MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2005 VCU Present: DUSTY DUTTON, DALE DUTTON, DONNA DUTTON Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. >> DALE DUTTON: Good morning, everybody. >> DONNA DUTTON: Good morning. >> DALE DUTTON: We are here today to talk about Dusty, her life, her work, and all the things that go on with it. Let's get started. Putting the pieces of your life together. That's what it's all about? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: Yeah. So let's start with you today, shall we? And, who is that? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Okay, I was at the Grand Canyon on vacation. I was seeing. We had a great time on our vacation. >> DALE DUTTON: That's been a couple of years ago, right? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: Let's talk about you today. If I were to ask you today, how life is? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Life is great. >> DALE DUTTON: Life is great? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DALE DUTTON: Having fun? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Having fun. >> DALE DUTTON: You have a house that you rent? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DALE DUTTON: And some people that live with you? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: Some friends? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: You have work you do part-time and support work? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: What is this about a business? >> DUSTY DUTTON: A business about "Dusty's Puppets". >> DALE DUTTON: We'll get to that after awhile. You also have Down syndrome. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes, I do. >> DALE DUTTON: You have to watch your sugar, don't you? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yup. >> DALE DUTTON: That's diabetes? >> DUSTY DUTTON: That's diabetes. >> DALE DUTTON: And low vision? >> DUSTY DUTTON: And low vision. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty is legally blind. But, that works through some benefits stuff that is pretty nice for you. We have to go back and talk about your school years, when you were still in Santa Monica, in high school, and in junior high down there. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yeah. >> DALE DUTTON: Some of the things that we as parents, Donna and I, were very much interested in are our values around the decision making that had to be done for Dusty. As we worked with our teachers and the professionals in our life, we always tried to make sure that we were working towards her self- esteem. Dusty wanted to have a life that she felt good about. We also wanted people to support her interests. We knew that she would have needs for support through her life, and so we wanted to prepare her to be interdependent on people. We certainly had the values of inclusion both in the school and the community. And we made some early decisions not to go after diplomas and pieces of paper, but to really stay with experiences that would lead to these things of a life for her. We did know from early on that there were some medical threats. This diabetes is probably the shortest string in her life. She does have to test her blood and take shots several times a day. The result of that is the fear that parents have that she might be rejected, not picked, and not accommodated by the community and the school. Of course, I guess everybody worries that if you push your kids-- this is not necessarily disability related, we might get her over her head in some things. But, I have to say very quickly that the support she has had in her life and the acceptance that she found has gotten her past that. >> DONNA DUTTON: School inclusion was very important to us. We wanted Dusty to be able to participate in general education classes as much as possible as well as extracurricular activities. We learned early on that she was very interested in performance. She was very happy doing presentations in her classes, for example, she did a multimedia presentation in her freshman science class. She loved her drama and music classes, especially the chorus. We found out that Dusty is a ham. Dusty also had lots of opportunities to be included in the community. She participated in the youth program and the youth choir, especially at our church in shows that they performed. She was right there with neighborhood activities, especially on holidays. And her very first puppet show, she did on the 4th of July at one of our neighborhood picnics. >> DALE DUTTON: We wanted Dusty to have work experience early in her school career, but we also had a very strong belief that she should be a student. She had a few years to be in school, and we wanted her to have as much school experience as possible. We worked with special ed and the regular ed folks at school to see if she could have jobs and school experience on campus. She needed to test her blood at noon, and some of the school folks were freaking out about that. We found that she could spend lunch hour working in the nurse's office. That worked fine. She worked in the student store there. One of her first experiences in childcare was a little program set up for school age moms. Dusty got to be with the babies and feed them. She really turned on to that. The school was very accommodating of Dusty at the time. I remember that in one of her English classes she was asked to write a little story. Remember that? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DALE DUTTON: What did you write about? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Oh, yeah, I was writing about a story called The Little Mermaid. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty made a book called The Little Mermaid. She would take it into the nursery and read it to the kids. It was really good. >> DONNA DUTTON: One of the tools that was particularly helpful for us, beginning when Dusty was a young teenager, and continues to be helpful to us is the idea of person-centered planning. In this concept, first you build your circle of support. Dusty invited many people that she knows and that she feels comfortable with to come to a meeting about her future. Here is a little map of her circle of support. The role of the circle was particularly to help Dusty think about her future and to help guide her through that thinking. So Dusty, who do we have here? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Okay. We have my old friends who just came along, and we just had my own position. And, I was with Bridget Rosenberg. And, my friends came to see me. >> DONNA DUTTON: Our circle of support meets, meets again, and meets again over time. The first thing that happens in one of these meetings is to get Dusty to start to think about her dreams. Her first meeting was when she was 16. These are some of her dreams. This was a graphic illustration by Jack Pierpoint who together with Marcia Forest came up with this particular model for person centered planning. Dusty, what are some of your dreams? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Well, my dreams are to be a star on the stage and get married. >> DONNA DUTTON: Okay. I see going to college. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Going to college. >> DONNA DUTTON: I see babies. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Babies, too. >> DONNA DUTTON: You love babies. >> DALE DUTTON: And travel? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Travel, too. >> DALE DUTTON: Down there in the corner I see time without mom and dad. You were already thinking about being out on your own, weren't you? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Could be, yes. >> DONNA DUTTON: But the two big dreams are to be married and to be on stage. Then we proceeded to work through Dusty's first MAP and PATH. This is the MAP's chart that has come from Inclusion Press. In this particular model, first you think about: Who is the person? What are her dreams? What are her nightmares? What is she worried about? Our particular nightmare is will Dusty have excellent support for her medical needs throughout her life? Then going on, what are some of her strengths? What are some of her needs for support? And, what kind of paths are we going to take in order to get to her dreams? >> DONNA DUTTON: And here's the chart, the PATH, Having established those big dreams, we think about goals that could be accomplished within a year that would be along the road to those dreams. For example, if her dream is to be on stage, perhaps along that road there might be singing in the school chorus, being in a school play, attending a play, and being an usher at a play. There are many things that one can do to move along the way towards those dreams. Then we went about thinking: What are our current goals? Where are we now? What people do we need to enlist to help us to get along those pathways? What do we need to do to build our own strengths for the journey? What are those steps along the way that we need to do? What would be our first step, our second action step, and so forth? And Dusty, who do we have here? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Okay. I was with Richard Rosenberg and Bill. They were doing. They were very nice to me. They were saying, "How was Dusty doing?" And, I was doing fine. >> Donna Dutton: You'll see in the background the big chart on the wall for Dusty's first MAP and PATH. Of course, there are other models besides the MAP and PATH that we have mentioned for person centered planning. I think it's extremely important for parents, professionals, and people being served to use some kind of a form of person centered planning. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty, let's talk about moving, transition, and getting on with life. We had to have a lot of changes going on about that time. But we really had to stop and think about transition to what. Are we thinking transition to work or transition to supported living? Or transition to life? I think we finally made our focus to life. It was a move and a time for a lot of change in all of our lives. We were moving from southern California to northern California. We live now just north of San Francisco in a place called Marin county, which meant a whole new set of friends and a whole new set of things for Dusty to do. We found a transition program there that was based at the local community college. Dusty was actually able to go to school. They helped her a lot to plan for the things that were going on in her life. We sort of went back and continued our own values and expectations. Be began looking at our changing role as parents now, beginning to think about letting go, accepting Dusty's dreams, following the paths that she's on, and wanting to make sure that she was certainly having a happy life that she was satisfied with it. We began to look at some supported living options as she got out of school. We knew that she would be doing supported work. We knew that we would have to help her with accessing the supports that were necessary for that. One of the big pieces over the last 10 or 15 years has been just to keep up with all the good stuff that people are doing in support these days. The technology of support has changed so dramatically in the last few years. It's just so much richer as we've learned, what people can do and how to help them in it. The community college did play a large part in our activities with Dusty during these years. They gave her an opportunity to continue in her performance activities and the opportunities to be on stage. She had some chances to go out into some conference presentations with us. There was work experience. You remember working in the restaurant across the street? