2401. George Soper Interview (1:09:00)

Date:
2017-10-05
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
When he arrived in South Bend in 1980, the field of rehabilitation in Indiana "was in desperate need of some rapid growth," recalls George Soper. George had moved from Iowa, where he completed a doctoral work in the area of rehabilitation. Having started as a physical therapist, the focus of George's career became hospital administration. He retired in 2011 as Senior Vice President and Chief Learning Officer for South Bend's Memorial Hospital & Health System. He worked for the hospital for 31 years. George had been hired to build up the rehabilitation unit at Memorial Hospital in 1980. He describes how the number of physical and occupational therapists has grown from two of each to 37 and 25 therapists, respectively. He developed one of the first rehabilitation engineering programs, creating seating for mobility purposes and other adaptive equipment. "We had people come in from literally all over the country to see what we were doing." He also started an innovative driver rehabilitation and training program for people with disabilities in the early 1980s. George discusses trends in rehabilitation such as the reduced length of hospital stays that led to expansion of outpatient services, how "lifestyle abuse" has led to needs for rehab services, and future training needs related to the growing aging population. George, who has twice won a Franklin Covey Community Service Award, also discusses the influence of Steven Covey's "Seven Habits" philosophy in his life and work. He was interviewed in South Bend in 2013.

2402. Muscatatuck Oral History - Sandra Blair Interview (41:36)

Date:
2005-03-08
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"We loved him, but he needed things that we couldn’t give him." Sandra Blair's son Brian was seven when he went into Muscatatuck State School in the early 1960s. He was the second of six children and Sandra was also working outside the home. It was a long drive to Butlerville from Terre Haute. "I didn’t get to go as often as I would have wanted to because I had other family and I had to work." The family was reluctant to bring Brian home for visits "because we were afraid we’d undo the good that Muscatatuck had done." As Brian got older, it was easier to leave him after visits. After one visit, "he just went right back and went to doing what he was doing, and he didn’t really care whether I was there or not." She realized that he thought of Muscatatuck as his home. Overall, she was pleased with his care, mentioning staff who showed him particular kindness. In 2005, when Sandra was interviewed in Terre Haute, Brian was 48 years old and living in a house owned by his sister. "He’s very happy."

2403. Nancy Kalina Interview (1:09:00)

Date:
2017-11-29
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
“If you want to talk about a typical day for a student with a disability, you almost have to talk about what kind of disability to be honest,” explains Nancy Kalina. A former research associate at the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, Nancy worked at Bloomington North High School in Bloomington, Indiana as a work-study coordinator from 2000 to 2011 and helped with student transitions out of high school. She describes the certificate, diploma and honors tracks available to students. Nancy explains the peer-tutoring program. She says students may help with academics, assist with an in-school job or be a bridge builder within a class. Circles of support are another option schools have used to benefit students. In addition to transition coordinators, Nancy feels the school systems need someone who could educate parents starting in the 8th grade on the various components of transitioning from school to adult services. Teachers know about curriculum and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), but not necessarily how Vocational Rehabilitation Services work or the importance of the Medicaid Waiver. Nancy discusses her experiences with facilitated communication, a type of augmentative communication. She address some of the controversies surrounding the practice. She also shares thoughts on training needs for professionals entering the field of disabilities. Nancy was interviewed in 2013.

2404. Vicki Pappas Interview (1:11:00)

Date:
2017-09-05
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"The biggest thing is the values that started with the Deinstitutionalization Project and went on through all of our projects about consumer advocacy, self-determination, empowerment to people with disabilities, language use... just totally different values about people with disabilities." Vicki (Victoria C.) Pappas arrived at the Developmental Training Center (D.T.C.) in Bloomington as a graduate student in 1974. The D.T.C. was the the original name of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC). Vicki retired as director of the IIDC's Center for Planning and Policy Studies the year prior to this 2013 interview. Vicki discusses the history of the IIDC and significant activities involving government and other partners in the state of Indiana. She talks about her experience with the Deinstitutionalization Project directed by Mike Tracy in the early 1970s, the legacy of former Director Henry J. Schroeder, and the impact of important legislation in shaping the work of the IIDC, including passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its implementation in Indiana. She also discusses voting participation and access, developing the state disability plans with the Governor's Council for People with Disabilities, and the creation of the IIDC's Collaborative Work Lab for digitally assisted group decision making.

2405. Pat Howey Interview (34:20)

Date:
2018-10-12
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"She shouldn't have to be put on a bus and spend 45 minutes on a bus one way to go to school," explains Pat Howey of her daughter's experience at six years old being sent to a school for children with physical disabilities. Pat discusses her educational advocacy for her daughter in the late 1980s in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. She shares how those experiences lead her to become a nationally known special education advocate and consultant. Pat says, “I first got involved in special education advocacy pretty much the day my daughter entered kindergarten.” During her daughter’s school years, Pat helped build a strong advocacy movement in Tippecanoe County. “We were able to make a lot of changes. We had people filing state complaints. I mean, they were just active all over the place,” explains Pat. Today, Pat sees parents fighting the same battles she fought in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. She says, “We are hearing the same things today that we heard back in the '80s and '90s -- we would love to do that, but we don't have the money for it.” Pat tells parents to stay vigilant. She recommends parents start requesting hearings and start filing complaints. Pat Howey was interviewed in Indianapolis in 2016.

