SuperHeroine Angie Beckham

By Merrillee Whren

Angie Beckham is a stay-at-home mom with four children ranging in age from two to 14. Her daily life is filled with carpools and a variety of children’s school and church activities. In many ways her life is quite ordinary. So what makes her a SuperHeroine? Because she has taken bad situations in her life and made something positive out of them.

When Angie was two, her father was killed in a car accident. Her mother’s remarriage brought Angie to Jacksonville, Florida. Because of a bad home situation, she moved out when she was only 15. She continued her schooling and eventually earned an associate’s degree. She worked as an auditor for several companies. She met her husband at the apartment complex where she lived. Before they met, she saw him from time to time around the complex and told her sister that she intended to marry that guy. But the first time he actually spoke to her, she was dumbstruck and couldn’t remember what he said. She wasn’t even sure of his name. Even though she called him Bill instead of Mel when they talked again, they soon were dating and married not long after that.

Little did Angie know that the birth of her second child, Garrett, would lead her to become an advocate for parents whose children have special needs. Although Garrett wasn’t talkative as a baby, like his older sister, everything seemed normal. However, when he was two years old and still said very few words, Angie and Mel began to wonder whether something might be wrong. They spoke with their pediatrician, who referred them to an audiologist at Nemours Children’s Hospital to see if his behavior might be related to a hearing problem. His older sister has some hearing problems and difficulty with her ears, but Garrett had behavioral issues as well. He didn’t like to have people touch him, and he didn’t like to work in groups. He displayed many behaviors related to autism but not all of them. The doctors told her that he had pervasive developmental disorder, which is a big umbrella word that includes all types of autism. They said they didn’t know where he fit in the spectrum at that point. But Angie saw that as Garrett grew older he also grew more distant. He kept to himself and wanted no interaction with others.

One of the women at Angie’s church, who was a public-school teacher and had Garrett in her Sunday school class for three- and four-year-olds, suggested that Angie enroll him in a program called Child First. This program worked with children who were language delayed and helped to get them on track for entering school. So Angie enrolled Garrett in the ESE program (Exceptional Education and Student Services) for four-year-olds. When one of the teachers suggested that Garrett might be autistic, Angie was insulted because her image of an autistic person came from the only reference she had at that time, the movie Rain Man. She knew Garrett wasn’t like that.

Angie started doing research at the library to learn about autism. She discovered that many people with autism have exceptional skills in math, music and memory. Often they have a high IQ, but they don’t know how to process things. Ten Things Every Autistic Child Would Like You to Know is a letter written by a parent of an autistic child. Angie says this is a great reference. As Garrett grew older, she saw that Garrett had a phenomenal memory. He could recite lines and lines of movies or TV shows he had watched. He used those memorized lines to communicate and process things. This is known as scripting. Angie explained to me that Garrett hears or sees something on TV or in the movies and uses these words and phrases to answer questions or talk. He will even use the same inflection that he hears in the characters’ voices.

While studying about autism, Angie also learned about Garrett’s particular needs. He is often overloaded with stimuli and has a hard time concentrating. For that reason, she carries earplugs that he wears in order to keep from being overcome by the sounds around him. She cites the time the family went to Disney World. Garrett needed the earplugs so that he could enjoy the experience rather than having too much stimuli to process. In addition, he wants everything to be the same. Changes in routine or schedules bother him. So they have a calendar marked with any times that may be different from their normal schedule, such as a vacation, and he uses this as a reference.

When Garrett started school, Angie had to go through the IEP (individual education plan) process. She discovered that there was no learning situation in the school that fit his needs. She was somewhat intimidated talking with all the educators and decided she needed to know more about the laws governing students with special needs. Again she sought to learn everything she could about the laws that would affect her son. Because of her diligence and determination, she was instrumental in getting the inclusion program for students with disabilities started in the school district where Garrett is enrolled. This involved providing an aide for every classroom with a special needs student. This has benefited all the children in the district who have special needs. Because Garrett has difficulty with too much stimuli, he receives help from an aide who keeps him on task.

When Garrett was in third grade, Angie enrolled him in a karate class in order to help him with his socialization skills. She took up karate as well, along with Garrett’s older sister, Reagan, and younger brother, Gage. Angie says God has blessed her with four children because Garrett benefits from having to deal with his siblings. Being with his brother and sisters helps him to learn how to interact with others.

Angie has to keep current with the laws about special-needs children because they keep changing. She also meets with the school administrators and discusses the laws because each school seems to interpret them differently. She learned this when Garrett moved from the school district’s second- and third-grade school to the fourth- and fifth-grade school. She has learned how to fight for the rights of her child as well as for others’.

Because of her experiences, Angie has become a parent advocate who helps other parents navigate the IEP process. Throughout the year, but mainly in the summer, she goes over the law with parents of special-needs children. She talks about what the school system should provide to see that their child has a successful learning experience. She advises parents on their rights and often provides them with a script to use when they talk with teachers and school officials.

Angie meets with her state representative to discuss laws for special-needs children. Through the Florida government Web site, she is able to check on laws and receive e-mail updates on changes. She is on the parents’ advisory board that meets quarterly with the local school board to discuss issues that need to be addressed. She is also on the Governor’s Parental Board that meets once a year with the governor of Florida to discuss state education funding issues for special-needs students.

In addition to the work she does with the school and parents with special-needs students, Angie worked through her church to start a program that provides childcare once a month for children with disabilities. This allows the parents to have a couple of hours of free time to go out to dinner or a movie or go shopping. Also in conjunction with her church, she has started an annual school-supply drive. This drive provides school supplies for disadvantaged and lower-income families who may not be able to afford school supplies. As an expansion of this program, she did grant papers to receive help from Wal-Mart to provide school supplies for children who are living at Micah’s Place, the local shelter for abused women.

Angie’s faith has given her the impetus to overcome her own adversity and triumph by reaching out to others in need. Her advocacy has made her community a better place to live. She has the heart of a true SuperHeroine.

Merrillee Whren is a former teacher who now enjoys sharing stories through her writing. Her latest release is LOVE WALKED IN, a Silhouette Love Inspired out this month.

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