becoming your best newsletter - june 2010 issue

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T he who le pu rpose beh ind the B ecom ing Your B es t New s le t t e r and the w ebs it e

(ww w.becom ingyourbes t .com ) i s t o p rov i de i nsp ir i ng s to r i es t o encourage and

prov ide hope to o thers . Cer ta in ly , ther e are t im es in everyone’s l i fe w hen they

need encouragem ent o r need a l i t t l e hope tha t eve ryth i ng w i l l be a l r i ght .

The def in i t ion o f encourage is to g ive coura ge, hope, or conf idence to ; embolden;

hear ten; to g ive suppor t to ; and to fos ter he lp . In l i fe , w hen we encourage some-

one , we a re p rov i d i ng t hem w i th t he cou rage , hope , o r con f i dence t hey need to be

ab le t o ove rcom e the i r cu r ren t s i t ua t i on . I n m any c i r cum s tances , i t i s p rov id i ng

them w i th t he he lp o r suppor t t hey need to have the cou rage to t ake the nex t s t ep .

A lack o f courage c an be due to FEAR. Th is i s o f ten poss ib le due to a bas ic lack

of know ledge and unders tanding—FEAR of the unknow n. Z ig Z ig lar , author and

publ ic speak er , def ines FEAR as a Fa lse Ev idence Appear ing Real. I f i t i s fa lse,

t hen i t canno t be rea l . K now ledge and unders tanding can o f t en he lp som eone to

overcom e the i r FEAR and see i t i s noth ing but Fa lse Ev idence Appear ing Real .

Of ten t imes, when people read or hear an insp i ra t iona l s tory i t can he lp them t o

see possib i l it i es and g i ve t hem hope i n t he i r s i t ua t i on . I t can g i ve t hem t he con f i -

dence and the cou rage to beg in t o c hange the i r cu r ren t s i t ua t i on and no t be

af ra id .

Both o f our s tor ies th is month are w onder fu l examples o f young lad ies who have

been encouraged by o thers . They have un iquely d i f ferent s tor ies but you can see

the benef i ts o f encourag ement , suppor t , and unders tan ding in the i r l i ves . They

have exh ib i t ed t he cou rage to m ove beyond the i r l im i t a t i ons and touch t he l i ves o f

o the rs .

We t rus t you w i l l be insp i red and up l i f ted by the s t or ies o f these tw o love ly lad ies .

They have a l ready been an insp i ra t ion to many. I t i s our expecta t ion the i r s tor ies

w i l l p rov i de hope and encouragem en t t o o t he rs i n s im i l a r s i t ua t i ons.

A s a lways , we thank you fo r you r con t i nued suppor t o f ou r e f f o r t s t o reach o the rs .

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Send your insp i r ing s tor ies to : s tor ies@becom ingyourbest .com.

Subscr ibe to our FREE news le t t er—e-mai l : new s le t t er@becomi ngyourbest .com

________________________________________________________________________________

The photograph of the eagle i s by Bob Sumners . See h is w ork a t :

www.shoo t thebeach .com .

Bec om ing Your Best

News le t t e r

Miss ion:

We are dedicate d to present ing insp i r ing s tor ies o f hope and encoura gement

about ind iv idua ls w i th d isab i l i t i es .

T hese s to r i es o f success a re m ean t t o p rov i de suppor t and the k eys t o

“B ecom ing Your B es t ! ”

Thank you for your s tor ies and your suppor t !

George M. Graham J r . B E C O M

I N G Y O U

R B E S T

S t o r i e s O f H o p e A n d E n c o u

r a g e m e n t

A b o u t I n d i v i d u a l s W i t h D i s a b i l i t i e s

Volume 1, Issue 6

June 2010



Most w ould agree that fac ing and overcom ing l i fe ’s cha l lenges are va lu-

ab le exper i ences w hen i t com es t o bu i l d ing cha rac te r a nd shap ing the

people we becom e. Chal lenges vary in in tens i ty ; they may com e f rom our

own m ak ing ; o the rs seem t o com e a t us ou t o f l e f t f i e l d . Fi r s t F l igh t H igh

School sen ior Laura Tutw i ler has faced an in tense, “ le f t f ie ld” cha l lenge.

