I swear I thought I blocked her a thousand times, but it's still it always keeps bringing her name up with different numbers, so it's always somebody trying to scam some crap, but anyway, I lot sorry about that, folks. Uh I was trying to shut that up and it just didn't work. Um I forgot where I was going with that. Uh oh, they they were talking on the news about how they were also saying, well, now it's hard for the Lee Clinic, you know, to get staff. And I I'm sitting there thinking, well, you think you just threatened to axe the program and and it was saved for the next fiscal year, but but but it's like I'm not a very smart man, but if you've if you've threatened to axe a program and it's saved, but it's only saved for sure for the next fiscal year, then why the hell do you think it would be easy to find people that would want to possibly start working at a lee clinic knowing that maybe they only have 365 days before they got to start sending resumes out again, potentially to go find a job somewhere else. Why would anybody want to put themselves through that? Right. So it's kind of a to me, it's kind of a double-edged sword, too. It you know, it's you wonder why you're shocked you can't get nobody to work. Well, of course they can't. You're threatening to take these people's program and flush it. Yes, so I you know, I hope and pray that that does not happen. Brandon, he's not a part of this program as of yet, but there's nothing to say that he couldn't eventually get on the list and become one because my son now is 27, 27, so he's roughly about the same age as Jesse.

SPEAKER_03 48:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

Now, how long did it take for Jesse to have to wait before she got picked up by the Lee Clinic?

SPEAKER_03 48:18

Um, she was not on a waiting list because uh the crisis nurse is the one who suggests that Jesse's in crisis. We need to get her in now.

SPEAKER_01 48:28

Oh, that's awesome. So there's exceptions to the rules where they can actually push, they can kind of finagle people in the ones that they see need the biggest flags of need get to be chosen first.

SPEAKER_03 48:42

Well, I and honestly, I didn't know anything about the Lee Clinic at the time, so I don't know if there was a waiting list back then. So and so I really don't know if there was a waiting list. I know there's a waiting list now for the dental is like four years just to get into the dental. But you know, it's never the sooner you get on that waiting list, the better outcome is gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 49:07

And we may look into that with Brandon because you know, he he doesn't he doesn't have well, unless we get him dental insurance, he's he's got Medicaid voice. I mean, it's hard finding even people with Medicaid, you know, people that want to pay for you know, dental-wise, they just don't most don't want to participate in it, right? So, and I don't know why that is. Do you do you know why that is?

SPEAKER_03 49:30

Why um they don't take Medicaid?

SPEAKER_01 49:33

Yeah, why the why so many of them want to avoid it? Is it just because the cost is just set at such a low rate that and it's fixed to where it's like they're like, why even bother?

SPEAKER_03 49:42

That's my opinion, yes.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

So, yeah, and that's what I kind of thought too, based on what I've seen. I'm like, eh, you know.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

And you know, UL and U of K dental schools are supposed to be great, but they have waiting lists, and my daughter needs sedation with um dental, and um and right now the Lee Clinic doesn't have sedation, they don't offer sedation at this time, but they they're working their butts off to get it. Um and I had to pay six thousand dollars on a pocket because she needed um some uh caps on her teeth, and I didn't want to put the silver caps on them.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:24

Poor girl's gotta have some dignity, you know. I don't want her right be try to stay up on her teeth brushing twice a day. She's a you know, it's it's really a shame. And you know, U of L wasn't putting people under sedation, and UFK had a huge waiting list, so you know that's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 50:48

Well, I hope legal look well, I hope they get it, of course. I guess and before they get that, they're gonna, you know, we're gonna have to win the battle on the hill here and and save the Lee Clinic indefinitely. And I sure hope they do, because in my opinion, I I think I think a government waste we we spend a lot of money on some pretty asinine programs that we it that it's like what what's really the financial benefit of knowing this knowledge? Yeah, you know, and some of these programs that I've seen, if they're true, I mean I don't know anymore. You gotta take a grain of salt of everything you hear or see because it everything can be misconstrued so easily anymore, right? Um, and you get so much different types of information, you it's hard to determine which one's real and which one's not.

SPEAKER_03 51:36

Correct. Um but the uh all of us went through was it it was uncalled for, you know, they had the money, yeah, but they wanted to, you know, we had to go through all this anxiety. What are we gonna do? I've gotta find a new psychiatrist before her medication runs off. Of course, the lead clinic would would give her refills up to a certain point, right? But to find a psychiatrist in that amount of time, and then you know, it it's like, come on, guys, we have enough on our plate already. Yeah, need any more. Why would you do this? Why would you take this away?

SPEAKER_01 52:19

And and especially like you doing it alone, that makes it even worse, you know. You know, my wife and I she does the majority of that stuff. And I see, I mean, hell, that paperwork that you gotta do every year, and you gotta do it. Yeah, um, that is it it's actually harder. I think, my opinion, it's harder to have a handicapped adult than it is to have a handicapped child because there's so much more red taped BS that you have to jump through.

SPEAKER_04 52:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 52:50

Um, once your child turns 18, um, it it's be that it's a whole new headache that's added every year to your plate.

SPEAKER_03 52:59

Right. And if you don't get guardianship at 18 and you take your child to the doctor, then they won't tell you anything because get sued, even though your child's probably in a wheelchair and not verbal, they still won't. Yeah. Most important thing is to get that guardianship because you know, then you don't get anything, you know, that guardianship. But um, there's just no services out there um for adults. Um a lot of day programs are not up to par. Um, you know, because she doesn't go to a day program. She goes once once a week. I mean, she goes one day a week. Um, and she goes to an autism um it's not uh Dreams is wings, it's uh called BCA, and it's for socialization and life skills.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

I haven't heard of that one. Yes, I've heard of the other one, but not BC. You say BCA?

