MAG

AZINE

VO

LUM

E2008 S

AND

RA

LEE

APRM

AYT

HE

VO

ICE

OF

OVER

50 MILLIO

NA

MER

ICAN

S

US

$4

99 V

olum

e 200

8 Sa

ndra

Lee

AprM

ay

2 ABILITY

2 ABILITY

ABILITY 33 ABILITY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFChet Cooper

MANAGING EDITORPamela K Johnson

MANAGING HEALTH EDITORE Thomas Chappell MD

HEALTH EDITORSGillian Friedman MDLarry Goldstein MDNatalia Ryndin MD

CONTRIBUTING SENATORUS Sen Tom Harkin (D-IA)

EDITORSDahvi FischerRenne GardnerSonnie GutierrezEve Hill JDGlenn LockhartJosh PateDenise Riccobon RNMaya Sabatello PhD JD Romney Snyder Jane Wollman Rusoff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSCourtney GaleLinda Boone HuntGale Kamen PhDLaurance Johnston PhDAndrea KardonskyDeborah Max Myles Mellor - Crossword PuzzlePaula Pearlman JDRichard PimentelAllen RuckerKristen McCarthy ThomasBetsy Valnes

HUMOR WRITERSGeorge Covington JDJeff CharleboisGene Feldman JD

WEB EDITORJoy Cortes

GRAPHIC ARTILLUSTRATIONScott JohnsonPaul KimMelissa Murphy - Medical Illustration

PHOTOGRAPHYSki UtahChris Apedaile

TRANSCRIPTIONISTSandy Adler

The views expressed in this issue maynot be those of ABILITY Magazine

Library of Congress Washington DC ISSN 1062-5321

copy Copyright 2008 ABILITY Magazine

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AFFAIRSJohn Noble JD

MARKETINGPROMOTIONSJo-Anne BirdwellJacqueline MigellAndrew Spielberg

PUBLIC RELATIONSJSPR

NEWSSTAND CIRCULATIONJohn Cappello

EDITORIALEditorialABILITYmagazinecom

NON-PROFITSABILITY AwarenessHabitat for Humanity International

PUBLISHERCR Cooper

Ext

rem

ity G

ames

Par

alym

pic

Gam

es B

eijin

g

Mus

ic W

ithin

AB

ILIT

Yrsquos

Cro

ssw

ord

Puz

zle

7 HEADLINES mdash NYrsquos New Gov Dancing with Marlee Errata CVS

10 GREEN PAGES mdash Living With Ed Fair Trade Goodies

13 BEST PRACTICES mdash Companies Doing It Right

14 STARBUCKS mdash A New Perspective on Diversity

18 PEPSICO mdash Effervescent Corporate Culture

22 SKIING UTAH mdash Everyone Gets to the Mountaintop

28 ACCESSIBLE ALASKA mdash Cruising the Wilderness

30 DRLC mdash Removing Barriers to Education

32 OUCH mdash The First in a Series on Managing Pain

34 SENATOR HARKIN mdash Voting Access for All

36 BIG BRAIN mdash Does Size Matter

40 SANDRA LEE mdash How to Cook with Rheumatoid Arthritis

48 ALLEN RUCKER mdash Ahhh A Trip to the Spa

52 ROHAN MURPHY mdash Paralympic Powerhouse

58 WALTER REED mdash Performing for the Troops

60 CROSSWORD PUZZLE mdash Guess Your Best

62 GEORGE COVINGTON mdash A Great Judge of Black Eye Peas

64 EVENTS amp CONFERENCES

74 SUBSCRIBE TO ABILITY MAGAZINE

ABILITY Magazine is published bimonthly by CR Cooper 8941 Atlanta Ave HB CA 92646(ISSN 1062-5321) All Rights Reserved

Subscriptions $2970 per 1 year (6 issues) Periodicals postage rates at Irvine CA and at additional mailing officesPOSTMASTER Send address changes to ABILITY Magazine Attention Subscriptions Manager

PO Box 10878 Costa Mesa CA 92627 Volume 2008 Sandra Lee AprilMay

Printed in USA

CO

NT

EN

TS

Seen ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo p18

All Access Aboard p26

How big is your brain p36

Utah Me tah p22

ADVERTISINGFor advertising

information e mail advertisingabilitymagazinecom

or call949854-8700 ext 306

DISTRIBUTIONWarner Publishing Services A Time-Warner CompanyFaxon - RoweCom Library

Services Ebsco - Library Services

Swets Blackwell

CORPORATE SHIPPING8941 Atlanta Ave

Huntington Beach CA 92627Tel 9498548700TTY 9495485157Fax 9495485966

WWWABILITYMAGAZINECOM

Alaska Adventure

ABILITY 55 ABILITY ABILITY 55 ABILITY

ABILITY 55 ABILITY ABILITY 55 ABILITY

6 ABILITY

ABILITY 7

n the wake of Elliot Spitzerrsquos resignation NewYork inaugurated its first black head of stateDavid Paterson Hersquos the countryrsquos first governorwho is legally blind and the third black governor

of any state since the Reconstruction era Born inBrooklyn in 1954 he is the son of Basil a former StateSenator who later served as Deputy Mayor and NewYorkrsquos Secretary of State

An early childhood infection left David Paterson withlimited vision He went on to graduate from ColumbiaUniversity and Hofstra Law School has completed aNew York Marathon and is an adjunct professor atColumbia He and wife Michelle have a son Alex13 and a daughter Ashley 19 from her previous mar-riage Here is an excerpt from his recent inaugurationspeech

mdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdash

The last time I was in this chamber I was gaveling infor the State of the State and Speaker Silver

brought me in here to practice so I didnrsquot destroy any-thing in our first year But in our second year I saidlsquoDonrsquot bother I know how to do thisrsquo

