Kevin’s story as told by his mother Nery Gonzalez
My son Kevin can’t speak at all, and my English is limited. I don’t understand everything in English, and I definitely did not understand that my Kevin would lose government funding for services if we missed the timeframe for young adults finishing high school to transition to adult services.
We were at risk of Kevin not getting services even though he needs to stay active and engaged in the community. All because of a language barrier.
I connected with Lisa at Breaking Barriers, and she explained it all to me in Spanish. I used the Spanish language resources she made to better understand what help Kevin is eligible for and to apply.
Now we have hired a friend to work with Kevin daily through the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) self-directed services model. And Lisa connected me with a bilingual support broker at DDA to help us look for other programs that Kevin can attend through self-directed services.
I am grateful that we didn’t lose this opportunity for Kevin to receive this support so that he can live his best life.