SPEAKER_03 53:55

BCA, yeah. Bluegrass uh autism center. And um where's that located? Do you know Fern Creek?

SPEAKER_01 54:03

It's out in Fern Creek. Oh, it's it's near me.

SPEAKER_03 54:06

Yeah, and they are they are amazing there. Um and they took Jesse right in and said, Don't worry, we got her, we got this, and and she loves it.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

So I'm so glad that she likes that program.

SPEAKER_03 54:22

Yeah, and we've tried others, and you know, it's a lot of it's sitting around doing nothing. So it's and I and that was the problem with the residential homes. I could just go on and on. Residential homes, if you don't go to their day program, you you know, you're almost you almost have to follow what they want you to do, even though they say they don't, you do, unless you go over there every day, pick them up and tell them where you know, and drive them around. So I just see my daughter go into a day program five days a week. I know we work, but to do um the same thing over and over and over. Right color, you know, maybe go on a field trip once in a while. Right day, you know.

SPEAKER_01 55:13

Now, now with you, well, that's another thing too that people don't realize is you know, when the government's when we're all in limbo and they're threatening to shut all this stuff down, well, that affects people, especially somebody like Miss Sharon here, because Miss Sharon, uh again, for those of y'all that may start late, she's single mom raising you know, an autistic child, uh, I shouldn't say child used to be a child, now she's a woman, and she's got an autistic woman that she now raises. And for you, when they're threatening to do all these cuts, I mean, that also means that she's got to take unnecessary vacation time to get stuff re-accomplished, like she said, specialist. That that that would if she had to go through and revamp all of that, that is a lot, a lot of time.

SPEAKER_04 56:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 56:04

And she's also a mom that still has to work to provide, right? She's got to work to provide because not only does she have an autistic child, she's got one that by the grace of God has been doing really well with with the behavioral side of things, but has had outbursts. So that also is very tricky. Um, because like she said before, trying to get people, trying to get people that are willing to participate in Jesse's life for that just in case she does have an outburst, they don't really want to put themselves in that situation. Well, that that makes finding someone to replace even harder. Correct. Like I can I can only imagine what you have to go through, you know. And even my wife, that paperwork she fills out. I if she if she dies, I don't know what the hell would happen because I have no clue about that crap. No, yeah, it's I am so blind when it comes to that.

SPEAKER_03 56:59

Well, she's got a great case manager that helps me and a community guide that helps me, but we didn't get geez, a community guide for about uh two years, two years ago that I even knew that that was a thing, and they help you with applications and now is that uh the community guy you're talking about?

SPEAKER_01 57:19

Is he is he part of the uh CLS program as well?

SPEAKER_04 57:23

Yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

And I just started that. Okay, I started that with Brandon partly because of what you just said. You know, you you even said yourself that Jesse hasn't had one in a while.

SPEAKER_03 57:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 57:37

Well, she probably hadn't had one in a while because they probably don't have enough of them out there to send to everybody.

SPEAKER_03 57:42

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 57:42

Uh and I think that's why eventually it was opened up to me to be able to do stuff for Brandon because Brandon hadn't hadn't he hadn't had a CLS worker in I don't know, probably probably over four years, four or five years, I guess, maybe even longer. So there was a lot of benefits that he was supposed to be getting that he never was because they just didn't have anybody to fill that void. Well, now they allow CLS workers to be family, so like the wife's the boss, and I'm the one that does the CLS stuff, and then she approves things.

SPEAKER_04 58:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 58:16

Um, but it's nice, it's nice to be able to get him, you know, to be able to do that kind of stuff. Correct. But see, but like Miss Sharon, she can't. You really couldn't do the CLS stuff and be the guardian and work a job to support your family. I mean, it's unless she could clone herself, which I'm sure if you could, you probably would.

SPEAKER_03 58:39

You know, people say, Oh, you know, you pay parents to stay at home to watch, watch your their children, but they usually have a spouse because I had to work to have insurance, health insurance for myself and for my um my boys.

SPEAKER_00 58:56

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

I didn't have a choice to to be her CLS worker because I needed to have insurance, right? Self-insurance.

SPEAKER_01 59:07

So now here this young lady here, apparently. This young lady I'm about ready to show in this photo. This young lady was very uh pivotal uh with the developmental processes of of Jesse, you know, in regards to helping Sharon. And apparently this young lady did a really good job, apparently.

SPEAKER_03 59:29

April, we love her, and unfortunately, she passed away, and that was oh, did she really? It was a such a hard thing we we she went through, but oh, that's so sad to hear.

