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Testimony of Mary Ella 1.inden
before the

Senate SubCommittee on the Handicapped
September 27, 1988

on the

Americans with Disabilities ACULADAL

Ladies and Gentlemen. I am deeply honored to speak before you in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1988. This legislation is very much needed, not only for the provisions it contains, but also for the principle it embodies. freedom from discrimination on the basis of a disability which will give us the opportunity to participate in American society as equal members, as fully human beings..

When the Act becomes law, people with disabilities will have several accepted, legal, legitimate channels through which to an their needs and grievances. There will no longer be a necessity for those demonstrations which the noninvolved world may find so distasteful Freer access to job opportunities will allow people with disabilities to be seen as human beings with the same needs, drives, and desires as the nonimpaired in the workplace Perhaps people will learn not to stare so hard, too.

You see before you a woman who did not learn until August 10. 1987. that she had the strength to help with anything or to change her own outlook My father had always chosen my path until his death in 1964 There was no alternative housing situation for my father to use for me after his death, but a nursing home. And so, at the age of 34. I was placed in a retirement home with my mother upon his death And upon her death I was

placed in the adjacent nursing home. His estate still provides for my care. His words. "As long as I'm paying the bills, you take my orders”, have echoed through my mind whenever new challenges have offered themselves. I was born in Chicago in 1930. attended segregated public schools, and graduated from high school in 1950 with a class rank of ninth out of forty five. But no plans were made for me for a career or for higher education. because I was considered too crippled to compete by both the school and my parents. In fact, the school never even took the time to teach me to write! I taught myself to print in 1951 after I had graduated from the public school system. However, I can still neither read nor write in cursive. It is very embarrassing to have to ask someone to read a letter or a professor s comments. The effects of the school s failure to teach me are still evident today Fortunately I had been taught to use the typewriter by a very creative and resourceful aunt This skill has enabled me to obtain sixty-one hours of college credit. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Both of my parents were children of Swedish immigrants eager to succeed and to be American. They believed the doctors who made surgical adjustments on my leg and heel chords in successive operations between the ages of 18 months and three years. I spent most of that time in the hospital When i was six years old, a specialist told my parents that the doctors had cut too much and that I would never be able to walk. Nowadays a malpractice suit might have been brought against the surgeons or even the doctor who delivered me, but not in the 1950s and certainly not by my parents!

When I was seven years old I entered the Jesse Spalding School for the Crippled, a venerable institution even then of the Chicago public school system which is sull in existence today I always attended segregated

schools, rode to and from school in a cab (paid for by the school system and had little or none of the usual childhood activities, especially those involving socialization. As an only child, I had no sibling to play with, to interact with, to learn from, or just to be with. The few school activities that did occur. my parents did not encourage me to attend. And shopping expeditions

which all children love were not often possible Twice a year I went to the dentist, went shopping, and to a restaurant. Otherwise ! saw little of the “outside world" and they saw little of me, as was the custom The accessibility of public accommodations, especially in public meeting places, will open the doors for all people with disabilities and the general public will finally begin to see us as we are and learn not to stare cringe, or otherwise react to our mere presence among them. But, back to school, the teachers in the sight saving class were unable to show a pupil with one usable hand how to form the letters of the alphabet The embarrassment of trying to write on the blackboard in front of the other students who could write is something I still dread to remember. After the teachers had declared me unable to acquire writing skills, my patient aunt taught me how to use a typewriter during my tenth summer A lack of training in activities of daily living skills meant that I had to learn them on my own.

The years from my graduation from high school in 1951 until 1987 are one big blur of discrimination. In 1951 I studied history by a correspondence course. Each of the two courses took two years to finish because I had not learned correct study habits in the public school system Over those many years I have managed to acquire sixty-one hours of college credit, much of it when accessible public transportation finally became available through the Rail Corridor Access System. The regional transit authority provides a lift equipped bus that will travel along the same route

as the suburban train system However, at this time I am unable to enroll in a four year college and complete my degree because of the inability of the transit systems to cooperate within the same regional authority! I want to complete my degree so that I can go to Director Jim DeJong of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois and ask him for the most precious thing in the world. a paying job! More than anything else I want to devote the rest of my life to the Coalition and its work on behalf of people with disabilities.

I beg you to pass this bill Let each of us make as tangible a contribution to American society as we can The ADA will make things possible for today's children with disabilities that I never even dreamed were possible for me It is deeply needed for many reasons: chief among these is that it will show people with disabilities, as well as the whole community, that we are entitled to become full human beings. participating in our community No longer will a person need to grow up without knowing how to write because teachers did not take the time to show them how to form their letters. The increased transportation services demanded under ADA will make possible much greater integration of the whole community There will be no cases like mine where the disability alunc determines where we live and what we do God only knows how many contributions society has missed because there were no provisions for the disabled to move about freely and to determine their own lives. I pray that the Americans with Disabilities Act will be passed as soon as possible so that we may become another melted minority. Thank you very much for your

patience and for this oppurtunity to speak today

Senator WEICKER. Mary, I thank you. That is courage and optimism. Just great. Just great.

Our next witness is Jade Calegory from Corona Del Mar. Jade, nice to have you with us.

Mr. CALEGORY. Thanks.

Hi. My name is Jade Calegory. I am 12 years old and I go to Corona Del Mar High School, CDM for short, in California. I am in the seventh grade and I just started this new school last week. I have been mainstreamed since the second grade.

You see, I was born with spina bifida and I have had lots of operations. I started kindergarten on a gurney and had to go to a separate school. But now that I am OK enough, I go to a regular school. So I wanted to thank you all for passing that law, 94-142, so I can go to a school with all of my friends.

CDM is my third regular school. When I was a little kid, I got called names and was teased a lot because of my disability. I know now that it was just because those kids did not understand, but the kids at my new school are smart enough to know that I am not different because of my disability.

But still, sometimes when I meet new people, I wish they would talk to me first, before they ask what is wrong with me, or what happened to me. It makes me feel like my wheelchair is more important than I am.

Anyway, I was born in 1976, 200 years after the Constitution promised freedom and independence for all of us, no matter what. Thanks to you, and the people who sat in those seats before you, I am lucky to grow up in a world that is different than when you folks were kids. Thanks to you, people are not separated as much by their age, religion, color of their skin, disability, whether they are men or women, stuff like that. Things are getting better, but it sure does take a long time.

Even though some things have gotten better, there is more that can and should be done. It is kind of like my grades in school. They are good, but I know that if I work harder, they can get even better. [Applause.]

I guess that is why I am here today, not because America's 36 million citizens are physically challenged, but because we are also politically challenged.

Although there are over 4.5 million other kids with disabilities, there are only a few of us who have the chance to work and pay taxes. I guess I am luckier than a lot of other kids with disabilities, I work as an actor.

My movie, "Mac and Me" is out right now. Maybe you have seen it. I like it because it shows that kids with disabilities are not any different and can do the same things as other kids without disabilities, if given a chance. It is the first movie to star a kid with a disability, and it is a great family film full of adventures. I even got to do some of my own stunts.

I also think "Mac and Me" is terrific because it shows a kid with a disability giving help instead of just getting help, and nobody tries to cure me, or take away my disability by the end of the movie. [Applause.]

That gives people the idea that it is okay to be disabled and just be accepted for who you are. I hope there will be more non-disabled

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