Molly Lawson Bio

Molly Lawson was born in Salt Lake City in 1966 to Dr. Michael and Doris Lawson. She was strong and healthy. Molly moved to Burlington, Vermont at the age of 6 months where, with other supportive mothers and families, she participated in a play group with 7 other Down Syndrome babies and toddlers. She moved to Fort Lewis at age 3, and San Francisco at 4. Both locations had excellent preschools which greatly aided her development. Molly's last move occurred in 1974 when she moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where she lives today.

 

In Phoenix, Molly learned to ride a horse and participated in the Special Olympics in bowling, track, and swimming. She had a top-notch primary education and by good fortune, while she was attending a high school for the disabled, a principal was hired who believed that each student should be integrated into their local high school to prepare for life in the real world and also facilitated a supervised work program for students nearing graduation. Molly bussed tables at the Good Samaritan Hospital cafeteria for several months and then graduated from North High School at the age of 22.

 

Molly has worked in many capacities since graduating. Of her many positions, Taco Bell was the shortest due to a mishap whereby she locked the manager in the freezer on her 3rd day. Molly went on to fold blankets and stuff pillowcases for America West Airlines, recycle paper for Arizona State University, and distribute fliers to homes throughout the Phoenix area. Molly now attends Scottsdale Training and Rehabilitation Services (STARS) where she works for Cox Communications cleaning and recycling remote control devices. She is an actor with the Detour Theatre Company and loves to sing and dance. She enjoys cooking and participating in the STARS “Drawn Together” program doing group art. She also likes to go to restaurants and loves spaghetti and salad with garlic toast. Since age 23, Molly has lived in various group homes. She currently resides in Phoenix with her good friends Eunice and Arturo.