Apparently I was about to bring the gavel down on aglass like this one

The speaker at the last second grabbed the gavel awayfrom me and told me in his own inimitable way I willnot allow you to turn the State of the State into a Jewishwedding

In so many ways we woke this morning to a not-so-ordinary day But in one way we woke this morning toa New York dawn that is like every other one thatcame before it For today like we always do we moveforward

Of course I never expected to have the honor of servingas governor of New York State This transition is an his-toric message to the world that we live among the samevalues that we profess and that we are a government of

I

laws and not individuals Today we can be proud of ourdemocracy

There is work to be done Therersquos trust that needs to berestored There are issues that need to be addressed Ifwe are going to build a viable future for New York weare going to have to help single mothers who have twojobs We are going to have to give children betterschools and families who donrsquot have health care someredress

I learned about government right here in this Legisla-ture I studied the same issues and had the same expe-riences hopes and frustrations as so many other NewYorkers I am chagrined at the high cost of educationfor my family And the prohibitive price of health care

I have talked to New Yorkers for decades about thecrumbling upstate economy the crush of property taxesand the lack of affordable housing These are issuesthat we will continue to focus on and address but wecan do more

I have a vision for New York Itrsquos a New York whereachievement is developed only from hard work wheredoors are always open and where anyone can achieveno matter where they live

Let us right here and now grab the unusual opportu-nities that circumstance has handed us today and putpersonal politics party advantage and power strugglesaside in favor of service in the interests of the people

I have worked most of my life for New Yorkers andfought for New Yorkers I believe that if we standtogether our collective talent will bring us to a bet-ter period

We donrsquot know the path yet But thatrsquos because wehavenrsquot blazed the trail And I think you all know thatI know a little bit about finding onersquos way throughthe dark

Let me tell you a little about myself

I was born in the borough of Brooklyn I was educatedon Long Island Harlem is my home This is where Ilearned love for family and appreciation for community

I have confronted the prejudice of race and challengedthe issues of my own disability I have served in govern-ment for over two decades I stand willing and able tolead this state to a brighter future and a better tomor-row Let me reintroduce myself I am David Patersonand I am the governor of New York State

wwwnygovgovernor

CALL HIM GOVERNORDavid Paterson Steps Up

8 ABILITY

he Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) Sum-mer Youth Camp marks its ninth year with amove to Clarksville OH The new locationaccommodates even more children who have

limb loss or limb difference than was possible in its pre-vious Warm Springs GA home

The camp will be held July 20-24 with kids from 10 to16 enjoying horseback riding swimming dancing fish-ing and more Theyrsquoll also participate in team-buildingactivities which will provide an opportunity to learnfrom peers and junior counselors who are alsoamputees The Joy Outdoor Education Center ofClarksville serves as the host of this yearsrsquo event

There are an estimated 70000 children living with limbloss in the US according to ACA a non-profit organi-zation that works for men and women who have experi-enced an amputation or are born with limb differences

ldquoThis will be the second summer that we have a JuniorCounselor Program said Paddy Rossbach ACA presi-dent and CEO The six counselors are former campersthey are now 17 and 18 and have come back to volunteer

The camp fee is $500 per child However no one willbe excluded because of a familyrsquos inability to pay Ross-bach said Fee waiver forms are available

For an application go tohttpwwwamputee-coalitionorgyouth_camp_camper_2008pdf

For more information on ACA visithttpwwwamputee-coalitionorg

T

o launch her Dancing With the Stars career con-testant Marlee Matlin had been training severalhours a day at this writing Though none of thisyearrsquos batch of hopefuls had ever danced in the

pro ranks she had the additional challenge of beingdeaf But shersquos said that has not been a problem

Though shersquos never heard a single music note shersquosexpected to step twirl dip smile clap spin and jumpin time with the rhythm For that she relies on profes-sional partner Fabian Sanchez

lsquorsquoHersquos my musicrsquorsquo she says

Some of the dances Sanchez modifies a bit so that heand Matlin are in more physical andor visual contactBut he maintains that lsquorsquoshersquos got a natural rhythm and ison time every single timersquorsquo

Sanchez a dance instructor from Birmingham AL sug-gests that Matlin might be even easier to train thanmany who can hear ldquobecause shersquos not trying to followthe rhythm on her ownrsquorsquo

Matlin is an Emmy-nominated TV vet who won theAcademy Award for best actress in 1986rsquos Children of aLesser God She is also a mother of four including herinspiration 12-year-old daughter Sara a hip-hop dancerand fan of the show

lsquorsquoI just want to be the cool momrsquorsquo Matlin says aboutcompeting

Her co-stars this season include radio host Adam Carol-la magician Penn Jillette pro football player Jason Tay-lor tennis champ Monica Seles Olympic skater KristiYamaguchi RampB singer Mario and actors Steve Gutten-berg Shannon Elizabeth Christian de la Fuente Priscil-la Presley and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Each weeksomeone gets voted off the show until they winnowdown to a winner)

