DOCUMENT RESUME

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TITLE Twenty-fifth Anniversary Annual Meeting, Minutes. May3, 4, 5, 1972.INSTITUTION President's Committee on Employment of the

Handicapped, Washington, C.C.PUB DATE May 73NOTE 57p.; Minutes of Twenty-fifth Anniversary Annual

Meeting, President's Committee on Employment of theHandicapped, May 3, 4, 5, 1972, Washington, D.C.

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29DESCRIPTORS *Conference Reports; *Employment; *Employment

Opportunities; *Exceptional Child Services;*Handicapped Children; National Organizations; YoungAdults

IDENTIFIERS Presidents Committee on Employment of Handicapped.

ABSTRACTReported were proceedings of the twenty-fifth annualmeeting of the President's Committee on Employment of the

Handicapped. Opening ceremonies included a speech summarizing pastand projected developments in employment of the handicapped, a speechby Raymond Burr who acted as master of ceremonies, recognition ofmany categories of volunteers who assisted the handicapped over thepast quarter of a century, and tributes to outstanding handicappedindividuals. Summarized were recommendations from panel discussionson such topics as better living for the handicapped, legislation,rehabilitation, the problems of handicapped persons who also live inpoverty, disabled veterans, recreation, and public relations. Devicesfor the handicapped, including an electric cart, a coordinatedelectric arm, and an electric elbow, were demonstrated. Reported wereevents which took place concurrently with the annual meeting, such asa symposium conducted by the Partners Rehabilitation EducationProgram and a board meeting of the Job Placement Division of theNational Rehabilitation Association. um

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THE WHITE HOUSE

WAS H INGTON

May 3, 1972

Dear Harold:

As members of the Committee on Employmentof the Handicapped gather this evening, I wantto salute you once again for a quarter-centuryof invaluable service to America. Whatevercan be done to help the handicapped lead fullerand more active lives will be more thanreturned by the contributions they make to abetter and more productive society.

I am very sorry that I am unable to be with youtonight, but through my good friend and counselor,Bob Finch, let me convey my personal gratitudeto each of you and my best wishes for a successfulconference.

Sincerely,

Honorable Harold RussellChairman, President's Committee

on Employment of the HandicappedInternational BallroomWashington Hilton HotelWashington, D. C.

Foreword

We looked backward briefly at how far we'd come in a quarter - century. Then WI'looked forward at how far we still must go. forward look was as fearlessly honestas we could make itfacing the future us it probably will be and not as we wouldwish it to 1w.

This, then. was the Atvolitylifib anniversary Annual .fleeting of the President'sCommittee:

A frank and fearless meeting, it bodes well for the next twenty-five years.

NeNt Annual Meeting: May 2, 3 and 4, 1973.

Hope to see you then.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.EDUCATION & WELFAREOFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO.DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG.INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN-IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU-CATION POSITION OR POLICY.

k.A.A.11.9a0HAROLD RCSSELI.Chairman

Lir FIRST EVE \

Contents

TII USDA MORN INC SESSIoN

'I'll URSDAY AFTERNOON PANELS17

TII [HSI/A Y EVEN! NI: BA NQU ET31

FRIDAY TURNING SESSION37

11:AilINIP:N1).VTIONS41

OTHER EV ENTC

THE 11(»"Nc, CAmin51

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0 Dr. Robert A. Bottenberg (left) of San Antonio Tex.,the Handicapped American of the Year, acceptsthe President's Trophy from Mr. Robert H. Finch,Counsellor to the President.

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® All smiles are Senator Jennings Randolph, keynote speaker,and Chairman Russell during the presentation of aspecial one of a kind" citation to Senator Randolph for morethan a quarter century of service to the handicapped.

® A happy moment for old friends. Chairman Russellpresents a testimonial for 50 years ofRehabilitation International's service to the handicapped ofthe world to RI Secretary General Norman Acton.

Minnesota Governor's Commission Chairman Larry Bingerreceived the PCEH Distinguished Service Award fromChairman Russell at the opening session.

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er aI Ceremonies Raymond Burr,wort Finch,t Secretary Bernard Posnerto the opening sessic.n.ImsoII

Labor DepartmentIan's Committee (WOG) had ang which drew, PCEH Chairman Harold Russell,k (right)._ -au, rvIalcien (Mass.) Coordinator

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C) Max Robinson

® Chairman Russell made the round of the exhibitsand stopped to pose with Mrs. Anna Rubner who capablystaffed the facially disfigured booth whichemphasized that persons with facial disfigurementscan be cosmetically improved and shouldbe given work opportunities.

SOCIETY FOR THE AVOILITA11314OF THE FACIALLY DISFICIOREO

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Dr. Robert A. Bottertberg, holding thePresident's Trophy just awarded him sits betweenhis mother, Mrs. Grace Bottenberg (left)and his wife, Gene. Standing are his three daughters.

C) Gallaudet College Dance Group

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DIFFERENT

This meeting was different. right from the beginning.The opening session was Wednesday evening ratherthan the traditional Thursday morning.

There was a feeling of difference the moment peoplewalked into the bustling concourse of the WashingtonHilton Hotel. The Oscar- winning movie "Best Years ofOur Lives" featuring a much younger Harold Russellwas showing in the ballroom, for those wanting to spenda couple of nostalgic hours before the opening session.For the first time there was a huge exhibit hall filledwith colorful demonstrations and exhibits. A goodnumber of young people filtered through the growingcrowds. 01,I timers looked with wonderment at thenoisy scene, remembering the first Annual Meetingwhere the entire membership could be transported toThe White House in a single bus, with seats to spare.

The weather was different: rain, steady rain. Whitedogwoods glistened. Red and yellow tulips drooped.But it was a warm rain. It promised growth andwarmth.

THE MEETING BEGINS

More than 3,500 people streamed intc the vast In-ternational Ballroom of the Washington Hilton whilethe United States Marine Band played. At 6:30, thelights dimmed. Chairman Harold Russell called theAnnual Meeting to order.

As spotlights played on the flag, a Joint ArmedForces Color Guard presented the colors. Then came thefirst two of many innovations: a filmed version of theStar Spangled Banner that pictured the entire historyof our country as the music played, then the Lord'sPrayer interpreted by dancers from Gallaud.et Collegefot the Deaf.

MR. RUSSELL'S CHALLENGE

Chairman Russell set the stage for the twenty-fifthanniversary meeting by presenting what he felt werethe three most significant developments of the past

The First Evening . . .

quarter century, and what might be the three mostsignificant developments of the next quarter century.

Past developments:I. A growing national acceptance of the mentally

retarded and mentally restored. "Society hascome to realize that they can work and theydeserve a chance to work." he said."A quarter of a century ago we were only dream-ing about rehabilitating the mentally retardedand mentally restored. Today ive,are doing itinlarger numbers than any other categories of thehandicapped.

2. A growing recognition that the physical environ-ment of America needs changing. in order to givehandicapped people a full share of life aroundthem. "How can you claim your full share if youcan't get into buildings and if you can't usetransportation?" he asked."A quarter of a century ago we were only de-ploring barriers against the handicapped. Wehave stopped deploring. and we are acting."

3. A growing recognition that "volunteers make thedifference in gaining opportunity for handi-Capped people; that Ion can't leave it all to acadre of professionals alone, that what is neededis a groundswell of involvement of citizens."

Future developments listed by Mr. Russell:1. "I see a movement toward handicapped people

speaking out for themselvesnot waiting forsociety to do things for them, but going out andgetting things done for themselves."l nt,e handicapped people demanding as full alife as all Americans are entitled toand notbeing content with reasons why they can't haveit, I see the handicapped achieving dignity as theyachieve their rights.

2. "1 see a movement toward considering the totalneeds of handicapped people, rather than consid-ering fragmented needs. For example, it will notbe enough to think of employment needs andoverlook housing !wads; to think of transporta-tion needs and overlook recreation needs; tothink of mobility needs and forget social needs."I see society asking different kinds of questions.Not merely 'What does he need to give him a

chance to work?' but, rather. 'What does heneed to give him a chance to lead a totally

fulfilling and satisfying life?'o. "I see a movement toward giving equal considera-

tion to all of the handicapped and not just tosome of the handicapped. For too long we have

neglected the handicapped in city shims andcountry slums. For too long we have neglectedthe needs of disabled veterans- whose unemploy-ment rate is still much higher than it should be.For too long we have neglected the needs ofseriously handicapped people who are as muchentitled to a full life as anybody else .'

\1r. Russell saw continued need for ,:olunteers in

achieving !he goals of the future. "There will be needfor volunteers in the futuremore need than in thepast," he said. "All the future needs of handicappedpeoplethose I have described as well as those I hove

not describeddepend heavily on the mobilized re-

sources of volunteers for their achievement."

RAYMOND BURR

"I really don't know how to introduce our Masterof Ceremonies," said Mr. Russell. "Is he Robert T.Ironside, alias Raymond Burr? Or is he Raymond Burr,alias Robert T. Ironside? Either way. you all haveseen Chief Ironside, or Mr. Burr, as the ease might be,in his wheelchair on television. He seems to be sayingto the people of America: 'Look. Mr. and MissAmerica. we handicapped people can do anything.Don't feel sorry for us. Just give us a chance."

Mr. Burr said "The intent :Mg thing about beingon television is that von get a chance to travel aroundthe ,..;orld. I spent it good deal of time in the Pacificand the Far East. I have been in Vietnam many times.The attitude I have observed in the Far East about thehandicapped is that they are a disgrace and theyshould be hidden away somewhere.

"In our Wester. world we arc more advanced andwe do not say things like that. Instead, we say 'Let'sgive them all the money and support they need; but wejust don't want to see them very much.' So we in thismodern Western world have our way of hiding people,too.

"I hope that what .comes out of this meeting is thatpeople who are handicapped not only conic out of

.hiding but demand to be seen and heard.''

ROLL CALL OF PARTNERS

Next, Executive Secretary Bill McCahill c:;i:ducteda "Roll Call of Partners" to give recognition to the

many categories of yolnnterrs who have made up the

"Hire the Handicapped" movement over the pastquarter century.

They were:Mass media . . . employers in the private sector .

organized labor . . . the handicapped themselves . . .

disabled veterans ... Government at all levels, Federal,State and local . the medical profession . . . publicemployment officials . . . vocational rehabilitation of-ficials . . . educators . . . sheltered workshops . .

rehabilitation venters . . women's organizations . . .

rural area leaders . . . those in mental retardation. . . those in mental health . . . those involved increating a barrier-free society. such as architects, build-ers. designers. city planners, others . Chairmen andExecutive Secretaries of Governors' Committees . . .

recreation leaders ... librarians ... those in the fieldof the disadvantaged handicapped . . . Members ofGovernors' Committees and of local Committees . .

Members of the President's Committee . . . youthleaders.

