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A little over 30 years ago, a doctor told Sharon Hauss to put her infant son in an institution. Sharon’s response, “He’s my son. I couldn’t do it.” Her son, Michael Ely, went on to be fully included in school. Using part of a script he wrote for the theatrical presentation “I Am You,” Michael talks about graduating from high school and college. Michael says, “It would be nice if people would get to know me as a person before they decide what I am capable of doing.” Sharon and Michael were interviewed in 2016.
“You don’t have the right to deny them the opportunity to try this.” Mary Lou Melloy's daughter, Cindy, was born in 1958. Doctors told the family they should put Cindy in a residential facility. Mary Lou and her husband, Don, had other plans for their daughter. In this clip, Mary Lou discusses the work it took to get Cindy accepted into public school. After completing school in Indianapolis, Cindy went to a workshop for a while until she landed a community job. Although Mary Lou was initially hesitant about a community job, in the end she said it was a wonderful opportunity for her daughter. Mary Lou started encouraging other parents to let go of their fears and give their children the opportunity to find a job in the community. She was interviewed in 2017.
"It's been a real adventure, but he just was thrown in the mix with his three brothers." Al and Linda Hublar talk about the lack of support and resources available when their son Mark was born with Down syndrome in the 1960s. They have made a point of treating him the same as his siblings without disabilities. Linda and Al were interviewed in New Albany, Indiana in 2017.
"Let's wait and see what he can do," is what doctors told Sharon after the birth of her son in the 1980s. Fortunately, Sharon didn't wait around. She searched out services for him and as he got older, she continued to advocate for him by enrolling him in a community preschool. There have been many struggles and triumphs over the years, but today Sharon's son is a college graduate with an interest computers.
Karen Scherer began her career as a work adjustment specialist at Morgan County Rehabilitation Center in Martinsville, Indiana. She was soon asked to serve as the coordinator for the supported employment grant received by the center in 1986. In this video, Karen talks about her experiences helping people with disabilities find jobs in their communities, and how the techniques of employment specialists changed after the introduction of supported employment and the passing of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We can get things done. Yes, so it just made me more independent,” explains Courtney of her service dog, Donner. After applying for a service dog, it took two more years before Courtney was matched with Donner. Courtney talks about how his presence has enhanced her life.
“Back in the '80s, we didn't think about the Independent Living movement being a civil rights thing.” With the introduction of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) legislation prior to its passage in 1990, says Al Tolbert, “the Independent Living movement became more or less a civil rights movement.” Al was a longtime executive director for Southern Indiana Center for Independent Living when he was interviewed in 2009. He was also a board member of the Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council, and president of Paralyzed Hoosiers Veterans at that time. He is a past national director for Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). In this interview, he talks about the Independent Living movement and his involvement with advancement of the ADA both nationally and in Indiana. He also discusses issues faced by veterans with disabilities in the context of his work with veterans organizations and his personal experience as a veteran with paraplegia since 1971.
Al traveled to Washington, D.C. with Paralyzed Veterans of America representatives several times to lobby for the ADA . Al points out that “Justin Dart said there would be no ADA without PVA.” (Justin Dart Jr. is known as the “father of the ADA.”) In Indiana, there was animosity to the proposed legislation from some quarters. Many people didn’t take it seriously, he recalls, or didn’t see a need for it. Al was based in the town of Bedford. “I remember the chamber of commerce was not in favor of it. We were getting a lot of mail telling us that this is going to put people out of work; it's going to be a hindrance for small business.”
Al relates his own experience as a veteran who didn’t have assistance to deal with his newly acquired disability. Decades later, he believes the military could do a better job providing information to service members with disabilities before their discharge. The message they receive is ”You've served, just go on home and we won't worry about you,” he says.
“I've seen some things change, a lot of things change for the better,” says Al Tolbert of the disabilities rights movement. In 1971, Al was in a training accident in Germany that left him paralyzed. After his accident, Al got involved in the Independent Living movement. He says the early days were very crude. “There were laws that people were trying to follow, but I don't think they had a central theme or a central place to go to ask questions or they didn't know exactly if they were doing things right.” When the ADA passed, people finally had guidelines and a place to call for answers. Many people didn’t see a need for the law. Al says, “I remember the chamber of commerce was not in favor of it.” People feared the ADA would put people out of work and hurt small businesses. Instead, Al believes the ADA has been an asset to employers and increased their productivity.
Al explains the ADA is one of several laws that has improved the lives of people with disabilities. He discusses the Air Traffic Act and HAVA Act (Help America Vote Act). Despite the progress, Al knows there is more work to do. “There’s more to be done with the ADA in the implementation of it. So we’re not where we should be let’s put it that way. We have more growth to do.” Al was interviewed in 2009 at the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities Conference.
"I was in a hospital before I was discharged. Nobody told me about unemployment. Nobody told me about what we'd face in life in a wheelchair," recounts Al Tolbert in this video interview excerpt. "I think we're doing a better job than we did after Vietnam. But we still have a long way to go." When Al was interviewed in 2009 about his involvement with veterans service organizations, he was president of Paralyzed Hoosier Veterans and was serving as executive director of Southern Indiana Center for Independent Living. He was past national director of Paralyzed Veterans of America. Al, a Vietnam veteran, had been a paraplegic since 1971, when he was in an accident during military service.
"He slammed the paper on the principal's table and he says 'Don't tell me that this child is retarded - look at what she's done.'" As a child in Hammond, Indiana, Andrea Pepler-Murray had been placed in segregated special education classes. It took an art teacher to advocate for her educational potential. Andrea describes her struggle to be recognized and how she eventually became an activist for campus accessibility at Purdue Calumet University in Hammond. There she founded Hoosier ADAPT, an student group focusing on disability rights. In 2007, Pepler-Murray graduated from the university (renamed Purdue University Northwest) with a degree in Communication and Creative Arts.
