DATE: Monday, September 29, 1997            TAG: 9709280002

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Profile 

SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   93 lines

SUFFOLK REFUSES TO LET DISABILITY SLOW HER DOWN

A ZOO OF stuffed animals, most of them smiling, competes with scholastic citations for space in Laura Catherine Robb's Suffolk bedroom.

Also in the pink and white room - she's the decorator - are shelf after shelf of books. And a wheelchair, walker and braces.

Laura has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which prevents her muscles from developing normally. The non-progressive condition affects one in every 100,000 newborns.

There is no question about Laura's development mentally. The 13-year-old John F. Kennedy Middle School eighth-grader has a lifetime of A's on her report cards.

``Laura's last school year was very impressive,'' said her grandmother Julia Wolf. ``She had the highest academic average on every subject.''

The youngster with the long, much-admired red hair moves around as much as she can, exhibiting dynamism that an outsider might not expect from such a slim frame.

In school, Laura needs help for trips to the bathroom and at lunch. Her best friend and an aide alternate behind the wheelchair. She changes between wheelchair and walker every 90 minutes.

For lunch, she stands, backed up to a chair, and someone feeds her.

An arm sling on the chair and walker enable Laura to hold writing instruments, which she can handle.

At bedtime, Laura puts fiberglass braces on her arms and legs.

She handles inquiries about her ailment, but the laid back, soft-spoken youngster prefers not to make a big deal of it.

``They don't bother me,'' she said. ``I'm fine with it.''

``Her joints are stiff and don't move well,'' said Dr. Sheldon St. Clair, director of pediatric orthopedic surgery at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk. ``Since her muscles are extremely weak, they can't move the joints.''

She continues to move ahead academically.

``I work hard,'' Laura said, ``but not too hard.''

Her mom, Jean, smiled at that and said: ``Laura doesn't admit it, but she does work very hard. She's a perfectionist and very organized. She strives to do the best in everything.''

That includes athletics.

Laura races in the school gym with the help of her wheelchair, and she swims with the help of an inner tube as friends keep an eye on her.

Nancy Melderson, a family friend and former Suffolk public schools physical therapist, said, ``Laura loves to get out, loves to be around people, especially kids her age.''

St. Clair, who has known and admired the teen-ager since she was 6, said: ``She's done more than I ever expected. It's her strong personality. She's really neat, quite precocious. She pushes forth, has a strong will and a lot of family support.''

The family, which lives on Eley Street in Suffolk, includes Laura's father, Arthur R. Robb Jr., a certified public accountant, and her brothers, Raymond, 16, and Phillip, 14.

``They are also excellent students. We brag on Laura because she's physically challenged,'' Wolf said.

Raymond and Phillip are very supportive - and protective - of their sister. Raymond drives and takes her to church and youth group functions.

``Laura has been having therapy since she was three weeks old. It keeps her limber,'' her mother said. ``When she was born, she was folded like a pretzel. During her first year, she had therapy five times a day, five hours a day. Health Department people would do it, and people from church and from the neighborhood.''

Add to that regular visits to the pediatrician and other doctors.

``When she was a baby, Phillip was 16 months old, Raymond three years, so I needed all the help I could get,'' Jean Robb said. ``I'll tell you what pulled me through - friends, faith and God.''

The Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church is a vital part of the Robbs' life.

Laura spent part of her summer as a representative of the church, attending a youth conference in Atlanta and, Wolf said, ``having the most fun of anyone.''

``Church is fun. You learn about things in the Bible, and there are nice people there,'' Laura said.

Laura thinks a little about her future, currently setting her sights on becoming a pharmacist, because, she explained, ``it sounds interesting.''

Other interests are cards, games, reading, playing outside and the computer which, she said with justifiable confidence, ``I think I can use as well as anyone else.''

Laura does not like to think of herself as someone's inspiration, but, St. Clair said, ``everybody she touches remembers her. She's a unique person.''

As for Laura, ``I'm happy. I have no complaints.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MICHAEL KESTNER / The Virginian-Pilot

Laura Robb

MICHAEL KESTNER / The Virginian-Pilot

One of Laura Robb's favorite activities is using the computer at

her home in Suffolk.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu