How was Summer Bridge?

Family Picture at Summer Bridge Celebration

I've been struggling for almost two months about how to update everyone on Shawn's summer bridge experience. That is why the blog has been silent.
Shawn spent only a month in the summer bridge program this year. He was so excited to go live in the dorm and work that we hoped things would be as great as they were last year.
Sadly, that was not how things worked out. Shawn struggled to adapt to the change in his environment and schedule. He regressed in several areas of independence and we were called to meet with the coordinator to discuss what was happening. Shawn was showing major regression in his personal care skills and that is something that will prevent him from being able to participate in the future certificate program they are developing.
Shawn was placed at the Campus Mail center for work, and his struggles recognizing numbers prevented him from being able to get permanent employment there. He did make some friends there, which Jim will talk about in a future post.
Shawn loved working again and really liked seeing and spending time with his friends from summer bridge. However, the single month program was more disruptive for Shawn than it was productive and he struggled to adjust to the change of moving to the dorm and when he came back home.
Based on what happened at the summer bridge program and some struggles and regression that Shawn has experienced since returning home, we suspect that Shawn is having seizures at night again. We hoped that Shawn would remain seizure free for years to come, but sadly it doesn't appear that way. We have an appointment schedule to see his Neurologist in a few months, so we are going to monitor him closely and watch for more signs of seizure activity.
For now, Shawn spends his days at home with Grandpa Jerry, who takes care of him and takes him to his activities with PARA, like bowling and cooking.
Thanks for following us on Shawn's adventures.
~Kat

Back in the Dorm

Shawn moved back into the dorm last night. He was so excited all day eagerly waiting for it to be time to go.
Jim and Aly worked hard to get his dorm room set up for him while he spent some time with his new roommates, and I went to the store to get him some last minute groceries. We forgot a few things at the house, like the rod to put up his curtains and his TV remote, so I'll be taking those over today.
Classes start today so Shawn will be busy right away. We miss him already but know that this program is an amazing growth opportunity.

Thanks for your continued support and well wishes for Shawn.
~Kat, Jim, and Aly

Welcome to our new Blog Home

Sorry that it has been a while since our last update. We have been busy moving everything from Shawn's YouCaring page to this new blog and we are finally ready for everyone to join us here.

This new blog was designed by Shawn's sister Aly and we really hope that you like the format.

Shawn  will be moving back into the dorm for his second year of Summer Bridge on July 4th. He received a partial scholarship to attend this year, which helped reduce the cost.

Also, Shawn finally received a rejection email from Lowe's informing us that they chose not to hire him. But we are still looking for new opportunities for him. Remember #smallthingsLeadToBIGTHINGS and we are ready for Shawn's next big thing

Please subscribe to updates if you want to follow Shawn's journey.


Thank you for your encouragement and continued support of Shawn.

Jim, Katheryn, Aly, and Shawn

Guest Post from Shawn's Poppa

We're in Alabama while Mary Ellen accompanies Aly on a band trip to the Fiesta Flambeau Parade in San Antonio.

Earlier, we took Shawn to Ohio State University to compete in the NIRSA (National Intramural Recreation and Sports Association) national basketball championship. I fell completely in love with this type of Special Olympics competition. In the Unified Division, athletes of all ages and abilities, play on teams that consist of three "athletes" who have varying levels of impairment and two "partners" who have typical abilities and skills. Shawn was quite possibly the lowest functioning athlete we saw, but he was treated as a full team member.

Shawn's ball-handling skills are pretty low, and he's absolutely not a defense threat. However, he loves to take the long three-point shot and is usually really close, and sometimes even gets the "nothin' but net" shot.

What I loved about this tournament was that everyone knew they were there to win, but that was a little bit secondary to getting to play and have fun. What other basketball game have you ever seen where the refs will congratulate players, smile encouragingly at them, and even exchange high-fives? Where else are you going to see members of the opposing team celebrate when an opposing player makes a great shot? How about when a defender backs off and says, "Go ahead, Shawn, shoot it?" It was so VERY

encouraging to watch.

The pictures I'm adding to this are of Shawn's three-point shot. As soon as the ball went through the hoop, his team captain called time out so they could celebrate with him. In the photos, if you look closely you can see members of his opposing team clapping for him along with everyone else.

Later, after the game, his team awarded him a game ball for his participation. I'll confess, my eyes got just a little bit leaky over that one.

