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Faculty member relates challenges of raising special daughter in book |
| By
Kim Harvey |
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Aug 27, 2008
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| Dr. Barbara Holdcroft and her daughter, Katie, head to the bus stop, where Katie will catch a ride to work. |
Just after her daughter’s first birthday, UT’s Dr. Barbara Holdcroft listened as a neurologist delivered a cold assertion.
“He stated that Katie would never be able to function, never be able to feed herself, walk, bathe or perform any activities of daily living,” Holdcroft wrote in the first chapter of her book,
I’m Katie’s Mom: Pointers for Professionals and Parents of the Disabled.
The physician advised that Katie be institutionalized without offering a concrete diagnosis of her condition.
From that day, Holdcroft remembered, she learned to question, argue and cajole. Because there was no playbook for helping children like Katie, Holdcroft decided to write one.
“This book began as a ‘I wish someone had told me this 25 years ago’ project,” Holdcroft, adjunct professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership, explained. “The point was to get information to people who were like me.”
In time, Holdcroft said, Katie learned to care for herself, went to school, skied in the Special Olympics, and now works regularly at a local business. Although Katie will always need assistance, she is a highly functional member of society.
“As the people who know us always say, ‘Katie has a wonderful life,’” Holdcroft remarked.
Katie’s development hasn’t been without difficulties, as are detailed in the book. Topics include ensuring educational opportunities, family dynamics, behavior modification and even vacationing with a developmentally disabled child.
The book was written from two points of view — Holdcroft’s and her daughter’s, even though Katie does not speak. Katie’s interpretations come from her mother, who has been her primary caregiver for almost 30 years.
Holdcroft will sign copies of her book at a National Apostolate for Inclusion Ministry gathering at Sawmill Creek Resort Conference Center in Huron, Ohio, Friday, Sept. 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Even as Holdcroft attends book signings, she’s planning her next publication, a sequel of tidbits not covered in
I’m Katie’s Mom.
“I’ve already thought about four or five things I forgot to put in the first book,” she said.
I’m Katie’s Mom was published by Vantage Press in New York earlier this year. Copies are available in University Bookstore; People Called Women, 3153 W. Central Ave., a bookstore in Cricket West; selected Target stores; as well as the Web sites of Amazon.com Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc.
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