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Oh, yes, that was Bill's. >> DALE DUTTON: Is Bill a good place to go and eat? We visited at least once a month. Dusty worked in the college book store at the college of Marin. Interestingly enough, I had worked at the book store at the University of Texas lots of years ago. She was following along in my student's footsteps. Also she was able to do some childcare. There were lots of social opportunities. We met a whole new set of friends. A string of boyfriends came through there. Again we looked at the graduation after four years of doing that. Dusty did log about 60 hours, which would have been an A.A. degree, except that she had chosen more of the art and performance classes. She really didn't have everything necessary for a degree. But she certainly did have a lot of experience towards life preparation. Who is that, Dust? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Oh, yeah, this is my Marin chorus room. I was on the stage with my choir and with Stan. >> DALE DUTTON: Yes, Stan Krasic was a wonderful teacher who had Dusty up there with the rest of the college of Marin singers. What is this one? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was in the drama class and I was doing. I was in the show of children. >> DALE DUTTON: What were you doing? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was playing mosquito on a stick. >> DALE DUTTON: You were a mosquito on a stick. Didn't you take that out to some of the children's programs around at Christmas? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Sometimes. >> DALE DUTTON: Yeah, yeah. What in the world was this? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was on Dale's desk. He told me about using the computer keys on the computer. Use some e-mails. >> DALE DUTTON: Keeping up with the friends in southern California that you had moved away from, right? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Right. >> DALE DUTTON: Right. There you are in cap and gown. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was graduating, and I was with Kristen and Kim. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty went all the way through the graduation exercises. She got a completion certificate from the college of Marin. As I said, she had about 60 hours. We began then to plan and work towards her next move, some local adult service provision. We had to learn about the adult world, things about living and work, and explorations. Again, we had lots of decisions. In California, it's possible to have what is called a parent provider. I had done service provision in California. It's a very complicated process. There's lots of paperwork and lots of strings. For a number of reasons we decided not to go that way. The biggest one was that both Donna and I wanted to see Dusty in the adult service world. We wanted to be able to stand aside and just see how life is going to be some day when we may not still be around. We looked for providers that matched Dusty's needs, her wants, and our values. We also looked for a provider that could do the full range of employment - what we call day programming and also supported living. So that, one set of an organization could really take care of Dusty on a 24/7 basis. We had to make connections with all of the systems. The department of rehabilitation has provided some services to Dusty, but where we live in our locale, the MRDD system has been the primary funder for everything that she is getting support in today. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty receives SSI, SSDI, as a person with a disability based on the fact that I'm an old guy now and I get Social Security. So she gets a little bit of that. She is eligible for MediCal and Medicaid in California and also Medicare. She is dual eligible in that arena. We registered Dusty early on for Section 8 and a housing voucher came up for her just about the time she was interested in moving out. It worked well. The in-home services which are county-run in our area played into a supportive living arrangement for her as well. All that had to be done. Then we got into actually figuring out what supported life for Dusty would be like. Again, we had some of our expectations working with the provider agency. We really wanted them to focus on Dusty and her dreams and listen to her and do what she wanted to do. We wanted our values to be taken care of. We began to really work with the circle of support and make certain that they were around to help her, to provide information importance her. We wanted to make certain that she was connected to as much of the benefits available as possible. We again looked to the provider to help us pull all of that stuff together. Dusty moved. It's almost been four years ago. What is that, Dusty? