Born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, birth defects impacting physical and mental abilities, 20-year-old Taylor Pike, of Lanett, works hard to overcome challenges. In December, his efforts were rewarded when he won the 2008 Alabama Easter Seals Achievement Award.
“Taylor has an amazing attitude about learning, trying new tasks and self-improvement and is one of the most appreciative clients we have worked with,” said Phil Raley, administrator of the Achievement Center — Easter Seals in Opelika. The center is dedicated to helping physically, mentally and developmentally disabled people attain vocational and independent-living skills necessary for successful employment.
The award — presented since 1984 as a means of rewarding clients for their hard work, dedication and success — was given to Pike for representing what it is the center strives to do, Raley said.
Pike said receiving the award means a lot to him. “I hadn’t been that happy in awhile,” he said. “When I accepted the award, I made a speech and my mom cried and my pastor was there with this big smile. So was my dad. Just seeing the look on their faces and the feeling that I had won the award was just great.”
After graduating from high school in 2006, Pike attended college until he entered the job preparation program at the center in March 2008.
“I went to the achievement center having no idea what I wanted to do but trying to figure out what I would be good at,” Pike said. “And they did a very good job of helping me with that.”
In August, Pike began working at Alligare in Opelika, a chemical supplier to the vegetation-management market, where he is responsible for clerical tasks such as filing and organizing.
“Taylor has already accomplished overcoming his physical disabilities,” Raley said. “We simply worked on his self-esteem, self-confidence and people skills. He was amazingly successful in all of these.”
But this wasn’t always the case, Pike admitted, noting his struggles as a child in school. The hydrocephalus created difficulties in mathematics and reading comprehension, and the spina bifida caused his feet to turn inward. Because of this, children poked fun at him, athletics were limited and his self-confidence wavered, creating a timid boy both in school and the youth group at West End Baptist Church, Valley, in East Liberty Baptist Association.
But after accepting Christ at the age of 16, training his feet to point forward and taking up guitar, he said things began to change. Two years later, Pike attended a church camp that he credits with really getting him “into” his faith.
He said it got him thinking about “how great it is and what a privilege it is to be a follower.”
“It really kind of helped me to stop taking it for granted,” Pike said. And he’s gone back to the camp every year.
“Taylor is a talented and gifted young man in many ways,” said Don Downs, pastor of West End Baptist, where Pike now serves in the youth department. “He is gifted in his disability. He has faced the situation and the issues that go along with it with great faith and personal strength. I have never seen such personal character from such a young man.”
Pike credits God with helping him get where he is today and his physical advancements despite his disabilities. He said he wants to encourage others who are struggling to “be optimistic” and not “sell yourself short.”
“Give yourself chances,” Pike said. “Don’t just automatically say, ‘No,’ and shut everything away. Try.”
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