Executive producer Conrad Green says assembling adiverse cast contributes to the showrsquos success His teamlooks for contestants of various ages sizes abilities andprofessional pursuits Heather Mills who uses a pros-thetic leg lasted seven weeks last season

lsquorsquoItrsquos incumbent on everyone in television to try to openup television to people with disabilitiesrsquorsquosays Green

wwwabcgocom

T

oodwill Industries International and LearningCurve Brands have joined forces to create a 12-room dollhouse that promotes caring and sharinggood manners responsibility around the house

and more Coming this summer to a store near you theCaring Corners Mrs Goodbee Interactive Dollhousewill cost about $80

As part of the experience children are encouraged to fillMrs Goodbeersquos ldquoCarton of Caringrdquo (the box that thedollhouse comes in) with gently-used clothing and toysthey no longer need and donate them to Goodwill a net-work of 184 independent community-based organiza-tions in the US Canada and 14 other countries Theclothing and toys will be sold in its stores and the pro-ceeds will help fund the organizationrsquos job training pro-grams in the various communities it serves

ldquoDonating the things you no longer need is a form ofcharity in which anyone regardless of age can partici-paterdquo says George W Kessinger president and CEO ofGoodwill Industries International ldquoTogether parents

GTOY TEACHES KIDS

Do the Right Thing

NEW ACA CAMP Bigger and Better

THE MUSIC WITHINMatlinrsquos Got the Moves

ABILITY 9

new free web-based service from Sprint Web-CapTel(r) allows a person who can speak but haschallenges hearing over the phone to read word-for-word captions of their calls on a web brows-

er This new service is expected to help an estimated 23million Americans with hearing loss who may facechallenges hearing over the telephone

ldquoWe are always looking for ways to offer unique andeasy user experiences for our customers This new solu-tion from Sprint will offer the hard-of-hearing commu-nity the ability to enjoy the benefits of a natural phoneconversation by accessing real-time web-based cap-tionsrdquo says Mike Ligas director of Sprint Relay

With the new service users can make and receive callson their own telephone cell phone land-line or even anamplified phone During the call if they have difficultyhearing what is being said they can log into a dedicatedwebsite and read written captions of everything theircaller says Captions appear virtually at the same time asthe person speaks allowing users to enjoy a natural tele-phone conversation

This new service is available almost anywhere with aphone and internet access on a computer Even usingamplified phones the WebCapTel(r) will capture theaudio of the person speaking to the user and will changespoken sounds into words that can be read When dis-played on a web browser the user can change the fontsize color and even background When a call is com-pleted the user can save the captioned conversation forlater review allowing the user to concentrate on beinginvolved in the conversation

ldquoWebCapTel puts people with hearing loss back in con-trol of their own telephone conversationsmdashany timeanywheremdashby capitalizing on the convenience andprevalence of the Internetrdquo states Robert Engelke pres-ident of Ultratec Inc the company that developed Cap-Tel technology

ldquoIt gives people with hearing loss the confidence to relyon their telephones again leveling the playing field forprofessional opportunities in social situations and inmatters of personal safetyrdquo

The service is free to Sprint customers anywhere in theUnited States and within the US territories Howevercalls to or from international locations such as Canadaor Mexico are not applicable

To learn more visitwwwsprintcaptelcom

A

ost Baby Boomers underestimate their risk ofacquiring a disability that would cause them tomiss work for an extended period of timeaccording to a new survey conducted by Harris

Interactive on behalf of Americarsquos Health InsurancePlans (AHIP) The study also found that Baby Boomersare unaware of the most common causes of disabilityand donrsquot seem to be too concerned about them

This lack of awareness presents a significant threat totheir continued financial security said Karen Ignagnipresident and CEO of AHIP ldquoWhen individuals under-estimate their risk of disability they are less likely toprotect their income and are more vulnerable to thefinancial hardship that a disability can causerdquo

More than a third of Baby Boomers think the chances ofbecoming disabled due to illness or injury is five per-cent or less a slight majority think the chances are 10percent or less and two-thirds think the chances are 20percent or less In reality a worker has a 30 percentchance of acquiring a disabling injury or illness causinghim or her to miss three or more months of work beforereaching retirement according to the Social SecurityAdministration

The survey also found that nearly half (47 percent) ofBaby Boomers say they are not too concerned about theprospect of a disabling injury or illness

One of the reasons Boomers underestimate their risk isthe mistaken belief that injuries cause more disabilitiesthan illnesses According to the survey Boomers believethe most common causes of disability are back muscle orjoint problems (26 percent) injuries on the job (18 per-cent) and injuries off the job (16 percent) Howeverresearch shows that the most common causes of disabilityare illnesses such as cancer heart disease and diabetes

The survey found that most Baby Boomers accuratelybelieve they are more likely to acquire a disability thanpremature death and that most disabilities occur outsideof the workplace

For more on the survey findings go tohttpwwwahiporgcontentdefaultaspxdocid=22626

M

and children can explore how their donations go towardputting people to work and building stronger communities

ldquoChildren can feel good because their donations willhelp people earn a paycheck which helps them supportthemselves and their familiesrdquo says Kessinger

Goodwill which has 2100 retail stores nationwide alsoprovides employment services job placement opportu-nities and post-employment support

wwwshopgoodwillcomwwwlearningcurvecom

Correction In our last issue we misquoted CVSrsquos EileenHoward Dunn We wrote that her programs aim to help childrenldquolearn play and feedrdquo when she actually said that they aredesigned to help them ldquolearn play and succeedrdquo The erroroccurred in transcription