Wi th the suppor t o f fami ly , teacher s and s t rong fa i th - she has emerged asm ore than a conquero r .

A f t e r m u l t i p l e t es t s , phys ic i ans f ound tha t Lau ra had a b ra i n t um or w hen

she was i n seven th g rade. I t was du r i ng t h i s t rea tm en t t ha t i t w as d i scov -

ered that Laura has F rag ile X syndrome, a chrom osomal abnormal i t y .

Fas t forward t o 2009, when as a jun ior , Laura addressed her fami ly ’s con-

g rega t i on a t S t . A ndrew ’ s as pa r t o f a you th even t t o re f l ec t on he r expe r i -

ences:

“F rag i le X syndrome is an inher i ted genet ic d isorder c aused by a defec t on

the X c h rom osom e,” ex p la i ned Lau ra . “T hose w i t h F rag i l e X can be m en-

ta l l y cha l lenged and d isp lay unusual behav iora l and phys ica l charac ter is -

t i c s . The doc tors a l l agreed that I w as on the ‘low end’ o f the spect rum ; Iwou ld no t be a l e t o pe r fo rm and func t i on on a h i gh schoo l l eve l . T hi s w as

al l very t roub l ing to m e. ”

“T oday I s tand he re t o say t ha t I am on t rack t o g radua te i n 2010 . I have

learned a lo t about mysel f and ot hers whi l e in h igh school . ”

“ I know tha t I m ay no t be ab le t o m ee t you r eyes when I t a l k t o you , I m ay

no t be ab le t o f o l l ow m u l t i p l e i ns t ruc t i ons , I m ay l augh a t som eth i ng you

m ay no t deem funny , I m ay say som eth i ng t ha t m ay m ake you cons ide r

whe the r I ’m f rom t h i s p l ane t , and I m a y su rp r i se you w i t h a hug and show

o f a f f ec t i on . I have a l so lea rned tha t no m a t t e r w ha t o the rs say o r do t ha t

you can put your fa i th in God to he lp you through any d i f f i cu l t y . ”

Laura d iscovered somet h ing e lse about herse l f in h igh school - she found apass ion that p laced her on a career path in ear ly ch i ldhood educat ion.

Jann Gorham’s Ear ly Chi ldhood Development c lass gave Laura a pos i t i ve

exper i ence . “M s . Gorham go t m e i n te res ted i n w ork i ng w i t h ch i l d ren ,” says

Laura . “When I wo rked w i t h ch i l d ren t he f i r s t t im e i n chu rch , I d i d no t l i ke

work i ng w i t h t hem because I d i dn ’ t unders tand wha t w as needed to work

w i t h t hem e f fec t i ve l y . Now tha t I have m a tu red and taken seve ra l c l asses

and ass is ted in the mul t i -handicapped room h ere and at F i rs t F light E le-

ment ary School in the A f ter School Enr ichment Program, I unders tand

them and am be t te r ab l e t o m ee t t he i r needs . I l ove work i ng w i t h ch i l d ren .”

Laura i s enro l led in the Occ upat iona l Course o f S tudy cur r i c u lum at FFHS, taught by Sue Messenheimer . Wi th Messen-

he imer as coac h, teacher , and mentor , Laura not on ly passed Dr iver ’s Ed - a major m i les t one - she is employed at Sea

Me Grow, a loca l ch i ldc are fac i l i t y . For Laura, i t ’ s her dream job.

I n f ac t , Lau ra re f l ec t s t ha t he r bes t day eve r i n schoo l was t he f i r s t day she began he r i n te rnsh ip a t S ea M e Grow ,

work i ng w i t h i n fan t s . “ I l oved i t so m uch tha t I wan ted t o go back and see m y k i ds aga in !”

