Just for Jesiah

I am creating this fundraiser for my sister and my nephew Jesiah who can use as much prayers and financial help as possible to ease the burden of their current situation. This is the letter my sister sent in to recieve crises services in our state and would best summarize the situation she faces day to day

Good Afternoon Wanda,

I am writing to you regarding a Crisis request for my son Jesiah Babbitt. My son Jesiah is an 18-year-old who has an Autism, Epilepsy, and OCD Diagnosis. Jesiah has had a slow decline over the course of the last five years ever since his Epilepsy Diagnosis, with his behaviors and cognitive abilities. The major decline with his behaviors started in 2019 when Jesiah was kicked out of the Academy for Autism where he had been attending since middle school. Behaviors he was presenting at the time were outburst of rage when transitioning from a preferred activity to a non-preferred activity, spitting, ripping up paper when frustrated and physically attacking other students when Frustrated. I was able to get him into the ESE program at his zoned school Cypress Creek that October. Very shortly after that COVID hit and Jesiah was attending school via Zoom and would complete packets the teacher would send to our home. Not being in a stable school environment did not help with his problem behaviors. During that time he still was receiving Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapy from the Academy for Autism via Zoom. Behaviors hit a peak last year around March when he started distributing major aggressive behaviors. At the time he had to be pulled from school and I had to take time off under FMLA to seek assistance full time. Behaviors at that time were physical attacks at any moment when asking him to do even simple tasks such as eating or brushing his teeth. He was biting, scratching, breaking furniture, pulling hair and spitting. I was out of work for 3 months seeking assistance through calling Medicaid services as well as APD services. I took him to about 4 Behavioral hospitals in Central Florida where they all turned me away stating they could not baker act him or assist us because he was non-verbal and not independent. I took him to Nemours hospital as well hoping they could assist us in some way. Unfortunately, the same verbiage was used at the hospital. Since at the time Jesiah was still 17 I was able to find a children’s Behavioral Hospital in South Carolina where he was admitted in their Intermittent program on May 20th 2021. Jesiah was discharged on June 26th 2021. He did leave the Hospital with a Behavioral plan as well as Medication management that did help manage his behaviors for a while. At the time Jesiah was discharged I was able to set up Behavioral therapy from Devereaux (although only temporarily). The program was only approved for 16 sessions because of the need/demand in Central Florida. The program was very helpful for the time, but it was not nearly enough time to make a lasting impression with his problem behaviors. I was able to find a ABA program PBS (Positive Behavior Support Corp) that did service our area as well as his age group. He has been on the waiting list since November. Jesiah started the 2021-2022 school year at the Esther school which is a private school in Osceola County. I pulled him from this program in October 2021 due to lack of consistency in the program. I placed Jesiah in Harmony High school’s ESE program. This program was great until his problem behaviors started to become more prominent again. He started to have daily outbursts in class that would take 2-3 male staff members to remove him from the class to avoid injuries to other students/staff. As of now they still state he is approved but they do not have any available Therapists at this time. Jesiah currently is only receiving Occupational Therapy 2 times a week from Heatherington Therapy. His last date he was physically in school was about 2 months ago. Since he has been at home full time Jesiah has broken every TV in the house, bitten me more times than I can count and is in his head on a constant basis. His manic and OCD Behaviors have taken over his mind it seems. I cannot get him to do anything productive without behavior incidents. Something as simple as a request for him to brush his teeth can lead to a 30 minute temper tantrum.

Jesiah’s behaviors cause great duress daily. From the moment he wakes up he is a ball of OCD and Manic behaviors. Something as simple as asking him if he wants breakfast can lead him into a meltdown with major aggressive behaviors. I cannot take him to Doctors appointments or even take him in the car for fear of him having a meltdown and attacking me while I’m driving. He has done this numerous times. I am in desperate need of Respite care, intense Behavior therapy, as well as a residential programing. I have attached medical documentation as well as recommendation letters from his Psychiatrist and OT Therapist. I am a single mother with one income. My mother who is a widow and retired lives with me as well. We have bought a deadbolt lock for my mother side of the house to prevent Jesiah from getting into her part of the house and causing physical harm to her. Jesiah has attacked my mother in the past in one of his outburst knocking her to the floor and dragging her by the hair. I have been working for Adventhealth for almost 14 years. I managed an Urgent Care facility for more than 7 years until this past September. Due to Jesiah’s consistent problem behaviors I had to transfer to a remote position so I could be home to watch him. This is extremely stressful since I have to wok full time and watch him full time which many times cause interruptions to my work day. Jesiah’s father stopped taking him on the weekends more than 2 months ago causing even more duress in my day to day since I no longer receive breaks to mentally regroup to take care of him properly. Jesiah is able to feed himself and clean himself but not independently. He can get snacks independently but he does not make meals. When taking showers he will get in independently but I prompt him to clean himself properly. Thank you kindly in advance for your assistance and help during this tumultuous time.

Sincerely,

Selena Ramos

My sister is the strongest most resilient person I know. I have seen her cry, laugh and about reach her breaking point on many occasions because of what she and Jesiah go through daily. I am hoping by creating this fundraiser we might be able to raise enough to find better help for Jesiah and her.