CAPTIONED CONVERSATIONSSprint Adds New Bells amp Whistles

BOOMERS VULNERABLEGroup Underestimates Risk

10 ABILITY

YOU TOO CAN LIVE WITH ED

Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with some of my greenie antics (likepouring a hundred pounds of concrete into the middle of the backyard lawn so I canhave an outdoor clothesline) but when we sit back and watch Living With Ed I feel

totally vindicated and give him a good punch in the arm saying ldquoSee I could bedoing all this stuff to the houserdquo

If you havenrsquot caught an episode of this HGTV show yoursquore missing out on someserious eco-cool not to mention quite a few laughs) ldquoHostedrdquo by long-time envi-ronmentalistuber-greenie Ed Begley Jr and his wife of 13 years Rachelle Car-son Living With Ed is sort of The Odd Couple meets Green Acres meetsLifestyles of the Rich Yet Responsible The show follows Begley and Carsonaround as he works to save the world and she while also concerned aboutglobal warming and the like craves a really really long shower once in awhile

Their show now in its second season is full of great information and quickgreen tips Even better Living With Ed Season 1 is now out on DVD SoImdashum youmdashcan kick it with the Begleyrsquos anytime yoursquod like

wwwlivingwithednet wwwhgtvcom

DISH DOODIE

Itrsquos more a matter of habit than anything We clear the table rinse thedishes and plop them into the dishwasher Isnrsquot that akin to hosing our-selves down before we get into the shower Fact is unless your dish-washer is ancient rinsing dishes glasses and utensils is unnecessarynot to mention wasteful Simply scrape off any particles with a wetsponge and load away

Next best If you must rinse your dishes (either because you had a par-ticularly messy meal or you run your washer infrequently) you can fill

the sink with water once and give your dishes a quick dip rather thanrunning the faucet

Also you know that sprayer do-hickey that tends to sit idly by while yourinse your dishes with water from the faucet Give it a go Like a shower-

head kitchen sprayers break the water stream into tiny droplets According tothe Environmental Protection Agency spray taps use 50 percent to 90 percentless water to rinse than when you use the faucet

The other thing to consider is that the hours following dinner tend to behigh-demand energy usage times You can cut energy costs by running the

dishwasher later in the evening perhaps before you turn in at nightAlso half-full dish loads are a huge waste of water and energy as yourdishwasher uses the same amount no matter how much is in it So be sureto load it up before you hit ldquostartrdquo and donrsquot forget to put the dry settingto ldquoenergy-saverrdquo Every penny counts

CHILL OUT

Spring has sprung and the summer months are edging closer If yoursquorelucky enough to have an air conditioner (I unfortunately am not) you need

ABILITY 11

to remember thatmdashjust like your furnacemdashit needssome yearly TLC

Be sure to check out your unitrsquos air filters once a monthand clean or replace filters as necessary Keeping filtersclean can cut energy consumption by 5 percent to 15percent Also make sure that the drain channels andcoils on outdoor units are not clogged

To keep cooling costs down run the forced-air systemrsquosfanmdashnot the air conditionermdashto maintain a comfortabletemperature Simply flip the thermostat to ldquofan onlyrdquo torecycle air throughout the house

Also while I can only guess (pout) how tempting itmust be to crank the AC when itrsquos 90-plus degrees out-side keep the thermostat at 78 degrees when yoursquorehome When no one will be there set the thermostat at85 degrees That way you reduce the need for air condi-tioning save energy and have extra cash on hand foryour Labor Day barbecue

Lastly if you have ceiling or other fans turn them onThe blowing air can make you feel five degrees coolerFans also use a lot less electricity than air conditioners

AHHHH LrsquoAMOUR

Want to show your true love that your intentions arepure and make up for whatever you have or havenrsquotdone lately While yoursquore at it why not be a littlemdashyou knowmdashresponsible while kissing your sweetiersquosderriere

SUSTAINABLE CHOCOLATE

Organic chocolate is produced without most syntheticpesticides and fertilizers or genetic modification Grow-ers also emphasize the use of renewable resources andconserving soil and water to enhance environmentalquality Search for organic chocolate online or look foroptions at natural and gourmet grocery stores

Fair Trade chocolate is produced by farmers and work-ers in developing nations who receive a fair price fortheir product Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers Crops are grown usingsoil and water conservation measures that restrict theuse of harmful pesticides

Rainforest Alliance chocolate is grown using integratedpest-management systems that limit the use of pesti-cides and fertilizers Crops are grown using water- soil-and wildlife-habitat conservation measures Farm labor-ers are paid salaries and benefits equal to or greater thanthe legal minimum wage of their countries

SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS

Organic flowers are grown without most synthetic pesti-cides and fertilizers or genetic modification Growersalso emphasize the use of renewable resources and con-serving soil and water to enhance environmental quality

Veriflora flowers are grown using water- soil- andhabitat-conservation measures The use of pesticidesand fertilizers is also restricted Farm laborers are com-pensated and protected according to internationalnational or local standards

As with the chocolates Fair Trade flowers are producedby farmers and workers in developing nations whoreceive a fair price for their product and trade is directSoil and water conservation measures restrict the use ofpesticides

Biodynamic flowers are grown without the use of syn-thetic pesticides fertilizers genetic engineering or ani-mal by-products Additionally flowers may not begrown in areas subject to strong electromagnetic fields

