How a local woman with disabilities is inspiring others to gracefully overcome challenges
March marks Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
By Paige Hubbard, CW39 Houston
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HOUSTON (KIAH) – As the month of March marks Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, CW39 is highlighting a young woman who is gracefully overcoming challenges, despite being born with different abilities. CW39 Houston’s Paige Hubbard is giving us a closer look into her inspirational story.
“If there’s hard things going on, work hard get through it. Be tough & get through it like I am,” said Ann Lu Chen.
That’s the advice 21-year-old Ann Lu Chen has for others who have a developmental disability. Her mother Beige Chen says she came into the world differently than others.
“Ann was born with Microtia, and her left ear lobe was closed but we soon learned she had more disabilities,” said Mrs. Chen.
Doctors determined Ann had a mobility disability. At school age, Ann was diagnosed with an intelligence development delay.
“She also was diagnosed with a speech impairment. Now you can see, she speaks pretty good. But we didn’t give up,” Mrs. Chen said.
With the help of special needs teachers and a supportive family, Ann didn’t let her diagnosis get in her way. She went on to graduate from high school and joined the workforce snagging a job at Howdy Homemade Ice Cream in Katy.
“I think we need to take the word disabilities completely out and just say different abilities,” said Frank Higginbotham, the director of employment at The Center for Pursuit.
The Center for Pursuit is a non-profit that helps those with disabilities achieve their goals and gain meaningful employment just like Ann Lu. Higginbotham shared the main thing he wants people with disabilities to know, is that that they can.
“We always say we’re about giving hope to the community and when you see a person with limitations fighting the odds and now they’re doing great things. We want people to know no matter what the limitations are there are people who can help you become a success,” he said.
Ann credits much of her success to her mother. She shared that she spent her first paycheck on buying her mom flowers to show her appreciation. She is encouraging others to be fearless no matter what obstacles they may face.
“Whoever is mean to you ignore them. Do not let them get to you because sometimes there are mean friends, and they tell you mean stuff – be yourself and ignore them,” she said.
Empowered Cities is a partnership between Citi Community Development and the National Disability Institute (NDI) that engages municipalities and community partners across the United States to identify, design, and deliver solutions to expand financial inclusion for people with disabilities. According to them, there are more than 215,000 people living in Houston with a disability. To learn more about resources that can help, click here.