At this point. Chairman Russell presented Mr. Me-Cahill with a surprise citation in recognition of :idsquarter of a century of leadership as Executive Secre-tary of the President's Ceminittee; he had helpedcreate the Committee and he has given it guidanceever since.

Fnom AUSTRALIA

Next, Australian Ambassador Sir James Plimsollextended an invitation for all to attend the TwelfthWorld Congress of Rehabilitation International in

Sydney. Australia, in the summer of '72."Out of the conference there will be an exchange of

ideas, an exchange of experience." he said. "This willhave an impact not only in Australia, bin in all thecountries of the world which will be represented atthe Congress."

SENATOR JENNINGS RANDOLPH

Speaker of the evening was Senator Jennings Ran-dolph of West Virginia, "A man who has been involvedin the President's Committee since its beginning andinvolved in problems of the handicapped for the pastforty years."

Highlights from Senator Randolph's address:I am proud that \Vest Virginia has always played a

leading part in affairs of the handicapped. SenatorKilgore was one of the original sponsors of the bill

for National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.Senator Nee ley was a champion of the handicapped fora long time, It has been my good fortune to assist theeffort. too.

Aside from Members of Congress. there are :so manypeople who deserve recognition as we look hack. Thereis Leonard Robinson, the man who convinced me of theneed to assist the blind in achieving time dignity ofwor;:. As a result we have the Rando 1ph-Shephard Actfor vending stands for the blind in public buildings.And there is Paul A. Strachan, the man who convincedus that the handicapped needed a week of their ownand that they needed a Presidential Committee to lookafter their interests. And there was CongressmanAugustine B. Kelley who sponsored legislation for the'.'resident's Committee in the House. And there wereSenators Sparkman and Aiken who sponsored it in theSena tc.

Looking back at those early years, we sec so manypromising things: the Hines hospital beginning top;oneer in the Veterans Administration work of train-ing the blind .. . and VA's spinal cord centers begin-ning to work miracles for paraplegics who in an earlierday weren't even given much of a chance to live.

And there were so many private groups beginning towork for the handicapped in those early _years: theFifty-Two Association in New York dedicated to servingthe war-wounded; Just One Break, also in New York;the American Federation of the Physically Handi-capped, headed by Paul Strachan and Millie Scott; theDisabled American Veterans, with Millard Rice pro-viding leadership; the United Mine Workers of John L.Lewis, literally putting hundreds of paraplegic minerson their feet and back to work; the Easter Seal Society,caring for others, helping others.

And there was the entire movement of shelteredworkshops and new businesses like Hank Viscardi'sAbilities, Itte.proving that the handicapped could doalmost everything if given the chance.

Looking back, I can see the smiling face of AdmiralRoss T McIntire, our first Chairman, who resigned torun for Congress. And the friendly face of GeneralMel Maas, shrouded in cigar smoke, who left his seatin Congress to give the best years of his life to thehandicapped. We salute them, just as we salute thosewho left us within the yearMary Switzer and MarionPreminger among others.

I understand I am the only Member of Congress whois a card-carrying member of this Committee. Actually,Members of Congress aren't eligible, but I was workingfor Capitol Airlines when I was first named to theCommittee. And I have kept my membership ever since.

LOoking back twenty-five years, I can see with you

a long procession of nbabilitation centers, sophisti-cated sheltered 1orkshops like many of the newerGoodwill Industries, prosthetics and orthotics as different from yesterday as arc astronaut gadgets differentfrom early automobiles.

Mostly I see a change in public attitudes, a changebrought about not only by the mass media and notonly by the professionals in and out of governmentbut a change brought about by the achievements of thehandicapped themselves. In many instances, the handicapped themselves have been the best salesmen fortheir own employment.

As we look around ,is at the more than 8 milliongainfully employed handicapped men and women ofAmerican today, we must remind ourselves of theunfinished work ahead. We must devote our efforts toremoving the blights of unemployment and under-employment from the handicapped now in our workforce.

The Lord's words are, "I know mine and /nine knowme." I cannot speak for the Congress but I do knoW myfellow lawmakers. I promise you that if you willcontinue to call our attention to the unmet needs ofthe handicapped, you will have eager and willinglisteners. If the handicapped themselves will tell it notonly like it is but like they would prefer it to be, wewill listen.

Some of us in the "establishment" are proud andhappy to place our authority and our votes on the sideof tomorrow, on a future that does not penalize thehandicapped. We want rehabilitation laws in tune withtomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow.

In looking back. we see we have come far on a roadstrewn with problems and difficulties. In lookingaround. we see a plateau of sorts where the handi-capped can better realize the American Dream. Inlooking ahead, we can thank God for the blessings ofpast and present, and ask His help and guidance that,together, we can bring more of heaven on earth forthe, handicapped of ti:e world.

TRIBUTE TO COURAGE

Max Robinson, newsman at WTOPTV, Washing-ton, delivered a "Tribute to Courage" in honor of Dr.Robert Bottonberg, Handicapped American of theYear:

"Well, 'Andy. it looks as if VII have to start over."These were the first words of a newly-blind soldier

to the friend who had dragged him from the path ofexploding mortar shells. It was just one clay after bothmen had been wounded in an assault on German forti-

Pied positions east of the Rhine River, in.the year 1945.The Place was 0 field hospital wheoe casualties of theU.S. Army's 63rd Division had been rushed for medi-cal care.

The private first class who made this statement was21-year-old Robert A. Bottenberg, whom we honortoday as Handicapped American of the Year.

Fate, or the hand of Godcall it what you willhadbrought him blindness on the battlefield. What hadbrought him this acceptance of his state, the recognition that one life had been shattered and another musthe built?

Mankind calls it courage, which we revere, s..iivefor and can never fully comprehend. To help us under-stand its embodiment in Robert Bottenberg, we muststart at the beginning.

Robert was born in Kansas City. to Grace and HomerBottenherg. They were wise and loving parents, whoencouraged their sons eagerness for learning, his en-

thusiasm for athletics, camping and nature and hisinterest in church and Boy Scout activities. Aca-demically, he was at the head of his class, and heexcelled in baseball, football and other sports.

Although an only child, he had warm ties to cousinsand others in a close family relationship, and manyf riends.

After high school, Robert went to Kansas City JuniorCollege, with the intention of majoring in chemicalengineering. But World War II broke out and he joinedthe service. He trained with the 63rd Infantry Divisionin Centerville, Mississippi, and left for Europe in 1944,to see action in France and Southern Germany.

He was a good soldier, his platoon leader recalls, andwell liked by his buddies and superiors. He had a

habit of saying. "If I get back to Kansas City, I'mgoing to marry Gene." Gene Laffoon was a girl whowent to his church at home, and to the same juniorcollege.

Six months. after he arrived in Europe, RobertRottenberg's optic nerve was destroyed by a shell frag-ment that pierced his left temple, passed behind hisforehead and lodged against his right temple. In addi-tion, he suffered considerable facial damage, someloss of hearing and lost his sense of smell.

And it was on the next day that he .said: "It looksas if I'll have to start over."

The first month was grim. Robert was transferredfrom the field hospital to a hospital in Paris, here theemphasis was on medical treatment, with no attempt atrehabilitation. Tly.tn, he was flown to Dibble Hospital,Minelo, California, which specialized in treatment ofeye injuries.

This is where Robert's new life began, He was

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taught to do many things, and new ways of doingothers. He learned braille, typing and how to travel.A friend who went to see bins reported: At the end ofthe visit, II,Jb said, 'Take my arm and I'll get you outof here.' When he said that, I knew he'd never have aproblem."

Three months at Dibble were followed by stays atother hospitals for plastic and medical surgery and afinal period of concentrated rehabilitation.

Recalling this time of his life, Robert Bottenbergsays: "While I was still undergoing medical treatment,I made the decision to go to college. It was really onlya question of how I was going to school, not whether Iwas." He was encouraged in this decision by the doc-tors and other staff at the hospitals where he con-valesced.

In July 1946, Robert was separated front the Army,returned to Kansas City and in the same month, keep.ing his promise to himself, he married Gene.

They moved to Columbia, where Robert attended theUniversity of Missouri. He had given up the idea ofbecoming a chemical engineer, realizing that blindnesswould limit participation in laboratory work, and de-cided instead on a degree program in psychology, withthe tentative goal of teaching at the college level.

Under Public Law 16 which applied to disabledveterans, he was able to hire sighted individuals toread his text book assignments for recording on asound scriber. He took lecture notes in braille, whichGene,- too, learned. And she was a -readily availablereader. Another help was a keen memory which Robertfurther developed, along with his reasoning powers, bydoing calculus problems in his head.

In two years he earned his BA degree, graduatingPhi Beta Kappa. Next came a non.acadentie achieve-mentthe first of the Bottenbergs' three daughters,born in 1919.

Robert earned his MA degree the following year andthe family moved to California. At Stanford Universityhe began to work toward his PhD in ps) !hology, witha minor in mathematical statistics. By a mirk of fate,the Bottenberg apartment was in a buil ng that oncehad been part of Dibble Hospital, wl .e Robert's newlife had started just five years earlier.

By 1953, he had finished the written part of histhesis and his faculty adviser, impressed by hisbrilliance, contacted the Air Force's Personnel ResearchLaboratory at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio,Texas, and recommended Robert for employment there.That same year, he started work at Lackland. Fouryears later, he completed his thesis and was awardedhis Ph.D.

During his- years at-Lacklan44r..Bottenberg had

climbed steadily up the career ladder, enriching hisbyckground by attending seminars and courses in com-puter sciences, mathematics, statistics and psychology.In 1963, with Joe H. Ward, Jr., he co-authored a book,"Applied Multiple Linear Regression," which is aclassic in the field of applied statistical techniques.

Today, he is Chief of the Computer & ManagementSciences Branch, Personnel Research Division, AirForce Human Resources Laboratory. In this capacity,he manages a work force of over 100 professional andtechnical personnel engaged in the solution of AirForce personnel management problems. He is the focalpoint in the Air Force for the formulation and develop-ment of mathematical models of its personnel system.He also acts as consultant on scientific and 'operationaloperations to Federal agencies, educational institutionsand research foundations.

Impressive as his academic and professional achieve-ments are, they reflect only part of the man who isRobert Bottenberg.

When called upon by the Texas Commission for theBlind, he tutors blind youngsters in mathematics andbraille, and helps them adjust to their handicap. Heencourages and inspires blind veterans at Brooke Gen-eral Hospital, where they undergo medical treatmentbefore receiving rehabilitation. He has served as presi-dent of the Blinded Veterans Association, was a mem-ber of the Advisory Committee for the BlindedVeterans Research Project carried out by the AmericanFoundation for the Blind, and serves on the AdvisoryCommittee to the Sensory Aids Evaluation ResearchCenter at M.I.T.