2406. Jim Hammond Interview (1:05:00)

Date:
2017-09-21
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"Now disability politics, you know, is not Republican or Democrats, it's really nonpartisan but you still have to be recognized as someone who's reliable and trustworthy," observes Jim Hammond in this 2013 interview. Working with legislators was part of his job as CEO of the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (INARF). "INARF is the trade association for providers of services," he explains. It was a $1 billion industry in 2012, the year he retired. Jim discusses his 34 years with the membership organization, including its strong relationship with The Arc of Indiana, the envy of INARF's counterparts in other states. He describes the pool loan program, a tax exempt financing members created in 1992, and INARF's role in establishing unified standards for provider agencies and the adoption of an independent third party national accreditation program. He recalls founder Costa Miller, who was CEO until his death in 2004, and the "fierceness of his commitment." He discusses how funding for disability services has fared under various governors and their respective political parties. Other topics include Medicaid waivers and the growing importance of technology such as video monitoring and "smart home" features in residences for people with disabilities.

2407. Frank Epperson Jr. Interview (1:24:00)

Date:
2013-03-05
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
When Frank Epperson's van was pulled over by the Southport, Indiana police in 1988, it wasn't about a broken taillight. They wanted to give him an official escort upon his triumphant return from the Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. Frank competed as a wheelchair racer in Seoul as well as in Barcelona (1992). "When I retired I had the national record in the 100, 200 and 400 [meter races]." In addition to his experiences as a wheelchair athlete, in this 2013 interview Frank describes pursuing wheelchair ballroom dancing, thoughts on dating, changing attitudes towards people with disabilities, and his work as an ADA Employment Consultant at Indiana University since 1999.

2408. John Dickerson Interview (1:17:00)

Date:
2017-08-21
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"Dickerson, I finally get it," a fiscally conservative State Senator from Hendricks County remarked. "He said, 'I'm on the board of directors of the bank and we hired this fellow with a disability. I don't even know what his disability is, but he's one of our best damn employees.'" As executive director of The Arc of Indiana, John Dickerson worked with legislators for decades to "fight on behalf of parents of individuals with disabilities to make the systems responsive." John recounts the evolution of what became the second largest Arc in the country in his 2013 interview. The group emerged out of the national movement by parents who had offspring with intellectual disabilities and wanted to band together to improve the lives of their children. The organization was known as the Indiana Association for Retarded Children when it was founded in 1956. John discusses the changing names of the association as a reflection of changes in language about people with disabilities, as well as The Arc's close relationship with self-advocates. John talks about the organization's influence on public policy. "The Arc isn't particularly well known in the general public. But we're remarkably well known with policymakers and legislators." He discusses The Arc's effort to get information to families about benefits and services, an initiative to support small businesses owned by people with developmental disabilities, and The Arc Master Trust. The latter is a mechanism enabling families to leave money to benefit their son or daughter with a disability. John considers the leadership role Indiana has played in the disability arena nationally, despite its relatively low profile. He reminisces about the late Elbert Johns, who was a long-time executive director of Stone Belt Arc in Bloomington. John Dickerson retired as Executive Director of The Arc of Indiana in 2015.

2409. Sue Beecher Interview (1:10:00)

Date:
2017-08-25
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
"When I started in 1977, when people were admitted they brought with them what was called their death bag." The bag contained the clothing that residents of New Castle State Hospital were to be buried in. Sue Beecher recalls her employment at the institution in New Castle, Indiana for people with seizure disorders. Sue went on to work for Indiana's newly established Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services (BDDS) and Indiana Protection & Advocacy (IPAS), where she retired prior to this 2013 interview. (IPAS has since changed its name to Indiana Disability Rights.) Sue talks about the New Castle procedures that patients underwent without consent, and the restraints and aversive measures that were used to control their behaviors. Years later, as an IPAS representative on Muscatatuck State Developmental Center's Human Rights Committee, she again witnessed violations of residents' rights. It was the late 1990s, prior to Muscatatuck's closure. "You cannot walk onto a unit and see visible injuries on 12 or 14 people that weren't there the week before and not suspect something is terribly wrong there. And these folks were non-verbal, so they're not going to be able to tell." As IPAS' work expanded via federal grants, Sue was instrumental in getting the traumatic brain injury and PABSS (Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security) programs up and running. She relates her satisfaction in those accomplishments and her pride in this independent state agency charged with protecting the rights of Hoosiers with disabilities. "In Indiana, we've gone ahead and sued when we needed to, we've never backed down." In 2011, Sue received the Terry Whiteman Award for her work at IPAS. Sue also discusses the development of group homes and the intensive effort to open new group homes between 1989 and 1991 while she directed the Indianapolis BDDS office.

2410. Sandy Braunbeck Interview (1:19:00)

Date:
unknown/unknown
Main contributors:
Indiana Disability History Project
Summary:
Sandy Braunbeck grew up with an agency serving people with disabilities in southern Indiana. Now known as Rauch, Inc., it was founded in New Albany in 1953. Her father, George "Tooter" Tinius, worked at Rauch and her brothers helped with the summer programs. Sandy would often accompany her dad to work. Sandy started working at Rauch in 1979. Sandy has many stories about the early days of the agency. She talks about how Rauch got its name, a few of the early programs for children, and her experiences with families. “The ACCESS program came about maybe 15, 20 years ago. And there's a real strong emphasis, and I respect and understand the importance of employment and working, but also we had a number of clients who were old enough to retire who wanted to do something else besides work,” states Sandy. She describes the structure of ACCESS (Alternative Community Connections, Experiences, and Social Supports), an adult day program, and shares highlights she has experienced over the years. Sandy was interviewed in New Albany in 2013.