It’s not just a job—it’s a family

Nancy Harriman had been living in Peapack-Gladstone, N.J., for about 10 years, while working as a part-time nurse at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. “And then I asked myself, ‘Why am I driving so far when there’s a place right in my town?’” she recalls.

Thus began Harriman’s now 19-year-career at Matheny. This July, she was named adult medical day nurse at Matheny’s Adult Learning Center in Hillsborough.

At the center, Harriman, a registered nurse, oversees the care and treatment of 27 adult day patients who come from Matheny’s group homes and from the community. In addition, another 12 to 14 adults from Matheny are transported to the Hillsborough facility every day, participating in recreation and fine art activities, computer classes and a variety of life skills classes.

Harriman, seen above with Matheny group home resident Paul Santo, received her BSN from Rutgers-Newark, and her first job was at Morristown Memorial. In addition to Saint Barnabas, she has worked at the Lyons VA Hospital in Bernards Township and Overlook Medical Center in Summit.

Matheny’s Adult Learning Center, she says, “is very special. The people who work here are selfless. They do everything for others. And the students and patients at Matheny become like family. You see them grow up. It becomes a part of you that you don’t want to leave behind.”

When Eileen Murray joined Matheny Medical Center’s Arts Access Staff in 2001, one of her first jobs was to design the invitation for the first Full Circle event. This year, her first as the Director of Arts Access, marks her 11th Full Circle event, which has become an annual celebration of the program.

Murray, shown here working with Arts Access artist T.J. Christian, became Director in August 2011. She describes Full Circle as, “a culmination and celebration of the work that has been done by the Arts Access artists. Some of it’s new; some of it is work that just hasn’t been shown previously. The main goal, though, is to showcase the artists and their work.”

The title of Full Circle 2011 is “Dimensions,” which, Murray says, is meant to represent, “the different dimensions of each of the artists. They may be painters; they may be playwrights; they may be dancers or choreographers. Arts Access gives them the opportunity to sample all that and to find their one passion or several different passions. The work that’s performed and exhibited is a reflection of the multi-faceted dimensions of the program.”

Full Circle 2011 will be held Saturday, November 5, in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center on the Matheny campus. It will consist of a reception for visual art, from 3-4 p.m., followed by a stage presentation featuring dance, drama and poetry and concluding with another hour devoted to showcasing the visual art. “We hire professional actors and dancers to perform the work as our artists direct,” Murray explains. “The goal is to present the work in the most professional manner true to the artist’s vision.”

To register for the Full Circle show, log onto www.matheny.org and click on Full Circle Dimensions under What’s New or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

“People with disabilities,” says Dan Fenelon, “have exactly the same feelings as you and I. Art is a way for them to express those feelings.”

Fenelon, a Madison, N.J.-based artist, is the curator for the visual arts exhibit at Full Circle 2011 Dimensions, the annual celebration of the Matheny Medical and Educational Center’s Arts Access Program to be held November 5 in Matheny’s Robert Schonhorn Arts Center.

Some of the artwork selected by Fenelon for Full Circle will be
what he describes as “representational art. It’s very emotional work.” The Arts Access artists, he says, “are becoming more sophisticated. There’s more expressionism, rather than abstract expressionism. They’re starting to let the walls down a little. There is a deeper level to this art. It’s very
cathartic.”

For people who have never been to Full Circle or seen art created by Arts Access artists,  says Fenelon (left), “Get ready to be surprised. This is as good as art you’ll see anywhere. These people are true artists. Their work is very soulful.”

Thirty-nine pieces of visual art will be displayed at Full Circle. Food and beverages for the receptions have been donated by Ciao restaurant, Basking Ridge; cocoLuxe Fine Pastries, Peapack; Due Terre Enoteca, Bernardsville; Gladstone Tavern, Gladstone; 3 West Restaurant, Basking Ridge; and Village
Office Supply, Somerset.  Admission is $25.

To register, log onto www.matheny.org and click on Full Circle Dimensions under What’s New or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

Being disabled doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t play sports. Matheny students can use a variety of specialized equipment, such as adaptive tricycles and power wheelchairs, to participate in such sports as soccer and track and field.

This fall, youngsters who attended Bedminster Township’s Fun Fest 2011 got a chance to experience first-hand what that’s like. At the top, Anna Rabinovich, left, and Lisa Mashkovich of Bedminster try out an adaptive tricycle. Below, Billy Mandarino of Bedminster gives a power wheelchair a spin.

It’s not a big deal, right—opening a hand? For a boy named Sean it is. Diagnosed with athetoid cerebral palsy at 18 months, he’s “tactile defensive”—super-sensitive to touch. But now, at Matheny, he’s been able to open his hands for the first time—a major goal of his physical therapy.

Sean’s mom, Kelly, thinks the staff deserves a hand—for going “above and beyond. Sean is safe here,” she says, “because he’s surrounded by people who love him.”

Sean, shown here working with physical therapist Erin Guidera, is just one of nine “Special Stories” we highlight in a new publication: www.matheny.org/Matheny-Brochure.pdf.

Karen Deland started her teaching career at The Matheny School in 1979. She left a year later to teach in the Quakertown, N.J., public school system, then went to law school and then raised a family. But two years ago, feeling that she missed working with “special students,” she came back to Matheny. And she’s the first to say, she’s a better teacher for it all.

Deland, who was named the 2010 Educator of the Year at Matheny, says “flexibility and patience” are the keys to working with special needs children. Though her students’ medical conditions are more complex now than when she first taught here, she attributes Matheny’s technological innovations as critical for succeeding with these complicated teaching requirements.

