Weekly COVID-19 Webinar – Mental Health Wellness& Other Updates

Rhonda: [00:00:00] Awesome. Everyone. Thank you all so much for joining us today for our weekly Kentucky SPIN update for families during the COVID-19 crisis. Today, we thought it would be very important to cover mental health wellness, and we are very grateful to have speakers today with us, which is Carol Cecil with Kentucky partnership for families and children.

And Jesse Dillow, who is TAYLRD with KPFC. I’ll start that. Just kind of going through, and letting you know, that, there are some handouts that you’ll be able to see, and you can download those or don’t worry if you don’t have a moment. It also will include the PowerPoint.

We will also follow up with an email  all of those helpful handouts. Also too, you will see that there is a questions box that you can ask questions. And what we are going to do is we’re going to pause throughout the webinar at different times where we’ll go over [00:01:00] questions. Stella Beard. It is also on here with us, with Kentucky SPIN, and she helps keep us straight here and is going to  help us with questions that you all submit.

Just to tell you a little bit about Kentucky SPIN, it’s Kentucky special parent involvement network, and we’re all family members or persons with disabilities helping one another. We do have the parent training and information project for the state of Kentucky. Which is funded through the US Department of Education under IDEA, individuals with disabilities education act, which is the federal law that also calls for IEPs in school, or first steps for our birth to three.

Our role really, is to be able to help you to be able to help your child and offer that peer support and a listening ear. We are not attorneys or act as attorneys and represent families. So I think that’s very important to know.

One thing as well. As we go through this, we’ll have our guest speakers talking about [00:02:00] the importance of the mental health, and then also we’ll have some other updates that we’ve been including each week,  some education updates at the end, but then also some other updates. Some important things that maybe have gone on since last Tuesday’s webinar that we’ll make sure that everybody is aware of. I think it’s important, and one of the things that I love about the work that we do, is, you know, first and foremost, I’m a sister,  three of my siblings have a variety of disabilities from the seen to the unseen, which each have their own experiences. That are associated with each and all three of my siblings had IEPs through school and are smarter than I could wish to be. So, you know, I also am a proud foster adoptive mom of the greatest gift of my life.

So my goal is. How can I be there and help one another. And that’s one of the things that I love [00:03:00] also about KPFC because Kentucky partnership for families and children has always been and Carol, I don’t know how long it been. We have known one another, maybe well, that’ll tell our age or so, but we have always been great partners with one another and truly value the partnership and the collaboration.

And Carol, is the executive  director of  KPFC and also Jesse, he’ll tell a little bit more itself. but you, you have always had an open door, and I love that because we know that the more we work together, the better we can help our families. Okay.

And so one of the great things too is we all have, different areas of expertise. And, and the great thing is we share with one another because the bottom line is what’s important to all of us and always has been over all these years, is the children and families get what they need. [00:04:00] And that couldn’t be even more appropriate than right now, given what we are all dealing with. And I know Jesse, we may not have had as much time to, get to know one another. We have heard about the great work that you have been doing, and I know are continuing to do for our youth throughout the state. And I just admire that and I would love for you to also, when you speak after Carol, to share a little bit about that, because I don’t know that a lot of people are aware. And the opportunities that you all have available.

So, Carol, I’ll stop rambling and if you want to take it from here.

Carol: [00:04:41] All right. Thank you, Rhonda. I appreciate it. Thank you. Stella.

You can go on. Yeah, there you go. So when Rhonda, and Stella contacted us, at Kentucky partnership for families and children, they talked about how to help with the mental health issues during this stressful time.

And so. To me, I just started calling it the [00:05:00] chaotic times because or very uncertain times, because we know that so many different things are happening all at once that none of us ever imagined happening. We’re not sure about what the future’s going to bring. How long are we going to be working from home and working virtually, and how long are our kids going to be home from school?

All of that is pretty scary and some of us are the lucky ones, like Rhonda and Stella, myself and Jesse we’re able to work from home because of the kind of work that we do. But for many, my family members included, you know, they’ve been laid off or let go, and so they have that loss of income. So there again, that increases the stress you’re having.

Already being uncertain is a stressor and an anxiety creator. Then you have the loss of income on top of that. Then you have being stuck at home 24, 7 for the most part, which is less stressful for some and more stressful for others. And I’ve been hearing a lot from parents about working, helping their children with their schoolwork.

And  I used to be a teacher and [00:06:00] one of my former students put on Facebook about, he hopes we feel his pain. And I said, is she anything like you? And he said, yes. I said, I feel your pain. So, I just thought it was funny. So we’re hearing a lot of parents that are very frustrated working with the schoolwork and feeling overwhelmed.

We have a loss of routine and we don’t have a normal schedule anymore. Maybe we’re having too much togetherness at home. I like these people, but it’s time for them to move out kind of thing. And then the social distancing affects those natural supports. So when we’re having a struggle with our family, or personally, we’re used to having grandma, auntie, uncle, cousin  to help out with the kids or to help bring support to us. And with the social distancing, we aren’t necessarily able to have that. And so all these things together can really affect our mental health.

Can we go to the [00:07:00] next slide Stella? There we go. So here’s some of the possible effects. And this is not a list of everything that could happen, but these are some of the things for you to be aware of. Is that it could be that you have increased agitation or irritability, or your kids might have increased agitation or irritability.

