VOICES OF OUR REGION
Scott Federbusch
Transcript
Scott: Do you know my father has cancer?
Interviewer: Ok
Scott: And I’d like to make my mom be proud of me. I left her bedset to go to my place to visit me and I will have stuff for them too. And I will be taking care of my mother while my dad is feeling better. If so, she will come visit me.
Mother: My husband is terminal so we’re saying whenever that time comes I’m going to move my bedroom set into Scott’s spare room and I’m going to stay with him, to come to Pittsburgh, instead of coming to the apartment.
Scott: Yes. I don’t mean to live. I mean once in awhile. (laughing)
Interviewer: How many children do you have?
Mother: Three. Ryan is our son, Gretchen is his girlfriend. Ryan and Gretchen are 30, he’s 28 and then Robin is 27. She’s married to Tim who is 27.
Interviewer: So what was it like going to the Woodland Hill schools?
Scott: It’s fun. I took a couple of classes. English, I did very well in there, I got an A in there. In math, I got about like a B.
Mother: They had a support class…now I can’t think of what it is, it was so far away. It was a support class where they had their own room and then they had disabled people there. Special ed. teachers taught them, but then he was mainstreamed for like biology and gym and art. He also was farmed out to Mon Valley every day. That’s where he went for the vocational programs. It was a course that he was able to choose. I mean like there were five different courses. And just like you were able to choose your classes for high school or college, he was able to do that at Mon Valley. So it was food service, warehouse service and clerical. He went there for two years, so for four semesters he was able to take all those classes. Then he would come back to high school. He still had to get in his regular classes that he needed to graduate.
Interviewer: Where do your friends live?
Scott: Ok. Three guys live on Wightman in Squirrel Hill and there are three ladies that live on Beacon, closer to me.
Mother: You’ve got Heather in your building
Scott: Yes. And I got Robby from bowling and a couple of friends at bowling too. I am a Saturday afternoon bowlers, we’re on a league.
Interviewer: Can I ask you a question, mom? When Scott was born, was it a surprise?
Mother: It was.
Scott: Why was that?
Mother: I was expecting a girl.
Scott: Oh mom! (laughter)
Mom: When he was born, he had a high Apgar score. They really didn’t even recognize anything. He was a very slight featured until they brought him to me and I looked at him and I just said, at the time it was ongoloid. I didn’t say anything to my husband, the doctor, pediatrician, nothing. I just looked at him and thought something’s not right. Then the pediatrician came in that night and he said, now we don’t know, we’re gonna do some tests. But there’s a few features but it could be just genetics. And that’s all he had to say to me and I knew. And then the next day, they put me in a private room and the pediatrician came in and confirmed that he was Down and my husband just like, didn’t know anything. We came home after 5 days in the hospital. On the sixth day, My husband and I sat on our bed and we cried and cried and cried and then we just kinda said, “Well this is what we have and let’s raise him like Ryan and we did. Never looked back, never had another tear – other than tears of joy, because he has been phenomenal.
Interviewer: What’s been the hardest thing for you in life, growing up and working and whatever you do? What’s the hardest thing?
Scott: Friends and sometimes their mothers are always embarrassing their sons. I know I love my mother a lot but sometimes she’s embarrassing.
Interviewer: Oh, the MH/MR board, how did you get on that? You had to know someone
Mother: Who asked you to be on the MH/MR Board?
Scott: Mike Ruber.
Mother: And then from there, he had to interview a mentor. He hired Mary Livengood.
Scott: Yea.
Mother: We actually pay her to be his mentor. So they go to the meetings together once a month.
Scott: No, she meets me there. And brings her time sheet cause I ’m supposed to sign my name.
Mother: Before he got this Panera job, he had a variety of other jobs. He bagged groceries and he worked at Burger King and did you work anywhere else?
Scott: Mercer.
Mother: Oh well in Mercer in the summertime he bussed tables, but that was without a job coach. But he still has a job coach now. If there’s ever an issue or problem or a question, she’s contacted. And then Mainstay comes in 20 hours a week, and they cook together, shop together, they socialize together, they go places together and tell them about Exceptional Ventures.
Scott: Oh yeah, about that. Exceptional Ventures, I’m on the waiting list for Walt Disney World. I just found out from about it from my mom. The Exceptional Ventures called for mom to let me know I got on that Walt Disney World. I was down there for the whole family too before. Me and my sister ride the teacups.
Interviewer: I want to get back to the MH/MR board. So the meetings are once a month? So you sit there and you listen to people talk. Is that it?
Scott: When I got something to say I’m supposed to tell the chairperson and I’ll say it. Don Clark was kind of mad about what happened about the Wellness Fair. I was supposed to go out there on the Parkway. No, on Perry Highway. But I took five busses and so Don Clark was mad because the staff was supposed to take me out there. But this staff is so sick, a Mainstay staff was sick, but I decided to go on my own. Liz, my friend, told me to take 12A, but she was wrong. It was 11C.
Interviewer: So you’re a good traveler? You know the busses and you get where you need to go?
Mother: We all ask Scott for directions. We take the bus now to the ballgame because he showed us how to do it.
Interviewer: When you’re at the MH/MR, at the meetings, do they listen to what you have to say?
Scott: I told them about Harrisburg. I said I’m going this week. I said, do you want me to tell them about us, and they said sure. And I bring back more information about it and say it to the meeting.
Interviewer: O.k. What are you most proud of?
Scott: I am most proud of my life and my whole family, definitely my mom, she always spoils her kids. For example, today before I got to work, me and her go out to buy me some new sandals. I told her 1,000 times I’d like to pay for it on my own, I didn’t need any help and so when I’m in Pittsburgh and she’s in Mercer County and I told her when I see something I like, can I use my card and she say, sure and find a simple price, that’s all. And I – on this Saturday I’m supposed to go to the play of Peter Pan.
Interviewer: Oh, are you?
Scott: Yes, but she sold the tickets.
Mother: But why did I sell the tickets?
Scott: On that day, we were passing out water for the race.
Mother: The gym that I belong to is having a 5K race for Special Olympics in Mercer. They asked him to pass out water. So he had to make a choice. Peter Pan, which is his favorite all time play, or pass out water. And he decided to pass out water. He volunteers still at the daycare center down there. Harmony, it’s in the Turtle Creek High School, takes two buses to get there.
Scott: Yes I do.
Mother: And he goes to karaoke every Sunday.
Scott: At 9:30.
Mother: He water skis, he snow skis, he’s ridden a bicycle, everything. Anything he ever wanted to do. He’s played all kinds of basketball, baseball. He was never denied anything except driving when he was 16. That was one thing, he got the book. I know he could pass the book part.
Scott: But she was worried about driving at night, there’s a lot of maniacs out there, but I told her don’t worry mom, I never will get it any accidents and I know I’ll be a very good driver.
Mother: So when he turned 16, we bought him a golf cart. Because we live at the lake and you’re allowed to have golf carts. So that’s what he drives. He goes everywhere in his golf cart when he comes to the lake.
Interviewer: Scott, who’s had the biggest influence in your life?
Scott: My friend Liz, she always gets me in a lot of trouble.
Mom: I’m not sure he understands.
Scott: One day a long time ago, in September, Liz make me skip my appointment that day. On July or September 28th. We had a baseball game and Liz made me miss that appointment to go with her.
Scott: I’ve been Bar Mitzvah at Tree of Life. I’ve been Bar Mitzvah from October the 18th of… In ’92, so I know a couple of Hebrew songs (sings a few versus in Hebrew). And I know a couple of Hanukah songs (sings).
That is how I do my Hebrew. Thank you.