Jenny Hatch has run away from several group homes her parents placed her in over the past year, chafing at being “treated like a child.” Now the 29-year-old woman, who has Down syndrome, has been told by a Virginia judge that she may choose her legal guardians, and is picking Kelly Morris and Jim Talbert, who employ her at a thrift store and took her in after a bicycle accident last year. Hatch’s mother and stepfather, Julia and Richard Ross, had asked the court to be able to decide her living situation and medical treatment, and even who she could see — conditions called “a civil death” by disability advocate Peter Blanck. “I’m so happy to go home today,” Hatch said. “I deserve it.” [Source]
Date: Saturday, August 3, 2013
News Source: MSN Now
Authors: MSN Now