There might be more outburst. For many of our kids who might be on the autism spectrum or that have some behavioral health challenges, being off schedule really increases that irritability. And so they might have more outbursts. This new normal is going to take a while for some of our kids to get used to, and that’s okay, just be aware of it. For some of us, it’s going to take a while. For some of our kids, they might have an increase or decrease in energy level. For some of our kids that have a lot of energy, it’s probably going to increase being at home because they’re not out, they’re not having recess. They’re not having ways to get that energy out as [00:08:00] much.

if you have a child who’s anxious or who’s a worrier, they might have a decrease in their energy level because they’re spending more of that energy in their head focusing on what they’re worried about. And so that comes with the next one, the, of worrying excessively, crying frequently, blaming others for everything.

So just really putting up that front that everything is someone else’s fault. And they might have trouble relaxing or sleeping, and this might be you or it might be your child. Based on how anxious you are. Are you too anxious to shut off your thoughts when you’re trying to go to bed at night? Or do you wake up in the middle of the night with all the worries?

How am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to have food for my kids? So it could be you or your children having these issues. Your kids might turn to negative attention getting behaviors. They’re going to want your attention one way or another. And if they don’t get it through positive ways, they will go to negative ways.

We’ve already heard on the news about the increase in alcohol consumption with the people being at [00:09:00] home. They said that the alcohol sales are doing very well right now. So just to be aware that that could be a mental health effect when you are medicating or, easing your anxiety with alcohol, tobacco, or other illegal drug use.

So just be aware of that. Some of us have difficulty asking for help. That was always a hard one for me. My older boys taught me how to do that. So just realizing that even though you might not be comfortable asking for help, you still might need to ask for help. It’s okay. What I had to learn was it’s okay to be a giver. Which I was really good at, but it’s also okay to be a taker sometimes. So as long as you’re balancing that out, that’s okay.

You might have the inability to feel pleasure or have fun. That could be a sign of anxiety or depression, that you’re just so worried you’re not able to allow yourself to have that fun.

You could have an increase or a decrease in eating. I know I’ve heard a lot of people talk about online and on the radio [00:10:00] about gaining weight while they’re closed up inside their house. And so I think for some of us, when we are stressed, we eat, and for other ones of us, we don’t eat when we’re stressed. So it’s really about, how you handle that personally.

And for some of us, and for some of our kids, they actually have physical symptoms because they are so stressed or so anxious. They might have headaches or stomach aches or they might complain about phantom pains just because they’re needing your attention and your nurturing.

So just be aware. It can be these and it can be others. Does anybody have questions at this point?

Stella: [00:10:37] I don’t see any questions right now.

Carol: [00:10:40] All right. Thank you.

So here are some strategies that you can use to help calm that chaos. I hope it shows up well on your screen. I hope it’s not too small.

Be mindful of your own conversations in front of your kids. Do they hear you freaking out about the COVID-19?

Did they hear you [00:11:00] freaking out about having to help them with their homework? Just be aware how you handle things or how they’ll take that. Are you talking about how many deaths we’ve had from COVID-19 that can add to your children’s stress and worry. So just be aware of what information they get about COVID-19 needs to be age appropriate so that it doesn’t cause them too much stress or anxiety.

And the next step, answer your children’s questions honestly. It’s okay to say you don’t know or that you don’t have an answer, but also think about what’s age appropriate. If a five year old is asking you about the COVID-19 and why we’re at home and our mammo and pappa all gonna die, you’re gonna answer that very differently than if a 13 year old asked you that same question. With a five-year-old you might explain that it’s a germ that’s being passed around and that’s why we’re washing our hands so much and that when some people get this germ, it makes them really sick. But we hope  mammo and pappa [00:12:00] are going to be just fine. They’re staying at home, they’re washing their hands, they’re doing all the things they need to do to stay healthy.

With an older child you can ask them what they’re thinking about and what their worries are about with mammo and pappa. Or do they want to call or FaceTime mammo or pappa. So be honest with your kids but be age appropriate.

The next one is monitor what your kids are watching or doing. If you’re home with your kids, you might have a lot of togetherness right now.

And so,  plan for that togetherness. But if they’re just sitting in front of the TV all day, then when they do get their energy going, their energy is going to bounce off the walls. So just be aware that you might have to stagger watching TV and what they’re doing so that it’s not all or nothing with that.

And you just want to be aware of what your kids are watching. Is it age appropriate? Little ones don’t need to be watching things that are rated R, and they don’t need to be hearing things that have certain cuss words in it or sexually inappropriate behaviors. So just [00:13:00] be aware of what age your child is, what maturity level they are, and be aware of what they’re doing or watching to make sure it’s appropriate.

Setting a schedule. We talked about that not having a routine is really hard. So set a home schedule or routine. This is your new normal while the kids are at home. Your schedule should include fun time, quiet time, school time, TV time, video game time. Maybe play time outside, recess outside, then figure it out and for quiet time I will tell you something that saved my sanity many, many, many days when my children were young. Was after lunch, we always had quiet time. Of course, when they’re real little, it would be nap time after lunch, but when they got older, we still did quiet time and they had to play in their room quietly for at least an hour or so.

If that meant Barbie dolls or drawing or, playing on a handheld video game, whatever that might be. That was the quiet time and they knew they were to be in their rooms [00:14:00] with the door closed, and that was my time for sanity. I might get laundry done. I might get the kitchen cleaned up from lunch, but it gave me a few minutes not to have kids tugging on my pant leg.

