Housing Myth Busting Community Spotlight: Tyleyia C.

Families CCAN is proud to be a recipient of the PA Developmental Disabilities Council’s  Housing Myth Busting grant.  The goal of our project is to break down some of the prevalent myths, or falsehoods, about housing for adults with disabilities. 

Along with our partners from Self Advocates United as One (SAU1), we are sharing information about Independent Living for Adults with disabilities.  

As part of our project, we are sharing a series of Community Spotlight Interviews.  These interviews highlight the stories of individuals with disabilities who are living independently in the community.  

Our Next Housing Myth Busting Community Spotlight Interviewee is Tyleyia.  Tyleyia lives on her own in an apartment in Bucks County.  Tyleyia balances her time between working at a daycare, taking care of her home, and pursuing a wide variety of  hobbies, including jewelry making, reading, writing, playing video games, watching DVDs,  and trying out new recipes.  

Tyleyia  was interviewed by Gretchen, Housing Myth Busting team member and SAU1 power coach.  Tyleyia’s mom, Donna, assisted with the interview when Tyleyia requested her help.  For clarity, Donna’s quotes are in italics.  This interview  has been lightly edited for clarity, but the words are all their  own. 

Thank you for agreeing to this interview.  So Tyleyia, we know you live on your own. The information you will provide is so valuable to people with disabilities.  First question: Can you tell us a bit about  where you live? 

“I live in [Bucks County] in a small town.” 

Is it an apartment, townhouse or a house? 

“An apartment.”

Do you own your home or rent it? 

“Rent.”

How long have you been living on your own? 

“I think it's been about a year, or a year and a half.”

Did you get to choose where you live? 

“Yeah”

Who helped you plan your move to your own place? 

“I think that's actually me. . . .   I found this place.  It’s right across the street from my work.  And my Mom and Dad helped.”  

What was that process like?  Did you just see a sign outside?  Did you look on the internet? How did you know that your apartment was available, and that was a good fit for you? .

“I saw a sign.  I used to take Bucks County Transport and I was sitting outside waiting for them and I saw the sign in the yard.  And then I don't know what the process after that was. What was it?”

Donna: “Well, we checked out the apartment upstairs.”

“That's right.  So what happened is we came and went to the upstairs apartment.  And we looked around and then we [didn’t get] that one.  And I think it was kind of a blessing though because down here there’s more space and I have a sun room and I think that I like the downstairs much better.”

Donna: “When we were looking at [the upstairs apartment, the landlord] told us that the downstairs  one was going to be available soon, and then we said as soon as that was available, let us know.”

“Yeah. So that’s how we got this one.”  

What are some steps that you took before you moved from your family home? 

“I worked with Hab staff, and I learned to shop on my own.  I’m still learning.  And cooking, laundry, and cleaning.”  

And does your family live nearby?

“Yeah, about five minutes away.” 

How are you paying for living in your own place?

“My mom takes care of that. How am I doing it?”

Donna: “How are you paying for it?” 

“Yeah.”

Donna: “Well, that's basically you're going to work. . .”

“Yeah, I go to work.”  

Donna: “And then you get SSDI.” 

“Okay.”

Do you feel you are receiving enough support?  What are those supports?

“Yeah. From certain people, yeah. . . .  I have a Hab worker.” 

What skill do you think has been most important to live on your own? 

“I think mostly cooking and planning meals.  I knew how to do it at my parents house-- mostly the basics-- like spaghetti, grilled cheese.  And  that's what I do here when I don't have staff.  But when I have staff, I try to do more involved recipes.”  

Donna: “And you’ve been working on some more involved recipes even when staff hasn’t been here, right?  You do a lot of cooking.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying.”  

What is one thing that is wonderful about living in your own place?

“Having my independence.” 

Do you have Housemates?

“No.”

Do you feel included in your neighborhood? 

“Yes.” 

Do you have social spaces in your community that you use or to go to frequently, such as a gym, restaurant, coffee shop or community center?

“Yeah.” 

Where do you go?

“I can walk to places and I have staff that drives me to places.  So where I can walk is the library sometimes.  And I can walk to [a pizza shop] if I want to get some sides for what I'm making for dinner or something or order out.  I have [another restaurant] that I walk to sometimes.   I go to the pharmacy.  I walk all the way over there.  And then I go to the supermarket.  Sometimes I walk or sometimes my staff drives me.  I  walk to the Dairy Queen, and McDonald's sometimes.  And I walk to work.” 

What advice do you have for other people with disabilities who are thinking about getting their own place? 

“Just keep fighting for what you want. That's how we did it.”

Yeah, good advice.  Very good advice.  What fun things do you do in your apartment?

“I do crafts, like I can make bracelets.  I do the Wii.  And I have board games and card games I do with staff. Oh, and I have DVDs and books.  I like to read.  And scrapbooking when I have the time.  I like to write.  And work on work stuff, basically.  That's about it. I get stuff ready for the kids. I work in a daycare so I work with 3 year olds.  Yeah, I like to plan activities and stuff.”

You’ve been here for a while now.  Is your apartment starting to feel like home? 

“Yeah, it  just doesn't feel so real yet.”

Is this the first time you've lived on your own?  Did you ever have an opportunity to live on your own in school or at camp or anything?

“[I went to] camp.  I went for a short time and then the last few years before I moved out my mom let me stay home by myself when they went out to dinner or on [a short] vacation.”

Donna: “Yeah, for a couple of days.” 

“Yeah, We tested it out.” 

You mentioned that the best thing about living on your own is independence.  I'm wondering -- What does independence look like for you?

“Just to do everything on my own, like cook, clean. . . .  Just learning how to do stuff on my own, I guess.  And don't have to have my mom tell me what to do and stuff.”

That's an important part of being independent-- being able to make your own choices.

Do you get to make a lot of your own choices now that you're living on your own?

“Yeah, most of them, yeah.”

What are some choices you get to make now that you didn't when you were living with your parents?

“I would say--When I go to bed, and what I want to cook and when I want to eat. . . .  Yeah, and I can have my music up.”

Are you friendly with your neighbors?

“Yeah”

So they don't mind the music?

(laughing) “Yeah. I hope they don't hear it, or they don’t mind.”

We appreciate you joining us to share your story.  Thank you. 

“Thank you.”

This project is funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council.  To learn more about the project and how you can get involved, please visit our Housing Myth Busting page.