75-20-B5
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A Break for the Handicapped
TranscriptToday I have a guest with me. Julie Eisenhower, who has some interesting ideas to share with you about people who are handicapped. She'll be right with you Five years ago, I was a guest at the opening of the Trout Pond Recreation Area in Tallahassee, Florida. At first it seemed to be a typical dedication: bright sun, friendly faces and the green of Girl Scout uniforms everywhere. It wasn't until we started on a tour that I noticed there was something different, something very special, about the park. I discovered Trout Pond is a recreation area that is designed for the entire population. The sightless can participate in a nature walk by reading the braille signs placed along the path. Those in wheelchairs can drink easily from specially constructed low fountains and move freely without the hazard of stairs because easily manageable slopes have been thoughtfully provided. Trout Pond made a deep impression on me. It opened my eyes to barriers I didn't even know existed for some of our population. A few months later at the White House, we began special tours for the handicapped. For the first time, small groups of blind visitors could touch the wooden serpents that serve as legs for a sofa in the Red Room and run their fingers over the cold bronze of Thomas Jefferson's inkwell. In our bicentennial year, efforts are being made to respond to the needs of the handicapped across the country. The national parks and in Washington the Smithsonian and other sites which will be visited by millions are trying to provide shuttle buses, elevators with hand rails, inquiry pads for the deaf and specially created tours for the retarded. There has never been a greater need for each of us as individuals to be aware of what it means to be handicapped. Statistics from the Perinatal Research Center at Georgetown Hospital in Washington show that an astonishing 25 percent of all births involve some kind of handicap either neurological, learning or emotional. A few years ago, Governor Dan Evans of Washington state spent a day in a wheelchair. He said, "I found a six-inch curb looked about as impossible as a six-foot wall." Not many of us will ever experience what Governor Evans did but until we remove more of the barriers which set the handicapped apart, we will never be true to what has become the universal rallying cry of those with disabilities, namely, focus on the person not the handicap. Just last month the United States officially observed the annual 'Employ-The-Handicap Week.' I believe we need as well, a 'Handicapped Awareness Week' and that we need to start opening doors to the tremendous potential of thousands of Americans who have special needs but who also have special gifts. This is Julie Eisenhower. Thank you for listening. |
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