Lau ra says t ha t M essenhe im er has “ t augh t m e a l o t o f t h i ngs abou t ge t t i ng a j ob ac t ua l l y, and has he lped m e w i th a

lo t o f th ings in l i fe . ”

M essenhe im er notes t ha t she has en joyed work i ng w i t h Lau ra . “ I t has been wonder fu l wa tch ing he r evo l ve and com e

out o f her she l l , now t hat she fee ls ‘ less s t ressed’ (her w ords) and more c omfor t ab le w i t h herse l f as she is

FIRST FLIGHT HIGH SCHOOL (FFHS) SENIOR HAS KEYS TO FACING LIFE’S

CHALL ENGES (EVEN DRIVER’S ED) BY SHARON PERRY SULLIVA N

V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 6 B E C OM I N G Y O U R B E S T

High Schoo l - Check ! F i rs t F l ight H igh

School sen ior Laura Tutw i ler has faced

in tense l i fe cha l lenges. Wi th the sup-

por t o f fami ly , teac hers and s t rong fa i th

- she has emerged as m ore than a c on-

queror . Laura par t i c ipat ed in the Occu-

pat iona l Course o f Study cur r i cu lum

taught by Sue Messenheimer a t FFHS.

Wi th Messenheimer as coach, teacher ,

and mentor , Laura not on ly passed

dr iver ’s ed - a major m i les t one - she is

employed at Sea Me Grow, a loca l c h i ld -ca re f ac i l i t y . When d i agnosed w i th

Frag i le X syndrom e, her phys ic ians

though t i t un l i ke l y t ha t Lau ra cou ld

" func t ion" in h igh school . Laura Tut -

w i ler i s a mem ber o f Fi rs t F l ight H igh

School ' s graduat ing C lass o f 2010 .

Photo - Sharo n Perry Sul l ivan



understand ing he r schoo lw ork and i t s re l a t i onsh ip t o he r l i f e . “

Laura ’s parents , Jay Tutw i ler o f Manteo and Ju l ia Murray o f K i l l Dev i l Hi l l s , c red i t Messenheimer w i t h he lp ing Laura to

understand tha t w h i l e she i s d i ff e ren t , she i s no t res t r i c t ed f rom do ing any th i ng she w an ts t o do , i nc l ud i ng s tand ing

up before more than 200 people in her churc h to de l i ver her insp i r ing l i fe v iew .

In many w ays, Laura i s not a l l that d i f ferent f rom her pe ers . She li kes to p lay v ideo gam es, hang out w i th her f r iends,

and read. Her favor i tes inc lude J .K . Row l ing 's Harry Pot t er ser ies and Jane Austen nove ls .

As she conc luded her me ssage to her churc h fami ly las t year , Laura Tutw i ler , FFHS Class o f 2010, summ ed:

“ I t ru ly be l ieve we are a l l equal in t he eyes o f God. We a l l may be d i f ferent but

sha re a com m on pu rpose to be t he bes t peop le we can as we t rus t God to l ead

us in a purposefu l and pro sperous l i fe . ”

“T he cho i ces t ha t a re p l aced be fo re m e a re m uch d i f f e ren t t ha t t hose faced by

most t eenagers ; I rea l i ze I may need he lp a long the way t o rea l i ze my goals ,

bu t I acc ep t t hese cha l l enges .”

FAIRY TAL E COMES TRUE FOR AUT ISTIC PROM QUEEN BY JEMIMA H NOONOO

POSTED MAY 1 9, 20 10 ON TH E BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE WEBSITE

(h t tp :www.beaumontenterpr ise.com)

Af ter v is i t ing D isney Wor ld severa l years ago, Ba iley Wi l l iams dec ided that pr inces ses wer e rea l .

