Living with an intellectual disability – Jamie’s story

April 29, 2022 | Author: Jamie Lee Glenn

Jamie Lee Glenn lives with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, a lifelong intellectual disability. Jamie shared these reflections at a Surrender Conference in Adelaide a few years ago about what it was like to have an intellectual disability.

“I’ve had a hard life. I want to do things and be friends with people and have a girlfriend. But I’ve had a lot of people bully me and bash me. When I ride my bike around, people are mean to me. It really hurts. It makes me upset. Why don’t they like me?

“I met Ted when I was seventeen and started going to Oasis at the church. I had friends and they came to my birthday party. 

“I learned about God and being in his family and that he wants me to be a good man. The church people were really kind to me. Suzanne tells me not to swear or talk about sex because the girls don’t like it. I have to keep my face clean too because friends don’t like if you smell or are a grub. I made a really good friend Shane. He used to invite me over and we played PlayStation and watched Chuck Norris movies. But he had an operation and he died. It’s really hard. I miss Shane so much. My life is hard, I find it hard to keep going.”

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