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- Date:
- 2017-09-18
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- New digital media have opened a creative landscape "where it's not someone else speaking on behalf of the person with the disability - you don't have the teachers or the preachers and the social workers pushing the agenda." Lawrence Carter-Long, a Terre Haute native, is recognized nationally as an authority on media and disability. His perspective on film was informed by his experience curating and co-hosting the Turner Classic Movies festival, The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film. He was Public Affairs Specialist for the National Council on Disability when he was interviewed in Indianapolis in 2015.
- Date:
- 2017-02-22
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- “The Arc name is an interesting story in itself,” says John Dickerson of the history of The Arc. It was in the late ‘40s when parents across the country started organizing to discuss opportunities for their children. The first Indiana state association formed in 1956. Groups were called Parents and Friends of Retarded Children. In the 1970s, there was a movement to get rid of the “R” word, but it didn’t catch on. Finally, in the early ‘80s the name changed to The Arc.
- Date:
- 2017-05-19
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- Mike Furnish, President/CEO of Special Olympics Indiana, was interviewed in 2013. Here he shares a brief history of the creation of the not-for-profit organization that provides sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
- Date:
- 2016-09-09
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- “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.
- Date:
- 2017-10-05
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- The first Special Olympics games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1968. Athletes from the United States, Canada and France participated in the games. In 1969, a group of volunteers organized the first Special Olympics Indiana games in Indianapolis. Mike Furnish, President and CEO of Special Olympics Indiana since 2007, started his involvement with Special Olympics in 1973 as a volunteer basketball coach. Mike will retire from Special Olympics Indiana in December, 2017. He was interviewed in 2013. Globally, Special Olympics offers at least 40 different sports. “The whole premise is that no two people are alike in their interests or abilities,” explains Mike. Special Olympics does not have an off-season. In addition to the summer games held on the campus of Indiana State, there is an annual winter games with downhill skiing, ice skating and snowboarding. Special Olympics Indiana has a small staff that coordinate the events, but as Mike explains, “One thing that characterizes our organization today is that we really are an organization of volunteers.” As there have been paradigm shifts in services, Special Olympics has changed over time. In 1988, Indiana was one of the first states to pilot test the Unified Sports program. The program brings together people with and without disabilities to train and compete against other unified sports teams. Mike says, “It was timely in the sense that that had paralleled what was taking place in schools as kids were moving away from special education settings into broader, more general settings.” Mike describes how Special Olympics Indiana has been a forerunner in the Special Olympics movement. Indiana introduced ballroom dancing and flag football as Special Olympic sports. In the late 1990s, the Athlete Leadership program was developed. A few of the program’s topics include public speaking skills, participation on committees, coaching techniques, and rules for officiating. Looking toward the future, Mike discusses the need for Special Olympics Indiana to promote healthier lifestyles. Mike says, “We find when we have done health screenings at our events, that 7 out of 10 of our athletes have an acute medical problem on the day they're there.” Special Olympics Indiana is reaching out to the medical community; providing healthy living training to athletes and volunteers; and targeting children age 2 to 7 with a program called Young Athletes. Mike explains, “It’s great stuff for sports, but it's great stuff for life when a person at that age begins to learn how to maintain their balance and do some of the basic things that sometimes just are ignored because people think they can't.”
- Date:
- 2018-03-26
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- Bettye Dunham got her start in the disability field in 1975. She was a support person to an Indiana University student needing assistance with note taking and studying. Bettye says, “The things I learned from Chris really endeared me to the field.” Bettye went on to work 19 years at Developmental Services in Columbus, Indiana where she started a workshop program in Jennings County. This workshop would include residents from Muscatutuck State Developmental Center. “The VR counselors and I interviewed around 300 individuals, three to 400 individuals, residents of Muscatatuck…that was probably one of the most interesting points in my career…Talking with them about how they felt about being there, what their dreams and hopes were,” explained Bettye. Eventually, they hired around 20 people to work in the Jennings workshop. At the time of her 2013 interview, Bettye had been the C.E.O. of Rauch in New Albany, Indiana for over 20 years. Rauch started in 1953. Bettye says, “There were parents that had children with disabilities, all different ages of disabilities that came together. And they said, you know, there ought to be something. There ought to be some service or something that can help our children down the road and help them develop.” Bettye explains several of the services Rauch has offered including a sheltered workshop, American Sign Language, Healthy Families program, and community opportunities. She also addresses the challenges the agency has faced over the years. “To me, one of the most significant steps in the history of our field in Indiana was that 317 Task Force and putting some blueprints in place for what the future of services should look like,” explains Bettye. Kathy Davis, who was the Secretary of Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) at that time, chaired the 317 Task Force. Bettye on was on the 317 Task Force and talks about a few of the outcomes. In her interview, Bettye also discusses supported employment, natural supports, and the changes she has seen in the disability field over the years. One struggle Bettye sees is health care. She says, “One of the future challenges is going to be what happens to managed care and health care and how our population survives through that change, if that change comes about.”