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Oh, yeah, I was taking George's place with a truck picture of a Rhino. >> DALE DUTTON: When Dusty decided it would be okay to move out, she at that moment was very enamored with Garth Brooks. Her idea of moving out was to move to Nashville. Mom thought Nashville was a little bit farther away from California than we wanted to be. We called this Nashville in Marin. Found great rancho furniture to move in. And we had moving day. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I had help with assistants, and they were trying to get my own furniture ready. >> DALE DUTTON: And you moved first to an apartment and then to this nice house. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was moving to a new house. >> DALE DUTTON: Right. And who is that? >> DUSTY DUTTON: That is my roommate Angela. She is with me. >> DALE DUTTON: Yes, there you are at home. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was in my room. I was making my own bed. >> DALE DUTTON: Had to learn about doing a lot of things, didn't you? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Doing some vacuuming and dusting. >> DALE DUTTON: Having a house is a big responsibility. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: But, it really meant having a life, right? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DALE DUTTON: Becoming friends with Angela, meeting all of her friends? Having like a family around you. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Could be. >> DALE DUTTON: Just being out in the community a lot and meeting a whole lot of new people - big social life. You are working towards your dreams and lots of changes going on, right? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DALE DUTTON: And always, always been creative. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was with Angela. We scheduled Weight Watchers. She knows about really, really healthy meals. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty, you and Angela were in Weight Watchers together? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes, we were. >> DALE DUTTON: How much weight did you lose? >> DUSTY DUTTON: 50 pounds. >> DALE DUTTON: 50 pounds and you kept that off? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: That's right. She has been a wonderful resource for us. Who is that? >> DUSTY DUTTON: That's my darling Sullivan. He's so cute and loveable. >> DALE DUTTON: He is a cute and loveable guy. >> DUSTY DUTTON: He calls me honey. >> DALE DUTTON: And he's really a sweetheart. >> DUSTY DUTTON: He's a really sweetheart. >> DALE DUTTON: Who is that? >> DUSTY DUTTON: That is me again. I was the new Santa Claus doing some Christmas caroling with my guitar with Catherine. >> DALE DUTTON: Yes, Catherine helped you to learn play guitar a little bit. Who is that guy you are hanging out? >> DUSTY DUTTON: My dad and I went down to the Company for buying dinner with a guy named Dave. >> DALE DUTTON: We'll talk about Dave a little later. That's one of Dusty and my favorite hangouts. Now here is a big change. >> DUSTY DUTTON: A real big change. I was holding Angela's baby named Lexie and my mom was looking at her. >> DALE DUTTON: So a baby came to live with you. There they are. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Here we are. We were all together. >> DALE DUTTON: You and Angela. And, who is the dog? >> DUSTY DUTTON: That's Mr. Howling. >> DALE DUTTON: That's why we moved from the apartment into the house. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was holding her in the house. >> DALE DUTTON: All of Dusty's training from high school, all of her interest in babies, and wanting to have a baby in her life became possible here. And this might be the only chance that she would have had to have that. >> DUSTY DUTTON: And then I was new Elvis. I was in the Graceland of Marin and I was with little Lexie. >> DALE DUTTON: For years she wore a hat. When she became enamored with Elvis, Elvis gave her a scarf. Since that day she has been an Elvis fan and she always has a scarf around her. That was Lexie's first birthday. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: There you are doing housework. You have a helper now? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. I was helping her in the playground. >> DALE DUTTON: A local park just down the street. So we began now to talk about your work and your career, right? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Right. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty started, like a lot of people, as a volunteer. She volunteered at the local senior center and she volunteered at the local Head Start and she volunteered at the local YMCA in the daycare program. She did that as part of the community based day program. Every day they go out and do some of these pieces of work. This is where we first began to see the – >> DUSTY DUTTON: Oh, yes. I was at the Head Start. I was doing real puppet shows for children. >> DALE DUTTON: Doing a little puppet show for them. >> DUSTY DUTTON: And, I was using my puppets. >> DALE DUTTON: They got to meet the puppets. Then we moved on to the second phase of work, becoming a career, what I call the typical supported employment activities and employment opportunities. There are two local hotels that Dusty worked in. In fact, still works in. But it was the first pay. The first paychecks were coming in. We began to deal with Social Security and the reporting issues that go along with that. Who is that, Dust? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was getting my own uniform ready and then Theresa came over. >> DALE DUTTON: She is your job coach, right? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Right. >> DALE DUTTON: You work for two hotels. Which ones? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Okay. I was there? The Marriott. I was folding towels. >> DALE DUTTON: Right. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Folding towels. >> DALE DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DUSTY DUTTON: And I was with – >> DALE DUTTON: In the laundry. >> DUSTY DUTTON: And I was doing with my two partners. >> DALE DUTTON: Your two coworkers over there. I have to say that both of these hotels, it was a Holiday Inn and Marriott, were very accepting. Dusty was invited and included in the parties. You were employee of the month at the Holiday Inn one time? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yes. >> DALE DUTTON: Seems to me you have five-year pins for your work with them. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Uh-huh. >> DALE DUTTON: She has been right in there doing that kind of work. That was the very first what? >> DUSTY DUTTON: That is my own first paycheck I just got. >> DALE DUTTON: Were you rich? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was rich. >> DALE DUTTON: Well, you didn't get rich on that one because we framed it. But we have some other ones in the bank by now. The last piece or the third step in beginning to define Dusty's career was really picking up on the idea of customized employment program, and looking at what Dusty wanted to do with her life, finding what was her passion. The YMCA where she was doing the puppet show hired her. They started paying good money, nearly ten bucks an hour for what she had been giving them for free. There was clearly value there. We began to think of what else Dusty could do around that particular passion. So, Dusty? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Oh, yes. >> DALE DUTTON: What did we call it? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I called it "Dusty's Puppets". >> DALE DUTTON: Pursuing her passion. >> DONNA DUTTON: The concept for Dusty's business is built on the idea that she likes working with small children, that she loves to be on stage, and she loves puppets. This as we've shown you has been going on ever since she was a young girl. So the concept is that Dusty will provide puppet shows. She has worked out seven different shows at this point, each one about 10 to 12 minutes. She uses hand puppets and recorded music and is really wonderful at coordinating the puppets with music. And she performs for children in the age group of one to four. And puppet shows are provided either at daycare centers, preschools, libraries, or other places in the community that would be interested in having little puppet shows, as well as birthday parties. And in phase 2, down the road a ways, Dusty will be considering selling puppets and recordings. Here you see Dusty doing one of her puppet shows. What do we have here, honey? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Okay, I am in Macy's a date in July. I was there doing my own puppet shows for children. I was doing really good and the children are really pleased to see them. >> DONNA DUTTON: Dusty has a wonderful way of working with very small children. She relates to them really, really well. She is able to engage them. Here you can see a little group of kids that are probably between the ages of 12 and 18 months attending very, very well. They are really enjoying what they are doing. Now Dusty is becoming a professional performer, which is exactly along the path that she had wanted to proceed. She also has a chance to make enough income to enjoy life a little bit more, but without losing too many of her benefits. The self determination movement has brought into focus the idea of a microenterprise. A microenterprise is a very small business that someone with or without a disability might start. And our way of getting Dusty into this was a college class, again at the college of Marin called start a new venture. Dusty has been taking a class at the college of Marin, along with a support person. A person whom we identified as somebody who would be able to help her not only start the business but continue with the business. >> DUSTY DUTTON: I was with Cher. >> DALE DUTTON: Let me say something about the support service. It became very clear that this was not going to be the typical job coach or the typical day support person or even someone from the service provision world. We are talking about microenterprise, entrepreneurship, if you will. We were looking for someone who had marketing in their blood, someone who might be helpful with the books, keeping the finances of a business, doing the booking as well. Also somebody that would have some flexible time, because a business activity like this might not happen between nine and three on Monday to Friday. Someone who has a lot of versatility in their life who is also interested in what's going on. In some other models, we see that person might be an employee of the service provider, or they may actually get some of their income as an employee of Dusty's in the business. >> DONNA DUTTON: In the business class, Dusty has learned a structure that is required for putting together her new convenience tour. But, she also brings to it the overlay of disability and some additional things that need to be done. But as for anyone, the first thing is to have a business concept. For Dusty this is the idea of doing the puppet shows and perhaps the sales down the line. Then Dusty and her support person have been doing an industry analysis. They've been going and doing