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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 460 by UMNS on Nov. 18, 1997 at 09:09 Eastern (6677 characters).

ITLE: Teleconference on Aid for People With Disabilities

CONTACT:	Ralph E. Baker				  	  648(10-71B){460}
		Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470		Nov. 17, 1997

Satellite teleconference raises
issues affecting people with disabilities

by Frances Smith*

LOS ANGELES (UMNS) -- "Tremendous progress" has been made in national
legislation affecting people with disabilities, but challenges remain,
according to a former executive in the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
On the basis of 20 years in Washington, Fernando Torres-Gil said there is
bipartisan support in Congress for aid to people with disabilities, but the
new federal budget reduces the amount of money allocated for this purpose. 
"You are competing with advocates for children and the elderly.  You must
build alliances," he said.
Torres-Gil participated in a United Methodist satellite teleconference on
"Life Worth Living," which aired Nov. 13, 1997.  The program featured a panel
of people with disabilities speaking from a Hollywood Studio.  They answered
questions called in by people in 71 downlink sites across the United States. 
Video clips augmented the panel. 
 The teleconference was intended for able-bodied people, those with
disabilities, care-givers, chaplains, nurses, educators, social workers and
staff in extended care facilities.
The three-hour discussion, allowing time for local-group discussion,  focused
on five As:  attitudes, access, advocacy, architectural innovations and
appliances.
Disabilities were defined by Mary Jane Owen of the National Catholic Office
for Persons with Disabilities as "the normal, anticipated outcome of risks,
stresses and strains of the living process.  They happen because God put the
gift of life in fragile vessels," she said.  Forty million Americans have
disabilities.  One family in three includes someone with a disability.  "We’re
all candidates for these services eventually," said a caller.
Paul Longmore, a historian teaching at Cal State University, San Francisco,
charted changes in the law since the days when people with visible
disabilities were considered a danger to society and segregated in prison-like
institutions.  The 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Act opened the public to
children.  The 1968 Architectural  Barriers Act mandated making public
buildings accessible.  And the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
prohibits discrimination in employment and access.
According to Longmore, "The new thinking is that a disability is not just an
individual impairment but rather a stigmatized social identity.  Prejudice has
been institutionalized."
Martha Griswold, director of the LIV Center (Living Independently in the
Valley) in Altadena, Calif., advocated the use of personal care attendants to
help with daily tasks enabling individuals to remain at home in preference to
a nursing home.
Torres-Gil noted that 90 percent of  federal health care money goes to
hospitals and nursing homes.  He urged listeners to work with Congress to
shift more money to home sites.  House Resolution #2020, known as CSA, which
is said to have the support of Newt Gingrich, would provide a lot more money
for personal care services at home.
A major part of the teleconference was devoted to how churches can welcome
people with disabilities. The Rev. Kathy Reeves, an executive secretary in the
Health and Relief Unit of the churchwide Board of Global Ministries, advocated
use of an "Accessibility Mini-Audit for Churches," available from her unit.  
It poses questions about parking, ramps, entrances, restrooms, seating,
telephones etc.  Reeves said the audit will help church members become more
sensitive, aware and welcoming.  
Two-thirds of the disabled population are not involved in faith communities,
she said, because churches generally are not inclusive.  "Make opportunities
for people with disabilities not only to enter the church but also to
participate in all areas of church life.  We want to be pastors and priest as
well as parishioners,"  she added.  
A Mississippi caller, who said he was quadriplegic, said furnishing
transportation was as important as making the church accessible.
Kathleen Black, associate professor of homiletics at  (CST), who has
specialized in ministry with deaf people, warned against using language that
seems to imply a disability is from God and is punishment for a sin. 
One caller cited the need to educate newswriters who use the term "wheelchair
bound." "I am a person who uses a wheelchair," she said.  The song "We are
People First" by Moyers provided background music for the teleconference.
David Rogers, a pediatric geneticist from Long Beach, Calif., demonstrated,
via video, various appliances that make life easier for disabled people.  They
included a "mouthstick" to turn pages and dial the telephone, a "butler in a
box" that responds to voice commands and a wheelchair lift.  
He said, "The State Department of  Rehabilitation paid for technology to keep
me on the job." He also mentioned the non-profit Computer Access Center in
Santa Monica.  Other callers referred to a California firm, New Abilities,
which makes computers accessible.
Responding to a question about seminary accessibility, Kathleen Black said
Claremont School of Theology has reconstructed two restrooms and put in
push-button door openers for the library and chapel, but she had to move her
office to the first floor to accommodate her wheelchair.  
Asked whether seminaries are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act,
Black said not unless they receive federal funds.  "But accessibility is a
moral and spiritual issue for seminaries," she said.
CST President Robert Edgar said his consciousness had been raised when he was
in Congress and the disability committee put members of Congress in
wheelchairs for a day.
The teleconference was made possible by Claremont School of Theology, United
Methodist Communications, the churchwide Board of Global Ministries, National
Council of Churches and LIV Center.  Cecilia Dailey moderated the panel. 
Shirley Struchen was executive producer.
The Rev. Kathy Reeves, commenting on the issue of ordained people with
disabilities, said Boards of Ordained Ministry should help parishes be more
inclusive and creative.  Candidates for ordination need to be more articulate
about how they will do the job. 
Speaking from her own experience, Reeves said churches find it hard to believe
a person with a disability can be a pastor if she can’t drive a car.  "They
must allow for God’s call to manifest itself," she said.
#   #   #

	* Smith is retired director of the New York office of United Methodist News
Service living in Claremont, Calif.

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