Ohana Patrol

Last night, I got to attend a seminar sponsored by the Department of Health concerning transitions.  Transitions happen to everyone but they are a big deal when you have a child like Javy.  They're actually a big deal for every child, but we don't put that much emphasis on children who don't have physical or mental limitations.  But if you think about it, all parents began preparing their child for transitioning into an adult immediately, when they are born.  Okay, I'm digressing but you get my point.   It's going to be an ongoing until the end of July and I'm very excited to learn everything that I can and I'll try to relate everything that I can in my blog.

Last night was an overview of some of the topics we would be learning about.  I just want to share one thing that hit me.  I am a very lucky and blessed person.  Last night's speaker introduced us to the concept of the Ohana Patrol!  Who should be involved in our transitions?  She had us draw a big circle and put our child in the center.  The subsequent circles were for family, extended family (the ones you can call crying to in the middle of the night, who you can count on, acquaintances (the people you see every now and then and just catch up) and the outer circle was paid support.  I worked feverishly on mine, turning the paper as I wrote names.  When we were done.  The instructor said, "What usually happens for most parents with special needs children, the outer circle has more people than the extended ohana."

I shook my head, "No."

This is Javy's circle:

Javy's Ohana Patrol is huge.  This circle is only gonna get bigger, too.