Eighteen-year-old Charlotte Merrill is an exceptional young woman. Born with cerebral palsy and ataxia, her doctors’ prognosis was that Charlotte would never walk nor talk. But with faith, her parents’ dedication and a little help from the DES Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), Charlotte is not only thriving; she is a role model for all!
Through perseverance, Charlotte was able to develop her physical ability to participate on several Special Olympics Unified Teams, including bocci ball, swimming, and her favorite sport, basketball. Charlotte commits one hour each day to physical exercise. At the gym, she practices yoga and meditation, uses the elliptical machine, and lifts free weights.
Charlotte is taking piano lessons to help her exercise her hands and fingers.
On “good days,” Charlotte walks without any assistance. On not-so-good days, she uses crutches or a wheelchair. Some days, it’s a little of both. For example, she and her family took a 13-mile hike in Havasupai Canyon where Charlotte had to use her crutches for three miles. However, she is still able to accomplish much, including building houses for families in need.
During the week between Christmas and New Year’s, the family travels to Mexico to help build houses. The group of volunteers builds five to six cinder-block houses each year. Over the past five years, Charlotte has learned how to mix cement and slaps the cement on top of the cinder blocks. When the houses are finished, the volunteers provide furniture and furnishings. When construction of each three-bedroom home is completed, Charlotte cleans each finished unit to make sure every home is move-in ready.
Charlotte and her mother, Anna, stand outside their front door ready to greet visitors.
As remarkable as her physical accomplishments are, this athlete has also been able to achieve in both academics and the arts. Through hard work and diligence, Charlotte received two scholarships to attend Navajo County Community College, where she is studying both Performing Arts and Child Development. Because handwriting and typing are quite difficult for her, Charlotte uses talk-to-text technology to help her with essays and other homework. Despite this challenge, she takes piano lessons to help strengthen her hand movements and stretch her fingers.
Another challenge Charlotte tackles head on is speaking. Speech therapy is one of the services she receives from DDD. Not only is Charlotte able to talk effectively, she started giving motivational speeches to a variety of audiences, including schools, TGEN Foundation, and LifeVantage Health. Recently, she talked to a group of men at an orthopedics facility who are learning how to use orthoses (orthopedic braces) and/or prostheses (artificial limbs).
Charlotte “brings awareness to diseases and disorders,” said her mother Anna. “That’s her goal.”
Charlotte advises others to: “Keep trying. Don’t be afraid. Go ahead. Faith is bigger than your fear. [Know that] Faith and fear can’t coexist at the same time.”
Dear fear,
I’ve had fear since I was a little girl and I wondered if I’d ever walk, talk, or even graduate from high school and make it this far in my life. Or be able to make friends. I do those things now. I am happy because I am walking, talking and making friends all over the world, because I have faith that I could do those things now, and because of it, I am happy. But I have fear in my life … [including a fear of public speaking]. Now, I just graduated from high school and I am in college. I am in the acting program. I am making life happen for which I am so grateful because if I hadn’t had fear, I would not be doing those incredible things that I’m doing now.
– Charlotte M.