By Brandon Larrabee, The Times-Union
ATLANTA - Heather Murray has been in state institutions for mentally disabled Georgians before. It's why she wants to make sure her 6-year-old son, Timothy, doesn't end up in one.
"When you're there, you get the feeling that they're only being maintained, that they're only taking care of their physical needs," said Murray, a Medical College of Georgia employee who lives in Grovetown.
But caring for Timothy, who has cerebral palsy and other disabilities, also requires sacrifices by Murray and her family. She points out that a parent can't exactly go out and hire a 12-year-old neighborhood baby sitter to watch a child who might have a seizure.
"What I really would like to do is be able to go on a date with my husband," Murray said.
Murray and parents like her were at the state Capitol earlier this week, asking lawmakers to put more funding into programs designed to keep people with mental and physical disabilities out of state institutions and nursing homes and in their communities instead.
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