Family Support Center Hanover

FAMILY SUPPORT CENTER– HANOVER 155 Webster St, Unit D, Hanover, MA 02339 [email protected] 781-878-4074 http://www.bamsi.org/services/children-youth-and-family-services/family-support-services/ September-October 2012 NEWSLETTER Calendar of Upcoming Events RSVP Please for all Center events: Mary Ann: 781-878-4074 ext.11 or mmills- [email protected] No fees unless otherwise stated.

Marshfield Farmers’ Market Meet us there for food-related-fun! Friday, September 7 3:30 – 5 PM Location: Marshfield Fairgrounds, 140 Main St. (Rte 3A), enter from Route 3A near the marquis sign; market is under the grandstands. Vendors sell food items, fruits/vegetables. Special events on 9/7:

 Squash Decorating Station for the kids. They provide materials there: Feathers, googlie eyes, construction paper, and different shaped squashes from which to chose.  Musician: Jim Armstrong & Students  Demos: Wool spinning  Chicken Talk - Derith Meyer absolutely LOVES her chickens and will share her passion for these birds with you. She will teach you about keeping chickens, hen houses, their egg laying behavior and what you can expect. Hanson Grain will be there to provide info about their feeding and how to order chickens if you want to raise your own. Talks will be at 2:30 and 4:00 but Derith will take questions all day long. ______

Moms’ Night Out Friday, September 14 and Friday, October 12 6:00 PM

Guys’ Night Out Friday, September 21 6:00 PM

Halfway Café, 200 South Franklin St, Holbrook Join us for an evening out, socializing with other adults, enjoy a snack or dinner. (Individuals will need to pay for their own meals; no subsidy for this event.) ** RSVP by 3PM on the day. ______

Coffee/Discussion Groups Open for all Location: 155 Webster St., Hanover Thursday, September 13 1:00- 2:00 PM Monday, September 17 10:00-11:00 AM Monday, October 15 10:00-11:00 AM Thursday, October 18, 1:00- 2:00 PM ______

Children/Parent Play Group Age 0-7 Location: 155 Webster St., Hanover Thursday, September 13 10:00-11:30 AM and Tuesday, October 16 10:00-11:30 AM

New group and dates, subject to change depending on the parent preferences. Let us know.

1 Family Support Center – Hanover September-October 2012 NEWSLETTER

______Disney On Ice –Rockin’ Ever After Sunday, September 16 4:30 PM Location: Providence DunkinDonuts Center, RI Tickets: $17 with BAMSI discount

The show includes favorite Disney characters who compete to be the next superstar in comical segments leading up to the tales of show stopping princesses – Ariel, Rapunzel, Belle, and Merida from Disney/Pixar's BRAVE! (Contact Mary Ann at the FS Center to see if tickets are still available)

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Making Plans: Defining Your Family’s Future Wednesday, October 3 6:30- 8 PM RSVP by 10/1 Location: 155 Webster St., Hanover

An educational workshop for families and professionals.

Topics include: Individuals with special needs and the need for proper planning, government programs, financial/legal considerations, common planning mistakes, important steps to take, resources for more info.

Leo Rotman (on the right) and Caleb Harty are Financial Advisors with Eagle Strategies and New York Life. Leo, father of two, is a Sudbury resident and founder of Metrowest United Sports, a youth sports program for children with special needs. Caleb is a Gordon College Alumnus and Salem MA resident, who works alongside Leo, providing special needs planning for families in the Greater Boston Area. Don Cordell is a Partner with the law firm Bowditch and Dewey. He specializes in elder law and special needs estate planning. Leo, Caleb, and Don, have presented together at numerous organizations across the Boston Area, including D.A.D.S., NECC, Milestones, NE ARC, Metrowest Autism Alliance, and various SEPACS.

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Get Out the Vote Register here 155 Webster St., Hanover

Do you care who becomes the President of the United States? On November 6, 2012, voters will decide. If you want to register to vote, you must be over 18, and sign up before October 17.