If you live in a temperate area buying local flowerswhich may or may not be certified is another option Tofind out if therersquos a seller near you check Local Harvesta searchable database of local agricultural products

by Kristen McCarthy Thomas

To learn more about these labels visit the eco labelswwwgreenerchoicesorg

For Chocolatewwwtranfairusaorg

wwwrainforest-allianceorgwwwsustainabletableorgfeaturesarticleschocolate

For FlowerswwwOrganicBouquetcom

wwwharmsvineyardsandlavenderfieldscom wwwDiamondOrganicscom

wwwverifloracomwww1800flowerscom

Kristen McCarthy Thomas is a public relations specialist with an integrat-ed marketing communications company in Southern California Sheleads the companyrsquos Environmental and Sustainability Task Forces andhelps the companyrsquos 70-plus associates ldquogreen uprdquo

Kristen writes the wwwjust2handsblogspotcom which wersquoll occasional-ly excerpt here She is writing a book on how parents can reduce theirfamilyrsquos environmental footprint through inexpensive (if not money-sav-ing) easy-to-understand steps as well as how to pass the torch of envi-ronmentalism to the next generation not only by action but example

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 7

n the wake of Elliot Spitzerrsquos resignation NewYork inaugurated its first black head of stateDavid Paterson Hersquos the countryrsquos first governorwho is legally blind and the third black governor

of any state since the Reconstruction era Born inBrooklyn in 1954 he is the son of Basil a former StateSenator who later served as Deputy Mayor and NewYorkrsquos Secretary of State

An early childhood infection left David Paterson withlimited vision He went on to graduate from ColumbiaUniversity and Hofstra Law School has completed aNew York Marathon and is an adjunct professor atColumbia He and wife Michelle have a son Alex13 and a daughter Ashley 19 from her previous mar-riage Here is an excerpt from his recent inaugurationspeech

mdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdashmdash

The last time I was in this chamber I was gaveling infor the State of the State and Speaker Silver

brought me in here to practice so I didnrsquot destroy any-thing in our first year But in our second year I saidlsquoDonrsquot bother I know how to do thisrsquo

Apparently I was about to bring the gavel down on aglass like this one

The speaker at the last second grabbed the gavel awayfrom me and told me in his own inimitable way I willnot allow you to turn the State of the State into a Jewishwedding

In so many ways we woke this morning to a not-so-ordinary day But in one way we woke this morning toa New York dawn that is like every other one thatcame before it For today like we always do we moveforward

Of course I never expected to have the honor of servingas governor of New York State This transition is an his-toric message to the world that we live among the samevalues that we profess and that we are a government of

I

laws and not individuals Today we can be proud of ourdemocracy

There is work to be done Therersquos trust that needs to berestored There are issues that need to be addressed Ifwe are going to build a viable future for New York weare going to have to help single mothers who have twojobs We are going to have to give children betterschools and families who donrsquot have health care someredress

I learned about government right here in this Legisla-ture I studied the same issues and had the same expe-riences hopes and frustrations as so many other NewYorkers I am chagrined at the high cost of educationfor my family And the prohibitive price of health care

I have talked to New Yorkers for decades about thecrumbling upstate economy the crush of property taxesand the lack of affordable housing These are issuesthat we will continue to focus on and address but wecan do more

I have a vision for New York Itrsquos a New York whereachievement is developed only from hard work wheredoors are always open and where anyone can achieveno matter where they live

Let us right here and now grab the unusual opportu-nities that circumstance has handed us today and putpersonal politics party advantage and power strugglesaside in favor of service in the interests of the people

I have worked most of my life for New Yorkers andfought for New Yorkers I believe that if we standtogether our collective talent will bring us to a bet-ter period

We donrsquot know the path yet But thatrsquos because wehavenrsquot blazed the trail And I think you all know thatI know a little bit about finding onersquos way throughthe dark

Let me tell you a little about myself

I was born in the borough of Brooklyn I was educatedon Long Island Harlem is my home This is where Ilearned love for family and appreciation for community

I have confronted the prejudice of race and challengedthe issues of my own disability I have served in govern-ment for over two decades I stand willing and able tolead this state to a brighter future and a better tomor-row Let me reintroduce myself I am David Patersonand I am the governor of New York State

wwwnygovgovernor

CALL HIM GOVERNORDavid Paterson Steps Up

8 ABILITY

he Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) Sum-mer Youth Camp marks its ninth year with amove to Clarksville OH The new locationaccommodates even more children who have

limb loss or limb difference than was possible in its pre-vious Warm Springs GA home

The camp will be held July 20-24 with kids from 10 to16 enjoying horseback riding swimming dancing fish-ing and more Theyrsquoll also participate in team-buildingactivities which will provide an opportunity to learnfrom peers and junior counselors who are alsoamputees The Joy Outdoor Education Center ofClarksville serves as the host of this yearsrsquo event

There are an estimated 70000 children living with limbloss in the US according to ACA a non-profit organi-zation that works for men and women who have experi-enced an amputation or are born with limb differences

ldquoThis will be the second summer that we have a JuniorCounselor Program said Paddy Rossbach ACA presi-dent and CEO The six counselors are former campersthey are now 17 and 18 and have come back to volunteer

The camp fee is $500 per child However no one willbe excluded because of a familyrsquos inability to pay Ross-bach said Fee waiver forms are available

For an application go tohttpwwwamputee-coalitionorgyouth_camp_camper_2008pdf

For more information on ACA visithttpwwwamputee-coalitionorg

T

o launch her Dancing With the Stars career con-testant Marlee Matlin had been training severalhours a day at this writing Though none of thisyearrsquos batch of hopefuls had ever danced in the

pro ranks she had the additional challenge of beingdeaf But shersquos said that has not been a problem

