41. Paul Shankland Interview (1:06:00)

Date:
2017-09-28
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
In 1964, Paul decided to interview at the Fort Wayne State School as a recreation aide. They had football and baseball games, dances, and a summer camp. Although these activities were fun, the experience was different in retrospect. The daily living of getting up, bathing, eating, and going to bed was very regimented. Life was miserable for the residents. Paul saw a lot of mistreatment of residents during his eight years at (the renamed) Fort Wayne State Hospital and Training Center. After leaving the hospital, Paul worked at the Division on Mental Retardation and Department of Mental Health. Part of his job was to bring new ideas to the disability field. He helped introduce group homes to Indiana in the 1970s. In developing regulations for group home operations, Paul and colleagues were concerned the institutional model would be adopted by the group homes. Paul states, “A lot of that proved true – and it was again people with good intentions, or at least they thought they had good intentions.” Paul discusses initiatives funded by the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities. He believes the most important project the Council ever funded was Partners in Policymaking. The program brings together people with disabilities and family members for eight weekends over the course of a year to develop leadership skills. He explains how the Council evolved when Suellen Jackson-Boner became the administrator. When asked to identify the biggest changes in the disability field over his 30 plus years, Paul stated the closing of the institutions. In addition, Paul shares his observations on community attitude changes. Paul retired from the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities around 2009. He was interviewed in 2013.

42. Randy Krieble Interview (2:05:00)

Date:
2017-09-18
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"People coming into the business today, I can't imagine them seeing the advancement and the progress that we saw." Randy Krieble talks about witnessing the evolution of institutional custody and control of people with disablities into community-oriented living arrangements offering choice and opportunity. Randy worked for the State of Indiana in positions related to disability starting in 1970. Forty-one years later he retired as assistant director of Indiana's Family and Social Service Administration, Division of Disability. In this 2012 interview, Randy discusses his experience working with people with intellectual/developmental disabilities inside several state institutions, and how as a state official he returned to one of them to effect its closure. From 1977 to 1980, Randy worked at Muscatatuck State Hospital and Training Center, starting in a behavior modification unit. He describes the dehumanizing conditions he found there, some of which eventually led to the institution shutting its doors in 2005. Randy describes the complexity of the transition process, during which time he lived at the Center during the week. There were strong community and family reactions to the shut down, and extensive efforts to find appropriate community placements for its residents. Randy also discusses the evolution of services for people with disabilities in Indiana and the leaders and advocates who contributed to those changes.

43. Donna Roberts Interview (1:02:00)

Date:
2017-11-07
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
“Forty-seven years ago I gave birth to a child who was born with multiple disabilities. This was back in New Hampshire. It was before there were any laws about education or anything. And I found problems getting services for her. They wouldn't let her in school, but they would send the truant officer to my home once a month to find out why she wasn't in school,” recalls Donna Roberts in a 2013 interview. Donna lived in New Hampshire at the time of her daughter’s birth and eventually started a school for children with disabilities in New Hampshire. After Donna moved to Indiana with her family, she became the Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Indiana (UCP of Greater Indiana). In her interview, Donna discusses the beginning of the organization, services provided by UCP of Greater Indiana and the changes she has seen over the years. "I joke with everybody that I take a day, I sit at home with a two-liter bottle of Diet Pepsi and a huge box of tissues and I read all the essays,” recounts Donna about the Attitude Essay Contest. The contest encourages elementary and middle school students to write about their own attitudes or the attitudes of others. Donna says, “I firmly believe -- and the essays prove -- kids want to focus on what is the same, what is similar, what do they have in common with somebody, not what is something that's going to put up a barrier to them.” Looking toward the future, Donna has advice for young professionals, “they’re going to have to build that road to where we need to go. But I think it's important that they listen to the self-advocates. I think it's important that they look -- it sounds so cliché -- but look outside the box.”

44. Cori Mitchell Interview (1:07:00)

Date:
2017-11-02
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
“I get the benefits of free movies. So it's a good all-around job,” explains Cori of her job at the movie theater. Cori works part-time taking tickets. When Cori was interviewed in 2013, she had been working at the movie theater for the past 13 years. In 1988 while living in Colorado, Cori was in a car accident and sustained a head injury. Where Cori lived, services were limited. Her parents decided to move to Bloomington, Indiana to be closer to Cori’s sister and there would be more services available to Cori. Cori discusses how her life changed after her accident. She says, “It's really hard because brain injury, as you well know, has memory as the main problem.” Cori describes the accommodations her employer has made for her including writing down reminders on the movie schedule at her station. At home, Cori has her memory book to help organize her days. In addition to her love of movies, Cori enjoys exercising. “I have to keep my lungs and diaphragm exercised because it really, really affects my speech,” explains Cori. Some days she combines movies with exercising by putting on movie while she rides her NordicTrack at home. “It just revitalizes me and I feel good the rest of day,” states Cori. In her spare time, Cori likes to spend time with her family and painting. She has also been active with various advocacy groups.

