Basic HTML Version
fying and
produ~tive
if ind ividuals
take action."
The action of individuals.
That is
what makes the real difference. A
society can pass certain laws setting
standards regarding employmimt,
mobility, special training, assistance,
housing, education. That may be
necessary. But it's not the whole
answer. More important are individ–
uals and decisions made by individu–
als or groups of individuals.
It's the employer afraid to take a
little risk, the land lord who doesn't
want to be bothered by "special"
cases, the impatient driver who
leans on his horn because the slow–
moving arthri t ic pedestrian is tak–
ing too long to cross the street. Jt's
the person who stands and watches
someone in a wheelchair try to sur–
mount a curb or open a heavy
swinging door.
Or, worse, it's the patronizing way
in which sorne offer their help. It's
the social barriers that cannot be
broken down by legislation. The
blank gaze. The uncomfortable,
embar rassed reaction of those who,
upon encountering an impaired per–
son, are somehow forcibly reminded
of their own fragile mortality.
Keeplng a Dlstance
Many of the problems of the d is–
abled are due to simple thought–
lessness on the par t of others.
"Bring the wheelchair over to
the front here," instructed an usher
at a public performance. The
"wheelchair"? What about the per–
son seated in it? Has he or she
ceased to exist? Is the individual
invisible? Part of the chai r per–
haps- a mere component along
with the steel, plastic, rubber and
fabric that make up the mechanical
contrivanee?
No, this handicapped individual
is a warm, living flesh-and- blood
human being- a human being who
happens to be seated in a wheel–
chai r, but a human being first and
above all.
Take the case of the blind person
in a restaurant with sorne seeing
friends. The waitress appears and
asks each individual around the
table what he would like to order.
Then she comes to the blind man
and asks: "And what would
he
like
to eat?"
Why doesn't she ask the blind
man himself? He has ears to hear
and a mouth to speak. He has a
mind to think. He is an individual
personality.
This is not to say the waitress
deliberately snubbed the blind per-
Some Hills Are Mountains
have to do it all over again
to open a cattle gate en
route. Then it's park the car
and wheel to the REI alfices
where he is
respon~ible
for
coordinating with other
agencies and establishing
vocational plans for all
Photo Essay by Jackie Knapp
R
ide along with us and
photographer Jackie
Knapp in a wheelchair and
experience moments ot two
days in the lite ot Nick.
Nick is the loving father of
twin sons and a new baby
daughter. At one time he
supported himself as a
carpenter
1
turniture maker.
He is now employed as a
rehabilitation manager at
Redwood Empire Industries
{REI), a program of the
California Human
Development Corporatíon.
16
Nick helped build an
entire house for his family in
a rather remete area
ot
the
Bodega Bay hills. At home
he rolls his wheelchair to the
rail fence, center photo, and
peers ata grassy hill-a
great mountain he cannot
climb.
But Nick is a very strong,
together person and his
wheelchair is only a minor
inconvenience in his lite. To
drive to work each day he
must manipulate it and
himself into the car, only to
Ths
PLAIN TRUTH