little surveys, checking with moms at the mall, at the YMCA and other places regarding whether they would be interested in having puppet shows for birthdays. What kind of characters their kids like? What ages would be appropriate? And so forth. Then came the feasibility study. This is where Dusty and her support person have been thinking through, can a business like this make money? If so, how much? And it's a rather intricate process but something that needs to be to be accomplished. We did this with the help of professors in Dusty's case but also with the Griffin-Hammis book which has been helpful to us. Then there's financial planning. What will be necessary to gather the resources for Dusty to actually begin the business? We had to come up with three budgets. First, the pro-forma income statement. That means an income statement projected into the future for about a year showing what her receipts would be and what her expenditures would be. And, then a cash flow budget, and finally a balance sheet for the first day. These three budgets and the financial plan would allow Dusty to do a break-even analysis, of course with the help of her teachers and her support person and to decide whether or not to go ahead. The decision was to be made about what kind of business to form. Should it be a corporation? Should it be a sole proprietorship? And this decision, which has yet to be made, will be based on all of the research. Finally it's necessary to put together a business plan so that it's clear what the steps will be, once it's decided to go ahead. >> DALE DUTTON: Let me say something about the course. This has been a phenomenal piece of structure, for this activity. >> DALE DUTTON: Dusty is enrolled in a regular college of Marin class on entrepreneurship. This is the same course that other people are going through. There has been disability awareness in that classroom, because Dusty is going through the same steps, doing the same sorts of analysis, going out and meeting the local people. But, she also brings to the process some different issues. There's certainly an issue of her benefits. There's an issue of dealing with Social Security and all of that. But, she brings along with that the support. That's the support person Cher. Some of the other pieces are looking at the textbook that they are using in the class, the textbook that we found around disability, and people with disabilities starting businesses. They are pretty much the same with this additional item. The class is interested in watching Dusty. She has been included in it very well by the two teachers that teach it. It's provided about a four-month structure for going through all of these steps. >> DONNA DUTTON: Here are some of the people who have helped in moving along. Dusty, who have we here? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Okay. My own super friends, people who want to see me. There was Nicole, Sherry, Donna, Dale, me, John, and Daniel just came to see us. >> DONNA DUTTON: Yes, and we found it necessary to have a separate circle of support for the business. Separate from the one for Dusty's life. And these people have all brought with them some knowledge of how to proceed. It has been very helpful to have outside assistance along the way. Who are these wonderful people? >> DUSTY DUTTON: This is the building with Ion. >> DONNA DUTTON: Eli? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I mean Eli and Susan, knows about me. >> DONNA DUTTON: These are counselors at the Marin Center for Independent Living who have helped Dusty to sort through all of her benefits and to help her understand how those benefits could change if she earned a little bit of money, a little bit more money, or a lot of money. Either she needs to earn enough money not to lose too many benefits, or she needs to earn enough money to make it possible for her to live without having benefits. At this point, we want to make sure that we can preserve the benefits that she has. >> DALE DUTTON: This all fits into that planning piece very nicely. We can look at almost a three-year projection of what Dusty's business will grow to. We are thinking now that it's going to have some performance. There will be some 1099 income. It's going to have some employment. She still is being paid to work at the Y, and there may be some other opportunities for employment. It may well have some income and some receipts from the sales of things. If you lay all of that out in a nice spreadsheet, then you can see the points at which you are going to lose some benefits. Your SSI is going to go down. There may be a place where she looses the SSDI benefit. It's not unexpected. You know what is going to come down the road, and you're sure of that bottom line of having enough cash or enough benefits to audit that is there. These are all the pieces that are involved in that kind of an analysis, certainly including the work incentives of 1619a and B as they apply to Social Security. Dusty is legally blind, so blind work expense is something that can be factored in. The PESS is relatively new in our lives, but that is property essential to self sufficiency. The business can own things that doesn't affect Dusty's $2,000 worth of resources, certainly including the Pass plan. And that will help us sort of bridge the loss of some of the benefits. As her income goes up, Section 8 will be affected and perhaps the in-home support services. All of that has to be balanced. And we are looking to the provider and the circle of support to help us with that as we continue to plan for Dusty's