BY IRENE LABOMBARDE

Joyce Hunter gets emotional when she talks about her daughter Julie’s departure for college. Having your only child leave the nest can be traumatic, especially if you weren’t sure that day would ever be possible.

Julie, 18, has a learning disability, yet she is headed to Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., with plans to become a motivational speaker and preschool teacher. Along the way, she has earned recognition and several scholarships for her extensive volunteer work.

Julie will attend the Threshold Program at Lesley, a two-year non-degree program for young adults with learning disabilities or special needs. Students live in dormitories and classes focus on life skills – how to ride public transportation, how to write a business letter, how to cook and managing finances.

When she finishes the program, Julie will earn a certificate of completion that will allow her to work in a day care center.

Her mom calls the Threshold program a miracle, a very expensive miracle. To help with the $46,000 annual cost, Julie was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from Lesley, a $1,000 scholarship from the Bedford Fire Department and $500 from the Bedford Men’s Club.

“Because of her challenges and special needs, people don’t realize you can still apply (for scholarships).

They took a chance on her and it was a very wise thing,” said Hunter.. “I call her the valedictorian of learning disabled students. At awards night, she was the only challenged student recognized at West High School.”

How does Julie feel about this new adventure?

“I’m very excited about college. I’ve already met my two roommates and past students. I’m really enjoying the people,” she said.

Julie has purchased her first cell phone, and speaks with such poise and focus that it’s hard to imagine the challenges she has faced.

“I noticed what other kids were doing, like stacking blocks, climbing and jumping. Julie did not do some of those things,” Hunter said.

Julie was evaluated for developmental delays at age 3, and after her diagnosis,  she entered the Bedford Early Education Program (BEEP), where she continued through kindergarten. She was mainstreamed into regular classes and had an individual education plan (IEP) and a paraprofessional to help her through the school day. Hunter said her daughter functions at a fourth- grade level.

“I got made fun of a lot at school. I felt stupid. It was really hard,” said Julie, who said history was her favorite subject, but math and reading were challenging.

“Thank God someone invented calculators and spell-check,” she laughs.

Hunter said having a difficult experience with peers can make you fearful about participating in group activities, but she gives Julie a lot of credit for all she’s done. For example, after the eighth-grade camping trip on Mount Cardigan, Julie gave her mom a photo of her on the summit with a message on the back: “I hope you can reach all the tops of the mountains in your life, too.”

Hunter said she keeps that picture on her desk to remind herself to keep reaching.

Julie was active in youth group and choir at Bethany Covenant Church and has been in numerous voice classes and performances at the Bedford Youth Performing Company.

“I’ve been in lots of plays, and built confidence and self-esteem. I made lots of friends and had fun, especially if I had a bad day. I go there (BYPC) and it’s gone,” she said.

Julie volunteers at Bedford town offices by helping with office tasks. She also helps at the Bedford Library with shelving materials and at the circulation desk. For the past four years she has used her birthday money to donate books to the teen department.

“I pretty much have everything I want, so I decided I was going to donate books in my name. I’d rather have people learn and be inspired,” she said.

Among those who’ve inspired her are a deaf penpal, another developmentally delayed friend that she says is like a sister, and Marguerite Frizzell, the Bedford librarian who died of a brain tumor in 2005. She also befriended her neighbor’s elderly father, who moved in to be cared for during his final illness.

“He had no friends, but I was his best friend. We had ice cream together,” she said. “After Marguerite died, we talked about death. He taught me that everybody when they are born is promised with death, but I’m still afraid to die.”

Last year, Julie volunteered at the Manchester YMCA day care center, and also exercised at the facility.
“Every day she took the bus from West (High School) to the YMCA. It was a great for her to develop that independence,” said Hunter.

In May, she was paid to be a guest speaker at a Partners in Health dinner, sponsored by Granite State Independent Living.

“She just got up and spoke in front of a couple hundred people at the Grappone Center. It didn’t faze her at all,” said Hunter.

The two recently went to the Rehabilitation Center at Exeter Hospital to evaluate whether Julie would be able to learn to drive a car. Despite being told she probably could, once she got behind the wheel, she was “petrified and overwhelmed” and not quite ready to continue, said Julie.

She also hopes to write a book someday with her mother about her life, but for now her biggest challenge will be adjusting to college life and having to share a room with roommates.

“Julie teaches me,” her mom said. “When you think you can’t do something, and then look at somebody challenged and see what they do with their life, you see that anything is possible.”