SPEAKER_01 59:45

Yeah, because yeah, because I didn't know that. I knew that I knew that obviously something happened, and I figured she probably had just changed jobs or something and was just no longer um you know helping with with Jesse, but apparently, no, that was no, what a shame. Because look at the beautiful smile on that lady's face. Oh my gosh, she was she looked like she could light a room up with that smile.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:07

She was one of um she worked with Jesse at the school and said, you know, I can help you out at home. And she wasn't afraid to to just get right in there and help out, I tell you.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:23

That's so sad. When did she pass, if you don't mind me asking?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:27

Um, probably seven, eight years ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:34

Oh my gosh. So it's been a long time.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:36

Yeah, it's it's been a while, but I tell you what, Jesse won't forget her.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:41

Oh, I bet not. And she was, you know, Jesse was lucky enough to have that lady in her life at least for a little while.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

Yes, and Jesse also has um her middle school teacher, Kelly Blemens. Um she helps still helps out with Jess, even though she's a retired teacher, she still uh Scott Jesse stole a piece of her heart, and she will still come and help out with Jess. So, you know, there's a lot of good people out there that do make a an good impact, you know, a positive impact.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:14

That's awesome. Now, this young, this uh, this little guy here, um, I think this little guy is he's not well not so little anymore, but this little guy here. Yes, there was a video, which I tried, ladies and gentlemen, I tried to steal the video from Sharon's page to where I could show she had a reel of Jesse with Bailey uh as a puppy. So the I don't know how old he was at the time, but he was obviously he was definitely a not a puppy puppy, like like eight weeks, but he looked he looked older than that, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:51

But only about eight weeks at that time.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:54

Was he really? Wow, he looked huge. Well, of course, he is a big dog. Because he now he's a uh is he a uh he's a golden doodle. Golden doodle. That's yeah. Yeah, I was drawing a blank.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:07

Well, anyway, I wanted to I tried to get this video for you all, folks, because this reel, and and and if you if you know Sharon and you haven't seen it, go look at her page. You'll you'll find reels, you'll see a video with Jesse with the puppy, but it's it's very sweet, but but it also shows a side of autism that you you know where they have to be watched. Because with autistic kids, sometimes they don't realize that they get they can get so excited, so they may want to hug too tight. Um, and they're not trying to be mean, they're they just don't, it's kind of like they don't know their own strength, right? And uh so so you you would watch this video of Jesse holding Bailey and you would hear mama in the background, now you know, ease up, you know, or something to that aspect to where it's like, hey, you you're you're you're getting a little bit too hard. And of course she would immediately ease up because she she realized, oh yeah, you know, but um now does Bailey kind of service as a service dog for her?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:11

Um not really. Um he's just uh you know, we we tried to do that, but um no, he's uh he just he will just sit next to her and stuff, but she doesn't seek him out as much as she did when he was a puppy.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:35

I guess is not as not as cute anymore and not as small, can't really can't really carry him around and you know like a baby.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:46

He's too big and overwhelming where she's like you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

Now, how did he do from once you once you got him, you know, go growing up with her? How did he do?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:57

Absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:59

Did he? That's awesome to hear.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:01

Absolutely amazing. He tolerated a lot from her, never once um nipped at her, barked at her, nothing.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:10

So that's so awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:12

Yeah, and there's another little dog that's on on the face uh Facebook um uh that was my son's dog, and she was smaller, and this dog would protect her like you wouldn't believe.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:25

Yeah, that little one is that guy that one you're talking about, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:29

So the little one uh really was more protective of her than um the bigger one, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:37

Now what's the what's the little guy's name?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:40

Uh Molly.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:41

Oh, Miss Molly. Um nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:43

Yeah, and uh you know, it it was it's just amazing how you know how neither of them got over excited when she would yell or scream or knock things over. They're just very calm and protective, really.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:05

Yeah, I was gonna ask you, like when she when she did have violent outbursts and was on a destructive spree, how did they respond? Do they kind of just give her a wide berth or do they just go hide or uh honestly they just stood there and watched her, really? Yeah, it was just kind of like yeah, well, you know, wonder wonder what you're doing. Yes, very cute animals, though. Thank you, and I'm sure that that helps so much too. I'm sure it really does that for them to have you know an animal in their life, right? Um, I'm sure that's very yeah, you know, like let's let's throw it's throw another photo of I mean, look at that. Is so so cute, yes, the precious smile.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:52

Yes, this this picture.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:54

I picked it because my son, my youngest boy, he he loves bracelets like that, so he wears. He wears a boatload of them too.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:03

Don't you take one off.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:05

Yeah, I bet she wouldn't like that, would she? Now, what has she got on her? What is that on her fingers?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:11

Oh, those are uh band different colored band-aids because she wanted she had she's obsessed with band-aids and she likes different colors on her fingers. There's um, I don't think I put it on Facebook, but there's another one where she's got little stars on each little fingernail.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:27

So no doubt. So she likes likes all the little decorative stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:33

Now where where were you on this? It looks like you might have been on a boat.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:37

Uh no, we were at um on the river. It used to be um there's this big restaurant that was used to be an atta um Mexican restaurant that was on um River Road, and then it used to be a barbecue place. And the places were just so big it went out of business.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:57

Oh, it did. I was gonna say, I'm sitting there trying to think.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:00

Yeah, if you um it's right before you get to like all the bridges on the uh on the riverside. Yeah. But yeah, we when we do take her out to or when I take her out to dinner, we have to go to open places because there can be um dishes tossed.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:23

Yeah, that and I imagine that's uh I imagine that is a daunting experience too, because you know, if if you're out with an autistic child and they do have an outburst and everybody's looking at you, and you know, of course, everybody's like, what in the hell's going? You know, yeah, they don't they don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:40

Yeah, it's m believe it or not, it's easier and more acceptable for um outsiders as she's an adult versus when she's a child and everybody thinks she's just being a spoiled little brat.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:54

Oh well, that's a good point. I didn't really think of it from my standard point.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:58

Yeah, most adults uh adults don't act like that. There's something going on.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:02

Right. Well, and that makes that that's actually a really good point. I didn't I wouldn't have thought about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:08