supports. What are we going to do? >> DUSTY DUTTON: I say just do it! >> DALE DUTTON: Just do it. Start up. We are right in the middle of this course at the moment. It should be over in another month. Dusty's final report is to make a pitch as though she were out there with the venture capitalist to see if people would like to invest in it. She is continuing those three steps of moving from volunteer work to supported employment and now to something that really does interest her. What is next? All of us in this field know that all of these things that are going to affect Dusty are in major flux at the moment. I mentioned that Dusty is dual eligible in Medicaid and Medicare. We know that the changes coming in 2006 are going to affect that. Section 8 is under attack at this very moment in Washington. We know that's a factor in her life and certainly the county and home support services is all under budget consideration considerations. Dusty's Social Security will vary as she makes money. We are planning for that. We don't know how the MRDD, ID system, and the Department of Education system in California will continue to change. Our particular area does not have self determination yet, but the State is writing a new waiver right now as we speak. When that funding comes in, it will be for something like 10,000 people in the State. It might be very useful as a support element to Dusty, because it would give her an individualized budget and a lot of flexibility in terms of how that money could be spent. We've got some business issues. As we mentioned, Dusty is currently doing several things. She is volunteering. She is in wage employment and she is in self-employment. All those things take time and interest on her part. There is this question of going into retail sales. I can see Dusty at street fairs and farmer's markets where she is entertaining kids and at the side selling inexpensive hand puppets and maybe even the music to go with them. These are things that her circle of support will help her figure out. The two circles intersect. Some people are common to both. There is one group that does focus on the business and another on life. All of these are items that we will be continuing to work on. And finally, you know, looking at Dusty's life herself. She is enamored with puppets right now and has been for 15 years that we can remember easily. But those things could change. She could get tired of doing that one of these days. This is certainly the kind of business that isn't going to be transferred to somebody that is not that interested. Her medical issues could get worse. The longer term effects of diabetes can be bad. So we are trying to keep that in good check. Then there's just the thing that all of us struggle with. That is how you measure and weigh your business life and your social life. Dusty is a very social person. She likes to be out and around and with her friends and doing things. Having this as part of Dusty "Dusty's Puppets" has certainly changed her interest in the business side. But you don't know what might change down the road. We've listed some resources for you here. The Griffin-Hammis website is a great spot to look at microenterprise. The Center for Self Determination is a great place to find help in getting started with that sort of thing. Microenterpriseworks is the website of an organization that is national, and there are providers that belong to it. It is not disability related. There is a thriving industry in this country of microenterprise. The next piece is their journal. Not necessarily disability specific, but it is inclusive of everyone. We did locate the Abilities Fund which has startup monies available to people as they start up a business. These are just folks that helped us today with this presentation and people that you've seen in pictures that are part of Dusty's life today. What is this all about, Dust? >> DUSTY DUTTON: It's all about -- in the end, it's all about having a life. >> DALE DUTTON: Well, we started talking today about you and your life. I asked if it was good. Is it any better an hour later? >> DUSTY DUTTON: It's great. >> DALE DUTTON: It's great. >> DUSTY DUTTON: And fabulous. >> DALE DUTTON: Fabulous. You think so? That's our message for today. Let's go back to the landing piece and talk about this episode last summer. Who is this? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Dale and I we stopped by for lunch at the Company and we listened to Dave where he was singing. >> DALE DUTTON: You probably can't read that, but it says Dave Matthews band. That's not the Dave Matthews band that you know about. This is the west coast version, Dave Matthews blues band. We went down and had lunch. The gal singing with them has a brother who is a cop in our county. The next thing we knew, Dave came over and talked to Dusty. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Dave came to see us for a good time. >> DALE DUTTON: Yeah. So this is sort of life, laid back in Marin, and kind of fun. Our ambition is that Dusty will live there for quite some years and be very much a part of that community, making some money, doing some fun things and having a good life. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yup, that's right. >> DALE DUTTON: You want to say goodbye to folks? >> DUSTY DUTTON: Goodbye, everyone. >> DALE DUTTON: We will be available in the chatroom to answer questions and I don't guess we gave anybody our e-mail addresses, but you can find us online if you go on and Google for Dusty Dutton you'll find her website. >> DUSTY DUTTON: Yeah. ***