Matheny is “top-of-the line technology-wise for the students,” she says. “Everybody’s treatment is different and individualized. Without the technology, we would be doing textbook learning, which isn’t really appropriate for our population.”

Deland, show above with student Daniel Gaudreau, was recently featured in her hometown newspaper, the Berkeley Heights Patch. You can read her story here.

Two years ago, William Miller of Succasunna had trunk control so weak he was “falling all over the place,” says his physical therapist, Diane Tavares, MS, PT.  Now the five-year-old can play catch, throw at a target and walk the balance beam all by himself. What helped make the difference was the physical-therapy support he received, not only from Tavares, but also from his teacher, Patti Klein, and the teacher’s aides in William’s public school, Jefferson Elementary.

Twice-weekly 30-minute sessions “weren’t going to fix someone like William,” says Tavares. “It had to be continuous all day.” So, under Matheny’s Therapy Solutions program, she taught Klein and the aides some of the physical therapy techniques she was using in her sessions with William. And as a result of this “teaching the teacher” approach, today the boy’s mom reports he’s doing “wonderfully.”

Above, Tavares works with William on a balance beam. To learn more, visit www.Matheny.org/Solutions, e-mail Solutions@Matheny.org or call 908.234.0011, ext. 751.A

Going to the hospital is tough for all of us. It’s extra tough for Matheny students and patients because of their special needs.

Now, thanks to funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a dedicated “transitional” nurse will help make sure special-needs patients get exactly the care and attention they need when moving to an acute care facility.

The new transitional nurse, Jeanne Lavelle, RN, says she is, “looking forward to being an advocate for our patients.  The whole plan is cutting edge and exciting. It’s an opportunity to provide better care and support for the families of our patients. I will help them ask the right questions, and I’ll be there to provide emotional support as well.”

Above, new transitional nurse Jeanne Lavelle, RN, center, confers with Lisa McKenna, RN, right, and staff physician Dr. Surbparkash Singh.

Read more at www.matheny.org/news/rwj-grant.htm.

Want to see paintings and digital art that “challenge the senses and push the boundaries of what you think of as art?” Check out the painting on this page by Arts Access artist Shaleena Tomassini at Matheny.  Madison-based artist Dan Fenelon describes the Arts Access artists’ work as “exciting” and Matheny President Steve Proctor says these artists “refuse to be defined by their disabilities.”

The artwork was created as part of the Arts Access Program, which provides professional “artist-facilitators” to help the disabled artists translate their visions into reality. The art will be on view at “Full Circle 2011: Dimensions,” an annual celebration of the program set for November 5 at the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center on the Matheny campus. The show will be curated by Fenelon, a painter, sculptor and muralist whose work includes a mural on the side of the Luna Stage Building in West Orange.  There will also be a stage presentation highlighting other art disciplines such as dance, drama, prose and poetry. For more information about Full Circle, call 908-234-0011, ext. 260, or download this flyer.

Physical therapy is different at Matheny than in a sports medicine clinic or a nursing home. And Erin Leach should know—she’s worked in all three settings.

“In a nursing home, you can improve someone’s function pretty significantly, but at Matheny, with the kids, there is just so much more energy,” Leach says. “I started to realize that what I do can really help them forever.”

Leach, who was voted the 2011 Related Service Provider of the Year by her peers at The Matheny School, also knows it can require creativity to incorporate PT into classroom settings. One example involved a lesson about where different articles of clothing belong on the human body. “The teacher had a big cutout of a person, and the students were working on where the shirt goes, where the shoes go, things like that,” she says. “They had Velcro clothing and shoes. So, when it was my student’s turn, I helped her walk up to the big cutout and put the shoes on. It was the perfect activity.”

Leach, shown here helping 8-year-old student Niara Holmes, understands that “I’m helping them do something they might not otherwise get the opportunity to do—like sitting up or standing up by themselves. I can look back and say, ‘Wow, they’re doing this much better’—even if it may seem to be a very small thing.”

We invite you to share your experience with our physical therapy services on this page.

Bernards High School in Bernardsville sponsors a Math League made up of students who share a passion for numbers. Last spring, the team’s members decided they wanted to spread that love by raising money to benefit other students in the area, and they chose The Matheny School as one of their beneficiaries.

They held a “Math-A-Thon,” raised $700 and donated the money to the school to support its mathematics program. When the students and their teacher visited Matheny to deliver the gift, we had to snap a photo.

Pictured above, standing, from left:  Kathryn Levin of Bedminster; Nery Aragon of Bernardsville; Matheny principal Sheryl Gavaras; Bernards High math teacher and Math League advisor LuAnn Faletta of Mendham; Isha and Shuchi Zinzuwadia of Bedminster; and David Howes of Bernardsville. Matheny students in front, from left: Yasin Reddick, Zachary Ludlow and Natalie Tomastyk.

Francis Mancho, 18, of Budd Lake wanted to help Matheny students learn entrepreneurship, so he applied his own ingenuity to the task. The volunteer got permission from his church to start a community garden, where he now grows vegetables the students sell at a café they operate twice a week. Because some of the students couldn’t ring up cash-register sales, Mancho applied for—and won—a $3,000 grant from the Jenny Jones Foundation, an organization started by the national TV talk-show host. He used the money to buy two special touch-screen computers, which help the students sell—and improve their cognitive abilities and quality of life.

Read about Mancho’s idea on the foundation’s “Jenny’s Heroes” website, and in an article from the Mount Olive Chronicle newspaper.

Above, from left: Steve Proctor, Matheny president; Francis Mancho’s father, Joseph, and mother, Maureen; Francis Mancho; Gail Cunningham, Matheny coordinator of volunteer activities; and Sean Murphy, vice principal of The Matheny School.