In his community, he belongs to the Kiwanis, and ison the session of the Grace Presbyterian Church, wherehe and his wife teach in the church school. No doubtbecause he is the father of daughters and Mrs. Borten.berg remains active in the Girl Scouts, he is as en-thusiastic a spokesman for Girl Scout cookies as canbe found anywhere.

He is a father who built a playhouse for his girlsWhen they were small, and played and went bike ridingwith them. He never tired of their constant "What's fordessert?" query, which he answered with "Chocolatecovered nails" until the night they persuaded theirmother to serve exactly that.

He taught his wife and one of his daughters to drivea car, and when someone asked in amazement, "Howcould you do that?" he replied: "It didn't bother mea bit. I couldn't see a thing."

With Mrs. Bottenberg he enjoys theater.going, diningout, bridge, and working in the garden. And in theirgarage is a bicycle built for two.

Dr. Robert A. Bottenberg----soldier, scholar, scientist,

citizen and family manwe pay tribute today to yourcourage, your achievement and your humanity, and wesalute you as Handicapped American of the Year.

ROBERT H. FINCH

Representing the President to present the President'sTrophy to Dr. Bottenberg was 'Robert H. Finch, Coun-selor to the President.

Dr. Bottenberg's career, Mr. Finch said, is "eloquentevidence of what one individual can do when courageand determination combine with access to educationand opportunities for employment."

One of the things we can take great pride in, headded, is the success America has had in broadeningemployment opportunities for the handicapped. "Thatsuccess is due to those of you in this hall, to the Presi-dent's Committee, to all those everywhere who volun-teer their efforts in behalf of the handicapped, to thepublic and private sectors of America."

"The President is most gratified by the achievementsof Dr. Bottenberg, and also by the achievements of hisemployer, Lackland Air Force Base," said Mr. Finch."I think all of us agree with Thomas Wolfe's words:`To every man his chance; to every man, regardless ofhis birth, his condition, his situation; to every man hisshining, golden opportunity; to every man the right tolive, to work, to be himself, to become whatever hismanhood and his vision combined can make him."

Mr. Finch then presented the President's Trophy toDr. Bottenberg, to a standing ovation.

DR. BOTTENBERG

Responding, Dr. Bottenberg paid his "respect andgratitude to other people who have played a role in mylife."

First, his mother, in the audience. "It is hard formany of us to express gratitude to'close members of ourfamily, but we have had a wonderful relationship; shehas meant a great deal to me."

Second, a man he crossed paths with 27 yearsago. "It was in Southern Europe. An assault on anenemy position. We were involved in heavy enemyaction, small arms fire and mortar fire. It was just abad place to be. Suddenly the lights went out. Frankly,I thought it was all over. Within a few moments therewas an individual at my side. His words I rememberstill: 'Can I help you? Can I help you?' I said 'Yes;let's get out of here.'

"We worked our way to a safer area. From there I

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was returned to a fief spital. He was wounded incoming to my help =1 np in the hospital alongwith me. His w is I h., !ways remembered,"

Next, his wife. ,ast 25 years here life hasbeen a series of deeds which have said over and over,`Can I help you?' So I want to pay tribute to her be-cause she has mezmt so much to me.

"There are other people, other institutions, otherfriends . . . my employers who have judged me onwhat can be done rather than on disability. I think Ican hear people, including my employers, saying daily,`Can I help you?' "

Dr. Bottenberg suggested that "if we listen, ourNation is filled with people ready and eager to say 'CanI help you?' Sometimes the words don't come out justlike that. But they are there, if we listen."

AWARDS

Next came the presentation of awards.The Distinguished Service Award, highest honor of

the President's Committee, went to Malcolm Hecht,Chairman of the People-to-People Committee for theHandicapped.

Another Distinguished Service Award was presentedto Larry W. Binger, Chairman of the Minnesota Gov-ernor's Commission on Employment of HandicappedPersons and Director of Personnel of the 3M Companyin St. Paul.

A Fiftieth Anniversary Scroll was presented to Re-

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habilitation International, and was accepted by NormanActon, its Secretary General. The scroll:

"Founded in 1922 as the International Society forCrippled Children, the organization has for 50 yearsbeen the only international non-governmental organi-zation devoted solely to the improvement of life for alldisabled persoas. Known today as Rehabilitation Inter-national, it has stimulated and assisted the formationof national associations in many countries, and counts82 national And 5 international bodies as its member-ship. Its assistance reaches more than 100 nations. Itrepresents the cause of the disabled before the UnitedNations and other international organs. It initiatedand sponsors the Decade of Rehabilitation. The Presi-dent's Committee is proud to salute RehabilitationInternational on the 50th anniversary of its world-widemission of helping handicapped persons to help them-selves."

And finally, a special recogni'ion scroll was pre-sented to Senator Randolph for "his more than aquarter century of efforts to assist handicapped per-sons, especially these who are blind, achieve success,self-respect and dignity as gainfilly employed citizensof their communities and full partners in society; forhis leadership in enactment of legislation to removeboth physical and architectural barriers to America'shandicapped so they could prepare themselves for full,productive and socially useful lives; and for long-timeand continuing personal concern for, support of, andparticipation in national programs to obtain and main-tain employer and public acceptance of handicappedworkers."

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C) The "Alley Cats" play briskly to entering guests atThursday morning's Continental Breakfast.

CD Mrs. Jayne B. Spain

Mrs. Esther Van Wagoner TuftyModerator of "Meet the Pressures" Panel

C) "Meet the Pressures" experts (left to right)E. B. Whitten, Henry Viscardi, Jr.,Alfred Slicer, and Edward H. Noakes.

C) "Meet the Pressures" interrogators, all highly regardedspokesmen for various disability groups,quizzed the four "experts" during the Thursday morningsession which highlighted the entire proceedings.The panelists blended youth and age, but allhad experience in coping successfully with disability.

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ALLEY CATS

Mrs. Jayne Spain, Vice Chairman of the President'sCommittee, presided at the Thursday Morning session.

It opened on a lively note with music by the "AlleyCats Band" of Birmingham, Alabamaall clients ofthe Adult Extension Center for the Mentally Retardedin Birmingham. Director of the Baud was Mrs. Mar-garet Williams.

A TIME TO BE

Next came a nostalgic look backward, a filmograph,"A Time To Be"the story id pictures of the birth andgrowth of the President's Committee. Written by LesterAhlswedc and produced by the Motion Picture Serviceof the Department of Agriculture, it was narrated byMilton J. Cross, of Metropolitan Opera Broadcastsfame.

MEET THE PRESSURES

Mrs. Esther Van Wagoner Tufty, President of theTufty News Service in Washington, D.C., moderatedthis sessionspokesmen for the President's Committeeconfronted by a panel of handicapped persons, assess-ing past progress and future needs of the handicappedin society.

THE "WITNESSES"

Four "witnesses" led off with brief statements.Edward H. Noakes, AIA, of Noakes & Associates,

Bethesda, Md., and Vice Chairman of the Committeeon Barrier Free Design:

"Progressthere has been a good deal. We havedeveloped standards for designs; there has been Fed-eral legislation, State legislation, county and city ordi-nances.

"We have a new Committee on Barrier Free Design.It has made great strides in a short time. We haveworked with Washington's new rapid transit system.

Thursday Morning . . .

We have worked with Amtrak; in fact, they asked us,`What do you want in the way of a policy for thehandicapped and elderly?' We told them; now theyhave a policy. We are working to make the next genera.tion of buses accessible to the handicapped.

"Our master plan for the future is the most excitingof all. It calls for total elimination of all barriers. Ittakes in law; education, administration, design, con-struction, everyone.

"We are hopeful of getting a grant soon. In aboutthree years we should have a master process which willpull together all the things that have been going on inthis country. Things are happening everywhere. But insonic cases, it's like reinventing the wheel. A lot ofenergy is being used to do things separately. We needa master plan, a master program, so we can all pulltogether."

Alfred Slicer, Director, Illinois Division of Voca-tional Rehabilitation, Springfield, Ill.:

Mr. Slicer paid tribute to the handicapped them-selves, in keeping the rehabilitation profession awareof its objectives; "preventing us from becoming smug;ever reminding us of our obligation to serve."

The profession has been continually pressured topay more attention to this special group, that specialgroup, he said. There have been gains for all groups;"in recent years vocational rehabilitation agencies haverecorded increasing numbers of rehabilitation." How-ever, priority has gone to "public assistance applicantsand recipients, juvenile and adult offenders and un-employed or underemployed residents of model citiesareas." But commitments under these priorities are,"as always, to disabled and vocationally handicappedindividuals."

The current challenge, he explained, is to gear therehabilitation delivery system to a vastly expandednumber of related services by agencies both public andprivate; to relate rehabilitation with job opportunitiesin all sectors of the American economy. It's costly, com-plex, time-consuming, he said. But rehabilitation agen-cies have pledged their cooperation in these directions.

Henry Viscardi, Jr., President, Human ResourcesCenter, Albertson, N.Y.:

"In my opinion, we have not adequately preparedourselves for the changing technologies of the computer

13

world," he said. "Today, two situations are upon us.We are in an era of constantly rising costs. And we arein an era of computers and data processing."

Companies that provide service jobs arc trying tocut costs; in doing so, they may be creating new op-portunities for the handicapped. Also, this age ofcomputers will provide far more jobs for the handi-capped, contrary to what most experts believe, headded.

It's quite likely that in sonic instances handicappedpeople, working at home or in remote workshops, willbe able to perform computerized tasks that would betied into a central headquarters by long-line installa-tions. It's just as likely that retarded men and womencan be trained to push buttons at huge consoles and,without ever seeing a customer, check his credit andcharge up a sale taking place in a store many milesaway.

These things are happening right now. In depart-ment stores, there's a scanning device through which aclerk places a special tag from merchandise. Auto-matically, a register rings up the price; an inventorycontrol computer makes a record; the customer's creditis checked in a matter of seconds; the transaction ischarged to his bank. Nobody lifts a finger. In gasstations, there's a new system where the customerspeaks into a microphone, puts a feeder hose into thegas tank, gas is pumped automatically, his gas stationaccount is charged automatically.

Complex, yes. But they result in jobs the handi-capped can perform. They result in jobs the retardedcan perform. If we want to think in terms of jobs forthe handicapped today and tomorrow, we had betterbegin to think of these challenges that lie ahead, andnot of traditional work opportunities with which wehave been saddled all these years.

E. B. Whitten, Director, National RehabilitationAssociation, Washington, D.C.

Tremendous progress in legislation having to do withthe handicapped has been made in the past quartercentury, he observed. Back then, there was no researchand demonstration program, no rehabilitation facilityprogram, just a small State-Federal program of reha-bilitation. Today, there is research, there is a rehabilita-tion facility program, there is a wide range of services,there are other activities resulting from rehabilitationlegislation. At the same time, much erogress has re-sulted from legislation not directly labeled "rehabilita-tion." There have been laws in general education, invocational education, in manpower, in mental retarda-tion, in mental illness, in developmental disabilities, inmuch more.

