Mary Lee Brookshire, 87

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

When Mary Lee Brookshire’s daughter Laura was born with Down syndrome in 1958, doctors advised her to institutionalize her baby. Instead, Mrs. Brookshire brought her daughter home and became an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. “She made a difference because she modeled to other parents of children with Down syndrome that they could live and thrive in the community,” said Mary Yoder, executive director of the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities.

Mrs. Brookshire was active in starting group homes after visiting some private facilities, in which she found people with disabilities kept naked and tied to their beds. “She was just outraged,” said her son, David Brookshire. “She said we treat our pets better than this.”

This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Down syndrome, NOT2BEMISSED, advocacy, disabilities, discrimination, group homes, history, obits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post