45. Don Melloy Interview (24:51)

Date:
2017-05-15
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
“I found in going around the state and meeting with organizations, they didn't want to talk to one another," states Don Melloy of his experience in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s in organizing Arc chapters in Indiana. The original focus of The Arc was to provide programs for children with disabilities excluded from public school. Don found parent groups didn’t always include all children with disabilities. “But they in themselves had barriers in their minds that it wasn't all handicapped children. There was some distinction between degrees of handicap. And those were artificial barriers that kept rising over the many years of development,” explains Don. In addition to talking about The Arc's early focus on education, Don discusses Arc's movement away from sheltered workshops to community employment. Don himself was reluctant when it was suggested his daughter Cindy could have a community job. However, after seeing Cindy thrive in her job, Don said it was the best thing he and his wife ever did in agreeing to let Cindy find a community job. Don discusses hiring John Dickerson as The Arc's executive director. “He had the personality that would challenge the old school all the time.” That is something Don admired about John, even if he didn’t always agree with him. Don says, “You have to have people coming in to any organization that are willing to take a look at it from a different point of view." Don was interviewed in 2017.

46. Al Tolbert - Changes Along the Way (04:01)

Date:
2017-06-15
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
“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.

47. Betty Williams Interview (39:14)

Date:
2017-08-30
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
In 2016, Betty Williams received the Champions of Equal Opportunity Award from the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities. Betty received the award for her leadership in promoting voting rights, serving on committees addressing disability issues, organizing self-advocate groups, and training across the country. Betty got her start in the early 1990s when she joined her local advocacy group. In 2014, Betty was appointed to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. In addition to discussing her work on the national level, Betty shares stories about her work in Indiana. She was involved in changing the name of the MRDD commission to the DD commission. Betty reflects on her advocacy work with Darcus Nims. “She was like my friend, my mentor, my trainer,” explains Betty. Together, they helped incorporate Self-Advocacy of Indiana. They traveled the state training people on the importance of self-advocacy. Betty understands there is still work to be do, which is why she wants to be a part of self-advocacy until she retires. Betty says, “I am going to retire like normal people. You know, I am. I have that plan. But even then I might do something around self-advocacy, you know?” Betty Louise Williams was born in 1959 and died in 2018. She was interviewed in 2016.

48. Byron K. Smith Interview (1:47:00)

Date:
2017-08-27
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
When Byron Smith was in sixth grade, his mother got a call from his teacher. She said, "Byron is out there on the monkey bars and he's sitting on the top bar and he's not hanging on with his hands." “My mom said, ‘Let him alone. Yes, he may fall. Yes, he may get hurt but as long as he's not being irreverent or grandstanding or behaving poorly, if he's just out there with the guys, shooting marbles in the gravel or climbing the monkey bars, let him go.' That was pretty much the attitude that my family had… do as much of everything with everybody as I could.” Byron recounts how he had attended public school for kindergarten and half of first grade in Bloomington, Indiana, before losing his sight due to eye disease. In 1951 "Bikey" entered the Indiana State School for the Blind. He learned Braille while attending grades 1 through 5 at the residential school in Indianapolis. With concerted advocacy from his parents and many others, he was permitted to re-enter public school in Bloomington for the 6th grade, the first blind pupil to transfer from the state school. Byron attended University Junior High and High Schools and graduated Indiana University with a degree in radio and television. He shares some stories about how he got into the field of radio. He worked at the University for over 37 years as a reporter, editor, and radio producer. Byron was active as a member and chairperson of the City of Bloomington’s Council for Community Accessibility and was co-founder of the Handicapped Improvisational Theater, later known as Diversity Theatre. Byron also talks about the work he did with his wife Patsy in audio description. Byron K. Smith was interviewed in 2013. A life-long Bloomington, Indiana resident, he died in 2016.

49. Mary Lou Melloy Interview (53:46)

Date:
2017-08-15
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
On December 24, 1958, Mary Lou and Don Melloy were told their daughter Cindy should be placed in an institution. Mary Lou said, “My response was that they didn’t know what they were talking about…a very unhappy, aggressive mother left the room.” Instead, the Melloys took Cindy home and she started receiving services from Easterseals in Evansville, Indiana. The Melloys eventually moved to Indianapolis. When Cindy was five years old, Mary Lou visited every school corporation in Marion County trying to find the best school for Cindy. Mary Lou decided Washington Township would be the easiest school to "strong arm" into taking her daughter. Cindy attended school at Washington Township until she was 18. After leaving school, Cindy went to the Noble workshop. When a new executive director came in wanting to do away with the workshop, Mary Lou was ready to organize a parent protest. However, a day after attending a meeting with the director, she called the director to tell him to find Cindy a job. For the next 20 plus years, Cindy worked for a pharmaceutical company until her job was outsourced. “If something happened to Don or I, everybody that works with Cindy, my kids, my neighbors, everybody knows to go to this one spot and everything is in there,” explains Mary Lou of the death folder she maintains. Important documents such as birth certificate, power of attorney and trust fund papers are included in the folder. Mary Lou also discusses staffing issues, funding, and her parent advocacy work. She says, “I was very busy.” A few of her activities included planning Christmas parties, attending conferences, arranging speakers for meetings, and advising parents. Mary Lou was interviewed in 2017.

50. The 317 Plan: Charting a New Path (06:41)

Date:
2017-08-03
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
In 1998, Indiana’s “317 Commission” of consumers, advocates, and state officials published "A Comprehensive Plan for the Design of Services for People with Developmental Disabilities", addressing the need for services to support people with developmental disabilities in their homes and at work. An expose of abuse at New Castle State Developmental Center had provided the initial impetus for action. The "317 Plan" marked a significant step in Indiana's history of providing services to people with disabilities. John Dickerson, David Mank, Randy Krieble, and Bettye Dunham talk about the impact the Plan had on funding and waiting lists for community based services, and on shaping those services.