Now for the future. This looks like a good year for

14

rehabilitation legislation, Mr. Whitten said. Wehave a new program ror the severvi hani- ,}pedwhich does not 1 ru .weessary objec-tive; and a new program for people suffering fromrenal disetse; a program to help the deaf; new em-phasis on spinal cord injuries; a National Committeeon Transportation and Housing for the Handicapped;a National Information' and Resources Center; alsothere- may be activity in the civil rights area in relationto the handicapped.

"There has been tremendous progress in 25 years;but the time is really not yet. It is ahead of us."

THE QUESTIONS

Q: "How can we get more disabled peopleinvolved in the decisions that affect their lives?"

Mr. Whitten said that his organization now has atask force of consumer involvement, trying to workout a plan to "do Letter than we have done." He addedthat "we recognize the fact there arc some things donewhen it looks like the time is ripe to do them. Now ismore the time for consumer involvement than everbefore."

Q: "Do you all support the provision ofH. R. 8395: the amendment to the VocationalRehabilitation Act now under consideration byCongress, which would give special emphasisto the severely disabled?"

Mr. Whitten said the National Rehabilitation Asso-ciation not only supports it but has been advocating thissort of program since 1958. Mr. Slicer added that theState rehabilitation agencies also support it.

But he added a note of caution: "I don't believe wehave arrived at a clear definition of what a severelydisabled person is, even though the law has defined it."He recalled that one of his staff members contendedthat an amputation below the elbow might be as severea disability as quadriplegia or cerebral palsy; thebelow-the-elbow amputee might be harder to rehabili-tate than the others because of his attitude.

Mr. Whitten added that almost every group of handi-capped persons contends they are severely handicapped.The blind,. the deaf, paraplegics, amputees all claim tohave severe handicaps, and undoubtedly they do. Butmore realistically, "severe disability has to be definedin terms of the functional limitations of the individualto perform normally at home and in the community andat work; it cannot be defined strictly by categories."

Q: "Does H. R. 8394 give any role to theconsumer in . terms of decisionmaf-ing?"

Mr. Whitten said that several of the advisory coun-

cils called for in the new legislation do require partici-pation by the handicapped. But this is not the sameas giving a decisionmaking role to consumers.

Q: "Mr. Whitten, does your organizationsupport civil rights for the disableili?"

Mr. Whitten replied "Yes. Bif includiit the handi-capped in civil rights have a goocl chant of passing_if not this session of Congress dim the Ilex: session. Letme warn you about this legislwkion. You don't solveanything just by passing a law. 'Ion need :',:esources toimplement it. Your Congressmen can almck4 do you adisservice by quickly writing thee things into the law,then not doing a thing to provide resources for en-forcement."

Q= "Do you see in the near future any kindof workable cooperation by State agencies tobeef op Governors' Committees on Employmentof the Handicapped?"

Mr. Slicer said "Let me give ykiivi In idea. how youcan build support for your own Governor's Committee.

"Back in the early sixties. the Illinois 'Governor'sCommittee was supported by a civic-minded. individualwho contributed $20,000 a year. He finally had to stophis support. The State Department of Labor then triedto inject $127,000 into the Governoil, Committee, butthe State legislature wouldn't go along. Then] went tothe Governor and suggested that if he were pm-milted toput $50.000 into the budget of the Governof-S Commit-tee, I wound arrange to match it with $52,000 of Federal

. funds (iaat that time we were matching on a 52-48hasis). liThe Governor accepted the idea, and did thelegislature after a long while.

"This is how the Governor's Committee hats beenfinanced ever scone. It's worth looking into. in yourown States."

Q: "What has been done to make If peo-ple a part of this movement? When ;peoplethink of the .handiCapped, they think of dis-abilities they can see. Deafness is invisible. Is:there anything that can be done to hip deafpeople find jobs, or become more vole innkmerica?"

Mr. Viscardi suggested that oteaf persons seek .ain-ing or employment through NW,. ,r private .:igenciesthott sorve the handicapped; that y.ay, "deafines, no1-nger would be concealed. Once openly admitted,t"w711, the only questior becomes orn., of the ,eapanities

handle the job.Mr. Slicer added that "we have g to start huck

Dine before they become ready for jobs. Most of theIllinois are referred to vocatrial rehabilitation

fitTion the school systems. But then ,e7inie to us ill-prey.aredin terms of ability to N.-144. in terms of

mathematics skills, and in some school systems in termsof their ability to communicate. Working in a hearingworld, they have to be able to communicate.

"Yet we have worked out employment situations forthe deaf that arc very good and very well paid. In the'post offices, for example, there is a noisy machine whichsorts mail. Employees who have hearing used towork these machines; for 15 minutes every hour theyhad to stop and rest because of the high noise level.We have placed more than 200 deaf people in thesejobs. They earn better than $3 an hour. They get theircoffee breaks like everybody else, but they do notrequire the 15 minutes off each hour. We have had totrain their supervisors in sign language, to communi-cate with the deaf. This is necessary, of course.

"Sometimes individual situations become difficult forthe deaf and we have to work in group settings. Thisdoesn't mean we have to concentrate all our efforts onmoving deaf people in groups into jobs. We have tolook for all ways to place themgroups or individuals.

Q: "When the National Paraplegic Founda-tion has national meetings, it presents criteriaon accessibility for the handicapped that it ex-pects hotels to meet if they want the business.Usually the hotels make the changes. Why can'tthe President's Committee, National Rehabili-tation Association and other organizations dothe same- thing?

Mr. Noakes pointed out that planners of the Presi-dent's Committee's Annual Meetings are "conscientious,knowledgeable and wise," and that the WashingtonHilton "is the best possible choices in Washington."

Q: "'Why must we have sheltered work-shops? Are they doing the job? Wouldn't it bebetter to replace them with completely educa-tional, institutions? If this is true, why doesVocational Rehabilitation maintain the presentsystem of workshops by financing them?"

Mr. Slicer pointed out that workshops are used formore than training. They al.o are used for workevaluatiTons, to determine the potential of handicappedpersons. Workshops may not be in the main trainers ofpeople for jobs. but they are in the main evaluatorsof people jobs.

Mr. Viscardi added that he sees two kinds of jobsin slid! red workshops: those which will become obso-lete in he next 5 years, and those which are beingnew/ inmate& by new technologies. "If we can bringthe z-znp;oling. resources of industry into workshops, wecan htpim to close out some of the obsolete jobs andemphaftVk i'rtstead some of the new jobs being createdtoday. 11,,, doing so, we'll find we will be preparing asurprisiney 'itrge number of handicapped people for

15

jobs in private industry."Yet all this talk of competitive jobs passes over the

heads of one group of people we don't pay enoughattention to, Mr. Viscardi said: these are people soseverely disabled they cannot work in competitiveemployment. For them, the choice is "not to work atall or to work in some sort of sheltered environment."

Or, there's a third alternative: "many rewardingcareer jobs can be done at homeand I'm not talkingabout making artificial flowers or typing manuscripts.I'm talking about 4,0,000 jobs for claims adjustors forinsurance companies, for example. I'm thinking aboutschool .attendance clerks for school districts. I'm think-ing about a large variety of rewarding occupations forthe severely disabled who cannot leave home.

Mr. Whitten commented that sheltered workshopscame about in America to meet needs not otherwisebeing met. "Viewed in this perspective," he said,"workshops have rendered important contributions tothis country. But we do have every right to ask theworkshop movement to consider its role and itsmethodology and make sure that services arc releventto the times we live in."

Q: "There has been progress made in elim-inating barriers in buildings against the handi-capped. But what about mass transportation?A law was passed recently requirivg that masstransportation be available to all citizens in-cluding the handicapped. How can this law beimplemented?"

Mr. Noakes commented that.it takes more than a lawto bring about accessibility for the handicapped. "Thereis a law which requires the new subway in Washingtonto be usable by the handicapped. Yet this law is beingquestioned by attorneys for Metro, the subway system.There is a role for the President's Committee, and foreveryone involved in the handicapped, to make surethat laws get proper implementation."

Q: "Perhaps more law suits should he filedagainst organizations like Metro that don'tlook after the needs of the handicapped. Per-haps we have to go to court to establish theyrights of the handicapped."

Mr. Noakes said that "we've been working on the

16

Metro system for seven or eight years. There will bemany other rapid transit systems in many other cities.Perhaps this kind of long history will have to be re-peated in each. The intent of the original legislationhas been to assure that wherever a system of masstransit is built with federal funding, accessibility bythe handicapped will be a builtin feature. But it doesn'talways work that way."

Q: "A great many points have been coveredthis morning. What is the President's Commit-tee going to do about all this?"

Mr. Slicer said that one major value of the Presi-dent's Committee is to "provide a forum for the ex-ploration of all kinds of problems related to the

handicapped; a forum for disenchanted people; a

forum for people with problems they wish to express.By providing a forum, the President's Committee alsocan see to it that problems are brought to the attentionof agencies that can do something about them."

Mr. Whitten added: "Look around you at what'shappening in this country. There is One group of handi-capped people in America that doesn't have any troublegaining attention and gaining action. The group is theblind. The blind are organized. They have been organized a long time. Their organizations are respected.They are influential.

"Other groups wanting the same kind of attentionand the same kind of respect will have to organize, too.You'll have to show that youreally represent the handi-capped. And you'll have to he sure that the peoplewho make decisions know what you want at the righttime and in the right place."

Mr..Viscardi suggested that "one of the great areas%ye could do something about would be to make surethat the amendments to the Wagner O'Day Act willhave an effect in upgrading sheltered workshops. Here's.a real cause worth going after."

Q. "Some of the speakers have talked about`your' problems or 'their' problems. We're allin this together, ladies and gentlerden. Theseare 'our' problems. These problems will hesolved only when we realize that they are not`yours' or 'theirs,' but "ours.' "

With that, "Meet the Pressures" adjourned.

Thursday Afternoon . . .

EMPLOYMENT

Discussion Leader: Wayne T. Brooks, Chairman, Employer Commit-tee, President's Committee on Employment of the Handicappedand Vice President, American Iron and Steel Institute, Wash-ington, D.C.

Resource Persons:Miss Linda York, Rehabilitation Nurse, Liberty Mutual Insur-

ance Company, Charlotte, N.C.James M. Troka, Equal Opportunity Staff, Sears, Roebuck and

Company, Chicago, Ill.Leon Lewis, Chief, Division of Occupational Analysis, U.S.E.S.,

Manpower Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Wash-ington, D.C.

J. H. Sears, Special Assistant Community Affairs, EmployeeRelations Department, E. I. duPont de Nemours & Company,Inc., Wilmington, Del.

Recorder: Mrs. Ruth-Ellen K. Ross, Executive Secretary, MarylandGovernor's Committee to Promote Employment of the Handi-capped, Baltimore, Md.

