Try remote support, get $50 a month for internet

Posted on October 11, 2022October 11, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

Smiling young woman who works for a remote-support provider sitting at a desk in front of an Amazon device.

Ohio State University biomedical engineering student Lauren Gastineau, who works with the remote-support provider Ohio at Home, wrote a message on an Amazon Glow device.

The Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities and Creative Housing are continuing to offer incentives for people to try remote support, which can increase privacy and safely reduce the need for on-site staff. People served by FCBDD and who have a Medicaid waiver can receive up to $50 a month for 12 months to pay …

Service Coordination Assistant Director Lindsay Holt follows her heart south

Posted on October 11, 2022October 11, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

Lindsay Holt standing and smiling at her farewell party. Four male co-workers are with her.

Lindsay Holt, center, with colleagues (from left to right) Shawn Riggins, David McCluney, Jose Bennett and Sean Patterson.

As a college student, direct-support professional, service coordinator and, eventually, a department manager at the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Lindsay Holt always kept to a highly structured and stable routine. “There was never a time that I thought I’d make a decision like this,” she said, smiling. “I have a conflict between my …

Changing tables key to fully accessible restrooms, communities

Posted on September 30, 2022September 30, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

A mother is lifting her 9-year-old son onto a large changing table in a hospital restroom.

For many people with physical disabilities, the path to true community inclusion often stops at the bathroom door. That’s because there are hardly any public places with accessible restrooms that also include an adult-size changing table. “It makes you isolated, even more than you already feel as a person with a disability,” said Kim Boulter, …

Staff spotlight: On the job and as a role model, Emma shines

Posted on September 30, 2022September 30, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

Emma stands outside an agency van on a sunny day, smiling.

Bill Ryan admits to being skeptical about hiring Emma Snailham as a bus assistant for the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. After so many surgeries on her hands, he worried she wouldn’t have the dexterity to safely secure a wheelchair. Ryan may never have been so happily wrong. Not only could Snailham handle the …

Boundless opens remodeled health center

Posted on September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

Many people gathered outside the new health center. Colorful ribbons float in the air.

Boundless Health is welcoming patients to a newly renovated facility that will serve as a hub for primary, dental and behavioral-health care for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. “We are going to be one of only a few organizations in the entire country who provide this unique care,” Dr. Patrick Maynard, president and CEO …

Community Star Awards set for Oct. 26

Posted on September 19, 2022September 19, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

After a two-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Community Star Awards will return on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Villa Milano. The Citizens Committee for Persons with Developmental Disabilities is once again sponsoring the event, which recognizes 12 outstanding individuals and organizations for their service to people in Franklin County. More than 400 people …

Psychology Department Director Dr. Angela Ray retires

Posted on August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

Dr. Angela Ray sitting in front of colorful banner that says Happy Retirement

Had it not been for a visit to a special-education classroom with a college dormmate, Dr. Angela Ray might have kept to her initial plan and wound up with a job in public relations. But the school experience affected her deeply. “These are the people I need to serve,” she remembers thinking. Ray graduated from …

FCBDD returns to ‘mask friendly’ status

Posted on August 22, 2022August 22, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated the COVID transmission-risk rating for Franklin County from high to medium. In light of that positive change, all facilities operated by the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities will shift safety protocols to mask-friendly or mask optional. “Mask friendly” means that we want staff, …

Late autism diagnosis answers a lifetime of questions

Posted on August 12, 2022August 12, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

Tom Gisler, a man with gray hair and glasses, sitting in front of a painting

For almost all of his life, through childhood and adolescence and well into middle age, Tom Gisler had no way to understand why he felt so different. When he finally was diagnosed with autism, he was 59 years old. “Turns out I wasn’t lazy, I wasn’t stupid,” Gisler, who’s now 63, said with a smile. …

Teen finds meaningful summer job helping students with disabilities

Posted on August 5, 2022August 5, 2022 by FCBDD Communications

young woman standing in front of colorful wall tiles

During the early days of the pandemic, with most schoolwork and socializing taking place on a screen, Sierra Olsen came to an important realization about her future. “I decided that I didn’t want a job where I just sat in front of a computer,” she said. That knowledge eventually led to a summer position with …

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Author: FCBDD Communications