Our day so far.  Julia uses The Ride, the para-transit service that provides door-to-door, shared-ride public transportation to people with disabilities. Julia uses The Ride to get to and from her day program and she likes it. This year Julia’s eligibility was set to end at the end of March. I noticed this fact about 6 weeks ago and called an MTA help line to find out what to do. I was advised to call one number and that speaker advised me to call another.  After a few phone calls, I connected with the Mobility Center, made an appointment for today, filled out the nine page form (large print so probably about 6 pages worth of information) and showed up the Mobility Center just before 8:30 for our appointment.  I planned for an early meeting so that Julia could get to her Library volunteer hours which begins at 10.  (Note: I didn’t receive any notice of the end of Julia’s eligibility. No call or text or email. If I was not as compulsive as I tend to be with Julia’s affairs, I would have missed it and she would have been without The Ride until we could get an appointment. And Julia would have never remembered or noticed on her own. I am grateful for the service but wonder about the lack of a reminder.  I could have used it. Julia would need it. I put a calendar date for myself three years from now, and I’ll put it in Julia’s calendar tonight. The need for such vigilance makes my blood run cold. Not for The Ride but for all the other things that she may miss in her future.)

The examiner at the Mobility Center was very nice, she was competent, understanding and compassionate. It was, however, a very long meeting for Julia.  

The examiner asked questions which Julia was required to answer. Not all the answers made sense and sometimes Julia deviated far from the question asked.  Sometimes I could chime in, correcting that she can climb stairs, walk a few blocks and saying her meds have no bad reactions.  Later, we talked about her “wrong” answers, and I tried to explain that saying she was not physically able to walk to the corner or climb could jeopardize this service—only when her answer was not true, that is. And that concerns about her physical abilities and reactions to meds should be discussed with her doctor and me.  

It wasn’t really lying, it was just Julia being somewhat bored and not wanting to be in this meeting.  

Then, the examiner did some ability testing, using a computer and then walking through the halls finding a correct paths.  All of the tests were explained and shown to Julia before she did the tasks by herself.  She was able to find the correct path after two tries; she was able to point out the correct bus, the driver, the correct stop and one other thing after being instructed three times with one trial test. The final testing was about good manners on public transportation and safety. Julia did a very good job without support or practice pointing out where the most appropriate place to sit in every picture, what were appropriate postures on public transportation (she found some of the mistaken pictures very funny) and when to cross different kinds of streets.  I’m very please with the street crossing results—we’ve been working on that since she was 9. With some prompting, she came up with solutions if she was  lost or got off a bus at the wrong stop.  

The examiner assured me that she was recommending Julia’s eligibility and we left to have some breakfast at a grand old truck stop called The Victory Diner.  I had no idea that the meeting would be that long and could not foreshadow it for Julia. Julia did pretty well considering. She was pleased with herself as she should be. I don’t know if she will ever be able to do this sort of thing herself but I think she can be successful with an advocate beside her.

We were, of course, almost 2 hours late for her library shift. The librarians were fine, Julia was only a little anxious, and I feel like we have another notch on the independence belt.