When my son, Zachary was born nearly 25 years ago, I thought dealing with the trials and tribulations of childhood was going to be the most challenging part of raising a special needs child. Things will get easier — I kept telling myself.

Well, when Zack hit his teen years, I quickly realized my dream of easier times ahead were just that — a dream. Not only were things becoming harder, but they were more complicated and confusing than I ever imagined.

Thankfully for me, while sitting at one of Zack’s softball games when he was nearly 18 years old, I overheard a group of parents talking about various things they were having to do for their special needs adult. I wasn’t friends with this group of parents, but took a leap of faith and asked one of the mother’s about what they were discussing. What I learned that evening was overwhelming and honestly, down-right scary. I went home more confused than ever and had no clue where to begin looking into what I needed to do to prepare for my son’s transition into adulthood.

The following week when I arrived at Zack’s weekly softball game the mother I had approached handed me an envelope. She told me that in it were a few papers that should help me wade through the menagerie of information and paperwork that I would be facing. I opened it and found several papers, but the one that I hold dearest to me and still have to this day is a Special Needs Adulthood Checklist. This outlined some of the major tasks I needed to complete in order to keep Zack protected and secure once he turned 18. Further, the woman gave me her phone number so I could call her at any time if I had any questions or needed further guidance.

For the next year I worked on completing the Checklist, calling upon that generous mother several times with questions and concerns, and each time being met with kindness and compassion. Once I had completed this checklist I decided someday, somehow I would pay this act of kindness forward to other parents.

Since receiving that Checklist, I have had many positive experiences with various agencies throughout Macomb County, met some unbelievably dedicated and compassionate individuals that run local special needs activities, and have enjoyed working with and gained great insight into even more services available from the teachers and staff at Lutz School. So much information, so many organizations, so many helpful people — thus, the development of this website and the passing on and expansion of the Checklist I received over seven years ago.

I hope the information contained in this website not only reflects the mission statement of the Lutz Parent Group, but will also be of help to families above and beyond their years spent at Lutz.

Sincerely,

Lisa Dukicin, Lutz Parent Group Vice President, September 2018

On a personal note: I wish to thank Carole Edwards for her wonderful act of kindness in sharing that original Special Needs Adulthood Checklist with me. I will be forever indebted to you. Thank you!