Handicap Is The Environment; Disability, The Individual

Re: Kyle Martin's article, "Cruisin' With A VIPER," in the June 21 edition of Hernando Today.

Good article, timely and, hopefully, effective.

As the current saying goes, "back in the day," I was pleased and honored to be part of a team in California developing a training program for managers, store owners, personnel managers and others who made hiring decisions.

At the time, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was new (that tells you when "the day" was) and many employers were afraid of the term "reasonable accommodation." They thought they would be forced to hire people with physical and mental limitations, who would not be able to do the job or they would have to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars rebuilding their stores, warehouses, parking lots, etc., to "accommodate" the disabled.

One of our objectives was to demonstrate that "it ain't necessarily so," as the song goes. Our team was composed of representatives from major corporations, the state of California and, of course, the disabled community. We traveled together all over the state gathering success stories, actual accounts of what employers had done for "reasonable accommodation," what it had cost and what the results were. One restaurant owner simply put down foam rubber mats to give better traction to a wheelchair.

I could give a dozen more examples, but a couple stand out. A veteran who wanted to be a machinist came back from Vietnam with both arms amputated below the elbow. With the help of the Veterans Administration and his own ingenuity, he developed prosthetic arms and hands with several interchangeable tools for operating a drill press, band saw, lathe and micrometers. He was hired at a machine shop with initial skepticism, but quickly proved that not only could he do the work, but actually out-performed other employees who had full use of both arms and hands!

Another example was a paraplegic who wanted to be a television news reporter. With his specially equipped van, most of which he paid for himself, he traveled around, gathered his stories, worked with the camera operators for live coverage and became a valuable part of the station's news team.

We put together an eight-hour program called "Windmills" that was so successful that at last count it had been translated into at least eight languages and was in use worldwide.

You might have noticed that I used the term "disabled," not "handicapped." The man who originated the project and pulled us all together had one mantra that he drilled into us from the beginning - one I have tried to repeat often to anyone who would listen. He said, "The handicap is in the environment, the disability is in the individual. Eliminate the handicaps and the disabled will do just fine!"

From now on, I encourage everyone to use the term "disabled." It's only a small thing, but words are powerful, or so I'm told.

Gail B. Leatherwood

Spring Hill