Left to right: Mrs. RuthEllen K. Ross, Leon Lewis, James M. Troka, Wayne T. Brooks, Miss Linda York, and J. H. Sears.

19

Lively discussion between panelists and audiencemarked this panel.

There's need for much more "job-bending," Mr.Lewis suggested. "How can jobs be made to fit people?"he asked. "it's more important and more profitable todo this than to insist that people be made to fit jobs."Miss York agreed. "Whenever I visit a plant," she said,"I try to watch various operations to see how theymight possibly be rcgeared for .the handicapped. Mostof them can."

Mr. Troka pointed out that sometimes in big businessthere is a gap between the policies of top managementand the practices of local managers and supervisors. Soin the matter of employment of the handicapped, there'sneed for constant education of local-level people.

"Is it possible," someone asked, "that small busi-nesses arc the most promising places for employment ofthe handicapped? There's not much of a problem intranslating top management policies into actual prac-tice. Shouldn't more of our efforts be directed toreaching small businessmen?"

It was proposed that Government take the lead inhiring the handicapped in all communities. Then busi-ness can be asked to follow suit. "It's not right forGovernment to ask business to do something that Gov-

911

ernment itself isn't doig," observed someone in theaudience. "Government has taken the lead," someoneelse noted. "It has special programs of hiring theseriously handicapped, of hiring the mentally retarded,of retaining employees who have been disabled on thejob."

Mr. Sears noted that duPont has been hiring theseverely handicapped and has been haVing much suc-cess in such matters as selective placement, retentionand promotion.

There was general agreement that insurance rates donot rise when handicapped workers are added to thelabor force. This myth sometimes is used as a reason fornot hiring the handicapped, it was pointed out.

The truth is that handicapped workers often. aresafer on the job than others. For example, someonecited the instance of Mississippi's sheltered workshopswhich hire the seriously handicapped and which havehad such an excellent safety record over the years thatinsurance rates have dropped.

There was consensus that there must be no slacken-ing of promotional efforts to encourage more jobs forthe handicapped, and of educational efforts to portraythe facts about the handicapped on the job.

BETTER LIVING

Discussion Leader: Louis L. Gottlieb, President, Florida ParaplegicAssociation, South Miami, Fla.

Resource Persons:Mrs. Marie McGuire, Program Advisor for Problems of the

Elderly and Handicapped, U.S. Department of Housing andUrban Development, Washington, D.C.

Richard W. Heddinger, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Depart-ment of Labor, Washington, D.C.

Recorder: Joseph Manzo, P.E., National Society of Professional Eng,i-neers, Alexandria, Va.

Left to right: Louis L Gottlieb, Joseph Manzo, P.E., Mrs. Marie McGuire, and Richard W. Heddinger.

How can man's total environment be made com-patible with those who are handicapped? This was thequestion that both panelists and audience addressedthemselves to in the panel on "Better Living."

It was suggested that if all America could see con-vincingly that a barrier-free society is better for every-one, able-bodied and handicapped alike, much moreprogress would be made.

But how can progress come about? Legislative actionis one good way, someone proposed. But militancy alsohas its place, others said. Militancy gives dramatic"visibility" to the needs of the handicapped.

This example was cited: In one Southern city, effortswere under way to encourage a large private buildingto install ramps for accessibility by the handicapped.The building owner objected to the cost. Then a localassociation of handicapped persons let it be known thatthey were planning to picket the building from theirwheelchairs.

Next day, leaders of the group received telephone

calls from the building: "Don't picket. We're takingsteps to install ramps."

Discussion at the panel turned to transportation.Most of those present favored a dial-a-ride type oftransportation for the handicapped as the best meansto enhance their mobility. If that's not possible, theysaid, then make efforts to make public transportationaccessible to the handicapped.

A suggestion was made that there be barrier-freehousing units in all public and private multiple housing.To bring this about, there would be need for a Federallawbut one with punitive clauses if builders do notcomply.

Many in the audience favored some kind of name-change for the President's Committee to de-emphasizeemployment and to place more emphasis on all theother areas of President's Committee interest, such asthe elimination of environmental harriers.

The entire panel was marked by a high degree ofaudience participation.

21

LEGISLATION

Discussion Leader: Russell J. N. Dean, Director, Washington Con-sulting Service, Washington, D.C.

Resource Persons:John C. Harmon, Jr., General Counsel, Goodwill Industries of

America, Inc., Washington, D.C.Mrs. Vicki Cox Stanton, Legislative Representative, National

Association of the Physically Handicapped, Washington, D.C.

Recorder: Mrs. Barbara L. Conaway, Legislative Assistant, Social andRehabilitation Services, Department of Health, Education, andWelfare, Washington, D.C.

Left to right: Mrs. Barbara L. Conaway, Mrs. Vicki Cox Stanton, John C. Harmon, and Russell J. N. Dean.

Panelists and audience discussed many of the prob-lems of daily living that keep the handicapped fromworkingtransportation, accessibility to buildings,lack of up-to-date training, the like. They suggestedthat perhaps the time has come for the President'sCommittee to change its name to reflect the expandedareas of concern: President's Activists for the Handi-capped, President's Advocate for the Handicapped, orsomething similar.

Time is ripe for a White House Conference on theHandicapped, it was declared. The audience discussedsome ,f the matters that might be taken up at such aconferenceincome tax exemptions, changing publicattitudes, rights to fuller lives, etc.

It was pointed out that S. 3227, 92nd Congress,does call for tax deductions for employed persons whoneed housekeepers to take care of handicapped spousesor handicapped children up to age 15. "But why stopat age 15?" someone asked.

22

There is need for protecting the civil rights of thehandicapped in employment, and therefore supportshould be given to the bills in Congress which wouldextend civil rights laws to include the handicapped,several persons said.

There also is need to update the many State lawsdealing with the elimination of barriers against thehandicapped, others contended. These laws necd en-forcement provisions to gain effectiveness, they said.

Attention was called to HR 11032, 92nd Congress,introduced by Congressman Broyhill, called "HEAT"Housing, Employment, Accessibility to public build-ings, Transportation.

And it also was stated that changes in legislationcome about mainly because there is public interest;because there are concerned citizens; because they jointogether to articulate their views. And because thereis need.

REHABILITATION

Discussion Leader: Jack Hutchison, Ph.D., Director of Rehabilitation,Goodwill Industries of America, Washington, D.C.

Resource PersonsDonald C. Linkowski, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Rehabilita-

tion Counseling, George Washington University, Washington,D.C.

Rod Farrell, Liaison with Vocational Rehabilitation, GalludetCollege, Washington, D.C.

Recorder: Mrs. Colleen B. Mitchell, Program Specialist, Ohio Gov-ernor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, Colum-bus, Ohio

Left to Right: Mrs. Colleen B. Mitchell, Rod Farrell, Jack Hutchinson, Ph.D., and. Donald C. Linkowski, Ph.D.

This panel mainly continued the discussion of re-habilitation that had begun in the morning.

Dr. Hutchison highlighted some of the recent researchwhich has been engaged in to measure attitudes towardthe handicapped in our society. He concluded that notmuch progress has been- made in changing traditionalattitudes.

Dr. Linkowski projected the profession of rehabilita-tion counseling into the future. He painted a word pic-ture of a model of rehabilitation which included acommunity totally accessible in -all ways to the handi-capped. This rehabilitation community of the futurewould provide work, recreation as well as permanent

and transitory living conditions. Further, the rehabili-tation community would interact with the general com-munity surrounding it.

Mr. Farrell stressed the need for consumer partici-pation in rehabilitation planning. He proposed: (a)reading of client rights in the rehabilitation process, inmuch the same manner as police read rights to ar-rested offenders; (b) making the rehabilitation plan acontract between the counselor and the client.

To bring these proposals about, he suggested theformation of consumer advisory groups which wouldwork with rehabilitation agencies.

23

REHABILITATION: NEW LOOK, NEW FACES (NRA)

Moderator: Tony Ricci, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

Panelists:Miss Marte McCoy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.Mrs. Susan Salus, George Washington University, Washington,

D.C.Joe Smith, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.Miss Mary Stewart, Marshall University, Huntington, W. Va.David Ingram, We St Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va.

4

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wolfN'14, N

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Left to right: Joe Smith, Miss Mary Stewart, Tony Ricci, Miss Marte McCoy, Mrs. Susan Salus, and David Ingram.

Half a dozen college students, all studying rehabilitation of the handicapped, met to share views of thefuture of rehabilitation, as they see it.

Miss McCoy wondered whether in the future thevocational aspects of rehabilitation might be toneddown, to be replaced by total aspects of rehabilitationsuch as social and community and homemaking.

Mrs. Salus stressed the need for dignity. Rehabilita-tion counselors must treat clients with dignity, andclients also must treat their counselors with dignity, shesaid.

Mr. Smith called for broadbased amendments to the

24

vocational rehabilitation law which would deemphasizevocational preparation and emphasize preparation forthe total gamut of daily living.

Miss Stewart urged that the socially and culturallyhandicapped be considered as disabled, and should begranted all the benefits that now go to the physicallyand mentally handicapped.

Commenting on the panel in general, moderator TonyRicci noted the high degree of audience participation."The audience was as much involved as were the pan.elists," he said.

THE HANDICAPPED: AN "ARTICULATE INNORITY"

Moderator: Miss Judy Heumann, Executive President, Disabled InAction, Ltd., New York, N.Y.

Panelists:Jack Howard, President, National Association for the Physically

Handicapped, Perrysburg, OhioEdward C. Carney, Executive Director, Council of Organizations

Serving the Deaf, Washington, D.C.Roy Lucas, Attorney, The James Madison Constitutional Law

Institute, New York, N.Y.Thomas K. Gilhool, Attorney (in charge of Right to Education

case for Handicapped Children in Pennsylvania), Pittsburgh,Pa.

Recorder: William A. Fraenkel, Ph.D., Regional Administrator forMental Retardation, Region VI, the Commonwealth of Massa-

chusetts Department of Mental Health, Boston, Mass.

Included on the panel were two persons in wheel-chairs, two attorneys, one deaf person, one representa-tive of the mentally retarded.

They agreed that opportunities for the handicappedhave been expanding in employment, recreation andeducation. But not nearly enough. One present-dayshortcoming is the archaic requirement for medicalproof of disability before a person in a wheelchair canregister or vote. Another shortcoming is the lack ofadequate places for the handicapped to live. It's notenough to have to rely on parents and friends; the'handicapped should have the chance to live independ.ently.

Commenting on specific problems of the deaf, Mr.Carney noted the need for all deaf persons to join forcesto speak with one voice. For instance, he said, when hisCouncil now refers to the "deaf community," it meansnot only those who are deaf, but also educators, inter-preters, therapists, audiologists, rehabilitation counsel-ors, families, friends and all others associated with thedeaf.