Become familiar with the voting process, and become registered in one easy step. If you moved to a new district or to a new town, you also need to register. I have the forms you need to complete: give me a call/email, or stop by the FS Center. Mary Ann [email protected] 781-878-4074 ______

The 3 Stooges Movie Rated PG Thursday, October 4 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM Location: 155 Webster St., Hanover It’s movie and popcorn time again! Families welcome. Drop off your teen or adult, if we have all the paperwork. 2 Family Support Center – Hanover September-October 2012 NEWSLETTER

Hayrides, Corn Maze and Fun at Sauchuk Farm Saturday, October 13 10:00 AM Location: 200 Center Street, Plympton, MA 02367

Wander in the corn maze, go on tractor- pulled hay rides, shoot the corn cannon, see the giant jumping pillow, duck races, and a spider web to climb on. Snack and produce stands –open. www. sauchukfarm.net

PLEASE RSVP by October 11. We need a minimum of 15 to obtain group rates. If it rains, call Sauchuk Farm – the maze may be closed. 781-585-1522

*** For families that participate in the Family Support Center Center- Hanover, each family can receive 2 free tickets. Additional tickets are $9.95.

Directions: Take Route 3 South (from Boston) or North (from Cape Cod) to Exit 7, Route 44 West. Proceed 6.7 miles to Route 58 North towards Plympton. The farmstand is 2.7 miles on left on Rte. 58. Continuing north on Route 58, take the first left after passing the farmstand onto Center Street. The corn maze is 0.8 mile on the right.

Photos from 2011 Family Support Ctr. visit:

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Halloween Party Friday, October 19 Location: 155 Webster St., Unit D, Hanover

5:30- 7 PM For those under 8 and those who prefer quieter children’s music, low-key games 7:30- 9 PM For over 8 and families of all ages (louder rock/roll, dancing, games)

Come in costume, or come as you are! Enjoy bobbing for donuts, creating a mask, listening to scary music, eating creepy snacks.

Anyone that would like to help turn the FSCtr. into the Bat/Spider Cave, let us know.

RSVP by October 17. Join us if you dare! ______Family Bike Ride Cape Cod Canal- Bourne Side Monday, October 8, 2012 10:00 AM RSVP by 10/6. Meet at Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce, by the back parking lot, near the canal. 70 Main St., Buzzards Bay 508-759-6000 [email protected]

Bring lunch, or purchase at nearby restaurants. Bring chairs for resting. RSVP: Email/call Mary Ann for more information, or maps. [email protected] 781-878-4074

Rentals - Canal Cruisers Bicycles Click here for more details. http://www.canalcruiserrentals.com Open on Sundays. Location: 45 B Main St., Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, 02532 Phone: (508) 388-9032 ______Special Olympics Program- Young Athletes, Middleboro This is designed for children with special needs ages 2-7 It is a 10-week program, Sundays from 4-5 p.m., 9/23- 10/2, in the multi-purpose room at the Middleboro YMCA, 61 E.Grove St. Children learn skills such as throwing, kicking, and catching. Each week a new skill is introduced and the last week is set up as the Olympics with all the skills represented in an event.

Volunteers are also needed. Typical peers are needed to model weekly skills and share in the fun. Middle school, high school and college students are needed in a buddy capacity with the participants. Older children with disabilities would also make great buddies for the little ones. For more information, contact Melissa Oddi- Morrison 508-574-4898 or email [email protected] ______Webinars - Join us at the Family Support Center-Hanover to View Them Autism Insurance Resource Center Webinar ARICA - The 2nd Year of Autism Insurance Law in MA Date: Thursday, September 13, 2012 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

The Autism Insurance Resource Center provides information to the public about insurance coverage under a new law, An Act Relative to Insurance Coverage for Autism (ARICA), which took effect in Massachusetts on January 1, 2011. There are many questions relating to the implementation of the law, e.g., to whom, ARICA applies, what treatments are covered and how to access coverage. The Center, a new program of New England INDEX, is designed to provide information and support for self-advocates, family members, providers, employers and educators on issues related to medical insurance for autism treatment. [email protected]

Food for Thought: Lessons Learned from Families about Health & Wellness Thursday, October 4 3:30-4:30 PM PRESENTERS: · Leslie Carroll, MUP, Director, National Family Voices Project IMPACT · Barbara Popper, MEd, Family Voices Regional Field Coordinator /Federation of Children with Special Needs 4 Family Support Center – Hanover September-October 2012 NEWSLETTER

