All we ask is that you make real the promise and the opportunities that America strives to offer everyone, the respect and dignity we deserve as free and responsible citizens in a great Nation. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Denise Karuth follows:] TESTIMONY BRFORE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REGARDING PAST October 24, 1988 Good Afternoon, My name is Denise Karuth, I am the Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, and the Governor's Commission on Accessible Transportation, I am also a member of the Governor's Human Resource Forum, As a young visually impaired child in public schools I had to fight to sit in the front row of my classes so that I could participate in class and try to see the board, No effort was made, until I took the NY State Regent's exams in 1971 at the end of my junior year in high school, to accommodate for my disability. Instead, I was held back from advanced classes and told that because of my disability I should take "easy" courses such as homemaking, rather than advanced courses such as physics, At the State University of New York, as a music major in 1972, I had to drop a required theory course because I was unable to read a photo-reduced miniature score of a Bach Cantata, As a special education minor in 1975, I informed one of my professors that I was legally blind. He replied "What are you doing in this program if you can't see?" and refused to accommodate me in any way. In 1976 my rehabilitation counselor at the New York State equivalant to the Commission for the Blind informed me that the Commission would not sponsor me for a Master's degree in rehabilitation counseling because the state would not hire blind rehabilitation counselors since, and this is a quote, "they couldn't drive themselves to their clients' homes," I then made the difficult decision to leave my home and family in order to pursue this goal in the more liberal Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I still remember my first phone call to the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, When I heard the person I was talking to using a braille writer to take down my name and address I said to her "Pardon me for asking, but are you blind? Shr replied "Yes," I said "The Massachusetts Commission for the Blind hires blind people?" and she said "Of course, Lots of blind people heaven! work here." I felt like I'd died and gone to Finding housing has been difficult, even before I started using a wheelchair. Affordable housing is in short supply and prospective landlords often told me they would not rent to someone with a guide dog. They said they didn't care if it was illegal knowing that, in all likelihood, I would be too busy trying to find a place to live to fight them. Once I became severely physically disabled due to Multiple Sclerosis I found that housing was even harder to find and that I was discriminated against for a variety of reasons. Once, I was refused housing in a new accessible development despite the fact that I lived in the neighborhood the development was built to serve, and was paying over 25% of my income to live in a substandard, inaccessible apartment, The reason? Two of my personal care attendants were males, Furthermore, the application to the development asked many intrusive personal questions such as "Do you use a catheter or any other urinary appliance?" in an apparent effort to determine if there was a risk of having their rugs soiled by urine, Like all persons with disabilities, I have faced discrimination in places of public accommodation from restaurants and taxis which refused me because of my wheelchair or guide dog to accessible stores with inaccessible aisles and displays, and new construction that does not meet architectural accessibility standards. Like thousands of my peers, I am continually frustrated by the fact that the burden for enforcement of these regulations falls to largely disabled consumers through the complaint process rather than through routine inspection and enforcement by building inspectors and responsible agencies, It's bad enough running up against these barriers every time I leave my home, Knowing that, unless I report each violation, nothing is likely to be done about it is completely infuriating. One cannot speak of barriers without speaking of transportation, I've had pilots refuse to fly my motorized wheelchair even though its sealed gell batteries were designed for safe transport and airline staff who tried to make me put my guide dog in a crate in the airplane's cargo bay, I've also experienced the major difficulties inherent in using advance notice dial-a ride services and fixed route accessible services from trips not available to drivers without lift keys to elevators and escalators out of service. In August of 1983 I traveled by train to Washington D.C. to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the famous Civil Rights March, only to discover that our charter train had pulled up at an inaccessible platform, AMTRAK personnel told me, in all seriousness, that I would have to stay on the train for thirteen hours until it returned to Boston. I did not agree, I made them carry me down. In my role as chairperson of the Governor's Commission on Accessible Transportation, I heard testimony from hundreds of persons with disabilities who face transportation barriers, One compelling testimony was presented by a woman who relied on a motorized wheelchair for mobility, had only one arm, and was deaf, She lost her Social Security disability because she had her PhD and, therefore, had been judged able to work. During the lengthy appeals process she had to sell her lift equipped van so she could eat, Now, several years later, she was ready to buy another van but could not obtain funding for accessibility modifications because of a policy which stated that only one vehicle would be modified per client. Fortunately, we were able to change the policy. Normally, I would be travelling with a guide dog. But Irene is thirteen years old, and retired, and spends her days sleeping in the sun. I began using a wheelchair four years after I a quired Irene, Because I know use a wheelchair, there is not a single asked to leave. The owner of the restaurant directed negative comments toward them as a group and told them because of the incident that occurred earlier, he would no longer serve day treatment people again. Now, almost 2 years later, people who are recognized as being from the day treatment program are still refused services. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Larry Urban follows:] Mr. OWENS. Thank you. Mr. Larry Urban. STATEMENT OF LARRY URBAN, DIRECTOR, RENAISSANCE CLUB, LOWELL, MA Mr. URBAN. Good afternoon. I am director of the Renaissance Club, which is a comprehensive rehabilitation program for persons with mental illness. Discrimination against persons with mental illness is widespread. And, today, I am going to give several examples in the area of housing, public services, and education. The stigma attached to persons labeled mentally ill is widespread. Evidence of the negative attitudes held by the general population toward persons with mental illness is vividly illustrated by the following letter to the editor printed in the Lowell Sun this past year concerning a State plan to provided community-based housing mentally ill. This letter states, it is written by a person named Chris Dagle: Recent news reports have said that state hospitals would begin placing patients in private homes. Next to yours? Shortly. What are they thinking about? The streets are not safe to walk on now, let alone your yard for children to play next to a home where some mental patients are living. They named six or seven cities and two of them were Lawrence and Lowell. Why not spend a little money to fix up our state hospitals and make them homey and comfortable and keep the patients in their own environment. The state hospitals are on the best land in the cities. They are on perfect sites. Metropolitan State sits high on a hill overlooking Boston. Worcester State sits high on a hill overlooking Worcester. Both with beautiful grounds. Threefourths of all mental patients are schizophrenic. Their moods can change in a second. Let's ask professionals, doctors, nurses, et cetera, if mental patients should live outside of the hospital. Now is the time to write to your state senators and congressman to get this stopped now. OK. That letter reveals the negative attitudes and irrational fears that people have toward persons with mental illness. And these attitudes can be an insurmountable barrier to establishing housing programs for the mentally ill in residential neighborhoods. I know of two attempts to establish a supervised group home in Lowell that was stopped by irrational neighborhood reactions. In one case, derogatory graffiti were written on the proposed residential sites, such as "Nuts go home". In both cases, the neighbors staged emotionally charged rallies that prevented any meaningful dialog concerning their stated objection such as property devaluation and the safety of their children. Under these circumstances, political pressures against agencies attempting to establish housing are often the deciding factor forcing the mentally ill out of the better, safer neighborhoods and into neighborhoods that are drug-infested and that pose other threats to their welfare. I would like to, in the area of public services, inform you of an example of discrimination that occurred almost 2 years ago and it is still going on. Because of legal action, I cannot give names. This situation involves a restaurant which is in close proximity to a day treatment center for persons with mental illness. This restaurant was frequented by a number of people being served by the day treatment center until one day one of their members became disruptive and was rightfully asked to leave the restaurant. However, later the same day when several other members of the day treatment center attempted to get service at the restaurant, they were |