"We do not resort to violence nor do we make nuis-ances of ourselves," he said. "But simply by marshalling our resources and planning together how to use

Judy Neumann,Executive President,Disabled In Action, Ltd.

them, the deaf community is making itself heard."The matter of litigation arose. The story was told

of panel moderator Judy Heumann who had to resortto the courts to obtain a position of school teacher inthe New York City school system. Because s'ie was in awheelchair, she originally could not be certified. Butwhat about all the other Judy Heumanns of our society?Perhaps what's needed, panelists agreed, is a defensefund to provide more handicapped persons with legalservices to fight similar instances of discrimination.

The right to a suitable public education for allmentally retarded children in Pennsylvania, establishedby a court decision. was hailed as a landmark case by.Mr. Gilhool. He suggested the establishment of a forumwhere all issues dealing with legal rights of minoritieshandicapped includedcould be discussed.

Audience discussion brought out that there's needfor all organizations of and for the physically andmentally handicapped to join together in a single force;there's need for public demonstrations as well as liti-gation in securing the rights of the handicapped; there'sneed for the handicapped to speak out and to acceptan increased share of the responsibility for determin-ing their own future.

25

TO BE HANDICAPPED AND POOR

Moderator: Paul B. Cornely, M.D., Medical Consultant, United Mine

Workers of America, Washington, D.C.

Panelists:Al Shaw, Director, Model Cities Multi-Service Center, D.C. Vo-

cational Rehabilitation Administration, Washington, D.C.

Miss Margaret Lindsay, Staff Member, Mental Patient's Libera-

tion Project, New York, N.Y.Frank Perino, Codirector, Choose, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.

Left to right: Richard Sale (PCEH staff), Al Shaw, Miss Margaret Lindsay, Frank Perino, and Paul B. Comely, M.D.

Chairman Comely opened the panel noting that in

America there still is a widely-held belief that "hardwork, thrift and a touch of ability can enable any manto rise as high as he wants." The effect of this myth, hesaid, is to harden people's hearts about the poor; toencourage such statements as "a man who does not suc-

ceed has only himself to blame." He then presented

three speakers who rebutted these American myths.

Miss Lindsay, former mental patient, said she did

not consider herself handicapped; it's the "establish-ment" that calls her so. She recalled that after treat-ment for mental illness she went searching for a job.She refused to hide the fact of her mental illness. As a

result, she said, she has been turned down for morethan 180 jobs.

Mr. Perino, who is blind, called for higher wages insheltered workshops, as well as the same kinds,of fringe

benefits received by other workers: health insurance,paid vacations, sick leave, pension plans, etc.

Mr. Shaw contended that programs for the handi-

capped poor cannot really succeed unless they attemptto cope with the inequities which have made people

poor in the first place. These programs now expect the

poor to improve themselves, to gain greater skills, to

become "socially adjusted." Instead, the programs

should look at the social order itself; is it one which

will lead to a healthy and satisfying adjustment by

those who are poor and handicapped?He also commented on the quantitative approach

taken by many people in attacking problems. Stu,'

things as rehabilitation and social reform may be too

complex for such. an approach. What counts is quality,

not quantity, he-said.

DISABLED VETEIRAW: ALIENS IN THEIR LAND?

Voderator : _Norman. Hartnett, National Director of Employment, Disabled Autelican Veterans, Washington, D.C.

Participants:Robert a Carter, Executive Director, Blinded Veterans Asso-

ciation. Washington, D.C.Alan Langer, National Service Director, Paralyzed Veterans of

America, Washington, D.C.Ernest Myers, Professor, Federal City College, Washington, D.C.Mrs. June A. Willenz, Executive Director, American Veterans

Committee, Washington, D.C.

Left to right: Robert D. Carter, Ernest Myers, Mrs. June A. Willenz, Norman Hartnett, and Alan Langer.

Disabled Vietnam veterans are facing a near-crisissituation in their preparation for civilian life, panelistsstated.

Although generous educational and training benefitsare available, and although the Veterans Administra-tion is performing a yeoman service in reaching dis-abled veterans with information about their benefits,fewer than 40 percent of the 300,000 disabled Vietnamveterans have taken advantage of either vocational re-habilitation or GI Bill training and education benefits.

The Veterans Employment Service estimates unem-ployment among disabled Vietnam veterans to be atleast 14 percent. Panelist Mr, Hartnett added that therate is much higher orrang the seriously disabled. TheVeterans Emplorttromt Service announced that it re-cently has take= fps ve improve services to all dis-abled Vietnam veterans.

Several factory were mesponsikle for disabled vet-erans' slow readijnestmert to chiiiian society, panelistssaid. One was a Ls& of ?abbe concern for the disabledVietnam veteran...knotber was the-disillusionment with

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the "establishment"Government programs includedby a number of young veterans. Still another was aneed for more flexible programs sensitive to the indi-vidual problems of disabled Vietnam veterans.

Each panelist singled out problem areas of particu-lar concern to him. Mr. Carter spoke of blinded Viet-nam veterans who are making real progress in readjust-ing to life. Mr. Langer spoke of the high unemploymentamong paralyzed veterans and the need to work withthem on a oneto-one basis to help remotivate them.Mr. Myers spoke of the particular problems of blackveterans, their alienation and anger at racial bars whichinterfere with gull opportunity. He also mentioned theneed for more services located in areas where blackveterans live. Mrs. Willenz discussed the problems ofveterans with Tessthan-honorable discharges who needspecial help to return them to society.

All agreed drat efforts to help disabled veterans arenot the sole responsibility of any one agency or office.The efforts are The responsibility of all Americans andof all segment of society.

RECREATION FOR THE HANDICAPPED: AN OPENING DOOR

Ins

Moderator: John A. Nesbitt, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Departmentof Recreation, San Jose State College, San Jose, Calif.

Panelists:David C. Park, Executive Secretary, National Therapeutic Rec-

reation Society, Washington, D.C.Mrs. Janet Pomeroy, Founder and Director, Recreation Center

for the Handicapped, San Francisco, Calif.Jay Jorgensen, A.I.L.A., Associate Park Planner, Fairfax County

Park Authority, Great Falls, Va.George A. Conn, Director, Office of Public Information, Reha-

bilitation Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health,Education, and Welfare, Washington, D.C.

Recorder: Dr. Julian U. Stein, Consultant, Programs for the Handi-capped, American Association for Health, Physical Educationand Recreation, Washington, D.C.

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Left to right: Jay Jorgensen, Dr. John A. Nesbitt, David C. Park, Mrs. Janet Pomeroy, Dr. Julian U. Stein, and George A. Conn.

Dr. Nesbitt, moderator, noted that recreation todayrepresents an $80 billion a year enterprise. Yet, heasked, how many handicapped people are seen attend-ing the San Francisco Opera, Madison Square Garden,the Natural History Museum in Chicago, neighborhoodbowling alleys, local parks? Not many, he said; theirabsence indicates the need for action by the President'sCommittee and others.

Mr. Park described results of recent workshops heldby his Society to study what needs to he done to im-prove opportunities for the handicapped in recreation.What's needed, conferees agreed, is a promotion cam-paign aimed at park and recreation employers urgingmore jobs for the handicapped. A start has been made,he said; the President's Committee has formed a Stand-ing Committee on Recreation to take on the task ofpromotion.

Mrs. Pomeroy described how the Recreation Center

28

for the Handicapped in San Francisco went about ob-taining funds and volunteer helpers. The Center's ap-proach might be suitable for many other cities, shesuggested.

Mr. Jorgensen discussed environmental barriers thatstand in the way of the handicapped in the field ofrecreation. They exist, he said, simply because parkplanners and architects in the past haven't been fullyaware of the mobility problems of the handicapped.But harriers can be overcome; standards of the Amer-ican Standards Association can point the way.

Mr. Conn remarked that when we talk about 10 per-cent of the population being handicapped, we're talkingabout individuals who are denied their rights to enjoythe recreational services they help support through theirtaxes. One more reason, he said, for doing our utmostto open up the world of recreation for the handicapped.

PUBLIC RELATIONS: THE WINDS OF CHANGE

Moderator: Robert G. Sampson, Vice President, Property, United AirLines, Chicago, Ill.

Panelists:Dean Herbert E. Striner, The College of Continuing Education,

The American University, Washington, D.C.Ernest Wittenberg, President, Ernest Wittenberg Associates,

Washington, D.C.Miss Cheryl A. Davis, Writer, Boston, Mass.

Recorder: Stephen Cot ler, Coordinator, Graphics and Publications,State University Construction Fund, Albany, N.Y.

Left to right: Stephen Cot ler, Miss Cheryl A. Davis, Ernest Wittenberg, Dean Herbert E. Striner, and Robert G. Sampson.

Mr. Wittenberg discussed the future of mass mediain America, as it affects those concerned with promot-ing jobs for the handicapped.

Television has only begun to scratch the surface asa shaper of attitudes, he said. By combining pictureswith the spoken word, its impact is lasting. A spot cam-paign showing handicapped persons at work would gofar in building opportunities for the handicapped.

Radio has become segmented. Messages these daysmust be slanted to the type of publics specific radiostations appeal to. Some stations appeal to teenagers,others to mature persons; whatever it's essential tounderstand the personalities of stations, in order tomake proper use of them.

Despite the declining number of daily newspapersin America, they are here to stay. Radio and televisioncan present only the superficials of news; the pressalone can present sufficient background for thoughtfulpersons.

Dean Striner called for a more flexible educationalsystem in the United States so that those who find them-.selves in obsolete careersthe handicapped includedcan go back to school to train for new careers. In school,they should be raid allowances to enable them to main-tain normal standards of living.

The move in America is toward service occupations.Today, he said, 60 percent of the labor force is em-ployed in the service field. These jobs require notstrong backs but sharp mindswell suitable for thosewith physical disabilities. At the same time, manyservice jobs are suitable for the mentally retardedroutine in nature, calling for little decision-making,

Miss Davis urged the creation of a new image of thehandicapped as people who are productive, contribut-ing members of society and not helpless individualsse eking charity.

The media can help shape this new image by stress-ing accomplishments of the handicapped. If stories of

29

children are used, it should be pointed out that theywill be tomorrow's adults, with hopes and abilities thesame as anyone else.

Young articulate handicapped people have a stakein positive opinion-molding, she said.

Discussion items:

Should "attractive" photos of the handicapped beused? Should use of "unattractive" photos be discour-aged? Certainly, it was agreed, "attractive" photos helpshape public images; yet the press now wants to por-tray life as it is and not as it should be, and is beginning

30

to insist on photos that show the facts, "unattractive"as they may be.

Public service requirements by radio and televisionstations can lead to copious use of "Hire the Handi-capped" material, if it's good. There are many otherpublic service causes competing for this time on theairwaves.

The handicapped themselves have a responsibility to"sell" themselves to the public. They must do everythingpossible to prepare themselves for productive lives. Theymust prove by deeds they are worthy of a place in so-ciety.

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0 Cutting the tremendous birthday cake is Chairman Russell,holding the first piece for all to see.