Post by Tom Meadows

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Bad News, Good News Time

First the Bad. We never heard back from Lowe's after Shawn's job interview, and he still is not working. Also due to the recent changes in Tax laws, ABLE account donations are no longer tax deductible under the estate tax. We were hoping to get an ABLE account set up for Shawn so that friends and family could donate directly to an ABLE account and be able to claim the deduction under their Estate Taxes, but that is not possible now. 

So here's the Good News. Shawn was accepted for the second session of the Summer Bridge program. He will only be attending for the month of July. Which means his cost for the program is only $2500 instead of the $5000 we were expecting. Shawn is very excited to be going back to the Summer Bridge Program. His sister recorded video when she read him the acceptance letter. You can view it here. 

That's all for now. Please keep Shawn in your thoughts during the month of July as I know the program will be working hard on finding him meaningful employment. 

Thank you for caring and sharing in Shawn's Journey to independence.
Jim, Kat, Shawn, and Aly

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Shawn's Job Interview

Shawn interviewed for a job last week. We are really hoping that he gets the job, because it seems like a good fit for him and his interests. It would also be great if he gets the job because he would like to go to the summer bridge program again! His interview for the summer bridge program is next week, and he is looking forward to it.

We will update again when we know more.

Thanks for caring and sharing.
Katheryn, Jim, Aly, and Shawn

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Guest Post from Shawn's Mammaw

Sorry for the delay in updates on Shawn, we were pretty busy over the holidays. A quick update and then a guest post. We received the application for the 2018 Summer Bridge Program and the cost for Shawn to attend will be $5000. Thanks to everyone's support Shawn has nearly paid off his loan for last year's program but it looks like he will need another loan if he is accepted again this year. We are updating the fund goal accordingly.

Guest Post from Shawn's Mammaw:

We discovered early that Shawn learned well when we incorporated music into his life. As a baby, he learned how to spell his name by singing it. We would make up little ditties that would instruct and soothe him.

As Shawn got older, we noticed that he could sing nearly any song he heard the first time from memory (he learned to read music before he learned to read words). When he entered middle school, Shawn was allowed to play in percussion section of the middle school band with one-on-one assistance. It quickly became obvious that Shawn needed little or no help to assimilate into the band. He quickly advanced through having small pieces of music to play to beating the biggest, loudest bass drum through the entire performance.

When Shawn was 15, he and his family moved to Alabama. Alabama-home of University of Alabama Million Dollar Band. Band participation is highly competitive in Alabama. High school students fight for top honors and recognition and the ultimate prize is to get to be in the Million Dollar Band. We knew that wasn’t a possibility for Shawn, but it was very exciting when the high school allowed Shawn to play in all the band’s performances including graded competitions. When it was offered to have Shawn sit out during an important performance, we were firmly informed that Shawn was doing his job and doing it well and that he was part of the band. Period. His band directors always commented his Shawn’s drum beat was always right on - no matter how intricate it was. He loved being a band member. Upon graduation from high school, leaving the band became one of his biggest disappointments.

Shawn and the rest of our family has always had a wonderful relationship with our church worship team. Central Christian Church in Kingman is a branch of Central Christian Church from Henderson Nevada. We have a wonderful worship team that can compete with any worship team in the world! Its leader, Dean Colvig, is assisted by his wife and (until recently) his oldest son with occasional appearances by their three younger children. The lead guitarist, Greg Book, is joined on stage by his two sons Jacob and Andrew. Shawn has a love affair with these people. And it is returned. When Shawn comes to visit, he places himself directly in front of the stage in the front row where he struggles to decide should he play air guitar in a battle of the bands with Greg or air drums against Jacob. Fortunately, our congregation loves Shawn so much that they encourage him instead of being distracted.

This year our worship team performed four times during Christmas week. We took Shawn to the Sunday morning Christmas Eve service. Dean asked me if Shawn could come on stage to play drums. I was surprised when he said no practice was necessary. I was the only one who knew the secret… I suggested to my husband Tom that he video the performance. After a beautiful opening sequence, three youth drummers carried their drums onto the stage and little children from the Sunday school class came marching up on the stage. Dean jumped down from the stage, grabbed Shawn, and brought him up and handed him a set of mallets. With zero practice, Shawn immediately figured out the cadence for the drums and the look at the joy on his face was priceless! He even got to perform again at the next service! We thank our worship team and church for loving Shawn and letting him just be Shawn! 

Video of the performance here 

Central Kingman Christmas Service

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Shawn at Central Kingman Christmas Service

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Christmas at Central Kingman

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