Easter Seals Disability Services

Laurie Tobine began noticing early signs of Alzheimer’s in her mother Carolyn Cuddy in 2001—her mother was not yet 50 years old. In a family where three generations have been affected by this disease, Laurie knew what to look for. At first, she was not overly concerned but by 2004 Laurie began to worry about her mom’s safety; she was leaving the house with the stove on, forgetting to eat and Laurie also saw her thought process deteriorating.

“My mother fought being tested for a long time. She remembered her father having Alzheimer’s and it scared her. She was and still is worried about losing her independence,” Laurie says.

Laurie’s extreme need to keep her mother safe prompted her to look for housing alternatives. The dilemma, because of Carolyn’s young age, was that she didn’t qualify for elderly housing and she was resistant to any sort of assisted living. Eventually in 2006, Laurie found an apartment for her mom. With the housing situation taken care of, she began looking for something to fill her mom’s days. In 2007 Carolyn became one of the first clients in the Easter Seals NH Adult Day Program’s Daybreak Room which serves individuals with mild dementia and early stages of Alzheimer’s.

At first Carolyn was resistant to attending the program. Laurie would drop her off and pick her up two days a week. After the first week, Carolyn began getting rides to and from the program through Easter Seals Special Transit Service. After a year of this routine, Carolyn was getting bored and wanted to attend the program more frequently. She is now at Easter Seals four days a week and by the time Sunday night rolls around, she can’t wait to get back to a program and friends she has grown to depend on.

As a caregiver for her mom, whom she describes as her “top priority and best friend,” Laurie has grown to depend on Easter Seals too. The program provides her with the respite she needs to work full time and care for her family.

“When she is there from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I don’t worry about her at all because I trust the people she is with and know she is having fun. She calls Easter Seals her “safe zone,” says Laurie. “No one there degrades her. The people at Easter Seals know what she can and can’t do.” Carolyn adds that when she is at Easter Seals she feels “safe and happy” and that being in the program “takes away my anxiety.”

For Carolyn, Easter Seals has provided her with a place to make friends, maintain a routine that is so important to people with Alzheimer’s, interact with the children in the Easter Seals Child Development Center and allow her to continue with her lifelong hobbies of painting and crafting. Her artwork has even been featured multiple times in Easter Seals note cards that are created annually.

Despite all of this, Laurie continues to worry. She knows the disease is progressing. Her mom is locking herself out of her apartment more often, getting lost from one floor to the next on the elevator and Laurie has to remind her daily to take her pills. She realizes Carolyn, now 60, will soon require a living arrangement with more assistance.

“Easter Seals has been heaven sent for my mother and it is very important for her to stay here no matter what else changes,” says Laurie. “I am doing the best I can for her because she was always there for me. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the Carolyn I know as long as possible.”