Help keep Sonny at Home

It’s been a 1 year+ since we have had the week long, monthly out of home respite. Since Sonny turned 18, the services have changed drastically that are available to him and his unique needs. This has been a huge change and transition to his routine and ours at home who care for him. 

All proper, “qualified” appropriate Manitoba government resources are left with their hands tied also. He is on many waitlists and recently pulled off a local one and immediately rejected because they do no have the expertise to take care of him. 

My family is fundraising for my severe special needs disabled son, Sonny.

(Level 3 Severe Autism, Epilepsy, Non-Verbal, Diabetes, ADHD, Pica). 

Sonny can be incontinent sometimes and makes for a great deal of cleaning for maintenance of being hygienic within the home. 

Sonny loves watching Veggietales, Disney Cars, Toy Story 1 and 2, Finding Nemo, and Space Jam. He loves to go on daily rides to the local thrift stores where he waits in the car with a caregiver while Grandma Lori or Aunty Roanne or I goes in to find his special items like books or toys and then onto one of his favorite drive thru’s.

He loves rides on his side by side and swimming in the above ground swimming pool!! He also loves when we sing to him. The only public situations he can go into is for any medical appointments or emergencies and even doing that puts the public at risk of harm if he is not restrained in a transport wheelchair and even that he can get loose. 

Sonny is just about 6 feet tall and over 250lbs and is stronger than the multiple people who watch over him. We currently have steel interior doors, biometric fingerprint print locks all around to prevent messes from sensory seeking if he gets in these rooms.

 He cannot communicate well on his tablet on his own and quite often has wrecked them so he doesn’t use that regularly and doesn’t know a lot of sign language, which quite often leads him to anger and aggression of him not being able to communicate what he wants and becomes super aggressive and destructive to others, as well as to the home and vehicle. This is very scary when there are other children, his other siblings in the home. We are at risk and in danger every day and are hyper vigilant, when we cannot give him what he wants. 

His needs are so unique and high, that not many service agencies within Manitoba are willing to take him on for any day programming or short or long term stays as he requires multiple ongoing supports. 

WE WANT TO KEEP HIM AT HOME and make it a relaxing home for him and the whole family and not have him go to long term care where the government and other support workers make $ off of him. 

Fundraising would go to:

-reoccurring repairing of damage to home and vehicle (kitchen, bathroom, vehicle interior, calling a plumber because of him quite often flushing things down the toilet)

-fixing his side by side

-enough chlorine to last for the summer months for the swimming pool so he can enjoy an activity which he loves so much

-one more Lorex surveillance camera

-modifications to home, MDF board walls all around( we have many walls that have holes in them that need repair, 

-yard(fencing)

-repairs to vehicle or to replace with a used one, to make accessible and safe and clean for everyone, a strong partition would be so helpful (a lot of the panelling and backing of passenger seat is completely wrecked, he always sits behind this chair

- $ for extra respite and hire another qualified worker, (we do get self managed respite hours which we can only use at home, but it’s not enough, it’s capped off at an amount, per month/per hour and it’s not enough) we need TWO workers at a time for him 

-extra caregiver support, respite, and cleaner worker to help with caregiving and home duties to prevent burnout (his SIS is level 7+ and if he would be in school full time, day programming or short/long term care, the ratio for caregiving would always be 2:1)

-DQ, Subway gift cards for summertime (during school months this is taken care of thru his school)

-groceries (because of his sensory sensitivities some days, Sonny wastes a lot of food and we go thru a lot)

-a new restraint harness to attach to his transport wheel chair that he cannot get out of, he’s currently using a makeshift one, made from a roofing harness, so we feel at ease when he’s at public appointments or needs emergency care, bloodwork.

Please consider helping Sonny and family.

Any amount helps  

If you cannot help monetarily, PLEASE do share this post and keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. 

If you have any other ways or ideas you’d like to help with or suggest or a different for of donating towards, please contact me directly.