The next one is, your kids are home, you’re at home. You do have to interact with them and not just go put away this, go do that. You have to like really interact, play games with them. Read books, create art, play outside, you can do exercises together. You can go on walks in your neighborhood, but find things to do together and if you have your schedule set with those things happening so that they might do homework for awhile or schoolwork, and then you go play. And then they come back and they do, something, some more school work, and then you go and you do video game time, and then they come back and do more schoolwork. So if you break out the sitting time, just sitting and doing schoolwork, if you break that up with some of these fun things, your kids are more apt to get the schoolwork done with less [00:15:00] fighting.

And then the last one is model for and teach your children calming behaviors. So what are the calming behaviors you use? Do you put yourself in timeout? I’ve been there, done that. Do you say a prayer, do you call a friend? What do you do to maintain being calm? Because what you model is what your kids will do. If you fly off the handle and start fussing and cussing.

Kids are going to do that too. So. Things are chaotic enough right now with all the new scheduling. So just make sure you model for your kids what you’re wanting them to do.

Maintaining your own sanity. I know this seems very long. I really tried to not make it be very many slides, but maintaining your own sanity. Call a friend or family member to vent, laugh, cry, or all three. I know you can’t be face to face with your family and friends. That it’s okay to FaceTime them or zoom them or [00:16:00] chime them, whatever you have virtually on your phone or on your computer.

Last Sunday I setup a meeting with my mom and my three sisters, just so we could see each other. So we did a, a chime meeting and just visited for about 20 minutes and I invited a couple of my nieces and my daughter, it was kind of a little girl’s meeting for about 20 minutes. But that helped just to see each other and just laugh together.

And I already mentioned you can give yourself a timeout. That’s okay. Remember, your children are just as tired of you as you are of them. They miss their routine. And for friends too, so it’s easy to think about how hard this is on us as the parent. Just remember, it’s hard on them too. It might not seem like it, but these are some big adjustments, especially for some of our kids who are not very flexible.

Some of our kids just roll with the punches. Some of our kids’ personalities aren’t, don’t roll with the punches at all. And so just understand this is really hard for them. They’re not trying to [00:17:00] have more outbursts. They’re not trying to be so anxious. It is part of their life. The more anxious and overwhelmed you are, the more your children will be.

We already talked about that, about what you model is, is what they will do. Laugh often and laugh loud. Find silly but appropriate videos on YouTube dances and sing. My sister-in-law was on Facebook the other day and my niece had posted, what do you do when you’re quarantined in the house? And my sister-in-laws, crazy, she’s just on there dancing and throwing her arms everywhere. It was just fun. So do things like that with your kids.

Help them put together a play, a funny play or a story. So many things you can do to laugh, because laughter is great for maintaining your sanity. So don’t be afraid to find some funny things.

And this is just about KPMC and my contact information. We are similar to Kentucky SPIN. We [00:18:00] are a statewide nonprofit family organization. Our focus is specifically for families that are raising children with behavioral health challenges. Our staff like Kentucky SPIN consist of parents and young adults or older adults who all have lived experience in the field of behavioral health challenges.

And just like Kentucky SPIN, we work really hard to empower children and transition aged youth and their families to drive their own treatment, to use their voice, have choice about what services they get. So we’re a sister agency to Kentucky SPIN, which is why we partner so well together. And Rhonda, you asked how long it had been. I’ve been here almost 21 years and so I worked with your mom to start with but you came on shortly after that. I think I’m a little bit older than you though. So any questions at this point Stella?

Stella: [00:18:50] Carol, what about when you have an older child that, you know, cognitively isn’t really understanding everything [00:19:00] you’ve explained, you’ve, you know, talked to him, you had practiced some good mental health strategies but the stress is just overwhelming and they’re just really not sure because their whole world has changed also, can you give some tips about a young adult that has some definitely high anxiety, but is not really still understanding, everything that’s going on.

Carol: [00:19:26] Yeah, I will. Jesse is going to talk about that transition age youth category, that age group. But if I’m understanding, you’re saying this person maybe, has an intellectual, delay, and so you’re going to speak to them at the appropriate maturity level for them and where they are and what they understand. And I think a lot of it is that routine, and you might even write that routine up if they’re a reader, if they’re not a reader, you might take pictures of what the routine looks like and put a clock beside it so they can follow along during the day.

Anything you can do to give them that sense of [00:20:00] normalcy. And so I think that’s really big, that consistent. And it’s so easy to say, oh, be consistent as a parent. I heard that for years and years and years be consistent as a parent. That’s so easy to say. And it is so hard to do. When I was a kid, we had one car, everyday looked the same.

That is not our society in the past 20 years, we have different schedules every day, different things going on. Kids going to different places. So as much as you can keep that schedule consistent. And making sure your child is aware of when those transitions are going to happen from one activity to the other, and you have to know your kid. Do they need a five minute warning? Do they need a one minute warning so that they start to understand? But a lot of it is persistence and consistency. You just got to keep telling them that and just what calms them down. Use those calming techniques that you know, work for your child.

I don’t know if that helped at all Stella or not.

Stella: [00:20:54] That was great. Thank you. Carol.

Carol: [00:20:58] Any other questions?

[00:21:00] Stella: [00:21:04] I don’t see any right now.

Carol: [00:21:06] All right, well, I’m going to go on mute then and let Jesse talk.

Jesse: [00:21:13] Hi, I’m Jessie, so I didn’t have any information to give, so I’ll give a brief. I’m from Ashland, Kentucky. I just recently moved to, Lexington and working in Frankfurt with Carol . I am the state level youth coordinator for TAYLRD 2.0. I am in that position due to my lived experience, with depression, anxiety.