Though shersquos never heard a single music note shersquosexpected to step twirl dip smile clap spin and jumpin time with the rhythm For that she relies on profes-sional partner Fabian Sanchez

lsquorsquoHersquos my musicrsquorsquo she says

Some of the dances Sanchez modifies a bit so that heand Matlin are in more physical andor visual contactBut he maintains that lsquorsquoshersquos got a natural rhythm and ison time every single timersquorsquo

Sanchez a dance instructor from Birmingham AL sug-gests that Matlin might be even easier to train thanmany who can hear ldquobecause shersquos not trying to followthe rhythm on her ownrsquorsquo

Matlin is an Emmy-nominated TV vet who won theAcademy Award for best actress in 1986rsquos Children of aLesser God She is also a mother of four including herinspiration 12-year-old daughter Sara a hip-hop dancerand fan of the show

lsquorsquoI just want to be the cool momrsquorsquo Matlin says aboutcompeting

Her co-stars this season include radio host Adam Carol-la magician Penn Jillette pro football player Jason Tay-lor tennis champ Monica Seles Olympic skater KristiYamaguchi RampB singer Mario and actors Steve Gutten-berg Shannon Elizabeth Christian de la Fuente Priscil-la Presley and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Each weeksomeone gets voted off the show until they winnowdown to a winner)

Executive producer Conrad Green says assembling adiverse cast contributes to the showrsquos success His teamlooks for contestants of various ages sizes abilities andprofessional pursuits Heather Mills who uses a pros-thetic leg lasted seven weeks last season

lsquorsquoItrsquos incumbent on everyone in television to try to openup television to people with disabilitiesrsquorsquosays Green

wwwabcgocom

T

oodwill Industries International and LearningCurve Brands have joined forces to create a 12-room dollhouse that promotes caring and sharinggood manners responsibility around the house

and more Coming this summer to a store near you theCaring Corners Mrs Goodbee Interactive Dollhousewill cost about $80

As part of the experience children are encouraged to fillMrs Goodbeersquos ldquoCarton of Caringrdquo (the box that thedollhouse comes in) with gently-used clothing and toysthey no longer need and donate them to Goodwill a net-work of 184 independent community-based organiza-tions in the US Canada and 14 other countries Theclothing and toys will be sold in its stores and the pro-ceeds will help fund the organizationrsquos job training pro-grams in the various communities it serves

ldquoDonating the things you no longer need is a form ofcharity in which anyone regardless of age can partici-paterdquo says George W Kessinger president and CEO ofGoodwill Industries International ldquoTogether parents

GTOY TEACHES KIDS

Do the Right Thing

NEW ACA CAMP Bigger and Better

THE MUSIC WITHINMatlinrsquos Got the Moves

ABILITY 9

new free web-based service from Sprint Web-CapTel(r) allows a person who can speak but haschallenges hearing over the phone to read word-for-word captions of their calls on a web brows-

er This new service is expected to help an estimated 23million Americans with hearing loss who may facechallenges hearing over the telephone

ldquoWe are always looking for ways to offer unique andeasy user experiences for our customers This new solu-tion from Sprint will offer the hard-of-hearing commu-nity the ability to enjoy the benefits of a natural phoneconversation by accessing real-time web-based cap-tionsrdquo says Mike Ligas director of Sprint Relay

With the new service users can make and receive callson their own telephone cell phone land-line or even anamplified phone During the call if they have difficultyhearing what is being said they can log into a dedicatedwebsite and read written captions of everything theircaller says Captions appear virtually at the same time asthe person speaks allowing users to enjoy a natural tele-phone conversation

This new service is available almost anywhere with aphone and internet access on a computer Even usingamplified phones the WebCapTel(r) will capture theaudio of the person speaking to the user and will changespoken sounds into words that can be read When dis-played on a web browser the user can change the fontsize color and even background When a call is com-pleted the user can save the captioned conversation forlater review allowing the user to concentrate on beinginvolved in the conversation

ldquoWebCapTel puts people with hearing loss back in con-trol of their own telephone conversationsmdashany timeanywheremdashby capitalizing on the convenience andprevalence of the Internetrdquo states Robert Engelke pres-ident of Ultratec Inc the company that developed Cap-Tel technology

ldquoIt gives people with hearing loss the confidence to relyon their telephones again leveling the playing field forprofessional opportunities in social situations and inmatters of personal safetyrdquo

The service is free to Sprint customers anywhere in theUnited States and within the US territories Howevercalls to or from international locations such as Canadaor Mexico are not applicable

To learn more visitwwwsprintcaptelcom

A

ost Baby Boomers underestimate their risk ofacquiring a disability that would cause them tomiss work for an extended period of timeaccording to a new survey conducted by Harris

Interactive on behalf of Americarsquos Health InsurancePlans (AHIP) The study also found that Baby Boomersare unaware of the most common causes of disabilityand donrsquot seem to be too concerned about them

This lack of awareness presents a significant threat totheir continued financial security said Karen Ignagnipresident and CEO of AHIP ldquoWhen individuals under-estimate their risk of disability they are less likely toprotect their income and are more vulnerable to thefinancial hardship that a disability can causerdquo

More than a third of Baby Boomers think the chances ofbecoming disabled due to illness or injury is five per-cent or less a slight majority think the chances are 10percent or less and two-thirds think the chances are 20percent or less In reality a worker has a 30 percentchance of acquiring a disabling injury or illness causinghim or her to miss three or more months of work beforereaching retirement according to the Social SecurityAdministration

The survey also found that nearly half (47 percent) ofBaby Boomers say they are not too concerned about theprospect of a disabling injury or illness

