Barbara Holdcroft is a writer, assistant professor at Terra state Community College and an avid skier — but mostly, she’s just Katie’s mom.
Holdcroft, also an adjunct professor at Lourdes University, is the mother of 32-year-old Katie, who is disabled and cannot speak.
Holdcroft wrote a book “I’m Katie’s Mom: Pointers for Professionals and Parents of the disabled” on her experiences with her daughter. She is hosting a signing of the book April 14.
When Katie was little, there wasn’t much information on having a special-needs child available, Holdcroft said. Still, the mother was fearless.
“My motto with Katie was ‘Just take her everywhere’,” she said. At the encouragement of a friend, Holdcroft began writing what she called “Katie stories.”
“I started every one the same way and ended the same way. ‘Hello, my name is Katie, I’m disabled’ … and then at the end, ‘I may not have done X, Y or Z, but I sure had fun,’ because Katie has fun everywhere,” Holdcroft said.
However, Holdcroft found the stories didn’t go very far. Her son Kent had an idea.
“My son said, ‘Mother, look at all the things you’ve learned; you should start telling people about it’ because it was not easy 30 years ago to know where services were,” she recalled.
The resulting book, released in 2008, was “I’m Katie’s Mom.”
“There’s a lot of stuff in there that gives you a little insight into what kind of steps you need to take to deal with people or help them gain their independence; there’s a good deal of humor,” Holdcroft said.
The title comes from Katie’s near celebrity status in their community.
“Most people don’t know who I am. I only have relevance because I’m Katie’s mom, truly,” Holdcroft said.
Some of the wisdom in Holdcroft’s book was hard-won.
Katie was part of a group that wasn’t allowed to ride the attractions at the Lucas County Fair, an event that made the news in the late ’90s. The Holdcrofts sued Anthony Wayne Schools after the district said it wouldn’t allow Katie to attend a school in Maumee.
“[Acceptance in the community] runs the gamut. I mean, I’ve had family members uninvite us to things,” Holdcroft said.
Still, the family has found a community within its church. Katie, who plays softball, rides horses, skies and swims, won Special Olympic medals along with Holdcroft in a joint competition where the pair’s scores were added together. Katie and her mother wore their medals to deliver the gifts to the altar one day at Mass. The medal-winner
took the chance to show off her awards at the altar, complete with a thumbs up.
“I had to capture her to get her to sit down again; it was really funny,” Holdcroft said.
One couple from church approached Holdcroft afterward and said they were touched by the incident.
“It gave us a whole new meaning to what it means to take your gifts to the altar,” they told Holdcroft.
Holdcroft’s contract with her publisher has run out and now the remaining books are in her basement, but still available for sale.
“The books do me no good in the basement. The whole point of writing this was not to get rich but to get the information out to people who might want some answers,” she said.
The book signing is at J’s Bookshelf, 6377 Monroe st., Sylvania, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 14. “I’m Katie’s Mom” is $11. To purchase a copy outside the signing, email barbholdcroft@bex.net.