And I never thought that because of my lived experience, I’d be working, I have a job because of it. And I do, and I love it. If you would’ve asked me a year ago where I would have, what I thought I would be doing, it would not be this at all. So I’m very happy and thankful that I’m in this position, and hope [00:22:00] that, I make a difference.

Okay.

So we can go ahead and start, go to the next slide. So a lot of my slide, is building off of Carol’s slide.  But, so chaotic times. Some of the commonalities with transition age youth and parents is, uncertainty about the future. You know, some don’t know if we’re ever get out of this, if we’re ever going to be able to go back to work, if we’re going to be able to get out of the house, if they’re ever going to get to go back to school.

So it’s very just uncertain.

Loss of income. So some, the older, transition aged youth who have jobs, who might be providing for themselves, you know, they have probably lost their jobs. Some of them may, you know, have been fortunate enough not to lose their jobs, but, a lot have lost, their jobs.

Being stuck at home.  Like Carol said, you know, that’s really rough on people to not be able to get [00:23:00] out.  Even for me, it’s really, really hard to stay at home and to not get in a depressed state. For me personally, it’s relieving, a stress relief to be outside, be outdoors, and just go, drive, anything like that. So being stuck at home has been very hard. Not having any human contact, you know, interaction has been very, very hard to.

Loss of routine in normal schedule. Was that this morning? It is hard, right now because like for me, I don’t go to sleep till about four o’clock in the morning, wake up about five hours later and, you know, go to work.

Work for seven hours and then I go take a nap. And up usually so, when normal, you know, it’s, you wake up, go to work, come home, have dinner and go to bed. So that’s going to be hard also to get back into that schedule.

We can go on. Okay. There we go. So [00:24:00] unique stresses to youth. Trying to stay on top of their responsibilities. So, you know, trying to get their schoolwork done.  For anyone in high school or in college. Sometimes it can be really hard to work online. It’s not for everybody. Some people really need to be in person, having somebody, you know, watching over them or the peer interaction. To see somebody there, you know, talk to somebody to help them with their work and being online is just not for them. So it’s really hard, you know, to stay on top of their school responsibilities.

Representation on the media, which leads to judgment. There’s been a lot, that I have heard about. I’ve not watched a lot of the media,  try not to. But with one of my coworkers, you know, we had talked about. How, youths has been looked down, like they, don’t understand how bad COVID-19 is. You know, they don’t want to say at home. They want to just go out. They don’t [00:25:00] care if they make anyone sick.

When that’s really not the truth. You know, they know. A lot of, a lot of youth are paying attention, and watching the news and getting informed about COVID-19 and, it’s not that they don’t want to just, you know, not say at home. Sometimes they need to get out. So the representation of transition aged youth is not the greatest right now, but it is getting better.

Not having peers around. Like I said, you know, some people really, depend on being around people. You know, they might not have mom and dad at home, or if they do have mom and dad home, they don’t talk to them. You know, they just stay isolated in the room because it might be a bad home situation or, you know, there is nobody at home, they’re all by themselves. So, that can be really, really hard right now. And if they don’t have, a way to communicate, you know, via, zoom or text messages or FaceTime like that, you [00:26:00] know, it’s really hard not to have anybody around.

Grieving big events. For seniors, this is probably the worst time for them. you know, not being able to have graduation. Senior, you know, events like senior trip. If they played any sports and not having senior night, just things like that, you know, that’s, for some people that’s a big, big achievement in their life and it should be, and they’re not going to be able to do that in person. So that can be really stressful on someone, especially if they’ve been looking forward to that, their entire, you know, high school career.

And then also, you know, parents stress about COVID-19, like Carol said, you know, try not to show your stress to, you know, your transition aged youth or your children because they can pick up on that and it stresses them out.

So just try to be calm, collective about it.  And like I said, you know, don’t dumb it down for them [00:27:00] either. Let them know you know the truth, but don’t show them how stressed you are about it. Just talk about it, talk, you know, let them stress about, not really let them stress about it, but let them talk to you about their stress as well.

So some of the possible mental health affects, like Carol said, increase of irritability, so more outburst. Everyone’s going to be really close to each other whenever we’re used to not being home with some people for, you know, 24 hours in a day, and now you’re there constantly with them, so you’re going to get irritated with somebody.

So like Carol said, you know, find something to do, to get away from them. You can go outside, go in a different room, just try to not get irritated. Decrease in energy level.  For most of you it’s been very,  they’ve just slept during this time. Or they’ve just laid around, a lot of our transition [00:28:00] aged youth that are in our drop in centers, we have talked to them, got, you know, asked them some questions and they said really that what they’ve been doing is watching Netflix and sleeping. So they’ve not really had any energy to go out and do anything. It’s been very, just depressing for them.

So worrying excessively. Some youth are really, really worrying about COVID-19. If they’ll ever be able to go back to work. If they’re ever going to be able to see their friends again. So that’s a big a fear for them.

Crying more frequently, whenever, you know, you changed from being able to go out and doing stuff to having to be locked up basically. And, sometimes you will cry.

Blaming others for everything. You know, sometimes we get push to our buttons being around people. So there is going to be times where you’re just going to blame everybody for anything that happens. If you mess [00:29:00] up at work or anything like that, it’s going to be blamed on somebody else.

Having trouble relaxing or sleeping.  I’ve had that problem sleeping. I don’t know if it’s just necessarily COVID-19 or if it’s just, well, I mean it is cause it’s being stuck at home, not being on that routine.