Oh, yeah, yes. Yep, I chased people down at the zoo before because they would say, you know, you you need to teach your daughter some manners, or you know, and it's like I would chase them down. I was the mama bear, and I'm like, you don't even know this child. How dare you, you know, put your two cents in, you know, nothing about her.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:30

Yeah, people just need to mind their own dang business. Yeah, I look at it. Now I can't tell what this picture is, but I labeled it, so it's obviously one of yours, but let's see. Let me bring it up and see what it is.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:43

Oh, this was just another shot of oh, that was one of the days that she had to just empty everything out of the cupboard.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:51

So, you know, she just decides that everything in the cupboard needs to go out onto the living room furniture, folks. Yes, and Miss Sharon's like, and that's a very good point. It's like you just gotta pick your battles. It ain't worth dying on that hill for some, you know, some uh clothes and trash bags or whatever. So it's like, yeah, just let her unload the crap and then we'll just reload.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:13

Yeah, and she really thought she was cleaning up, she was putting everything in one spot.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:18

Yeah, I mean, at least she didn't, yeah, she wasn't flipping out on this one. No, she shows that she she thought she was cleaning, she thought she was helping.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:25

She's helping out, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:26

But she really caused more work, and that's an that's another thing that people need to think about is you know, like Miss Sharon here doing this all by herself. Well, now she's also got to clean up yeah, she's got to clean up messes that are in the mind of her child are not messes. I'm trying to help mom.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:44

So, you know, those are kind of things that the average Joe don't have to deal with, but I think people need to see that they need to understand kind of that kind of that kind of side of things. Now let's see what this picture here is is um well she she definitely likes dolls too, I noticed.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:04

Yes, she loves dolls. We have a lot of baby dolls. There are days that she will not put that down. Um and but there will be days that she'll want nothing to do with them. But you could see that's one of the days that she was so happy. And you know, those are that's those days make it all worth it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:24

So so so precious.

unknown 1:10:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:27

Now, does she do does she do well with when she carries her the the doll around? Does she do well or does sometimes she'll just decide that it's like, okay, I'm done, and just toss it aside and that's it.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:38

Don't carry it. Oh yeah, don't you touch it. If she's carrying it, don't touch it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:46

That's so that's so cute. And let's see. Oh, it ain't letting me pick that one. I don't know why sometimes it does that. Now, this was her obviously in school.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:57

Yes, yes, and uh I believe that may have been trying to think of that may have been eighth grade. Like, I'm not really sure, but there were many times like when she was in high school, her middle school teacher would come over and help them.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:15

No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:16

Yeah, because they were connected, so well that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:19

Yeah, that's really that's really neat. Oh yeah. Now, let's see. I even had yeah, I mean, even got some more. There's a few I have that I don't know why they're grayed out. Now that one, oh, that was one that you sent me. Yeah, but it's uh obviously she was having a birthday or uh it looked like or at a birthday party.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:40

That was her birthday, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:41

Now, does she like birthday parties or does she or do the the the singing loud and the candles and the you know all that stuff? Does that kind of freak her out or does she enjoy it?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:51

Only thing that freaks her out is balloons.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:54

So she doesn't like balloons, doesn't like balloons.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:56

So if we go to a birthday party, um there can't be any balloons.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:01

Is she does she not like when they pop, or does she just think they're just she just stays away from just in general?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:07

Is she's afraid that they're gonna pop.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:09

They're gonna pop. She don't like that loud noises, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:13

Right. Yes. And Fourth of July was a blast.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:19

Yeah. I I hear that.

unknown 1:12:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:23

I tell you what, and uh, and I don't know about you in Oldham County, but out here when I ain't that far from you. But I tell you what, it used to be when I was a kid, you had Fourth of July, you had maybe one whole weekend. Yeah. You might have heard fireworks Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That was really about it. Or maybe Satur Saturday, Sunday, Monday or something, you know, depending on how it felt. But I tell you what nowadays, at least around here, that crap goes on for a month and a half, and my dogs, God, they're terrified of it. So it makes it a month and a half of misery. Yes, trying to walk animals at night. Because you actually gotta literally walk your own dogs that you know that you've never had to in years. Now you gotta get back into that doing that.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:07

Such a pain.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:08

Yes. But um, yeah, if I could get Jessie to wear headphones, but she won't, we'd be in a whole different place, I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:17

Oh, so she don't she don't like headphones, eh?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:20

She won't wear headphones. We've tried all different sizes, all different kinds, and she just won't leave them on her head.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:29

Um that's interesting. Oh, that was the that was the baby photo. I just showed that one. I thought it was a different one. Um let's see. Yeah, yeah, a couple of these man. I want to show like this one. I don't know why it's grayed out. It won't let me. Uh now, did she did she do it? Looks to me like she did some Special Olympics at one time.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:51

She did.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:51

She was she was with the Flyers. I remember the Flyers.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:55

She's done soccer. Um, she did um a little bit of swimming. Um, and now she's gonna try bowling. Even though she throws the ball, we're gonna try it.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:08

Well, you never know. Yeah, and sometimes if if they don't like her lofting it, then you can suggest that she uses the uh the track where you put the ball on there and she just has that'll just line it up and then she just pushes it and roll roll down the ramp and go.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:25

Well, Special Olympics, I believe, don't allow that.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:29