® Old timers all, Rube Siverson of the Chamber of Commerceof the United States (left) and Mildred Scott (right)original members of the 1947 PCEH Executive Committee,chat with Marine FourStar General,Graves B. Erskinewhose Retraining and Reemployment Administration in 1946organized the Citizen's Cooperating Committee of RRAwhich was the predecessor of the PCEH.

® Original Executive Committee member Millard Rice (left)and Mrs. Rice (right) chat with Mr. Charles Butlerof Australia (second from left) andMr. and Mrs. Lee Catterton. Mrs. Cattertonis one of the daughters of the lateGeneral Mel Maas, PCEH Chairman from 1954 to 1964.

C) The "Pro Bono Publico" Award of the President's Committeeis given to Dr. James Garrett of SRS/HEWwho not only attended the original meetings of PCEHrepresenting the VA, but has been a long-timesupporter of international rehabilitation programs andone of America's real leaders in the VR field.

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C) Caught by the photographer at the Head Table Receptionprior to the banquet are (left to right)Father Paul Redmond, Bill McCahill, Sr. and Jr.,Mrs. Anne Mutz, Mrs. McCahill (Jr.), andMrs. Elizabeth Gallagher.

Bill McCahill, Sr., receives the volunteerof the year Citation from PeopleCo-People CommitteeChairman Mac Hecht at the Anniversary Banquet for hisvolunteer work for the retarded and other handicapped.

® Philippine Under Secretary of Social Welfare (secondfrom left) socializes with Secretary of Laborand Mrs. James Hodgson and Committee Vice ChairmanJayne Spain (far right) at the receptionpreceding the Anniversary Banquet.

® International guests Dr. and Mrs. Rene De Costa Bomfimof Brazil (center) are flanked by Miss Jayne Shover(left) Executive Director of the National Easter Seal Society,and (right) by Tom Teas, Easter Seal National President.

® Following the Barber Shop Quartet music,the Bacon Blues Band of Rockville, Md.,played for Anniversary Banquet guests inthe Washington Hilton Ballroom.

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C) Barry SullivanMaster of Ceremonies

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C) Commander Ian Henderson, Secretary General of the British Council on Rehabilitationof the Disabled (right) presents Chairman Russell and Secretary McCahill with a moments)engraved in silver from the BCRD on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary.

C) Old Line Four Quartet

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A record-breaking 1,200 people filled the great In-ternational Ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotelfor the President's Committee's Birthday Banquet onThursday evening.

The Invocation was given by the Rev. Paul J. Red-mond of Carmel, Calif., who has been close to the Presi-dent's Committee ever since it was formed a quarterof a century ago. His Invocation:

"No man can explain suffering and adversity. Whypain and sorrow should come to the innocent andthe good, why affliction and injustice should be onthe path of those who least deserve evil, is a mystery."But man's greatness comes from conquering evilby overcoming handicaps. Our real heroes are thosewho meet adversity and, taking up their cross, makeit a shining banner for the world to see."The unconquerable spiritthe will to love whenhate would be so easythe will to move forwardwhen sloth is a sorry comfort . . . the desire to climbthe barricade& to physical and mental freedom . . .

these come from God."Heaven is the warmth of friendship here on earthand in eternity. Hell is the coldness of hopelessnesshere or hereafter. Only man's unconquerable lesirecan win Heaven now and forever."May God bless those whose spirit has conqueredphysical handicaps. May God reward those who aidthose less fortunate than themselvesshowing theworld that the Good Samaritan still walks the road oflife, binding wounds, healing, helping."While gathered here let us pause and rememberthose who suffer as prisoners of war, handicappedby man-made barriers."May God grant peace to our Nation and to eachone of usa peace not of wealth or freedom frompain, but contentment which comes from sharing ourlove for God with our fellow man. Father in heaven,thy will, not ours, but thy will be done."

Birthday Banquet . . .

Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Barry Sul-livan, star of stage, screen and television, and 1972 Men.tal Health Chairman of the National Association forMental Health.

Five guests from foreign lands proposed toasts to thePresident's Committee, to the United States and to allwho have dedicated themselves to the handicapped.Representing all parts of the world, they were Com-mander Ian Henderson of London, England; Rev. Ken-neth Jenkins of Daw Park, South Australia; S. P. Wa-bulya of Kampala, Uganda, Africa ; Dr. Renata daCosta Bomfim of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Mrs. Estele Sin-dico of Manila, the Philippines.

The People-to-People Committee for the Handicappedpresented its annual Citation to William J. McCahill,Sr., father of Bill McCahill, President's Committee Ex-ecutive Secretary, for his voluntary efforts in behalf ofthe handicapped. Retired from business many yearsago, he volunteered to teach sports to mentally retardedchildren when he was in his seventies, and he becameinvolved in the People.toPeople Committee when hewas in his eighties. "His soul is young," commentedMalcolm Hecht in presenting the award.

A "Pro Bono Publico"for the good of the publicrecognition was given to Dr. James Garrett, AssistantAdministrator for Research and Demonstration at theSocial and Rehabilitation Service of the Departmentof Health, Education, and Welfare, for his efforts inpromoting the welfare of the handicapped around theworld.

The banquet's entertainment contrasted the old andthe new. Presenting the music of a quarter of a centuryago was a barber shop quartet from Northern Virginia,the "Old Line Four." And presenting the music of to.day was the Bacon Blues Band of Rockville, Md., whichhas performed for patients in military and veterans'hospitals.

35

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Q Walter Greist of Arlington, Va., left, cerebral palsy victim, dethonstratesa new electronic speaking aid with the help of Donald Selwyn,Executive-Technical Director of the National institute forPthabilitation Engineering of Pompton Lakes, N.J. The device allows thosewith uncorrectable speech handicaps to speak almost clearly. It amplifiestheir slightest whisper and also clarifies the sound which comes out

CD Jon Erickson, 10, cerebral palsied, uses his chin to operatea CYBERTYPE man-machine communications systemunder study at Cybernetics Research Institute, P'7.shington, D.C.

C) Paul Van Gilder, 10, operating CAAP Electric Cart(Made by Child Amputee Prosthetic Project, Los Angeles)

C) Thomas Willis, 13, demonstrating Coordinated Electric Arm(Made by Ontario Crippled Children's Centre, Canada)CD Tawana Herring, 9, demonstrating Electric Elbow

(Made by Ontario Crippled Children's Centre, Canada)

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"GIVE ME A CHANCE"

Vice Chairman Leonard Mayo presided.The morning got under way with a recording of a

song written for the President's Committee's twenty -

fifth anniversary by Jack Moran, blind singer and songwriter of Nashville, Tennessee. The song was introducedby Tex Ritter. His wife Dorothy is chairman of theTennessee Governor's Committee.

A LOOK FORWARD

Marsha Stevens, Chairman of the Youth Committee,pledged the efforts of youth in retaining an involvementin the affairs of the handicappedtoday and tomorrow.

Young people are searching for meaning in life thatcomes in the service to others, she said. Activities forthe handicapped help to provide this meaning.

Dr. Mayo quoted from Alvin Takes "Future Shock"to show the urgency of our concern for the future:

"If the last 50,000 years of m,m's existence were di-vided into lifetimes of 62 years each, there have beenabout 800 such lifetimes. Of these, fully 650 werespent in caves. Only during the last 70 lifetimes hasit been possible to communicate through writing.Only in the last two has anyone used an electricmotor. Most of the material goods we use in dailylife have been developed within the present, the800th, lifetime."This 800th lifetime marks a sharp break with thepast. We have not merely extended the scope ofchange, we have radically altered its pace."We have cut ourselves off from old ways of think-ing. We have set the stage for a new society. This isthe crux of the 800th lifetime. Can we adapt to it?"

TOMORROW'S AIDS FOR THE HANDICAPPED

Dr. Charles H. Epps of D.C. General Hospital tookover to present a demonstration of some of the devicesfor the handicapped that hold promise of better daysand fuller lives in the future.

He demonstrated an innovative electric chart forhandicapped children that gives them great mobility.

Friday Morning . . .

And he also showed an electrically-operated prostheticarm and elbow that could do much more than current-day artificial arms.

Next, Lloyd W. Salisbury of the Army Medical Bio-mechanical Research Laboratory at Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center demonstrated a prosthetic device thatoperates by voice control. In a sense, you speak at itand it obeys.

The Optaconan amazing device that convertsprinted words into sensations that the blind can feelwith their fingerswas demonstrated by ProfessorJohn G. Linvill, Chairman of the Electrical EngineeringDepartment at Stanford University in California.

With this device, a blind person was able to pick upthe Annual Meeting program and "read" itwith adegree of fluency.

The Stereotonera similar device that convertsprinted letters into musical toneswas demonstrated byHans A. Mauch, president of Mauci. Laboratories inDayton, Ohio.

Ronald Lipskin, staff engineer of the BioengineeringResearch Service of the Veterans Administration Pros-thetics Center in New York City, demonstrated a dailyactivity devicea control board that could turn on thetelevision, turn on the lights, operate electrical appli-ances of all kinds, and perform a myriad of other tasks.The entire apparatus could be easily operated by ahandicapped person from his bed or his chair. Therewas no need for him to move about the room.

Then Haig Kafafian, president of Cybernetics Re-search Institute In Washington, D.C., demonstrated hisinnovative communication devices, the Cybercom andthe Cybertype, among others.

These are forms of typewriters that can be handledby persons with all types of disabilities. Some operateby blowing breath into a tube which activates the keyes.Others operate by donning special gloves which acti-vate the keys when fingers are brought together. Stillothers convert letters into braille. Adaptations are end-less.

The entire demonstration hinted at the hope thatlies ahead for the handicapped in society. Pathwaysfor independence, avenues for communication, roads toenriched livesthese are the end results of the scien-tific endeavors going on today.

39

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Left to right: Timothy W. Horan, Laura Richardson,Joni Stipe, Harry L Gilbert, Renee Dunlap, andDAV National Commander Edward T. Conroy.

AWARDS PRESENTATIONS

Next, Chairman Harold Russell and Edward T. ron-roy, National Commander of the Disabled AmericanVeterans, presented awards to the national winners ofthe "Ability Counts" writing contest for high schoolstudents. Prizes were donated by the DAV; trips toWashington not only for the five prize-winners but forwinners in all the 50 States, were donated by the AFL-CIO. The prize-winners:

First: $1,000Harry L. Gilbert, Reno High School, Reno, Nev.

Second: $600Renee Dunlap, Waverly High School, Waverly,

IowaThird: $400

Joni Stipe, McAlester High School, McAlester,Okla.

Fourth: $300Laura Richardson, Newberry High School, New-

berry, S.C.Filth: $200

Timothy W. Horan, Riverside High School, De-lanco, N.J.

Finally, awards were presented to the winners of thefirst national poster contest of the President's Commit.