Increase in and decrease in eating. There’s a lot of increase in eating. A lot of people I know have increased. I personally have decreased in eating.  Whenever I’m stuck at home, I just don’t really feel like eating. And then the physical symptoms such as a headache and  as well.

Some strategies is staying in contact with friends via texting and video chat if you can do that. Painting or crafts.  Netflix. They also now just released like a group thing, so multiple people can get on there and watch the same show and chat back and forth.

Transition age youth really, really like TicToks. I don’t [00:30:00] know if that, a lot of, Adults or parents, you know, watch, TicToks. But that is something that, the transition age youth has voiced that has helped them.

Hobbies. So, you know, kind of like building stuff or, carving, you know, just stuff like that. Keeping hands clean, washing your hands all the time.

Family time. If you’ve not really been spending a lot of time together, try to spend some more time together. You know. And that should help with the stress and laugh, get caught up on stuff that you guys have never really talked about.

Music can always help. It doesn’t have to be sad music. It can be happy music and, you know, you can dance to it.

And then staying informed, for adult supports sticking to the facts. So don’t just, make sure that you know that it’s true, not just, suddenly you’ve heard you know, make sure you research it and  know, that is from a viable source.

[00:31:00] Saying calm when talking about the virus. So, you know, it goes back to like if a parents were talking about it with youth, don’t show how stressed out you are about it.

Just be calm. Making sure youth have what they need. So if it’s, you know, they need to see a counselor or they need a peer to talk to, you know, if they don’t have a phone and the parent does let them use the phone so they can call and talk to somebody and, get what they need.

And then trusting young people to understand what is going on.

And then here’s some resources, TAYLRD website, community mental health centers, and then the national suicide prevention text line.

And then this is my contact information.

Rhonda: [00:31:52] We had one question. Jesse, if you could, give some ideas of what you might think, would be [00:32:00] good, especially, for us moms and dads who are wanting to try to do the best but our child may not be,  a big talker. And they’re not expressing, concerns or questions. What are some things, maybe that you would suggest that would help sort of. And it’s not necessarily that they don’t feel comfortable, but so that they’re able to talk about that because some teens, some adults aren’t big talkers. So what would you suggest?

Jesse: [00:32:33] Well for me personally, I’m not a big talker. I kinda like to just stay to myself. For me personally, what has helped, is like game night maybe, or just sitting around and, watching a movie or, you know, and then kind of just getting the conversations started in a way, don’t make it feel like it’s pressured.

That’s really what helped with me is like my parents we would just start playing a game and then, you know, it’d be [00:33:00] like, well, how’s your day? You know, how are you feeling? Or, you know, like, what’s going on with your friends? How are they handling this time? And then it kind of opened up for me to just talk about, you know, like how I felt too.

I don’t know if that’s gonna work with everybody, but I think just making it comfortable and not making them feel like, you know, they have to talk about it would be the best way to go.

Rhonda: [00:33:25] Thank you. That’s an awesome tip.

Jesse: [00:33:28] No problem.

Carol: [00:33:29] Rhonda, can I respond to that also?

Rhonda: [00:33:31] Oh, please do.

Carol: [00:33:33] I was just going to say, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this I’m sure you probably have. But when you get in a car with your kids and you can’t make eye contact with them, they start sharing all kinds of things you never needed to know.  So even if

Rhonda: [00:33:44] I could attest to that.

Carol: [00:33:46] Just to hop in your car and to drive through McDonald’s or somewhere to get lunch and go sit in your car and eat it at the park, in the parking lot. So that you’re seeing the view, you’re seeing, you know, the trees and the grass. But [00:34:00] whenever you’re in a car, it seems to me that my kids, especially as teenagers, that’s when they would always start sharing things that were important to them. And I really always thought it was because you can’t make eye contact when you’re driving down the road.

But, so just try some of those things that are, you know, one on one time also with your teenagers and young adults.

Rhonda: [00:34:21] That’s perfect. And I’ve found too, because you know, I have a teen and, and other families have shared with me some of the things that, they have done. It’s always when you least expect it, that they share and you know. Some children and that’s part of, you know, knowing your child, you know, is that, they are going to share it when they’re ready or they’re going to ask it when they’re ready. And typically it’s going to be when you least expect it.

Are there any other tips or, or anything else that  you all would like to [00:35:00] share with us carol or Jesse?

Carol: [00:35:02] I would like to ask Jesse if he would share about TAYLRD, what that stands for and kind of what the purpose of TAYLRD is. And where some of the drop in, the  virtual drop in centers are going to be, cause some of these folks might be from anywhere around the state and they might be in those areas that that are going to be setting up the virtual drop in centers. So if you wouldn’t mind sharing that I’d appreciate it.

Jesse: [00:35:26] Yes. So TAYLRD stands for transition, aged youth launching realized dreams. so TAYLRD, it has created like these drop in centers, for transition age youth 16 through 25  to come into. Who have, mental health,  or, you know, anything like that.

But as long as they have a diagnosis,  they can come into the center and, they still receive services, but it’s not in the traditional way. They have, you know, your peer support [00:36:00] specialist, and other services there, but it’s really just a big place.  They can meet other youth who are just like them, who they probably would not meet.

Otherwise, they have different activities. So one day they might, you know, like do a craft or do yoga.  Different things like that. They also have a game room.  They cook food for them daily.  You know, they, it’s just a more, I don’t want to say safer environment, but it’s just a more friendly environment for youth.

They feel, more open, in this space.  So we have locations, really all around Kentucky. We’ve got one in Paducah.  We have one in Louisville, Ashland,  Louisa.  I’m trying to think of all the different places.

