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Tami Lawrence
Motherhood leads to making a difference for other parents.
If Tami Lawrence wasn’t a single mother, she’s not sure she would have started a foundation that brings hope to many Lowcountry families.
Two years ago, Lawrence started Hilton Head Pediatric Therapy Center and co-founded the Lowcountry Autism Foundation (LAF). As an occupational therapist, Lawrence works with children and adolescents who have sensory processing challenges, such as autism spectrum disorder.
“A lot of these kids are beautiful, normal-looking children,” says Lawrence. “They just have problems with behavior because of the way their body’s making sense of what’s going on around them.”
Before Lawrence came to town, families who suspected that their children had developmental delays were put on a six- to eight-month waiting list for assessment at the Medical University of South Carolina. But six to eight months is critical time in a child’s early development, she says.
LAF started slowly by funding therapy for families who had gaps in their health insurance, but it has quickly grown to mean much more for local families in need. With a state-of-the-art therapy center on the island, there’s a place for children and families to go for assessment and therapy.
“It’s been really remarkable,” says Tripp Ritchie, LAF co-founder. “The most remarkable thing Tami has done, I feel, is taking a group of clinicians to Emory University for training and she has developed a local assessment capability.”
But none of this would have been possible — on Hilton Head Island, at least — if Lawrence hadn’t gone through a divorce and moved to the area to raise her 4-year-old son, Ian. Lawrence says all parents work hard at being good parents, but single mothers inevitably face different challenges.
“You find yourself trying a little harder to be a good role model,” Lawrence says, quickly adding that Ian is lucky to have three positive role models, including her parents, in his life. “I moved down here with my son to have family support, so Ian would have a family unit around him … In today’s world, we get so disconnected from each other. Family is where it’s at.”
Becoming a mother and dealing with all of the routines that come with the job — breakfast time, bedtime and play time — Lawrence saw her profession in a way she never had before.
“It’s a completely different thing now,” Lawrence says. “You do change your perspective. You have a lot more empathy for what parent’s are going through.” In addition to running a business and a foundation, Lawrence is working on her dissertation to obtain a PhD in occupational therapy. She says it can get hectic juggling work and family, but she faithfully keeps routines with Ian and depends on family and friends to help when needed.
“Ian loves to come to mommy’s office,” Lawrence says of the center’s multiple therapy rooms complete with a chalkboard wall, a climbing wall and an inflatable pool of plastic balls. “Sometimes, I wonder if he wishes he could play here.”
Ian isn’t quite old enough to know what autism is, but he knows his mother’s working with children around his age who need her help. “All children have untapped potential, and I want to help them discover that,” Lawrence says.
When Ritchie first met Lawrence three years ago, he was working for the Special Olympics program. His term was about to end, and Lawrence had an idea to start an organization that would fit a need in the area. Ritchie was inspired by Lawrence’s in-depth knowledge and enthusiasm. “There was no way I could turn her down,” he says.
With the financial and emotional support of Lawrence’s parents, Don and Simone Lawrence, the Hilton Head Pediatric Therapy Center and Lowcountry Autism Foundation was born.
“Everything she touches turns to gold,” Ritchie says. “It’s not so much financially as it is the goodwill. I don’t think you can be richer than Tami is, based on all of the people who have seen her and the difference she has made in people’s lives.
“Tami is such a giving person. Everywhere she goes, she tries to help people any way she can … She truly has a wonderful heart and that shines through to everything she does.”
