The room is filled with laughs and yells of competition as Emma West, 17, and other youth group members race to see who can wrap their group leader like a mummy the fastest. "She's very loving, she's a very spiritual being, she has a strong faith," Emma's mom, Ginnie, 51, says of Emma.
That's how Dr. Virginia "Ginnie" West, a special education professor at the University of the Cumberlands, describes her daughter Emma, 17, who has special needs. When she was pregnant with Emma, Ginnie and her husband, Larry, were told that Emma would have a 1 percent chance of making it and were told to terminate the pregnancy, but they didn’t.
Emma’s diagnosis leaves her with heart defects, moderate to severe deafness, cognitive disabilities, anxiety and depression. This can manifest itself often in moments where Emma will begin to exhibit behaviors that are agitated and even on occasion self-harming. In these moments, Ginnie and Larry will do something to redirect her attention, whether it be playing with a stress toy or getting on her tablet. Another way this care takes place is Ginnie will pick Emma up from school every day to take her home. They also go shopping, Emma’s favorite thing to do.
However, the care for Emma not only comes at home, but in other places too, like her school and social functions.
“People love her so well,” Ginnie says.
At school, her teacher and teacher’s aides work with Emma in a self-contained classroom to teach her functional life skills like writing her name, counting and taking medications on time. They make sure she is doing okay and attend to her needs. At a place like youth group, both the leaders and fellow students show Emma love by engaging with her in whatever way they can.
"There's some misconception that when you have a child that's low cognitively functioning, that maybe they don't have feelings, or they won't ever know the difference," Ginny says. "They definitely know, they definitely wanna be a part."
Emma is like any other high school student her age: she has goals and aspirations, like running track at the State Championships; she has friends and gets excited to see them; she has a boyfriend that she likes to talk about. Also, she likes going to social functions and she looks forward to the future, telling people on many occasions, “I’m going to Plato’s Closet during Christmas Break.”
Her birthday is in April, but she is already letting people know, “I’m gonna be 18.”
The lights of Whitley County High School illuminate Ginnie and Emma as they embrace during a school drop-off. Emma goes from the hand of her parent to the hand of a teacher or teacher's aide so she has someone by her side during the entire drop-off process.
Ginnie and Emma walk through the halls of Whitley County High School as Ginnie takes Emma to her classroom. Emma learns functional life skills with other students with special needs in a classroom with four different adults to help the students.
Emma counts as she and teacher's aide Felicia Bates work to finish a packet containing various exercises. "In the state of Kentucky, when you have disabilities, you can stay in the school system until you're 21 to receive services," Ginnie says.
Emma stops and talks with staff member Daryl Bowman while out and about in the hallways of her school. Emma and a teacher’s aide will often walk the halls of the school as a way for Emma to get out of the classroom.
The West family prepares for Halloween by making goodie bags for Emma to take to school. Many times, Emma asks when her class and youth group's Halloween parties will be, always liking to be prepared and planning for the future.
Emma must take a variety of medicines for her disability.
Conversation and fun are had at the Indian Mountain State Park campground in Jellico, TN, as the West family visits friends staying there. "She just wants to be a part of things," Ginnie says about Emma.
With the looming threat of strep going around at Whitley County High School, including one student in her own classroom, Emma has a teacher's aide check her throat after saying it hurts. Emma will often speak up when either her heart or another part of her body doesn't feel good, but her mother says she has a high pain tolerance and they may not know she is sick for a little bit.
A sleepless night makes Emma tired, so she takes a break from her studies to lie down. Emma had drunk a cup of coffee the night before, waking her up multiple times throughout the night.