7 minute read
FEATURED INDIVIDUAL: MEET ANDREW BLIXT
Against The Odds
BY ALICE FELL
40 years ago Andrew Blixt was delivered at 26 weeks old by emergency C-section, to save his mother Jill’s life. 40 years ago very few 26-week-old preemies survived. Andrew did.
His first weeks of life were spent on an open bed since he was much too fragile for an the confines of an incubator. He was on a ventilator since his tiny underdeveloped lungs were unable to breathe. He was fed via an intranasal tube. Andrew could not be held or physically comforted. His eyes were covered since he was under lights. Jill spent 3.5 weeks in the hospital recovering from near death and was only able to see her baby son, but not touch or comfort him. Al, his dad, had to follow the same restrictions.
After months in the NICU at Holden which is part of Mott’s Children’s Hospital of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Andrew went home.
Since therapists had worked with him on learning to suck he was able to successfully receive nourishment using formula and a bottle. His homecoming came with a mix of joy and fear since breathing continued to be a concern. He safely slept in a cradle under his parent’s watchful eyes so they could make sure he remained able to breathe on his own. His doctors at the time were not concerned there would be any difficulties developmentally, even though milestones were delayed. Finally, at 2.5 years old, the pediatrician informed Jill and Al, that Andrew had Cerebral Palsy.
By 1983 several changes had been implemented in this country in the way children with disabilities were being treated. Back in 1975 federal law PL 94-142 was passed assuring every child in the US an equal and appropriate public education. Before that law, many children with disabilities were housed in institutions with little access to educational opportunities. At the time I was working at Rackham School for children with disabilities, located on the campus of Eastern Michigan University. It was a lab school for the University Program training special education teachers and therapists. We were one of a few isolated schools in Michigan providing academic and therapeutic services to children with severe physical and cognitive impairments. Since the Law mentioned above mandated a timeline for getting schools like Rackham integrated into the public school system, within a few years of its inception, our program soon became part of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District and was housed in Ypsilanti Public Schools. In 1985, when Andrew was 2.5 years old, his parents just happened to hear of our program, and so began this young child’s journey through the public school special education system.
Michigan was a state that chose to provide public school opportunities from birth through 26 years of age despite the federal law’s limits of 3 to 21. This provided Andrew the opportunity to begin services at Estabrook Elementary School, in the Early Intervention portion of the program then known as New Horizons. l was Andrew’s first speech/ language therapist, and at 2.5 Andrew was not yet speaking. I diagnosed him with childhood apraxia of speech. He also did have cerebral palsy and exhibited other symptoms that fell on the autism spectrum. Jill told me she believed Andrew would read before he spoke and we did use written language along with a host of other strategies to encourage verbal communication.
Andrew was also encouraged to utilize various methods of augmentative communication. With lots of work on everybody’s part, Andrew was walking and talking by the time he was 6, and also reading. He learned at a slower rate than other kids his age but he did indeed learn. It became obvious over the years that Andrew also had cognitive deficits when viewing cognition in the traditional sense. But Andrew was not a traditional child. Andrew was unique, and he helped us all to learn the most effective ways to teach him. He was funny, and sweet, loved routines, trains, pasta, his family, his friends and his educators, and computers. Andrew traversed his life to the beat of a different drummer and grew up to be a wonderful young man. We would now refer to Andrew as being neurodiverse.
When Andrew was ready to enter HS, the IDEA laws changed again, and all centralized programs like New Horizons were mandated to be absorbed into the age-appropriate home district public school. To say the least, the schools were not ready to absorb all these wonderful and unique students and so the transition was anything but smooth. Luckily Andrew’s parents were constant advocates for him, and despite the shortcomings of the school districts to meet the needs of all these students, Andrew persevered and survived. He graduated at 26, which is in Michigan the oldest age that the schools are bound to provide services. Ready or not...... Andrew entered the world as a full-fledged adult, with a different skill set than a typical adult, but with a skill set nonetheless. Because of continued differences in cognitive abilities, social relationships, and problem-solving skills, as well as a naiveté and kindness that allowed him to see only the good in people, Andrew was a target for predators. It became clear to his parents that living independently and navigating life on his own was not going to be possible.
I was in and out of Andrew’s life during these early adult years and so I was privy to some of the struggles faced by this devoted family in trying to create the best possible life for Andrew. Roadblocks created barriers that sometimes seemed insurmountable, but the Blixts worked with other families to create an Intentional Community for their son and others like him. Success and challenges in this endeavor, are content for another story.
Up until now, Andrew enjoyed time in his apartment when full-time aides could be found to support him. The high costs of rent and finding and paying care staff will now make this impossible for him, and Andrew will be moving home for the time being.
Like any young adult, he would prefer his own apartment. Andrew continues to enjoy time and travel with his folks, attending race car exhibitions with Dad, visiting with family, and many activities available to individuals with disabilities that are available in Ann Arbor. Andrew is a son, a brother, a brother-in- law, a grandson, a friend and uncle and a community member.
And against the odds we must make it happen.