40

Left to right: AMVETS iational Commander Joe F. Ramsey, Jr.;Stephen Wise; Robert Clark, Jr.; and Dominick Strada,President of the AMVETS National Service Foundation.

tee. Prizes of $1,C00 each were donated by theAMVETS of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

The winners:First prize, high school category : Robert Clark, Jr.,

Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School, Bethle-hem, Pa.

First prize, college category, Stephen Wise, HerronSchool of Art, Indianapolis, Ind.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The panels on Thursday afternoon did more thandiscuss issues. They hammered out recommendationsfor action, to be presented to the President's Commit-tee. These recommendations were read to the audienceon Friday morning. They are contained in the nextsection of these Minutes.

"A PLACE FOR ME"

The Annual Meeting closed as it had opened, withthe touching and hopeful song from "West Side Story,""Somewhere There's a Place For Me," presented byspecial arrangement with its composer Leonard Bern-stein.

REHABILITATION

1. To enhance consumer participation in therehabilitation process, clients should beread their "rights" to rehabilitation, muchas police read "rights" to arrested of-fenders.

2. The rehabilitation plan should be made acontract between the counselor and theclient.

3. The formation of consumer advisorygroups should be encouraged by rehabili-tation agencies.

EMPLOYMENT

1. The President's Committee should workwith the Small IBusiness Admi "nisi:anion todevelop a plasm encouraging soolpientsof SBA loanskitm_-rhire handicapped em-ployees.

2. The Presidentestrammittee should directits promotionniwitorts at polity-makersin American. linsiiMess and indignity, toattain poliCiam.fiantrable to employmentof the handiempoi

M. The Presidentrwilliszamittee shouiittenpandits efforts to remik doe small bu *sinessmanof America.

4. Special prom" emphasis should begiven to layilig sit rest the myths aboutworkmen's compensation and health in-surance in relation to the handicapped.

5. The Medical Committee of the President'sCommittee should increase its efforts toencourage medical directors of businessand industry to make realistic use of phys-ical examinations as a means of properplacement and not as a means of screen-ing out the handicapped.

6. The President's Committee should encour-age the development of a certificationprogram for the handicapped who arework-ready, to be used in increasing theiremployment opportunities.

Recommendations . . .

BETTER LIVING

1. The Federal Government should conducta survey of the handicapped in Americaand should furnish such statistics to thosedeiirous of obtaining housing financingfor the handicapped.

2. There should be barrier-free housing unitsin all public and private multiple housing.This should be a requirement of Federallaw, with punitive clauses if builders donot comply.

3. There should be dial-a-ride transportationsystems for the handicapped and elderly,with fares set at a level they can afford.

4. If dial-a-ride transportation is not avail-able, then all public transportation sys-temsair, rail, bus,-subway, etc.shouldbe modified for fullvisage by the handi-capped and elderly.

S. The President's Committee should con-sider changing its name to be mere de-scriptive of its functions in areas otherthan employment.

LEGISLATION

1. The name of the President's Committeeshould be changed to President's Advo-cate for the Handicapped.

2. Staff and funds of the President's Com-mittee should be increased so that positiveaction can be taken for all aspects ofhandicapped, living.

3. The President's Committee should greatlybroaden its mission, philosophy and scopeof activities to include all living aspectsof the handicapped.

4. The President's Committee should recom-mend to Congress the enactment of legis-lation which would provide accessibilityto all public and private facilities, trans-portation and housing, and to all placesof all kinds available to the general public.

43

This law should call for penalties for non-compliance. The presumption should bethat there is a denial of civil rights wherea handicapped person is denied admit-tance anywhere because of barriers.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

1. The handicapped must become more ac-tivist, more articulate, better able to speakout in their own behalf.

2. There is need for a national program en-titling every adulthandicapped includedto additional education and training toequip him with skills to enhance his em-ployability in this fast-changing society.

3. Public relations programs in behalf of thehandicapped should remain sensitive tochanges in the requirements andaieeds ofthe mass media.

4. The handicapped themselves should takepart in any promotional or educationalcampaign. Visible demonstrations of theirown capabilities can be powerful !tools inchanging attitudes.

5. "Hire the Handicapped" promotional ef-forts must be never-ending. They shouldnot be limited to National Employ theHandicapped Week alone. They shouldgo on the year round.

RECREATION

1. There should be a public education cam-paign to develop greater understanding

44

and acceptance of the handicapped incommunity recreation.

2. Recreation should be interpreted to in-clude arts, crafts, music, hobbies, serviceprojects, etc., as well as sports and ath-letics. This interpretation can increaseopportunities for the handicapped.

3. There should be greater opportunities forinvolvement of the handicapped in allaspects of recreation programmingin-cluding staffing and volunteer activities.

4. Recreation, park and leisure-time employ-ers should be informed of the potentialsof handicapped employees.

5. All recreation, park and leisure servicefacilities should be accessible to the handi-capped.

"ARTICULATE MINORITY"

1. There is need for all disability groups tojoin forces in the rsttuggle for civil rightslegislation for the handicapped.

2. There is need. for a defense fund to provide legal services to light discriminationin Oats forms.

3. There is need for social science researchstudies as tools to be used in .future liti-gation.

4. There :is need for a forum whereby anpertinent issues dealing with legal rightsof minority groupshandicapped includ-edcan be aired.

5. is need Ifor the handicapped tospeak out for ,their7rights, and to takeincreasing responsibility for their owndestinies.

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(:) Members-al e,Committee y Handicappeddiscuss jobtliktementally re* ---16""-- ntallyrestored at.alliimptaimmnsimeting onWednesday,?,.....atrefore theopening sessiiiip`alinnual Meeting.Committee rn .esillitimasiebsorreviewed progressmade in:the ars whichranged from oyment programsfor the retard eiliftiagnumernmentto establishmemployer councils_at many mentatitiad.s.

(DI Executive Committee Chairman Mayo,PCEH Chairman Russell, andPCEH Vice Chairman Jayne Spain (right)present Administrative.OfficerDorothy DemniganiaAame=of-a-kind plaquecommemorating0 yearsservice to RCEHkandarotissExecutive Cornmittee.-

A WEEK OF ACTIVITIES

The entire week of the Annual Meeting was filledwith events pertaining to the handicapped.

The Job Placement Division of the National Reha-bilitation Association held a board meeting . . . Re-habilitation International's U.S. Committee held aBoard meeting ... The Council of State Administratorsof Vocational Rehabilitation met . The States Ex-ecutive Committee, representing Chairmen and Secre-taries of Governors' Committees, held a meeting . .Standing Committees of the President's CommitteeDisabled Veterans, Women's, Physically Handicapped,Mentally Handicapped, Workshops, Medical, RuralAreas, Educationheld meetings.

PREP "SYMPOSIUM

A symposium, "Partners In Disabilities," conductedby the Partners Rehabilitation Education Program(PREP), was held in the Pan American Health Or-ganization, with simultaneous translations to accom-modate foreign guests.

Professor John Jordan, National Director of PREP,cited a survey of the needs of the handicapped in Cen-tral America and Panama, conducted by PREP and theOrganization of American States.

Next, a number of "partners" presentCentralAmericans and their North American coworkersde-scribed their cooperative activities. The "partners:"Belize/Michigan; El Salvador/Louisiana; Parana,Brazil/Ohio; Honduras/Vermont; Panama/Delaware;Costa Rica/Oregon; Ecuador/Kentucky; Pernambuco,Brazil/Georgia; Antioquia, Colombia/Massachusetts;Nicaragua/Wisconsin; Yucatan, Mexico/Iowa; Guate-mala/Alabama; Brasilia, Brazil/D. C.; Sao Paolo,Brazil/Illinois.

The cooperative efforts have uncovered many needsfor the handicapped in the Central American area:

A need to decentralize existing services for thehandicapped, to bring them into the interiors ofthe countries.A need to train teachers of the handicapped andto train technicians in prosthetics and orthopedics.

Other Events . . .

A need to improve vocational training facilitiesfor the handicapped.

The cooperative efforts also have brought about grog.ress, directly and indirectly:

In Et Salvador, the PREP committee has formu-lated basic recommendations to the governmentfor the improvement of rehabilitation services, andhas offered to assist the government in their im-plementation.In Guatemala, the Ministry of Labor has created afull -time office to promote employment of the han-dicapped, and has asked that this office be repre-sented on the Guatamalan PREP Committee.In Panama, the nation's new Labor Code requiresthat any firm with more than 100 employees hireat least one graduate of the Panamanian Reha-bilitation Institute.

Among other international activities was a luncheonsponsored by the People-to-People Committee, for theHandicapped. Speaker was Alan Reich, Deputy As-sistant Secretary of State for Educational and CulturalAffairs.

Two busloads of guests visited the Australian Em-bassy for a tour and for orientation on Australia, inconnection with the forthcoming Twelfth World Con-gress.

Final event was a reception at the Department ofState for foreign visitors, members of the diplomaticcorps, officials in the field of the handicapped andother honored guests. The reception was sponsored bythe People-to-People Committee for the Handicapped,the People-to-People Federation and the Departmentof State.

DISABLED IN ACTION

"Disabled In Action," young organization of handi-capped men and women, conducted a panel at the An-nual Meeting on the need for more activism by thehandicapped themselves to assure their full role as pro.ductive members of society.

DIA also staged the Nation's first "National Advo-cacy Day for the Disabled"a march by the handi-capped from the Washington Hilton Hotel to the Capi-tol on Friday, May 5.

The march, they pointed out, marked the beginningof what they called "National Civil Rights Week for theDisabled," which they described as "a concerted, struc-tured effort to raise the collective consciousness ofAmerica, to come before our fellow-citizens with theneglected needs and bypassed problems of physicallyand mentally disabled Americans . . ."

Some of the specific neglected needs, they said, werethese:

A denial of the right to equal educational oppor-tunities because of discriminatory admission pol-icies and architectural barriers.Exclusion from public transportation, and fromadequate public housing.Denial of jobs for the sole reason of handicaps,even though otherwise qualified.Denial of full access to public buildings, even to

public streets because of high curbs, and to otherpublic facilities which the handicapped can't makeuse of.Exploitation in the form of high prices for drugsand special equipment for the handicapped.

The march started in mid-morning, under sunnyskies. More than 100 handicapped people walked orwere wheeled to the Capitol.

Reaching the Capitol for a noon rally, they foundthey had to be carried up, the West steps. There wasno other way for the handicapped to get in.

Speakers at the rally included Judy Heumann, presi-dent of Disabled in Action, and Senator Harrison Wil-liams who has proposed legislation setting up a Presi-dential conferuice on the handicapped as well as anoffice on the handicapped within the Secretary's officeat the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

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THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEEON EMPLOYMENT OFTHE HANDICAPPED

WASHINGTON. D.C. 20210

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POSTAGE AND FEES PAIDTHE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE

ON EMPLOYMENT OFTHE HANDICAPPED

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