One of the reasons Boomers underestimate their risk isthe mistaken belief that injuries cause more disabilitiesthan illnesses According to the survey Boomers believethe most common causes of disability are back muscle orjoint problems (26 percent) injuries on the job (18 per-cent) and injuries off the job (16 percent) Howeverresearch shows that the most common causes of disabilityare illnesses such as cancer heart disease and diabetes

The survey found that most Baby Boomers accuratelybelieve they are more likely to acquire a disability thanpremature death and that most disabilities occur outsideof the workplace

For more on the survey findings go tohttpwwwahiporgcontentdefaultaspxdocid=22626

M

and children can explore how their donations go towardputting people to work and building stronger communities

ldquoChildren can feel good because their donations willhelp people earn a paycheck which helps them supportthemselves and their familiesrdquo says Kessinger

Goodwill which has 2100 retail stores nationwide alsoprovides employment services job placement opportu-nities and post-employment support

wwwshopgoodwillcomwwwlearningcurvecom

Correction In our last issue we misquoted CVSrsquos EileenHoward Dunn We wrote that her programs aim to help childrenldquolearn play and feedrdquo when she actually said that they aredesigned to help them ldquolearn play and succeedrdquo The erroroccurred in transcription

CAPTIONED CONVERSATIONSSprint Adds New Bells amp Whistles

BOOMERS VULNERABLEGroup Underestimates Risk

10 ABILITY

YOU TOO CAN LIVE WITH ED

Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with some of my greenie antics (likepouring a hundred pounds of concrete into the middle of the backyard lawn so I canhave an outdoor clothesline) but when we sit back and watch Living With Ed I feel

totally vindicated and give him a good punch in the arm saying ldquoSee I could bedoing all this stuff to the houserdquo

If you havenrsquot caught an episode of this HGTV show yoursquore missing out on someserious eco-cool not to mention quite a few laughs) ldquoHostedrdquo by long-time envi-ronmentalistuber-greenie Ed Begley Jr and his wife of 13 years Rachelle Car-son Living With Ed is sort of The Odd Couple meets Green Acres meetsLifestyles of the Rich Yet Responsible The show follows Begley and Carsonaround as he works to save the world and she while also concerned aboutglobal warming and the like craves a really really long shower once in awhile

Their show now in its second season is full of great information and quickgreen tips Even better Living With Ed Season 1 is now out on DVD SoImdashum youmdashcan kick it with the Begleyrsquos anytime yoursquod like

wwwlivingwithednet wwwhgtvcom

DISH DOODIE

Itrsquos more a matter of habit than anything We clear the table rinse thedishes and plop them into the dishwasher Isnrsquot that akin to hosing our-selves down before we get into the shower Fact is unless your dish-washer is ancient rinsing dishes glasses and utensils is unnecessarynot to mention wasteful Simply scrape off any particles with a wetsponge and load away

Next best If you must rinse your dishes (either because you had a par-ticularly messy meal or you run your washer infrequently) you can fill

the sink with water once and give your dishes a quick dip rather thanrunning the faucet

Also you know that sprayer do-hickey that tends to sit idly by while yourinse your dishes with water from the faucet Give it a go Like a shower-

head kitchen sprayers break the water stream into tiny droplets According tothe Environmental Protection Agency spray taps use 50 percent to 90 percentless water to rinse than when you use the faucet

The other thing to consider is that the hours following dinner tend to behigh-demand energy usage times You can cut energy costs by running the

dishwasher later in the evening perhaps before you turn in at nightAlso half-full dish loads are a huge waste of water and energy as yourdishwasher uses the same amount no matter how much is in it So be sureto load it up before you hit ldquostartrdquo and donrsquot forget to put the dry settingto ldquoenergy-saverrdquo Every penny counts

CHILL OUT

Spring has sprung and the summer months are edging closer If yoursquorelucky enough to have an air conditioner (I unfortunately am not) you need

ABILITY 11

to remember thatmdashjust like your furnacemdashit needssome yearly TLC

Be sure to check out your unitrsquos air filters once a monthand clean or replace filters as necessary Keeping filtersclean can cut energy consumption by 5 percent to 15percent Also make sure that the drain channels andcoils on outdoor units are not clogged

To keep cooling costs down run the forced-air systemrsquosfanmdashnot the air conditionermdashto maintain a comfortabletemperature Simply flip the thermostat to ldquofan onlyrdquo torecycle air throughout the house

Also while I can only guess (pout) how tempting itmust be to crank the AC when itrsquos 90-plus degrees out-side keep the thermostat at 78 degrees when yoursquorehome When no one will be there set the thermostat at85 degrees That way you reduce the need for air condi-tioning save energy and have extra cash on hand foryour Labor Day barbecue

Lastly if you have ceiling or other fans turn them onThe blowing air can make you feel five degrees coolerFans also use a lot less electricity than air conditioners

AHHHH LrsquoAMOUR

Want to show your true love that your intentions arepure and make up for whatever you have or havenrsquotdone lately While yoursquore at it why not be a littlemdashyou knowmdashresponsible while kissing your sweetiersquosderriere

SUSTAINABLE CHOCOLATE

Organic chocolate is produced without most syntheticpesticides and fertilizers or genetic modification Grow-ers also emphasize the use of renewable resources andconserving soil and water to enhance environmentalquality Search for organic chocolate online or look foroptions at natural and gourmet grocery stores

Fair Trade chocolate is produced by farmers and work-ers in developing nations who receive a fair price fortheir product Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers Crops are grown usingsoil and water conservation measures that restrict theuse of harmful pesticides