Rhonda: [00:36:57] We can also share if you would [00:37:00] like, cause we’ll gonna make sure that we email everybody. And we can include all the locations in the information for the different centers for you if you’d like.

Jesse: [00:37:09] Yes. Yeah.

Stella: [00:37:11] Or are they on the TAYLRD website? If somebody went to the TAYLRD website or TAYLRD Facebook page, would they find out places?

Jesse: [00:37:21] I don’t know for sure. I can send a copy of the brochure that has all the new locations.

Stella: [00:37:27] Okay. Thank you.

Jesse: [00:37:29] No problem.

Rhonda: [00:37:33] Thank you all so much. because this has helped, I know not even just myself, but a lot of our families. And we are so very grateful that you all joined us today. We’re going to kind of jump right into the, other updates, if that’s okay. But, please let us know, and Carol and Jesse and everybody with KPFC and TAYLRD, are always so wonderful.  And one of the things that I love the [00:38:00] most is it’s always nonjudgmental. And a lot of times you can’t find that, you know, in different settings that you go to just as families. And I think that that open door, attitude and policy is just one of the great things about KPFC. So make sure, that you all check them out some more on their websites and we’ll send information in the email about the TAYLRD sites.

Right now, which most of you have probably already heard the important COVID-19 education updates since our last call was, our last webinar last week was about,  which I’m sure many of you have heard, that the schools are now extended to not go back till after May 1st. Again, that’s where it’s at right now. It may change again. One of the great things that I love is that, that, that they’re taking this very seriously.

They want the children to be back in school whenever [00:39:00] it’s the safest to be. So, just keep that in mind. We know through May 1st that they won’t, so what all the schools will be doing and they’ll, all the Kentucky schools are on the NTI, the non traditional instruction program. They are all working on that, through that means versus the in person, at the school.

So, another thing that I wanted to kind of jump into here is,  about, and I know this is a big list. There’s a lot of great things, and of course we try to stay on top as much as we can, you can always check on our webpage. You can, we have created the COVID-19 sort of updates and we have education and other things that are listed there.

The Kentucky Department of Education, Gretta Hylton, who’s over the special education at the Kentucky Department of Education had a webcast last weekend. You can link directly to that, for the superintendent, sort of explaining, [00:40:00] during the NTI, and answering a lot of questions that districts had specific to special education.

Also, there was a great resource provided. OSERS, the Officer of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, which is at the federal government, under the U.S. Department of Education. They have also, in all of these links in the PDF you will receive, in the PowerPoint. These are links in the PDF that you could click on to get directly to that, or of course, all of this, that we have listed is on our website, on our COVID-19 page. So they’ve got different guidance that’s been issued for, the federal and state resources. As well as some resources that will help support remote learning. Now, KDE also has the wealth of knowledge that is being shared. And I’m just so proud of, you know, how through Kentucky, we’re all sharing with one another and [00:41:00] partnering.

One of the resource pages that they have, that they released was, that you can actually click on and it will give you the different resources and tools for remote teaching students with significant cognitive disabilities. So really looking at, how do we meet all of our children’s needs regardless of the severity of the disability.

Also you’ll see that, one of the, the letter that, went out was that KDE is helping schools as they are providing services to special education during the NTI, because that brings, a whole set of challenges within itself to be able to meet those needs. and really to, make sure that it is tailored for each child.

Also to the, Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. The National also has some early intervention. This [00:42:00] webinar shows, which really helps with the birth to three, how,  sort of some telehealth or tele intervention. So that birth to three, which in Kentucky is First Steps. So they still are receiving services, but in a different means.

Now, one thing that I want to make sure that, we stop for a moment and kind of go over. Because I know if you were able to join us on some of our other webinars, and if you didn’t get a chance our first one that kind of kicked off this weekly, COVID-19 updates was educating children with disabilities during COVID-19.

So that is on our YouTube channel and also on our COVID-19 page. You can access it directly there. Here’s the thing is the federal law IDEA. The individuals with disabilities education act section 504 the rehabilitation act, and title 2 of ADA in state law the Kentucky administrative regulations, which [00:43:00] are in regard to children, youth with disabilities in the school.

The laws haven’t changed. The timelines within the laws haven’t changed, but, we’ve got to keep in mind that, and on our next slide, it shows them, and this has been part of several of our updates. We have to understand that those federal and state laws did not account for and give anyone guidance on what you do in a pandemic.

Because none of us have ever experienced this before. So what we have to keep in mind, yes, the laws have not changed. But we’re in a time we’ve never been in before. So, and those same laws did not give us guidance on what you do in this situation. So we want to keep those things in mind.

On the next side, on the show, one, where it did give some guidance and one of the, excuse me. Guidance is from the U.S. Department of Education and I’ve [00:44:00] included this on several of our updates. Just so that we keep this in mind is that, you know, that the teams aren’t required to meet in person while schools close this, the U.S. Department of Education stated that in, if an evaluation includes, which would be their initial evaluation or, their re-evaluation, if it requires the face to face assessment or observation, right now, we’re all under strict orders and guidance, that, the face to face can’t take place. Everyone, every student, regardless of if they have a disability or not, and teachers, everybody involved are on the non traditional instruction program.

So if it is something that it has to be the face to face, which, loved the guidance thats come from the U.S. Department of Education, Kentucky Department of Education, and the school districts. Everybody’s really looking at how can we [00:45:00] still accomplish it but through alternate means. There are some things though that do require that face to face.

