<HTML>Hi Susie:
In responce to your question about semi-supervised living, if I am understanding your question correctly, I would look into contacting your localstate rep and senator's office because they have been a beacon of light and info on knowing where these homes are. Secondly, you mention limited earning potential. Let me give you some free, sound financial advice here in my realm of expertise as an investment broker/financial consultant. I overcame severe dyslexia and illiteracy in adulthood, despite the lack of family and adequate support services from the government agencies. But the toll of poverty and deprivation I endured in the interim had left their mark on me.
I ended up graduating college magna cum laude w/ my degree in mathematics and then went into the world of investments and Wall St. But I will never forget the dark years of poverty and deprivation I struggled through, all alone, with no help or support.
I know first hand the extreme financial hardships those of us w/ LD face due to limited employment opportunities, due in part, to prevailant discrimination in the workforce. Regardless of whether there is a group home of sorts that meet your daughter's needs, ensuring economic self-sufficiency for her in any living arrangement is paramount in importance.
I do not know what state you and your daughter live in, but I am a licensed broker in PA. However, the following financial principles are applicable to meet concerns and needs of the disabled regardless of state of domicile. I would suggest, if you have the means, to set up a living trust , or maybe even a QTIP trust of sorts to ensure your daughter never has to be hungry, homeless, and suffering from lack of resources to obtain health/dental care. There are several options available that can also provide a tax shelter for you while ensuring your daughter's depending on how much money you have to be able to earmark over the length of her life to ensure she is able to survive. This is very important because you will not always be around and after you pass on, she will most likely still be living.
LD's across all functioning levels face unique financial/economic and social concerns. Often, resources necessary just to be able to live are not readily forthcoming from SSI or other governemtn agencies. Earning opportunities are harder for those of us with LD to come by than the non-disabled.
I know because I have been there. Now I have a career that I am good at, but for yars i suffered in poverty because I had no help and no family to support me. I am a high-functioning LD but I definitely have my share of battle scars and would never wish to see another human being suffer a fraction of what I suffered for lack of money, a caring family, and government support. I want to commend you for being the loving, caring parent that you are in looking out for your disabled daughter. In my opinion, you deserve a Congressional Medal of Honor because being the parent of a disabled child is not an easy road to traverse.
Please feel free to cantact me by email if you would like further explanation on some of the options I have described above. Also, my phone number is (814)337-7611 if calling would be more convenient.</HTML>
