Meet Meredith Sugar: Easterseals National Board Member

Meredith Sugar got to know Easterseals when her third son was born deaf. After entering the disability space, she saw what terrific things Easterseals does to improve the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. She then became involved with her local affiliate at Easterseals Central and Southeast Ohio, serving on and chairing their board. She then moved to the National Board. 

When the coronavirus struck the US, like many of us, Meredith’s role as both a parent and employee changed dramatically. In addition to her time at Easterseals, Meredith is an attorney practicing in the estate planning area. She says her “clients are contemplating their own mortality like never before due to COVID.” This has made work busier, no doubt, as people prepare and update wills and trusts. But she says, “it’s a privilege to be able to counsel clients through such a tumultuous time.” To adapt, she often met clients on park benches and in parking lots through car windows rather than in the office.

At home, as the mother of five children, adjusting to home schooling this year has been somewhat difficult. “In the Spring, with all five kids homeschooling, there were fights over printers, and laptops, and ‘quiet’ rooms to study. My own work typically had to take place at the kitchen table, which was a challenge with three teenagers asking for bacon, then lunch, then snacks,” she laughs. Meredith put each child in charge of the one just below them to help out, and said it got easier over time, with her kids even helping her out with technology she needed for work. 

In September, all five kids went back to school, full-time all day, with her son leaving for college and the others in parochial schools nearby. Her son, one of the first children in the U.S. to receive two simultaneous cochlear implants under the age of one, aged out of needing an Individual Education Plan. After getting him speech and hearing therapies when he was younger and advocating for him in the classroom, she is proud that she taught him to advocate for himself now. During this time where people are wearing masks, hearing and lip reading are more difficult. He was able to let his teachers know if he needed them to repeat something or get extra help during office hours. He also receives preferred seating in the classroom. 

Remarking on the resilience of her children, she says “even the kindergartener wears his mask all day!”  

As COVID spirals out of control now, more children are struggling along with their parents. Meredith says we should “take special care to notice kids’ emotional and mental needs in this rough time, as the current situation can be as taxing for them as it is for adults.” For kids with disabilities who may be isolated from their peers and not receiving services through school, she believes parents need to think outside the box “on ways to keep continuing and improving their services, whether it’s teletherapy or extra stimulating work at home with parents and siblings.”

At Easterseals, much of what we do to continue serving our clients is just that – thinking outside the box, and working alongside families to discover what they need, how we can improve, and how we can help them every day. Meredith’s experiences certainly help us on our mission. She says, “the work I’ve done with Easterseals couldn’t be more rewarding.”