So you need to keep that in mind as we go through this. Yes, timelines and laws didn’t change, but we’ve never encountered this before and they did not give us guidance on what to do when it happens. So another thing is, questions that we’ve got. I want to make sure and this also in the reason I put down at the bottom, about, the webinar again, because Gretta Hylton had addressed this in it to clarify in the webinar is that KDE’s NTI program is not an IEP placement change. So your child’s placement did not change. The location for all children changed. So we just want to be very clear about that. It has temporarily changed during the pandemic that we are all, and following what the governor has recommended and the  [00:46:00] U.S. Government has recommended so that we slow the spread of the COVID-19.

So just keep those things in mind. And then one of the things that I wanted to make sure that we go over here is, that, one thing too is about, I know one of the things, and I was glad that Jesse had brought this up when we were talking about the mental health, you know, the graduation. That’s really on a lot of our kids’ minds. They’ve worked all of these years.

One of the things that the Kentucky Department Education with the Lieutenant Governor Coleman granted the waiver that suspended their requirements for the civics test for the early graduation exams. So they are really working and I love that everybody is staying informed. And I cannot say enough great things about how our state has really been handling and informing one another. And [00:47:00] I know that others can attest too because we’ve been on calls, and in webinars of people from all around different States in the U.S. and people aren’t handling it and keeping everyone informed like we have been doing here in Kentucky.

So I know another thing though that I wanted to make sure that you saw that, the interim commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Education issued another, letter to families, sort of an update and one of the huge things that he addressed on Friday that’s going on right now, and we all need to make sure we do our part and that our children are not doing this.

They’re having a very hard time in different areas because the middle schoolers and the high schoolers, they’re not in school, but they’re getting together in groups. This can’t happened. This is defeating the purpose of us all healthy at home. And really what can we do? Because we need to make sure that, yes, I understand that they need that [00:48:00] social interaction, but look at different ways Jesse and Carol indicated. Is looking at different ways that they still can get that social connection, but safely. Is it through video chat? Is it over the phone? So we all really play a part in this.

Another thing too that, I want to make sure in his letter that he also stated was again going over, because Thursday was when the Governor had announced in his five o’clock update is, you know, and earlier that day they had had a phone conversation, not just with the commissioner, but other superintendents around the state of Kentucky to decide and have that conversation to extend school being out until after May 1st. He also indicated in, in his letter, and I was very appreciative of, because a lot of people are saying, why don’t they just make a decision and call it off for the rest of the year? Well, but the thing is, I liked it, [00:49:00] they’re not jumping the gun and they’re making very informed decisions on what’s going to be the best for our children and the safest. So yes, we need to be prepared that it might be extended again and likely it probably will, but, you know, we want to keep that door open if that’s what’s best for our children.

And that to me is what speaks volumes, is because it is with the children and the educators and everybody in their families what is best for everybody in Kentucky.

Another thing that I would like to kind of go over here is the best practices that were shared. And I love this visual, you know, the non traditional instruction program in Kentucky, that shared this. Where it is student centered and a lot of this you keep in mind, especially for children who have disabilities, you want to have that [00:50:00] connection. Even if they’re doing the work from home, we have to keep that connection, with one another, with our students and how to support them.

And it’s going to look very different depending upon the child and what’s best for them. But I love the, the approach of this. Looking at that it’s project base that it’s, you know, all gonna relate to one another and it’s not just a lot of busy work. So really looking at this and keeping these things in mind as a mom helps me to kind of see, okay. So I kind of understand, this is not just, you go down through and you check off all those boxes that yes, they did this assignment, this homework. But it all plays together to where they’re still getting quality education on the NTI program tailored to them, especially, you know, with children with disabilities. And it’s going to look different regardless of the disability, regardless of the child.

Now one other thing is, cause I [00:51:00] know we’re getting close on time. I just wanted to kind of go over just a few other things. Kentucky put out and KDE, Kentucky Department of  Education had shared this the other day. And if you all can share any one that you know, and this is part of sort of the other updates outside of the education, anybody who can manufacture or donate personal protective equipment in Kentucky, if you all have stuff you can donate, you can make it, you know of someone, pleasespread the word and get this out there. Cause this is what’s going to help us all is we all pitch in together just like we do for our children and the education. We’ve got to all pitch in, how can we help? No, you may not be able to do this, but you know, you might have an extra box of gloves at home that you all won’t need.

You know that are still, could you donate? Well, there are the 16 state police posts around the [00:52:00] state that you can drop those off. You can call, go on a website. So just keep that in mind, any way that we can help one another. Is how we’re really gonna get through this.

The next thing that I want to talk about is. The unemployment insurance and making sure that everybody understands that, you know, there have been changes to who can apply to it that has really opened the door for a lot of our families, especially self-employed, independent contractors who had been, affected by this, substitute teachers, childcare workers can now, apply for unemployment because of the COVID-19, the pandemic where they wouldn’t have otherwise.

So also too, I want to make sure that. I do understand, and I know that a lot of our families are having a hard time being able to get in to submit the unemployment and get it to go through, because there is a lot of backlog, you can’t get [00:53:00] through on the phone line. Anyway that you know, and governor Beshear has been very honest in how they’re working on the system. I know that’s very hard though, when you’re a mom and you need to be able to provide food or pay your bills. It’s very hard to have patience with that. But if you are having trouble making sure that you do try to access that and call in, especially  if you have a disability yourself and need help, you can do that over the phone. Again, I know, there are a lot of our families have had to, that are struggling right now and have not been able to submit stuff, but please keep trying because I know they’re trying. And I want to make sure that you get that assistance that you need.

