Mom left with few options
Lack of funding for young adults with disabilities means family members left to provide bulk of care
Ask Geoffrey Sherwood what his favourite course was in high school and he immediately taps “math” on his iPad.
“I like learning,” types Sherwood, 22, who has cerebral palsy and a mild intellectual disability and graduated in 2015.
Attending Monarch Park Collegiate’s independent living program also provided him a chance to learn computer skills, spend time in a retail workplace and socialize with classmates.
“He loved school,” says his mother, Joanne Jaynes. “He never missed a day.”
Today, Sherwood’s days are much different. His routine is gone. He uses a wheelchair, needs assistance for all personal care from eating to getting dressed and has limited verbal ability. So Jaynes cares for him full time in their Toronto apartment and scours the city for the programs that might accommodate both his physical and developmental needs.
The dearth of options means the single mother, who has three older children and six grandkids, is unable to work in her profession as a community worker. When Sherwood turned 18, the family lost Special Services at Home funding for children, the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities and Jaynes’ child tax credit, so there is no money to pay for a personal support worker.
He has been on the wait list for adult Passport funding since 2013, which provides up to $35,000 a year for services such as respite care, recreation programs and personal support workers.
Without money, “you are stuck where you are,” says Jaynes. “You can’t plan.”
She takes Sherwood swimming, lifting him in and out of the pool herself, and to his volunteer job at a long-term care facility. At the Toronto Parks and Recreation program he attends two days a week during the winter, she arrives at midday to feed him and tend to his personal care.
“I fight so hard because I literally fear for Geoffrey’s emotional well-being if he’s stuck at home.” JOANNE JAYNES GEOFFREY’S MOTHER
“I fight so hard because I literally fear for Geoffrey’s emotional well-being if he’s stuck at home,” says Jaynes. “I have a responsibility to him to make the best life for him.”
With little to look forward to he becomes sad and agitated, she says, sometimes scratching himself until he bleeds.
Sherwood says his goal is to take more courses at the City Adult Learning Centre in Toronto. Jaynes’ hope is that with caregiving support, he’ll eventually live in an independent living space. Young adults like him have a right to aspirations and a role in their communities, she says.
“Support the families supporting their children, it’s as simple as that.”