Well, I don't know. They did, they used to. I don't know if they still do. Um I I would I would see them use that uh a lot when I was because I was a coach for the uh bat ball uh excuse me, no, I almost said volleyball, uh basketball, softball, and bowling. Now I kind of stepped away from bowling the last couple of years, partly because you they want you to rush through getting your uh your bowling uh hours in for submission for like regionals. Uh-huh. Well, you know, the the bad thing about that is is you know, they you don't really have necessarily need to have regular practices. Why? Because like Brandon, he went out with his uh behavioral uh lady, uh April, and and April would uh you know, Brandon would get all of his games in one fellow swoop. Well then it's like it's like well crap, well, what's the point of going for practice then if you've already got all your all your hours for submission, if you're already done with all your games.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:36

You know, and then and then the worst part about it too was when you did go to like regional or state, it got to the point where they finally wouldn't let the the coaches be there. So like you would get them set up, but then when it got ready to start, they had I guess they had workers that would go through and help with score scoreboards and all that stuff if there was problems, but the coaches couldn't be with the to try to help coach them along. I mean, hell, it even got to the point where I would I would have to stand behind people so I could barely even see. And I said, Well, what's the point of me doing this? Other than putting stickers on them when we got there to show they were registered and that they were present and accounted for.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:18

So uh, but now now where did she do the swimming? Because I have never seen the swimming, but yet apparently it's I mean it I guess it's uh it's uh hold it somewhere. I just have no clue where it's um it's in Louisville.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:34

It's I know if you take highway 42 all the way down to um almost to where it ends in Louisville, uh it's gosh, it was a pool called Mary.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:46

Oh, Mary T. Maher. Yes, yeah, Mary T. Maher. That's right. I've never been in that place, but I know now where you're yeah, I know where you're talking. So that's where they hold that.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:58

And uh I know like I go to Southeast Christian Church. I don't go there as a church member, but I go that's where I've been you know going for the uh Special Olympic stuff. And um they got a nice facility, but now they used to do soccer, but I don't think they do anymore. So it's like soccer. I don't even know where people go for that, or you know, um, and they even do equestrian stuff, which has she ever done that where she did riding on horses?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:26

Uh she did do the it's called hypotherapy. She did do that for a while. Um and then they closed down.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:34

Um did she go to the one off Long Run Road?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:37

Uh we did too. Um so they are closed.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:41

They were they closed. Well, this is when she was in elementary school, and then they closed for a little while, and then uh, and I'm not sure why. I don't know if it was insurance reasons or um, I don't know. But then when it came time for her to go back, she wanted nothing to do with it.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:00

Oh, no doubt.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:01

And I took her to um it's called Zoob. Um, it's a horse farm uh out here in Goshen. And it wasn't hypotherapy, but I said, can we at least try to get her on a horse? And and they were they were like, sure, let's try it, let's try it. And she did it a couple times and she's like, Nope, not for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:22

That's interesting. And for those of you out there that may not know what hypotherapy is, uh, hypotherapy essentially is it's therapy on horseback. So, like when my son went to the same place Jesse did, um, you had a spotter on each side of the horse to make sure they didn't fall off. And kind of they also were the ones that were actually doing the therapeutic uh different different things, but they do it on the horse too, because the the walking of that horse helps with I th I'm assuming it would help with good core, you know, strengthening. Um, so it it uh you know, a strong core makes life a lot easier. So they would do different types of stretches, reaches, and the whole time they're on this horse, you know, your your kid's abdominal section has to be engaged, right? Uh, so it's getting a good workout. And then of course they got a guy that leads the rain and just and they walk them inside. I mean, it's not like at least with us, we stayed inside that one barn. Now, I don't know if they ever would go on walks. I'm not sure if they ever did that, but uh, but they had a nice program. It's I hope they're still there.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:27

They uh they had I saw one kid, they had him on his hands and knees backwards on this horse.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:35

And I oh no doubt.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:37

Wow, that's that's amazing. That is cool, and it was just a core building, is what it was, and yeah, the confidence that they could you could see on their faces.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:48

I wonder why do you think Jesse didn't like it? Do you think it's just the the the how big horses are just kind of daunting to her, or what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:55

I think it was the smell, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:03

So well, and you know, I could I that makes sense because it definitely smells smells like you're going to the fair, that's for sure. Yeah.

unknown 1:20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:13

But no, and I think it's the size as well that it's intimidating.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:19

Right. So now this Lee Clinic, here's a picture of just several people again at the Lee Clinic. Um, the in this photo here, you got the uh the guy with the headphones on is a patient, and is yeah, I believe it's his sister, who's the young lady to the left of the screen, to his right. And I think mom is to his right, um, or his left, I mean, um, our right in the center of the picture.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:47

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:48

And I'm assuming the other ones may be potential staff, um staff supporters, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:55

Yeah. Yeah, because I had some of my staff uh came with me as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:00

Did you?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:01

Yes, they were, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:04

And I don't know if you'll yeah, I'm not sure if you know them or not. These are these are the peeps that I used to work with right here.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:12

No, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:14

Now, uh Rick, the guy in the back, um, he used to be he was kind of my preceptor. So when I started accounting EMS years and years and years and years ago, um once you get cut loose riding third person, you you still have a preceptor that makes sure that you're you're you're at a level to where you should be able to function on your own, but you still have watchful eyes to make sure that you don't do something stupid. And that was Rick. He made sure I didn't do anything stupid. Um and his wife, uh, he's a nurse now, he works at Lee uh specialty clinic. Then his wife's the little shorty one, uh huh. Um, Amy, uh, she also works there as well. And then Katie, the the uh mid the uh blonde with on the left there of the screen. Um I don't think Katie works there. I meant to ask her, but uh Katie had actually gotten very, very ill during COVID.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:08

Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:09

And she was actually, if if memory serves correctly, she was comatose, like in I don't know if it was an intentional comatose state or what, but they had her for a while. She was innovated, and she she went through it like it was a very scary situation for quite a while for her. But by the grace of God, she was able to to uh persevere and she got through the other side, and she's now as you can see, she's not even on oxygen anymore. So uh, but she was very passionate about the lead clinic, and she's the one that actually informed me. I can I can't believe I didn't know anything about the lead clinic. Yes, um having a special needs child myself, I cannot believe it. But um but unfortunately I I didn't. But I'm glad to know about them now. Now here's some here's some ladies here. Uh oh, did I lose you, Sharon? Uh may have lost Sharon. Or either that or her phone may have rang. Let's see. Well, Miss Sharon knows if she if she did get dropped for some reason, she she'll be coming back in. She knows to use the link. Hey, Chris, what's up? Thanks for joining in. That's funny. Maddox is obsessed with band-aids too. That's interesting. I wonder what it is with band-aids. Miss Sharon? Miss Sharon, if you can hear me, I'm gonna remove you and you just come back in that link that I told you about. Now let's see. We'll see about getting her in. Well, until she comes back in, folks, we're gonna go ahead and uh we'll come back to this photo. But we will uh I do want to post this. This is a new picture that I came across for the uh Leak specialty clinic. I thought this one was very well done. Uh but I want to just show everybody because again this is uh a very, very there she is. Oh my gosh, I'm so you're you're okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:32

It's coming over, so I'm gonna have to cut you short. But um that picture that you were showing before, those are um my work peeps. Understanding, wonderful people I work with.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:43

Oh, the uh you talk about these peeps?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:45

Yes, yeah, those are my co-workers. Oh, nice that are uh understanding when I come in later, have to leave early, and we kind of got each other's back.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:57

Oh, is that you with the uh in the yellow next to the lady with the uh the orange purple? Yes, and yeah, in between. Okay, I couldn't hardly tell, I guess, because you got a I think you have a sunvisor on, which is part of your attire.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:11

Yes, I'm supposed to be Big Bird because her favorite um show to watch is Big Bird. Oh, no doubt. Uh it's Sesame Street, so but it has to be Big Bird.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:21

So she's so that's her that's her go-to.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:24

That's her go-to, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:26

Well, and again, I I was showing this the uh newest flyer for the Lee Specialty Clinic. Um anything before I know that you're saying something something's come up, you're gonna have to fix and be going here in a minute, which we're uh we're almost at an hour and 35 minutes or hour and 30 minutes, excuse me. So we're uh actually doing pretty good on time. And this this wouldn't be bad if we have to wrap. Um, is there anything that you would like to kind of share about the Lee Specialty Clinic that maybe people don't know to where they can start paying attention to this program and this progressive state that we're gonna be doing for the next year to hope and pray that they save this clinic and it gets off the chopping block for either uh complete removal or downgrades because we don't want to see either.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:15

Right. Um, they're the only place like it for adults with special needs, and they have all the services that you need. They have your primary care, they have psychiatry, they uh have vision dental. They even brought in an endocrinologist um because she needed to see an endocrinologist. So if there's a specialty specialist that you need to see, like she's got to go see a hematologist, they found one, they got us the appointment where you know a family physician wouldn't do that, they wouldn't take the time to do that. And it's hard enough with um kids that are on the odd the autism spectrum. You know, they don't like change. So if you've got to go to the doctors to your primary here, and then you've got to go to see your psychiatrist here, you're they're constantly going to different places where this is like a secure uh home for them where they feel secure. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:22

You know, that's really, really, really awesome. And they that just shows how killer of a program that really is.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:29

Oh, absolutely. Yes, and you and you as soon as you walk in, they're like, Hey Jesse, hi Jesse, you know, it's like they really make you feel at ease.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:39

Oh, it sounds to me like they don't need to get rid of the Lee specialty clinic at all. If anything, they need to clone it and make more than one across this great state of Kentucky. Sounds to me. So, you know, my political speech is you know, to these politicians out there is to uh you know. Let's let's think about the actual people that's affected. Let's not think about, you know, ourselves. And I'm not saying that anyone politicians do, but and I certainly stay keep politics out of stuff. Same with religion, just because it generally doesn't end well. But in my opinion, a lot of times things are not necessarily done for what's best for the people, but sometimes it's it's what's best for the the individual. And I hope that's not never the case, but I have a feeling sometimes it is.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:29

We really need to stay on top of our legislators and governor so we don't get to this point again next year.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:36

Amen. Yeah, because this bailout is not the end all, folks. Like they are not out of the woods at all.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:43

Right. And for these, the Lee Clinic, they had to send out all those records to different places that were having waiting lists. And you know, 1,200 patients they had to send out records to. And then they come back a week later and said, Okay, we're gonna fund you for another year. Like to put anybody through that kind of stress is is ridiculous. That would have been fixed a long time ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:10

Oh, yeah. Especially like you said, it's not like people that are in your situation have not already been through enough.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:18

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:19

Because if you've never had a handicapped child, right, it is I don't wish, I mean, I I love my son and I would do anything for my son, and I wouldn't trade him for the world, but I wouldn't wish what we had to go through with him on anybody. Because but I also think that that that God puts he gives special needs kids to people that he thinks strong enough that can handle the situation. I don't see him giving a child like Jesse or Brandon or you know, like in my buddy Maddox, uh, you know, Chris Wells' son Maddox, who has autism. He's very similar to your daughter. He I was looking at the comments when you had fell away, and I mean he's his son's obsessed with band-aids, scared to death of doctors, like you know, he has his outburst too. Yeah, it's very, very similar. Um, but you know, I I wouldn't wish that on anybody, but on the same token, I think God gives that to people that he knows can can do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:17

