Scott Wasserman & Associates- LLC in Lenexa, KS

Michelle Wojtaszek asked a question

Hello,I am seeking guardianship of my physically and mentally compromised spouse who resides in Kansas. A guardianship petition has been filed in Wisconsin but I was told I need to file in Kansas. He was diagnosed with an unspecified chronic pain disorder but has been hiding in Kansas and avoiding treatment, and is delusional and sometimes hallucinatory. As of now, he is missing, not answering his phone and his voicemail is full so we are worried sick about him. He knew his mental status was becoming compromised and asked me to promise to look after him even if he became ill to the point where he would fight me, and I am afraid it has come to that point. He gave me legal power of attorney verbally when I took him to the UW Madison ER and he could not speak for himself, but unfortunately, the social worker who he requested to do the paperwork never arrived (this appears to be a chronic problem at an otherwise good hospital, they may just be under-staffed, but the hospital personnel are also extremely concerned and encouraged me to pursue this). He has a history of suicidal behavior and psychiatric problems which are likely related to the physical ailment, which we have reason to believe may in fact be very late stage neuropsychiatric Lyme disease. I am very familiar with this disease and have seen it up close. As such, I was given all his hospital records on May 30th and have a very solid case for seeking a temporary 6 month guardianship, but it is complicated by the interstate nature of the issue. The Lawrence Police have been unhelpful and even abusive because we are both high functioning autistic, and have refused to remove his firearm despite knowing of his suicidal tendencies firsthand (they arrested him for domestic violence and incarcerated him for having an autistic episode, falsified police reports on at least three occasions that I am aware of, and as someone who holds a graduate degree in psychology, I am horrified at the mistreatment he received and also the fact that he was refused a psychiatric exam even though he clearly told them he was suicidal and had a plan - they mocked him and did not get him proper treatment-this is in direct opposition to their own ethical code as posted on their web-site as well as clearly a violation of APA ethical standards by Burt Nash, who I called to request an exam from at the same time despite being slapped with a no contact order, which violated my OWN civil rights-all he had done was throw a pillow, which did not even touch me).
In any case, I need to petition for guardianship but it is a complicated case. However I can provide all relevant documentation, including proof that the Lawrence Police mistreated both of us on several occasions because we are both high-functioning autistic. I know Morgan better than anyone, I had already been caring for him for well over 18 months before this happened and towards the end of my residence in Kansas he was delusional. hallucinating periodically, in agonizing pain, and sleeping up to 18 hours a day. My mother has interfered directly with my efforts to get him help m(she co-signed the lease and stated "that she was only responsible for paying to have his brains cleans off the wall" which as you can imagine, was quite a traumatic thing to hear from my own mother. I am uniquely qualified to take over medical guardianship due to my educational background, first aid and crisis response training, and hands on experience in dealing with a nearly successful suicide in the past. I absolutely have his best interests in mind, but since he is delusional now, he appears to be confusing me with an abusive ex-girlfriend of his. I have no psychiatric history of criminal records, am now in the field of astronomy/astrophysics, and have excellent references and a clean background check. Most importantly, I know, as a high functioning autistic person myself, how to make sure he is not mistreated if he does indeed require in-patient treatment. I had to deal with this in the past and actually personally removed him from a facility that was mistreating him due to his autism by shining bright lights in his face and engaging in other abusive behavior.
He is not safe in Kansas nor can he receive adequate medical treatment there with no insurance. I have him set up to receive SSDI, but he must come to Madison for a doctors appointment, and I also was able to get him a community care voucher and a referral to an excellent pain clinic here that I have personal experience with and they will likely be able to get a better idea of what the disorder is. I have also located a Lyme specialist in the area, although I would take him to my home-town in NY where Lyme is epidemic if that doctor proved inadequate. He must also see an endocrinologist as soon as possible- as I was going through his records to apply him for SSDI, I was alerted to an alarming trend in his bloodwork that potentially indicates impending kidney failure. My father, who has passed away, was on dialysis and I do not think he realizes the gravity of the situation. He has cut off contact with the people who care about him, which I believe in part may be due to his fear of having cancer-however, his bloodwork shows no indication of that. I understand his behavior because I went through a similar nightmare years ago when I was told by a doctor with a very poor bedside manner (he actually laughed at me) that I might have cancer. It turned out to be Celiac but I also cut myself off from friends and family and avoided the bone marrow biopsy for years. He may also be doing this because he thinks he is dying and wants to spare me the pain, but he also asked if I would stay by his side should he have cancer and I said of course I would, there was no question. 