- Date:
- 2018-10-01
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- "There's a new crop of people that are saying, wait a minute, I'm not ashamed of anything. I don't need to distance myself from anything. In fact, I am a disabled person first." In this interview, Lawrence Carter-Long discusses his views on the evolution from people-first to identity-first language, and changes in the way disability is depicted in the media. "With more disabled people being creative behind-the-scenes," using new, more direct digital outlets, he has noticed that the stories we are seeing have more complexity, depth and authenticity. "The gatekeepers no longer have the same types of power." Public Affairs Specialist for the National Council on Disability at the time he was interviewed in 2015, Lawrence grew up in Indianapolis and Terre Haute. He was program coordinator for the Disabilities Network of New York City when he undertook the Gimp Project, a collaboration with dance choreographer Heidi Latsky. As a young person, Lawrence says modern dance was never an option for him. "It wouldn't even enter my consciousness because of my physicality and because of having cerebral palsy." However, he recalls a theater teacher at North Vigo High School in Terre Haute, Indiana who was pivotal in encouraging him "to do things that I wouldn't have imagined possible." Lawrence also discusses disability and film, talking about his experience curating and co-hosting the Turner Classic Movies festival, The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film. The 2012 series reached 87 million people. "It was a fantastic opportunity to look back as a way to position ourselves and to say, how do we want to move forward." Earlier, Lawrence laid the groundwork for The Projected Image with a successful, experimental festival in New York City, "Dis This." He was interviewed at the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities conference in Indianapolis.
- Date:
- 2013-02-05
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- "Even though professionals are very good and a lot of times very empathetic, it's still not the same as having lived it 24 hours a day." As both a parent of an adult daughter with intellectual/developmental disabilities and a retired disability professional, Dixie Patterson discusses a broad spectrum of topics in this 2013 interview. Dixie was employed by the Institute on Disability and Community after having started as a Family Support Specialist with IN*SOURCE, a parent support organization, in the late 1980s. Along with raising her two children, Dixie started a Bloomington service provider agency (now LIFEDesigns) with other parents. She was a founding board member of Citizen Advocacy of South Central Indiana. Early in her daughter's life, Dixie recounts how she and her husband were told, "'Jennifer's mentally retarded and just, you know, take her home and keep her happy'." With few community supports available to families, the Pattersons felt fortunate to get Jennifer into a forward-thinking integrated preschool in Bloomington. Jennifer's elementary school classes were segregated until the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She received a certificate of completion from Bloomington South High School. "She got a lot out of the transition program here in Monroe County, and she left high school with a job in place," says Dixie, a part time job at Indiana University that Jennifer held for about 15 years. The Pattersons brought together a Circle of Support that helped Jennifer move out on her own at the age 29. Dixie discusses an electronic monitoring and response support system and the Medicaid Waiver that also made the move possible. She then describes the impact of funding cuts on Jennifer's ability to live by herself.
- Date:
- 2012-12-04
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- “What I learned is that I had to prove myself constantly, that people with very good intentions just didn’t think I was capable of doing things because of my vision. They wanted to protect me,” says Peter Bisbecos talking about his school experience. Using the motivation to stand on his own, Peter pursued his dream to become a lawyer. Working in the Marion County prosecutor’s office, one of Peter’s first responsibilities was making sure Indianapolis' public bus transportation complied with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After working in the prosecutor’s office and city government, Peter was selected to direct the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) in 2005. Under his tenure, Indiana became the first state to create a statewide crisis management system. Peter has been involved in the disability arena off and on for over 20 years. In his interview, Peter discusses the ADA and its effect on physical access to buildings. He also describes what he sees for the future of the service delivery system and the impact on families. Peter was interviewed in 2012.