Little brother's death guides Nebraska student
Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) -- Although Jacob Lammers was only 3 1/2 years old when he died, he has had a big impact on the life of his big brother, Kevin Bogus, who graduated from Grand Island Senior High in May 2007.
Jacob is the reason that Bogus originally considered a career as an occupational therapist and now is an education major at Chadron State College.
Jacob is the reason that Bogus will participate in two three-day Easter Seals camps near Central City this summer.
Jacob is the reason that Bogus helped on a recent weekend with morning respite care at Third City Christian Church. He and others cared for special-needs children, allowing their families to run errands or just have a brief time off from taking care of their children.
Jacob is also the reason that Bogus hopes to get a group started in Grand Island for siblings of special-needs kids.
Cindy Lammers, Kevin's and Jacob's mother, said, "He and Jacob were very, very close."
In a separate interview, Bogus said he always referred to Jacob as a brother, not a stepbrother.
Bogus said he comes from a "yours, mine and ours" family, which includes an older stepsister and himself, plus a number of younger siblings, including a set of triplets, adopted twins and a foster brother.
"My mom and stepfather had triplets," Bogus said. Two of the triplets died at birth.
Jacob survived, but he had cerebral palsy, vision problems and seizures.
Bogus said it was discouraging when some medical professionals predicted that Jacob would never do any of the things that most kids take for granted, including walking. To Bogus, it seemed as though some people were advising family members to give up on Jacob.
But Jacob surpassed those predictions in almost every area.
"He was very close to being able to walk before he passed away," Bogus said.
The Chadron State College freshman said he credits early childhood specialists who work with special-needs children for Jacob's progress.
Bogus said those educators had the attitude that "this is what he can do" and then proceeded to raise the bar to see what more Jacob could accomplish.
Seeing Jacob's progress made Bogus interested in a career as an occupational therapist.
But he changed his mind when he discovered the educational requirements for that profession were being changed and that becoming an occupational therapist would take close to nine years.
Bogus said he would rather get out into the work world much more quickly and begin hands-on work with children.
Lammers is not surprised her son is going into education.
"He's always enjoyed being around kids," Lammers said.
Bogus said he has thought about going into early childhood education to be like the professionals who helped Jacob make so much progress.
However, he thinks he's more likely to work in a middle school. Bogus said middle school is when young people start making the transition from being children to becoming adults. He likes the idea of working with young people at that time of life.
Rebecca Hoobler, Easter Seals Nebraska camps respite and recovery coordinator for central Nebraska, interviewed Bogus this past school year about working at Camp Timberlake. Easter Seals sponsors some camps there that give kids with disabilities an opportunity to try summer camping.
Hoobler said she normally never would conduct such an interview by phone and e-mail, but she was convinced by Bogus' mother, whom she had met as part of a support group.
When Hoobler finally met him, she was happy with her decision to hire him. She noted that Bogus attended an end-of-the-year bowling party with his foster brother.
She said Bogus not only paid attention to his foster brother but also met many of the other young people, many of whom will attend the Easter Seals summer camp.
Bogus also took a workshop from Don Meyer, who himself grew up as a sibling of a child with disabilities. As a result of those experiences, Meyer created the Sibling Support Program.
"He went through the same experiences I did," Bogus said.
Jacob is the reason that Bogus originally considered a career as an occupational therapist and now is an education major at Chadron State College.
Jacob is the reason that Bogus will participate in two three-day Easter Seals camps near Central City this summer.
Jacob is the reason that Bogus helped on a recent weekend with morning respite care at Third City Christian Church. He and others cared for special-needs children, allowing their families to run errands or just have a brief time off from taking care of their children.
Jacob is also the reason that Bogus hopes to get a group started in Grand Island for siblings of special-needs kids.
Cindy Lammers, Kevin's and Jacob's mother, said, "He and Jacob were very, very close."
In a separate interview, Bogus said he always referred to Jacob as a brother, not a stepbrother.
Bogus said he comes from a "yours, mine and ours" family, which includes an older stepsister and himself, plus a number of younger siblings, including a set of triplets, adopted twins and a foster brother.
"My mom and stepfather had triplets," Bogus said. Two of the triplets died at birth.
Jacob survived, but he had cerebral palsy, vision problems and seizures.
Bogus said it was discouraging when some medical professionals predicted that Jacob would never do any of the things that most kids take for granted, including walking. To Bogus, it seemed as though some people were advising family members to give up on Jacob.
But Jacob surpassed those predictions in almost every area.
"He was very close to being able to walk before he passed away," Bogus said.
The Chadron State College freshman said he credits early childhood specialists who work with special-needs children for Jacob's progress.
Bogus said those educators had the attitude that "this is what he can do" and then proceeded to raise the bar to see what more Jacob could accomplish.
Seeing Jacob's progress made Bogus interested in a career as an occupational therapist.
But he changed his mind when he discovered the educational requirements for that profession were being changed and that becoming an occupational therapist would take close to nine years.
Bogus said he would rather get out into the work world much more quickly and begin hands-on work with children.
Lammers is not surprised her son is going into education.
"He's always enjoyed being around kids," Lammers said.
Bogus said he has thought about going into early childhood education to be like the professionals who helped Jacob make so much progress.
However, he thinks he's more likely to work in a middle school. Bogus said middle school is when young people start making the transition from being children to becoming adults. He likes the idea of working with young people at that time of life.
Rebecca Hoobler, Easter Seals Nebraska camps respite and recovery coordinator for central Nebraska, interviewed Bogus this past school year about working at Camp Timberlake. Easter Seals sponsors some camps there that give kids with disabilities an opportunity to try summer camping.
Hoobler said she normally never would conduct such an interview by phone and e-mail, but she was convinced by Bogus' mother, whom she had met as part of a support group.
When Hoobler finally met him, she was happy with her decision to hire him. She noted that Bogus attended an end-of-the-year bowling party with his foster brother.
She said Bogus not only paid attention to his foster brother but also met many of the other young people, many of whom will attend the Easter Seals summer camp.
Bogus also took a workshop from Don Meyer, who himself grew up as a sibling of a child with disabilities. As a result of those experiences, Meyer created the Sibling Support Program.
"He went through the same experiences I did," Bogus said.
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