Laurie's Story

Laurie is a happy young woman with a big smile and a big hug for everyone she meets.

Laurie is a social butterfly and loves being around people, saying hello, shaking hands, and introducing us to everyone she meets. When Laurie’s not socializing, she’s riding her two-wheel bike around the neighborhood or in her bedroom rocking in her rocking chair singing to the music on her radio. She’s a “mall rat” as they say in today’s vernacular. She is getting more and more choosy about her clothes! It’s wonderful to watch her in the morning decide which outfit she’ll put together to wear for the day. She saves her weekly checks until she has enough to go to the mall with “mum” and “shop till mum drops"!

Laurie attends two day programs, one is a sheltered workshop and the other is a Day Activity program where she has a lot of fun helping out with a cat shelter and meals on wheels, going to the recycling center, making posters, helping with the grocery shopping and running errands!

Laurie has two brothers whom she adores and are important in her life. Laurie loves limousines, firetrucks and police cars! I think someday she just might buy one, park it in the driveway, and turn on the radio and sing along with the music! Last year she wanted a firetruck in the driveway! This year she wants a limousine! Thank goodness! She’s mellowed a bit! Laurie’s 35 years old and has mental retardation as a result of brain damage at birth. She is beginning to develop a sense of her self, meaning she has developed into a young woman who knows what she likes and doesn’t. To the extent possible, we encourage her to make decisions and learn from the decisions she makes. Laurie will always need some supervision as she has no concept of money (except you need some to buy stuff), cannot read, and has difficulty with speech. To us, the most important things we can do for Laurie.. is to insure and nuture independence and help her build better communication skills. Laurie enjoys a high quality of life because all that surround her are committed to that.

But what happens when we’re not there anymore? We decided building a PALS network was the best way to insure that quality of life for Laurie. We’ve just begun the process and it is very exciting. And, you know what? It also feels very “freeing!”

Finally doing something about the future ….just the action of doing this……releases some of the worry!

So, now we are ALL walking toward greater independence and freedom!