And he ain't gonna get he gonna give a Jesse to somebody that he don't think can handle. That's why Jesse has you.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:24

Oh, well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:25

And she's very, very, very blessed and very fortunate to have you.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:30

Um, but thank you so much for uh I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to be on the show. Um absolutely I really, really, really, really, really appreciate it. And um, again, uh we could always have her back on too if needed. Um same with anybody else. And again, for those of you out there listening, uh, let's support the Lee Clinic. Let's guess get the word out, let's stay on these politicians and let them know that hey, you're you're treading on a on a thin ice with us when it comes to our special needs community people out here. And we don't want to see anything happen to them because they're taking. I mean, just look at the photos that I showed you earlier that Miss Sharon shared of the violent outbursts that Jesse has the potential to do. And because of the Lee Specialty Clinic working with her, that has severely diminished by four years. And now she might still have a little outburst where she throws a little, little small piddly stuff. But what you saw in those photos, that amount of destruction to the house, it's been four knock on wood, four solid years of incredible growth and progress from Jesse. And it's part uh partly because she has a wonderful mother, obviously, but also she's got that Lee specialty clinic that is right there making sure that they set her up for success and not failure.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:57

Yeah, and so they'll call you after hours, they'll call you on the weekends. They're everybody needs to get on that waiting list. I really believe it.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:06

And we need I need to look into it for Brandon, especially for the dental aspect of things. Yeah. Um, that's just amazing that they that they even help you, like if you know, Jesse needed a new specialist. What type? This. Oh, well, we don't have one of those. Well, well, that's right, we'll find one.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:22

Yeah, they found one.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:23

And it's like, dang. I mean, how do you want to cut a program that is that impressive, that's that functional? I mean, it makes no sense. Yes, you know, it's they're like a well-oiled machine, and it's just like, eh, let's just shut them down. No, it's like, how about we cut some money from some crap that we really don't need to spend the money on unless you utilize it on somebody like Jesse who cannot take care of herself and she's never is going to.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:53

She's always gonna live with you unless you put her somewhere, obviously. Same with us. Brandon's never going away. He's always, and I don't want to put him anywhere. I want him to where I can and I'm sure Sharon's the same way.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:05

Yeah, they don't want to they want to be in their own home.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:08

Absolutely. And it's a good peace of mind because I'm sure for you, you would be like, with her staying at home, you're that's a good peace of mind for you to you know she's safe. Yes, you know you can kind of govern what she's doing, and you know, when they're somewhere else, then you got to worry about look at all those new scares that we've seen over the years of people taking care of the elder or uh or children, and then they treat them like like shit, you know, or they abuse them, you know, and uh that's a scary, scary thought. And at least the way Sharon has Jesse with her right now, she knows she's safe, she knows she's well taken care of, and it's it at least minimizes the stress on Miss Sharon because her plate is already full of stresses, too. She's still got to work, she's still gotta she's gotta go through these motions and she's doing it all by herself. So I tip my hat to you, Sharon. You're a very strong woman. Um, it was very nice to meet you. Um, thank you so much for coming on the show. We're gonna go ahead and wrap this one up because Miss Sharon has some stuff she's got going on. But uh thank you all so much for tuning in. And again, let's just let's be supportive as all get out uh for this Lee specialty clinic. I'm sure that uh they're gonna post new flyers kind of like this one that I just had up again for everybody to see. Um, they'll probably have a new one once there's they know when the next hearing is in Frankfurt. So I'm sure they're that the last one they did on Friday is not gonna be the last one by any means.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:41

So there's gonna be other times for people to be able to go down and support this great cause. Obviously, the bigger and the bigger numbers that we turn out on that capital uh steps, the the more likely that someone is gonna take us serious and listen to what we have to say.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:57

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:58

And and again, just another shot of just just one of the many rooms that where people had turned out uh to for this hearing. And it's not even just it's not even just that, folks. It's not even just the league clinic. I mean, we're talking, to my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, Sharon. Uh the Medicaid cuts are still there, Michelle P. Waiver cuts are still there, and Michelle P. Waiver, is she on that? I forgot to ask you that.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:27

She's on the SCL waiver.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:29

So she's on the SCL. So, you know, the Michelle P. Waiver, there's it's a waiting list to get on that program, and that's a heck of a program, too. That one is also on the chopping block. So, folks, we have really got to band together and uh try to save this clinic because you've heard the story from Sharon today. Wonderful program and has done so much for her daughter, and I hope they continue to do so. Thank you, Miss Sharon. If you ever need anything, holler at me. Uh, it was again pleasure, pleasure meeting you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to be on my piddly ass podcast, but I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:05

All right, thank you. You have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:07