· Gina Pola-Money, Family Voices Regional Field Coordinator; Director, UT Family to Family Health · Marlyn Wells, NC Family Voices Program Coordinator, Exceptional Children's Assistance C Register: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FVIMPACTFoodForThoughtWebinarRegistration Lowes: Build and Grow Kids’ Clinics Locations:108 Old Church Street, Pembroke, MA and 32 William C. Gould Way, Kingston, MA and 400 Bedford St., Abington

FREE hands-on workshops designed for children, offered on some Saturdays and Sundays, at all Lowes stores. http://lowesbuildandgrow.com/pages/default.aspx

Chuck E. Roller Saturday, September 8 10AM Fire Truck Saturday, September 22 10AM

Home Depot: Kids’ Building Workshops Locations: 1149 Hingham St, Rockland, and 39 Long Pond Road, Plymouth, and 715 Crescent St., Brockton Build a Fire Truck. Saturday, October 6 Time: anytime during 9 AM- Noon

FREE hands-on workshops designed for children, offered the 1st Saturday of every month, at all Home Depot stores between 9-12.

Workshops teach children do-it-yourself skills, tool safety and instill a sense of pride and accomplishment. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/ContentView? pn=HT_WS_KidsWorkshops&searchRedirect=kids+workshops&redAB ______FS Ctr. Summer 2012 Photos

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This article explains an interesting update for people with intellectual developmental disabilities:

Appeals Court Strikes Down DDS's Ceiling of a 70 IQ for Eligibility for Services By Daniel T.S. Heffernan, Esquire (via Federation for Children with Special Needs Aug.2012)

When the entitlement for services from local school districts begins to wind down as students receive their high school diplomas or approach their twenty-second birthdays, many families of the 165,000 Massachusetts students on IEPs look to the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services ("DDS"), formerly known as “DMR" to provide services to their adult children with intellectual disabilities. For approximately 32,000 eligible adults, DDS provides specialized services and supports that include day programs, employment supports, residential services, respite and transportation.

One criterion for DDS eligibility is that an individual have mental retardation. Prior to 2006, mental retardation was defined in DDS/DMR regulations as "significantly sub-average intellectual functioning." Decisions applying this criterion typically relied on such authorities as the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) as defining mental retardation to be present in individuals with significant functional impairments and an IQ score of 70 to 75.

In 2006, DDS/DMR issued a regulation defining "significantly sub-average intellectual functioning" as an IQ of 70 or below. That bright line has long been criticized as having no basis in science, especially in light of the many random conditions that may affect a person's performance on any given test day. The regulation has been viewed by many as having been arbitrarily imposed simply to reduce DDS/DMR rolls.

While it is difficult to quantify, it is believed that the imposition of this ceiling barred a significant number of individuals from becoming eligible for DDS services. It certainly worked a tremendous and capricious hardship on countless individuals and families who desperately needed services from the only agency that could provide them. For want of a single IQ point, individuals with intellectual impairments who heretofore had been receiving extensive supports from school districts, found the only door to even reduced services shut in their face.

On July 23, 2012, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, in Tartarini v. Department of Mental Retardation, 2012 WL 2047771 (Mass.App.Ct.) struck down this bright line bar. Tartarini had received an IQ score of 71 when she was 18 years old, 69 when she was 40 years old, and 71 when she was 42. The operative IQ score was determined to be the one when she was 18, and as such, barred her eligibility for DDS/DMR services. This determination was upheld by a hearing officer and the Massachusetts Superior Court.

The Appeals Court, however, reversed the decision and invalidated the DDS bright line ceiling of an IQ of 70. The Appeals Court held that the DDS regulation of a 70 or below IQ score requirement was inconsistent with the legislation that authorized it, stating that the Massachusetts Legislature "did not give the department [DDS/DMR] unfettered discretion to define mental retardation. The statute requires that the department's regulations be based on 'clinical authorities."

This decision is welcome news to families in need of adult services from DDS. There is hope that individuals denied eligibility based on the bright line of 70 will be able to reopen their applications or reapply for DDS services. In addition, myriad individuals with intellectual impairments but IQ scores above 70 may now be eligible to receive these crucial services as adults.