As you can see, I have a great deal of insight into the situation but the Lawrence Police have behaved in a completely unethical manner and along with my mother, have blocked me from getting through to him. If you can help me save his life, I would be eternally grateful. He is extremely smart and talented and I cannot allow him to risk permanent kidney or nerve damage, and I am also honoring his requests made before the disorder began severely affecting his brain. 


I attempted to call but did not get an answer. I can be reached at 608-852-0280. I was walked through the guardianship process by a very kind woman at the Douglas County probate office, but due to the constant harassment by the Lawrence Police department as well as the fact that Morgan is likely ill to the point where he will be non-compliant, I feel that it is necessary to engage a lawyer. You were recommended to me by someone I trust who works with autism referrals, and so I am contacting you as per her advice. it is a complex matter but as I said, I can provide any and all required documentation. I am concerned however that he is in immediate danger and I am unable to travel to Kansas safely at the moment due to flare-up of a congenital joint condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Type III. It is not usually problematic, but my bedding (and service animal) have been blocked from all attempts at retrieval by my mother and the Lawrence PD. I can explain the situation in more detail if you are willing to help. I do not have a lot of money but I will pay your fees out of pocket because I have to save his life-I am trained, experienced and wired to do so-I cannot just sit back and let him deteriorate. He has savant level musical talent and is extremely bright and worth saving-regardless of the cost. I own a small piece of land in Wisconsin that I will sell if necessary, whatever it takes to get him safe and into good hands medically speaking. If he agrees to the six month guardianship that has already been filed, I would gladly send him a plane bus or train ticket immediately and take care of all the medical arrangements-the goal would be to keep him outpatient since in-patient can be quite traumatic for an autistic person and I am willing and qualified to care for him....and regardless of what he says now that he is mentally incapacitated, these were his wishes and at least three medical doctors at the UW ER witnessed him stating this before he finally went over the edge the next day. I am sincere and have nothing to hide, and willing to undergo a thorough background check or whatever is necessary. I was once a resident manager for the graduate apartments at UW and this requires an impeccable record and references, both of which I have. But he must come to Wisconsin, at least temporarily. When he is well if he wishes to return to Kansas I will help him do so, but with the financial resources and physical and mental stability that will allow him to take care of himself. I truly hope that you can help and please call at your earliest convenience. However, just so you are aware, I am an astronomer and after so many overnight observation runs have become quite nocturnal (although apparently this was my natural sleep pattern literally since day one, much to the exasperation of my parents). I will, however, leave my ringer on although I may not be as articulate as I would like to be and also am a visual/spatial/kinesthetic and sometimes have difficulty communicating well via telephone. I am just going to eat and go to bed now, but I will be up for probably at least another half hour to 45 minutes, or if there is a specific time when we can chat (I also have Skype if that is an option) I will make sure I am awake due to the time sensitive nature of the issue. I have all the documents organized and filed in a shoebox here yet have not had time to review them as I hoped to before contacting you, but I process visual information very rapidly and have everything divided up into sections so I should be able to access any information you need fairly quickly. I will be certain to review them after I sleep if we are unable to touch base today. I hoped to leave a message but for some reason the phone just rang for a long time and did not go to any type of voicemail, so please call me at your earliest convenience or, in case I do not wake up to the phone, please leave a message as to the best time and manner in which to contact you. 


Thank you for your time.


Sincerely, 


Michelle Wojtaszek 
(in reference to Morgan Lee Ashire-Wojtaszek -generally any records in Kansas are likely to be listed under his maiden name, Morgan Ashire, since we never bother to switch our WI drivers licenses over-it is however listed as his legal name on any social security documents, and he also has hospital and police records in Madison and Rockford Illinois under the name "Brandon Lee Pearce"-he is a good person, but has had unfortunate run ins with the law due to the lack of adequate training Police Departments appear to have with regards to autistic people-all save one record was due to the misinterpretation of autistic behavior, and that record was due to a severe psychiatric episode that occurred in Madison on May 30th). 

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Michelle Wojtaszek
Associate Research Specialist
UW Astronomy Department
Sterling Hall B641
(608) 852-0280