You too.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:08

Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:09

All right, ladies and gentlemen. Well, that was Miss Sharon Raymond, and I I can't thank her enough for being on sharing her stories and even sharing a lot of the photos of uh various things. So we all learned a little bit more about uh various angles with autism, as well as the Lee Specialty Clinic. And again, uh, you know, I will I cannot stress enough we're gonna beat this horse and just beat it and beat it and beat it. But uh, you know, let's we got to save the Lee Clinic. Um again, you heard it firsthand. It's the only one in Louisville, it's the only one in the state of Kentucky, and they go above and beyond to take care of our special needs adults in our community. And I can't say enough about this program. I'm just blown away, and it's hard to believe I still didn't know about it, but wow, what an awesome program it is. And um, let's see, let me sit maybe put up this picture too. I think I don't know if this is another flyer. I had this put in the queue for a reason. Well, this is just uh something that somebody had on the thing where you're caught in the political crossfire, and the disabled people obviously are the ones in purple there that are in the middle. They're the they're the pawns in this situation, and we don't want them. Our special needs people don't need to be pawns. We need to uh we need to elevate them and covet them and take care of them. So let's not let politics get in the middle and uh let's let's do the right thing and let's find some budgetary money to keep this great program going. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I guess that's pretty much unless I've got any other photos I want to throw in here real quick. Um, it looks like it may I may have hit them all. All right. Well, again, uh more to come on the special Lee Specialty Clinic. Uh, we're gonna keep you informed if there's any more hearings for Medicaids, Medicare, all that good stuff. Um, you know, I'm sure you're gonna see it on Facebook. You people are gonna be able to go out and show up. Um, because there are gonna be more hearings on this. This isn't over with, folks. Uh, thank you. I want to thank everybody. Take a quick moment to thank everybody for stopping in that was in. Scott Brayley again, he always drops in. Such a good dude. Excuse me, Miss Val. She's always, always in. Thank you, Miss Val, taking time. Uh, Gene, welcome. Uh, first time I think I've seen your name, but you uh thank you so much for joining, Miss Gene. I really appreciate you. Um, and then uh Val, of course, thank you so much, Chris Wells. Uh, everybody from Echo TV, which is a religious-based television, um, he works for them. Um, he has an autistic child too, and he joined in. So I want to thank Chris for dropping in. So everybody, Miss Janice, uh, she's always dropping in too. Um, and then Miss Kathleen. Uh it was good to see you, honey. And I hope you you're doing well as well. And uh Uncle D, he uh he joined late, but uh it was good to see Uncle D in here. So uh and he said, Thanks, Sharon, for sharing hope for us fans. Strength helps bring awareness. It does. So I want to thank all of my just everybody that's in my life that is supporting my podcast and stuff. Thank you all so much. Um, I I really appreciate everybody. And um Lee Clinic, I'm gonna do my best to try to to try to bring awareness to you all and uh see what I can do to help. And I hope I do you all proud because uh you all definitely do our community proud. So, well, with that without uh that being said, I'm gonna go ahead and wrap this up. Uh, we'll upload this podcast. So um hopefully within the next 24 hours, um, it's gonna be on most of the streaming platforms. And again, ladies and gentlemen, uh, I I want to just throw this out here too. Uh please don't forget, if you haven't done it, to like and share and follow. Um, if you like the content that you're getting from the Bones Unfiltered podcast, in order to reach more people, I need to be heard and seen. And in order to do that, it takes good folk like you all, sharing and um and tuning in to raise awareness of where we can reach more and more and more people. So I really appreciate that. For those of you all that do want to um that do want to support a podcast, uh, that's the cheap, the cheapest and freest way to support the podcast is of course to just like and follow. Doesn't take any time, doesn't cost you nothing. Um, like, follow, subscribe. Some subscribers charge. I I don't do anything yet because if I'm gonna do that, then I want to try to figure out what I want to do that's I can do monthly that's special for the people that pay for a dollar a month subscription or whatever. Um, but whatever you all do, do do donate with stars, likes, or all that stuff, that that all that helps. But if you do like the show, then here's my uh QR code. If you scan that, that'll take you to my website, which is www.bonesunfilteredpodcast.com. That's my website. You can actually go there and uh and if you can and you want to and you can afford to do so, then uh if you do like some merch and you want to support that, I do get royalties off merch that is sold on uh my website. So that would help make a little bit of jack for this programming. That way it helps pay for the stuff that costs money, like insurance and the different platforms you need for distributing or for doing the show. All of that costs quite a bit of money per year. So it would be nice to uh to to just make a little something off this to where it can help offset that cost. But if not, we're gonna keep doing this podcast. Things are growing and it's growing pretty well. So I'm really I'm really impressed with how things are going. But the special needs podcast seems to be very important uh to a lot of people. So I look forward uh to continuing doing this. Um, I am I sponsored uh Kozair for Kids golf scramble this year. So my business is going to be at the old Kentucky home uh this weekend. Uh on I'll have a hole marker of some sort, I'm sure, with uh Bones Unfiltered podcast on it. So I'm excited about that. Um hopefully Mother Nature cooperates and we're able to have this golf scramble on Saturday. So more to come on that. But other than that, I hope wish everybody well. I hope uh everybody has a good week. And we may be doing a podcast music-wise on Thursday. Um if so, that one is probably gonna be around eight o'clock at night uh this Thursday. Um, not a hundred percent yet, but uh just be be prepared if you want to look for a bones podcast music edition this Thursday. It may happen. And again, if it does, it's gonna happen at eight in the evening. So more to come on that. Uh, I'll try to talk more about that and start kind of promoting that once I fine-tune the details and know for sure it's gonna happen. So, without further ado, this is Bones saying thanks for tuning in to this awesome show. Thanks again, Miss Sharon, for being a part of that. I couldn't have done it without you. And let's rally behind the Lee Specialty Clinic, ladies and gentlemen. They're an awesome organization filled with some very talented and awesome people. Let's uh let's keep their quest moving forward. So until next time, Hiss is bones saying be good or be good at it. Talk to you on the next one. Peace.