May 5, 2004
By Dawn Harris, Mayor’s Teen Advisory Council Young Adult Publicist
In the United States of America, there is a group of people who are treated as if they are
second-class citizens. This group of people has the same rights as anybody else, but their
fellow citizens simply don’t believe in them, and teach them not to believe in themselves.
As a whole, society assumes that they cannot perform competently. They are treated with
sympathy and condescension rather than with respect and friendship. In our land of
equality, we all too often leave them behind. Although many of us may try to deny our
part in it, we often view people with disabilities in this way. We just don’t believe they
can function as an able-bodied person can. This attitude is wide-spread, and harmful for
our nation. However, many people who have worked with people with disabilities are
able to combat this attitude in our nation.
Penny Rose is the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Program Director for The Arc. Her job
is to teach prevention as she speaks to over 3,000 people yearly about FAS. Penny Rose
has a special reason to be passionate about her job. She is a recovered drug addict, and
has three children who were exposed to drugs prenatally. Although her children were not
adversely affected by their prenatal exposure, she understands FAS better than most.
After spending time in prison because of her addiction, she was given the opportunity to
help others through her experiences. “When I got out of prison in 2001, ironically, the
Federal Government hired me to head up the FAS program.” She works at The Arc, a
non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with
disabilities. Through Rose’s position at The Arc, she has had the privilege of working
with many people with disabilities. In working with them, she has found acceptance and
help as she has continued to recover from the effects of drug addiction. She relates, “To
these people with disabilities, it didn’t matter that I came out of prison.” Through
working with people with disabilities for the past three years, Rose has learned a lot, and
has plenty to share with the rest of our community.
Rose believes that most people in our nation view people with disabilities in the wrong
way. “What is noticed first is the disability. They are people first, before their
disability.” It is important that people understand this so that they can better understand
people with disabilities. We must “presume competence” at all times. All too often,
when people in our society see a person using a wheelchair, or a person with an obvious
disability, they assume that he or she cannot function competently. However, Rose
relates many examples that contradict this wide-spread assumption. She tells of a young
man with FAS who has an amazing gift with computers, another young man with autism
who can hold down three jobs, and a young woman with Cerebral Palsy who runs a
beading club, teaches Sunday School, and will attend San Juan College in the fall. Each
of these young people not only live and function well in our society, they each have
special gifts.
To Penny Rose, every person placed on this earth has a gift. “God puts people of all
shapes and sizes, with disabilities or without, so that we can learn from each other.
Everybody is here to teach each other. Maybe people with disabilities are here to teach
all of us not to take life for granted – not to take anything for granted.” We must realize
that the differences between an able-bodied person and a person with a disability are
relatively few. Rose points out that on any given day, one can lose their ability to walk,
move, see, or hear. As a matter of fact, it is possible to wake up able-bodied and receive
a disabling injury in the course of a day. Rose reminds us to be thankful for every
blessing that we have, realizing that it could be gone tomorrow.
In order for our society to see that all people have value and competence, we must
eliminate our assumptions about people who are different from us. Rose states,
“Ignorance is a choice. A lot of people have chosen to stay stuck in that way of
thinking.” We must appreciate all the members of our society, respecting them and
learning from them. Penny Rose has been able to do this. She tells us, “I’m inspired
every day.” As a community, we must appreciate all people, so that we too can be
inspired every day.
Note: The following letters have been printed in the Teen Zone, but are being re-printed
to accompany the article featuring Penny Rose from The Arc.
Touching People’s Lives
Sierra Rasmussen
Throughout my life I have overcome many obstacles, which I have worked very hard to
achieve. My major accomplishment is how I’ve changed many peoples’ perception of
people with disabilities. People with disabilities are often judged by their appearance, but
each one can offer a special gift. You might not be able to reach a person, but a special
need person might bring out the best in them. I have had this experience many times.
When I was in 7th grade, I had a class where my aide couldn’t be with me. There was this
girl who was a troublemaker and Mrs. Roe asked her to help me. After a while she
started coming to class more because she knew she had a responsibility. Her grades
started coming up since I helped her with class work. My mom met with Mrs. Roe and
told her about this. She said although she was helping Sierra, Sierra was helping her
more.
Last year, I had Mrs. White and again my aide couldn’t be with me. I had a friend in
there that I lost track of, but we got reacquainted. On projects we would always work
together, she would do the drawing and I would do the math. Mrs. White said that I
helped Elizabeth feel important and over come the fear of computers. I just found out
that Mrs. White’s mom was a principal and she was worried about a new student with
C.P. (cerebral Palsy). So Mrs. White told her about me and I guess it gave her some
relief. It makes me feel good when I can touch people and not even realize I did.
My grandpa was a crusty old cowboy. He was a strict, stern man, but it was a different
story when I came around. I had him wrapped around my finger. My uncle is exactly
like his dad. Although his exterior was rough and gruff, I know he’s just a big teddy bear
inside. My main purpose in life is to open peoples’ eyes to something they’ve never
seen.
I have paved a way for others to follow and I hope it continues to grow. It amazes me
how I can touch people I’ve never met. Even though I don’t like my C.P., I know that it
is a gift I can use. I have changed a lot of peoples’ minds about disabled people. You
can be an influence to some just by how you live, so be the best you can be.
Living with a Disability
By Shawn Aaron Wolfe
My name is Shawn Wolf, and I was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal Alcohol
Effect, bipolar disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, anger and depression.
I do know what it is like to be “different” and “weird”. I have been able to see what my
life has in store for me. People told me that I would never be able to graduate from high
school, and now I have a diploma on a wall in my house.
As I am different from other people, I am also a lot better with disable children. I have
spent my life trying to help other people, and help them cope with their problems. In
that, it helps me understand that my problems are not as sever as the people I am trying to
help. I love working with kids and that is where I feel the real me can come out.
People don’t realize that disabled children/adults are two in the same. We share the same
problems then as we do now. People have a hard time realizing that we are people before
we are disabled people. We too have a life to live.
When I was growing up, I was told that I would not make it through life and that I would
be a “nothing” or a “no one”. That I would never have a good job and that I would never
have a family. But those things are a choice to have or not to have. I choose to live my
life the way I want to and to the best of my ability.
I do know what it is like to be “different”, but I am me. I will stay being me. Foremost, I
am going to stay being me. I love the fact that I can life my life the way I want to live it.
Be yourself! Don’t ever let anyone say that you can’t because of a disability.
San Juan County is third in teen, alcohol-related fatalities in the state of New Mexico.
Each year, San Juan County teens are killed by the drunk driving in our community.
It makes sense, then, that youth should be involved in preventing drunk driving. That is
why Mothers Against Drunk Driving gives youth the opportunity to be involved through
MADD Youth In Action. Youth in Action will be having a meeting on May 13, and will
be giving youth the opportunity to give their ideas on how we can combat drunk driving
and underage drinking in our community. If you are interested in fighting drunk driving,
come to the Farmington Public Library on May 13 at 7 P.M. For more information,
contact YIA’s Young Adult Leader, Dawn Harris at 632-0702. You can also e-mail the
Teen Zone for more information at teenzone@infoway.org.