“I’m a loving person inside…I’m just trapped inside this body,”
says Jason Rush, a person who lives with learning disabilities. Jason is 44-years-old and reads and writes at
a third grade level. He struggles with
speech and comprehension at times. However,
his disabilities do not stop him from living a full and meaningful life.
Jason graduated from high school at 19, served an LDS mission in Salt Lake City and married his wife Elaine in the Rexburg temple. Jason and Elaine both work as night custodians for the Madison School District. They both live in the basement of Jason’s parents. Although Jason tries to lead a “normal” life, it is not without challenges.
“I grew up being called stupid. Retarded. Looser. I used to get in lots of fights with bullies,” Jason says about his elementary school experience.
“[I feel] ‘retard’ is a horrible thing to say. It’s rude and crude. It’s like calling a black person a n****r,” said Sandra Rush, Jason’s mother.
Jason has been tested multiple times but has never been fully diagnosed. There is no real name for the disability he lives with.
Jason graduated from high school at 19, served an LDS mission in Salt Lake City and married his wife Elaine in the Rexburg temple. Jason and Elaine both work as night custodians for the Madison School District. They both live in the basement of Jason’s parents. Although Jason tries to lead a “normal” life, it is not without challenges.
“I grew up being called stupid. Retarded. Looser. I used to get in lots of fights with bullies,” Jason says about his elementary school experience.
“[I feel] ‘retard’ is a horrible thing to say. It’s rude and crude. It’s like calling a black person a n****r,” said Sandra Rush, Jason’s mother.
Jason has been tested multiple times but has never been fully diagnosed. There is no real name for the disability he lives with.
“We named [his disability] to match wherever the school funding was. We still aren’t really sure what he has,”
says Sandra, “Elaine has also been tested several times but there is no real
name either. We know she has mild Autism, but we aren’t sure what else.”
The Learning Disabilities Association of America says it is
estimated that 15 percent of U.S. population or one in seven Americans have
some type of learning disability.
According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, “Even though some three million school-age children are classified as having specific learning disabilities (LD), this category of special need is often widely misunderstood. Surveys of both parents and educators confirm that many people mistakenly link LD with mental retardation and disorders of mental health and believe that, left alone, children are likely to outgrow LD over time.”
According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, “Even though some three million school-age children are classified as having specific learning disabilities (LD), this category of special need is often widely misunderstood. Surveys of both parents and educators confirm that many people mistakenly link LD with mental retardation and disorders of mental health and believe that, left alone, children are likely to outgrow LD over time.”
The LDAA definition of a learning
disability is “a neurological condition that interferes with a person’s ability
to store, process, or produce information.
Learning disabilities can affect one’s ability to read, write, speak,
spell, compute math, reason and also affect a person’s attention, memory,
coordination, social skills and emotional maturity.”
“It was hard for him,” Sandra says, “It would be hard for anyone but people with disabilities need extra time to process things. He was devastated when he heard the news.”
Later Jason learned his example was an inspiration to others.
“About a year into my mission he received a letter from one of his MTC companions. He was in England, and he was so discouraged he was about to go home. However, he remembered Jason and how he never gave up. It gave him the power to keep going,” said Sandra.
“Jason had absolutely unconditional love, says Sandra, If they sent Jason on a mission, people thought ‘the Church must be true.’ One lady went through so many missionaries but when she met Jason he was different. He didn’t judge her. She had a child out of wedlock but eventually converted and got married in the temple.”
Learning disabilities may be lifelong, but both Josh and Elaine have learned to compensate for areas of weakness and become successful.
Josh has held a jobs such since he was 14 years old. He has been employed at Pizza Hut, Allied Moving Company, and for the Madison School District as a custodian.
Elaine also enjoys work and worked in her father’s potato seed cutter business before meeting Jason. Jason and Elaine met while Jason worked at Allied Moving Company.
“My boss was her uncle. He said, I think ‘I have someone you may want to meet.’ When I first saw her, I said, who is this gorgeous woman?” said Jason.
They dated for a year before they were married in the temple.
“I remember our first date; I accidentally showed up an hour early. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I talked with her dad for an hour,” said Jason while chuckling to himself.
Jason and Elaine have been married 15 years, but chose not to have children.
“We don’t have no kids, but we have a lot of nieces and nephews,” said Elaine.
Their ability to care for themselves, their mental capacity, and the possibility of raising another human being were all factors into the decision not to have children.
“You want your children to grow up and have children. The reality is, they work very very hard but they only make about 16,000-19,000 dollars a year, Sandra said, “Elaine also has Autism and does not like being touched, so cuddling a baby would be challenging.”
Although Jason and Elaine live in the basement of the house Jason grew up in, they try to be as independent as possible.
“I knock when I visit, they knock when they come upstairs to visit, we try to give them their space, said Sandra.
Both Jason and Elaine also work as much as possible to remain self-sufficient.
“They [the government] say we should just sit on our fanny and don’t work and collect money from the government,” said Jason, “I would actually get more money from the government if I didn’t work, but I don’t want to sit on my butt collecting social security, I want to work!”
“With special needs people, it’s hard to get jobs. Who would want a disabled person? It’s very hard to get a job with learning disabilities,” said Jason.
According to the Official Website of the U.S. Social Security Administration, the maximum Federal payment for eligible disabled individuals is $710 per month or $1,066 per month for a married couple with disabilities. This is a 1.7 percent pay increase since 2012 because of the rising cost of living. Some states also supplement the federal SSI payment with additional funds.
Jason and Elaine choose not to rely on government assistance but they do use family and friends for help.
“I talk to my mom every other day on the phone, our families are very involved in our lives,” said Elaine.
Jason’s mom Sandra also helps them manage finances.
“It took me ten years to teach them how to use money, said Sandra. “ Jason thought blank checks were money. We use a cash system now. They have money in 15 categories and use money orders if needed to pay bills.”
“We pay for the cable, cell phone, truck insurance, and Netflix… If we run out of money in the envelope, it’s gone,” said Jason.
Although things are working now, Sandra also has to think about supporting them in the future.
“This year I met with an attorney and set up a trust. I went through every possible scenario. What would happen if I died first, if Jason, or if Elaine did. Our plan is, if we pass away and Jason and Elaine are still working, they can stay in the house or the siblings can sell the house and use it to pay for expenses, said Sandra.
Even though Jason and Elaine often need extra help, they also give a lot back to the community.
“I want to you know, [Jason and Elaine] are blessing lives. I used to have them help me clean my house for 19 years, but really they were taking care of me. They are so kind. This is not a one-way street, this is a two-way street,” said Robyn Bergstrom, Jason’s former Special Education teacher who is now the dean of Business and Communication and BYU-Idaho.
On one occasion Jason and Elaine learned about a man who had a lot of medical bills. They wanted to help the man so they organized a quilt raffle. Jason and Elaine also made an individual quilt for everyone who participated in the raffle.
On his spare time Jason used to work with head trauma victims, but now Jason and Elaine currently volunteer weekly in the Rexburg temple. Jason works in the baptistery font, and Elaine helps in the laundry room.
“They are loved by everybody, said Bergstrom, “Some people have Ph.Ds. but they have something better than that…they have big hearts.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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