Lakisha of Special Needs

This story takes place around the 1920's. A time of prohibition and gangsters a time period where some could afford new cars, and others still rode carriages. Roads were still dirt and full of ruts. Electricity had not reached every home in the country. Homes were still mostly heated by wood stoves. Medicine wasn't as advanced as it is today, and ideas about the disabled and living conditions were different back then. Back in the years prior to the 1970's handicapped people were treated differently by society. Many disabled people were born into families where other members did not fully understand the disability. The disabled person was made to suffer needlessly. Many times due to ignorance or intolerance, many times families didn't accept them, it's also true in some cases, families did. They would not explain their disability to them, why they were different, or why they were not accepted. In some cases, the parents and siblings did not understand themselves. They only assumed they had less intelligence than the others. Family members often expressed irritation with their disabled charge, and sometimes, family members would become abusive. Many disabled people throughout the course of their lives faced some type of abuse. The widespread misunderstanding regarding disabled individuals led to isolation and loneliness for a lot of disabled individuals, especially for those with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome or other developmental or intellectual disabilities. Often times family members and caretakers didn't treat disabled people as fully human, with the same needs for love and care and friendship that all family members need. Keeping a disabled child at home was, and still is, difficult. A family can prevent negative impacts on a disabled person, and help the person to have a closer to normal life. In "Lakisha of Special Needs" you will meet a girl with Cerebral Palsy. Although trials for the disabled may be different, you will experience the trials that Lakisha went through, and her fight to be part of a normal life. Many of the things that happen to Lakisha in this story happened to someone I know. I felt people need to be more aware of the disabled people in our community. Even with laws to protect them, there is still abuse.
About the Author: Cheryl Oliver-Castor Dick grew up in northern Virginia. She survived a very difficult childhood. Adult life hasn't been a cup of tea either. She grew up so close to Washington D.C. that the local news was also the national news. When she learned to read she would read books. Not just any books. Growing up she read Nancy Drew Mysteries, and the Hardy Boys, but her main interest was in stories written about history. As a small girl she would visit the Library of Congress with her grandmother and would help her do research. The love for books grew when she saw how many books there were on the shelves on the main floor. That was not all of them. There were many stored on other floors that you had to request at the desk. After graduating from Marymount College of Virginia, she continued to work full time in Banking. She always wanted to be a writer. When an injury made it impossible to go to work, she continued her writing. She lives with her husband, step-son, and her Pomerania. They live in South Carolina, where she feels the beach is beautiful. If a hurricane were to come, she would quickly head for the hills. She writes whenever she can and considers herself a professional genealogist and a semi-professional gemologist. In the summer, she enjoys sitting out to read on the deck and her beautiful garden. She and her family enjoy traveling to historic places, walking, hiking and camping.