Twenty-one is an important birthday for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism. Until they reach 21, Medicaid has to pay for intensive services and supports, including behavioral and occupational therapies. As families reach the “cliff,” the Sharathchandras of Squirrel Hill included, worry about receiving funding to maintain the services their children need to thrive. 13,000 Pennsylvanians are on the waiting list–with 4,500 on an emergency list–for these services. On Tejus Sharathchandra’s 21st birthday, his family not only celebrates his birthday, but that he will be receiving the consolidated waiver funding that ensures he will get services for life.
Tejus Sharathchandra stands in Taco Bell in Monroeville where he requested his parents take him for his birthday dinner.Tejus gets help playing Uno from a classmate at CITY Connections East in Squirrel Hill. CITY Connections provides life skills including social skills, including playing games, to people 18-21 living with intellectual disabilities.Lori Graziano, a professional care assistant, asks Tejus to play one more song on the piano. Tejus has been playing the piano on and off since 2009. He learns the music by watching other people play it.Lynne Carvell, program coordinator, waits with Tejus Sharathchandra as birthday candles are lit for his 21st birthday celebration at the Teen and Young Adult Center at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. This was the third of four cakes Tejus had to celebrate his birthday. The after school program is open to people with physical, intellectual, emotional and behavior challenges.Tejus carries his birthday balloon with him as he walks to the Teen and Young Adult Center at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. He goes to the JCC three days a week, where he plays games, swims, and participates in other social activities.Jonathan Wickstrom, a habilitation aid, encourages Tejus to join the group as they play “Duck, Duck, Goose” at the Teen and Young Adult Center at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. Jonathan works with Tejus 25 hours per week, helping him to learn and use life skills at home and in the community.Lori Graziano, a professional care assistant, jokes around with Tejus Sharathchandra as he waits for the bus outside City Connections East in Squirrel Hill.Tejus and Jonathan Wickstrom, a habilitation aid, walk to the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. “They let me be mom,” says Tejus’ mother Chitra Sharathchandra about having two habilitation aids who work with Tejus throughout the day. The habilitation aids help Tejus to learn and use life skills at home and in the community, a task that Chitra took on for years herself.Tejus Sharathchandra plays “Duck, Duck, Goose,” with his habilitation aid Jonathan Wickstrom and others at Teen and Young Adult Center at the Jewish Community Center Wednesday, November 2, 2016. Jonathan made the birthday shirt that says “Made in 1995,” and “21 Years of Being Awesome.”Chitra Sharathchandra gives a kiss to her son Tejus as his brother Akshay,17, looks on as they celebrates Tejus’ 21st birthday at home in Squirrel Hill. The cake was his fourth of the day. With the habilitation aids and the consolidated waiver funding which will allow Tejus to continue getting services, Chitra has started looking for work in her field of computer science again.Tejus waits for the school bus to arrive as he leaves CITY Connections East in Squirrel Hill on Wednesday, November 2, 2016.
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