Many memoirs have been written about children with physical and/or mental disorders and how families are affected. Here is a new one with heart strings pulled taut yet with a firm hand on the wheel. Elayne Vick has written about the life of her 52 year old son in "Disrupted Lives" and how her family handled the tragedy, even through the horrible disruption of their lives. She has dedicated the book to the families of handicapped children everywhere. With good reason too, for there are many plans and arrangements that need to be created for these children and their families. She describes how to apply for guardianship, governmental resources, and medical help, which can provide lifetime care for the child into adulthood. Elayne Vick begins her story when her youngest son, Andy, is two and half and begins to have uncontrollable seizures. With a well-planned life in a small North Texas town, she is at the not-yet-wise age of 27. She, her husband, and their two older sons are suddenly caught up in a whirlwind as they try to adjust to the tragedy, look for reasons for the boy's seizures, and seek medical help-of which very little was to be found in 1967. They eventually realize they must leave their home and supporting family members for a large metroplex some 90 miles to the south. They struggle to find a place to live, jobs, schools for the older sons, and day care for Andy. Everything they do must be planned around him. The entire family is impacted, and it falls primarily to Elayne and her husband to manage all of it as best they can in a new environment. The family carries on through the 1960s and 70s when little was really known about the causes of epilepsy. Even worse, brain damage accompanies Andy's seizures, and the boisterous child everyone knew disappears and another appears in his place. This shocking development adds a whole other, unchartered dimension to their struggles. With the help of the Texas Mental Health Mental Retardation Agency, Elayne's family finally finds diagnostic and respite care. Certainly not everything they needed, but it leads them to a vital trail of life-long care for Andy. The agency continues to this day to provide vital social services for handicapped individuals, but there are many holes in this support. It was estimated in 2008 that there were as many as 480,000 intellectually handicapped Texans, yet the state is 37th on the national list for spending on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are medically fragile and/or have behavioral problems. Texas has a long way to go to serve these residents in a satisfactory manner, but for the almost half million affected, it's all Texas currently provides. By the time this book ends, we feel that Elayne's son has been fortunate to have used the system in place in Texas to build a restricted but cheerful life at age 52 with his own limited personality and abilities. The same can be said of the family, as each has forged productive and fulfilling lives for themselves as best they can. Terrible disruptions similar to those in this story have caused many people to alter their lives far from what they may once have dreamed, as did this family. We can all take heart in this gripping story of courage, patience, and endurance in the face of adversity. This memoir can provide help for families coping with handicapped members, particularly as everyone grows older, possibly without estate plans and strategies for lifetime care. To aid readers and researchers, this volume closes with a section on the history of the Texas State-Supported Living Centers for mentally handicapped Texans.
About the Author: It's a terrible shock when a young child's sudden affliction takes over five lives, including his own. When the boisterous boy fell ill at two and half and never recovered but went on to become a profoundly handicapped adult, his mother's life and his were welded together. After 52 years, Elayne Vick's true story about her family has finally been memorialized in her book, "Disrupted Lives." The bolt from the blue began with uncontrollable seizures her son suffered, all accompanied by devastating brain damage. By 11 his continual seizures and behavior needed management at a place far from home. At 32 finally he moved to the community, where he is now at 52. He has become a sociable person with acceptable behavior and fewer seizures. And the rest of the family? They keep him in their sight. His mother advocates for his every move. She earned a college degree in journalism and writing and for 22 years worked as a professional writer all while being a champion and supporter for her son. Upon retirement she began to write a memoir about him and all he had gone through, what the family had experienced, and how she learned to be a strong, knowledgeable advocate for her son. The memoir combines the story with valuable information about how to manage guardianship, apply for government resources, and set up an estate plan for an intellectually disabled child. Also included is a section with the history of the Texas State-Supported Living Centers for mentally handicapped Texans. Many families could use the information for their disabled children who grow older, as they do, every day.