S he had he r m o th e r redeco ra te he r room w i th a p i nk t e l ev i s ion , a p i nk rem ote c on t ro l and p r i ncess -them ed w a l l paper .

The 19-year-o ld f rom Lum ber ton, w ho has aut ism , i s f i xa t ed on pr incesses, sa id her moth er , Gale E ll io t t . So long be-fore her sen ior prom ar r i ved, Ba i ley to ld her mot her that she w as go ing as the pr ince ss Bel le f rom " Beauty and theBeast , " and she was go ing to be prom queen.

B u t he r m o the r w or r i ed.

“ I gave he r t he speech for t he um pt een th t im e abou t how m uch o f an honor i t was t o be chosen by he r pee rs t o be onthe cou r t , and tha t no m a t t e r who w on she was to be happy fo r t hem , ” El l i ot sa i d . “ You know the pep ta l k t ha t a l lpa ren ts wou ld g i ve t o encourage the i r ch i l d . I wa s m ore conce rned tha t h e r f ee l ings w ou ld be so hu r t i f she d i dn ’t ge ti t . ”

(CONTINUED TO THE NEXT PAGE)

“ FFHS SENIOR HAS KEYS…” CONTINUED

We w ould l i ke to thank w r i ter /photographer Sharon Perry Sul l ivan for a l lowing us to use her s tory . We a lso thank

Laura Tutw i ler and her parents for the i r permiss ion to use th is s tory . We are a l l very proud of Laura and w ish her

the bes t in her fu t ure endeavors . F i rs t Fl ight H igh School i s loc ated in K i l l Devi l H i l l s , N .C.


On the J ob - FF HS sen io r Lau ra T u tw i l e r w orked a t t he K i t t y Hawk ch i l dca re

Sea Me Grow f i rs t as an in ter n before she was perma nent ly h i red. Here in

l a te M ay i n t he t wo-yea r o ld c l ass she hands ou t napk ins a t l unch t im e . Jann

Gorham’s Ear ly Chi ldhood Development c lass gave Laura a pos i t i ve exper i -

ence; OCS teacher Sue Messenheimer w as ins t rum enta l in land ing the in-

ternsh ip for Laura, who has s ince sec ured her "dream job" a t Sea Me Grow .

Photo - Sharo n Perry Sul l ivan



The 2010 dance at Lumber ton H igh School w as themed “ Happi ly Ever

A f t e r ,” and accen ted w i t h deco ra t i ons o f cas t l es and g l ass s l ippe rs . I t

was an even ing tha t seem ed a lm os t i n tended fo r one pa r t i cu l a r p r i n -

cess—a p r i ncess who becam e a queen tha t n i gh t .

“T he re was no t a d ry eye i n t he p l ace , ” sa i d El l i ot t , w ho accom pan ied

her daugh te r t o t he p rom w here she was vo ted 2010 P rom Queen by

her peers . Ba i ley w ore a cot ton candy-p ink Cindere l la gow n. Her

m o the r f ound the d ress a t Goodw i l l f o r $29 , wh i c h she ca l l ed “a m i ra -

c l e .” A nd i n t rue B e ll e f ash ion , Ba i l ey ’s da rk b rown ha i r w as swep t t o

the s i de i n sp i ral cu r l s and topped w i th a t i a ra .

A f ter t he prom ended, Ba i ley had a s imple exp lanat ion for her rea l - l i fe

fa i r y t a l e . “ I asked God to m ake m e the queen ,” she sa id . “He knew

wha t I w as ta l k i ng abou t . ”

Pr inc ipa l John Valas t ro sa id he cou ldn ’ t th ink o f anyone more deserv-

i ng of t he honor . “ I am no t su re w ha t we w ou ld do if we d i dn ’t have

(Bai ley ’s ) smi le , ” he sa id . “We are a l l bet t er for know ing her .” Whether

in school or not , th ings in Bai ley ’s w or ld are somet im es qu i te s imple .