Also too there is again, who all, I know everybody’s probably saw this, but I included it again, because [00:54:00] you know, the more we spread the word, the better. All of these things, we play a part in making a difference. Not just for ourselves and our families, but for the people we don’t know. I’ll tell you, one of the things and this relates to the mental health, you know, as Carol and Jesse was talking with this about the one thing that I’ve had a very hard time with is understanding how people aren’t, some people aren’t taking this seriously.

And you know, regardless if it’s people you know or not, we owe that to one another. That we are all taking these steps. No, we’re not all perfect and we’re going to mess up on some of them. Right? So, but. What makes the difference is you have to try and you have to have that courtesy and that willl that we’re all gonna make a difference. Because I don’t know about you, but, I want everybody that, I love to make it out on the other side of this and that is my wish for [00:55:00] each of you. So I will quit preaching.

And another thing too, that I want to make sure that you are aware of. And if you all were able to get on, Five o’clock update on Saturday. Eric, the secretary Eric Friedlander also got up there and spoke about the importance of making sure that all Kentuckians have health coverage.

So right now we need to make sure if you don’t have it, someone you know does not have it. We’ve got to get you to go online and get that because right now, because we’re in a state of emergency, there is a short one page application. If you are having trouble going on there, and I make sure that I put on here, when you go to that main page there, you’re going to want to scroll down to services, click on services and click on the healthcare coverage application.

If you need help filling that out. Down here, call that Kentucky [00:56:00] healthcare customer service line and they will help you to fill that out. It’s very crucial. There are special things that have been put into place because of the pandemic that maybe you weren’t able to qualify before for medical insurance, you can now. And it is temporary coverage and would end on June 30th unless you submit an application for the regular Medicaid. But right now what’s most important is we have everybody covered on insurance. So please go on there. Help spread the word. Any way that we can all help make a difference.

Just try. A lot of it too,  just showing kindness to one another. We don’t have to do anything special. Just care for one another or be kind to one another and courteous. That goes a long way. I wanted to see if we had any questions. I know we’re over on the time, but were there any questions that, that you all wanted to ask [00:57:00] or that you might have right now?

Stella: [00:57:04] Okay. Rhonda, I, there’s one question it says, and it might be, if Carol and Jesse are still on, how would you suggest approaching your child that you see struggling emotionally but doesn’t want to reach out for help?

Carol: [00:57:20] This is Carol. I just think you leave that door open. Our young people are more apt to share what’s going on in their head I think. Jesse also shared earlier about asking them how their friends are handling things cause it might be easier for them to talk about their friends rather than themselves, though they might be included with that description of their friends, so to speak.

But I think a lot of it’s just being there, being aware, and leaving that door open for communication, spending time with them. Jesse, do you have anything else?

Jesse: [00:57:58] I’m right there with you.

[00:58:00] Rhonda: [00:58:03] Well, and I think and, I’m so glad that you all brought that up in that question because one thing that just from, you know, living it, is I had to learn very quickly that it’s probably going to take numerous times and doing that. So sometimes we think if we just start doing it, it’ll be that the first time we start spending time together or trying to do an activity, but it may take 5 or 6 times, sometimes 10.

So, you know, especially for those who doesn’t open up as easily. But then also one thing that I’ve found and other families have shared with me is maybe it’s someone else that they can talk to. You know, I’ll use my family as an example, my son, you know, my son may talk to his uncle Grant about stuff that he doesn’t me.

I don’t care. As long as he’s talking to someone about it and it is a responsible, you know, [00:59:00] responsible adult, someone they can trust.  I think that’s what’s key. What do you think, Carol?

Carol: [00:59:05] I think you’re right. I know I have a family member and she always told her kids as they were growing up. She let them pick one person in the family that they could share anything they wanted to with, and that family member was told that they didn’t have to share it. So for instance, her children might pick an aunt that they were comfortable with and my family member would tell the aunt, now she has full confidentiality with you. Anything she shares with you, you don’t have to share it with me. And so. The family, the sister knew that, the aunt knew that. The child knew that. So I think a lot of times having that other place to go.

And then the other thing I was thinking of is asking those open ended questions. So instead of, well, what are you thinking about the Corona virus? It might be things like, well, how do you think this is going affect  the rest of your school year? What do you think that’s going to mean for next school year? How are you, you know, what are some [01:00:00] things that you can be doing to stay connected with your friends? So I think asking questions that are kind of around it, but not directly about COVID-19, I think you might get some more from your kids that way, and those open ended questions allow them to take it where they want it to go, and it allows for you to get a lot more conversation. Sometimes with teenagers, you never know, but sometimes that helps.

Rhonda: [01:00:25] Thank you so much. I think that this has been, a world of help for all of us. And again, I can’t thank you all enough for joining us. One of the things too that, cause I know we’re running a little bit over time. If you all would not mind to complete your evaluation, you’ll be prompted at the end or it will be sent by email to you, if you don’t have time today to complete that. But also just to let you know, tomorrow we will be having, 11 to 12 Eastern time, we will be having the, overview of the special education law. Please join us if you [01:01:00] can. You can go to our website and get that link to register.

And also we will have another weekly update, next Tuesday. Please stay safe. Thank you all for your time, and you know, till we talk again. Thank you.

Carol: [01:01:16] Thanks, Rhonda. Thanks, Stella.

Rhonda: [01:01:19] You’re welcome. Thank you.

Stella: [01:01:20] Thank you all. Bye. Bye.