Special Artisan and Crafter Lila Morrow
Lila Morrow
Age: 7
Disorder: Down syndrome
Style of Art: beading – ID lanyards
As told to us by her mom, Lainey
Lila Morrow Lila, our youngest crafter at seven years old, makes jewelry by stringing beads for ID-lanyards. She is a “girlygirl” and loves glitter and bling. To date, she has sold nearly 150 of her lanyards.
How did you learn to do your craft? Who taught you?
Lila learned her craft of making unique, beaded lanyards in Occupational Therapy. She started
stringing beads there, and we all realized how intently she can sit and work on fine motor skills. She
is usually bouncing here and there, rarely sitting, but she focuses hard when she’s working on
stringing her beads. We started working together on her jewelry-making skills, and it will probably
be a lifelong project for us.
What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome to do your craft?
There are a few challenges:
Lila is non-verbal, so we have to work a little harder to communicate with each other. She
understands me usually, but it’s hard for her to tell me what she’s thinking.
She is young and still learning a lot of techniques. We partner together to make sure the products
she sells are high quality, and as she grows, she will learn more about doing more on her own.
Improving her fine motor skills. She struggles with smaller beads, but we just keep working on that
as a part of her skill development.
What inspired you to chose this type of craft?
Lila is a girly girl. She likes jewelry. She likes glitter and bling. She likes to strong beads. We started
by making a work ID for someone at my job as a gift. Then people started making personal orders,
and now she sells her lanyards in a shop called The Blue Umbrella in downtown Little Rock.
What do you like most and dislike most about your craft?
She loves to see people wearing her work, but she doesn’t always like how long some of them can
take to make.
Which piece are you most proud of?
She is most proud that she has sold almost 150 of her lanyards!
What are the other benefits you gained from doing your craft?
Lila gains more dexterity in her fine motor abilities, she works on her language skills, and she gets
some one-on-one time with her mom. She also gets paid for her work, and she is saving her money
for something big!
You can purchase Lila’s Lanyards at: https://www.joinlila.com/
Related: Meet Four Very Special Artisans and Crafters
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This post originally appeared on our November/December 2020 Magazine