She f i xa t es on one top ic in speec h (most ly pr incesses) , and abrupt ly

sh i f t s f rom one top i c t o ano the r w i t h l i t t l e t rans i t i on . I t c an be d i ff i cu l t

t o ge t he r t o sw i t ch he r f ocus . “S ee the p r i ncess ,” she sa i d dur i ng he r i n te rv iew w i th an E nte rp r i se repo r te r , poi n t i ng t o

her bed com for ter w i th Bel le and C indere l la . “Be l le i s t he pret t ies t one, ” she cont inued, “and I loo k l i ke Bel le .”

Her b lue eyes l it up w hen the sub jec t sh i f te d to her boy f r iend of four years , another spec i a l -needs teenager she met a t a

Valent ine ’s dance. And at one moment she w as s i lent , her brows fur row ed as she c lung to her p ink Bui ld-a-Bear . Her

thought s are about the A l i ce in Wonder land DVD to co me out soon, she to ld her mot her .

She ta lk ed of her Spec ia l Olympic s Equest r ian Compet i t ions as she po in ted to severa l award s in her room w on f rom prev i -

ous horse-r id ing shows. She spoke of her horse, L ightn ing, and her love o f mov ies and spor ts . Ba i ley was the unof f i c ia l

“m anager ” f o r t he g i r l s va rs it y so f t ba l l t eam th i s yea r and cheered w h i l e m unch ing sun f lower seeds i n t he dugou t , he r

m o the r sa i d . A t t im es , i t seem s , she wan t s t o announce eve ryth i ng a l l a t once .

B a i l ey ’ s m o the r began to no t i ce s i gns o f de layed deve lopm ent w hen he r daughte r w as 13 m on ths o l d . B a i l ey had s ta r ted

speak ing less and had t roub le ba lanc ing. When her daughter w as 4, doc t ors to ld E l lio t the c h i ld had a form of aut ism.

La te r , a t age 11 , a spec ia l is t t o l d t he f am i l y t ha t B a i l ey had au t i sm .

B a i l ey w i l l pa r t i c i pa te i n t he LHS gradua t i on ce rem ony M ay 29 and w i l l w a l k ac ross t he s tage w i t h he r c l ass . B u t she

ac tua l l y w i l l con t i nue a t t end ing Lum ber ton H igh S choo l un t i l she i s 22 . “ I ’m go ing t o g radua te , and I ’m go ing back t o

school up unt i l I ’m in my 20 ’s because I love school , ” she sa id . “Everyone loves me.” Whi le her mot her agrees w i th that

l og ic , she a l so wan ts B a i l ey t o t ak e m ore m a th and E ng l i sh c l asses . “ I can ’ t do any th i ng t o hand i cap he r any m ore ,” shesaid . “ I have to prepare her for l i fe .”

For now, though, Queen Bai ley i s savor ing the moment . And she is conv inced t hat happi l y ever a f ter i s rea l . “T o me, i t i s

l i ke a f a ir y t a l e ,” she sa i d . “A l l m y d ream s w ere t o becom e a p r i ncess .”

“ FAIRY TALE DREAM COMES TRUE…” CONTINUED


We w ould l i ke to thank J emim ah Noonoo (wr i ter ) , Guiseppe Barranco (photo) , and Beaumont Enterpr ise for grant ed per -

m i ss i on t o use th i s a r t i c l e and pho tog raph i n ou r news le t t e r and on ou r we bs i t e .

V is i t us a t ww w .becomingyourbest .com for m ore s t or ies . WE ARE NOW ON FACEBOOK—BECOME A FAN.

Diagnosed w i th aut ism , Bai ley Wi l l iams, 19,

was vo ted p rom queen a t Lum ber ton H igh

School in May. A fan o f fa i ry ta les and D isney

charac te rs , W il l i am s a t t ended the even t as a

pr incess . Photo—Guiseppe Barranco

becoming your best newsletter - june 2010 issue

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