Rainforest Alliance chocolate is grown using integratedpest-management systems that limit the use of pesti-cides and fertilizers Crops are grown using water- soil-and wildlife-habitat conservation measures Farm labor-ers are paid salaries and benefits equal to or greater thanthe legal minimum wage of their countries

SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS

Organic flowers are grown without most synthetic pesti-cides and fertilizers or genetic modification Growersalso emphasize the use of renewable resources and con-serving soil and water to enhance environmental quality

Veriflora flowers are grown using water- soil- andhabitat-conservation measures The use of pesticidesand fertilizers is also restricted Farm laborers are com-pensated and protected according to internationalnational or local standards

As with the chocolates Fair Trade flowers are producedby farmers and workers in developing nations whoreceive a fair price for their product and trade is directSoil and water conservation measures restrict the use ofpesticides

Biodynamic flowers are grown without the use of syn-thetic pesticides fertilizers genetic engineering or ani-mal by-products Additionally flowers may not begrown in areas subject to strong electromagnetic fields

If you live in a temperate area buying local flowerswhich may or may not be certified is another option Tofind out if therersquos a seller near you check Local Harvesta searchable database of local agricultural products

by Kristen McCarthy Thomas

To learn more about these labels visit the eco labelswwwgreenerchoicesorg

For Chocolatewwwtranfairusaorg

wwwrainforest-allianceorgwwwsustainabletableorgfeaturesarticleschocolate

For FlowerswwwOrganicBouquetcom

wwwharmsvineyardsandlavenderfieldscom wwwDiamondOrganicscom

wwwverifloracomwww1800flowerscom

Kristen McCarthy Thomas is a public relations specialist with an integrat-ed marketing communications company in Southern California Sheleads the companyrsquos Environmental and Sustainability Task Forces andhelps the companyrsquos 70-plus associates ldquogreen uprdquo

Kristen writes the wwwjust2handsblogspotcom which wersquoll occasional-ly excerpt here She is writing a book on how parents can reduce theirfamilyrsquos environmental footprint through inexpensive (if not money-sav-ing) easy-to-understand steps as well as how to pass the torch of envi-ronmentalism to the next generation not only by action but example

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

8 ABILITY

he Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) Sum-mer Youth Camp marks its ninth year with amove to Clarksville OH The new locationaccommodates even more children who have

limb loss or limb difference than was possible in its pre-vious Warm Springs GA home

The camp will be held July 20-24 with kids from 10 to16 enjoying horseback riding swimming dancing fish-ing and more Theyrsquoll also participate in team-buildingactivities which will provide an opportunity to learnfrom peers and junior counselors who are alsoamputees The Joy Outdoor Education Center ofClarksville serves as the host of this yearsrsquo event

There are an estimated 70000 children living with limbloss in the US according to ACA a non-profit organi-zation that works for men and women who have experi-enced an amputation or are born with limb differences

ldquoThis will be the second summer that we have a JuniorCounselor Program said Paddy Rossbach ACA presi-dent and CEO The six counselors are former campersthey are now 17 and 18 and have come back to volunteer

The camp fee is $500 per child However no one willbe excluded because of a familyrsquos inability to pay Ross-bach said Fee waiver forms are available

For an application go tohttpwwwamputee-coalitionorgyouth_camp_camper_2008pdf

For more information on ACA visithttpwwwamputee-coalitionorg

T

o launch her Dancing With the Stars career con-testant Marlee Matlin had been training severalhours a day at this writing Though none of thisyearrsquos batch of hopefuls had ever danced in the

pro ranks she had the additional challenge of beingdeaf But shersquos said that has not been a problem

Though shersquos never heard a single music note shersquosexpected to step twirl dip smile clap spin and jumpin time with the rhythm For that she relies on profes-sional partner Fabian Sanchez

lsquorsquoHersquos my musicrsquorsquo she says

Some of the dances Sanchez modifies a bit so that heand Matlin are in more physical andor visual contactBut he maintains that lsquorsquoshersquos got a natural rhythm and ison time every single timersquorsquo

Sanchez a dance instructor from Birmingham AL sug-gests that Matlin might be even easier to train thanmany who can hear ldquobecause shersquos not trying to followthe rhythm on her ownrsquorsquo

Matlin is an Emmy-nominated TV vet who won theAcademy Award for best actress in 1986rsquos Children of aLesser God She is also a mother of four including herinspiration 12-year-old daughter Sara a hip-hop dancerand fan of the show

lsquorsquoI just want to be the cool momrsquorsquo Matlin says aboutcompeting

Her co-stars this season include radio host Adam Carol-la magician Penn Jillette pro football player Jason Tay-lor tennis champ Monica Seles Olympic skater KristiYamaguchi RampB singer Mario and actors Steve Gutten-berg Shannon Elizabeth Christian de la Fuente Priscil-la Presley and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Each weeksomeone gets voted off the show until they winnowdown to a winner)

Executive producer Conrad Green says assembling adiverse cast contributes to the showrsquos success His teamlooks for contestants of various ages sizes abilities andprofessional pursuits Heather Mills who uses a pros-thetic leg lasted seven weeks last season

lsquorsquoItrsquos incumbent on everyone in television to try to openup television to people with disabilitiesrsquorsquosays Green

wwwabcgocom

T

oodwill Industries International and LearningCurve Brands have joined forces to create a 12-room dollhouse that promotes caring and sharinggood manners responsibility around the house

and more Coming this summer to a store near you theCaring Corners Mrs Goodbee Interactive Dollhousewill cost about $80

As part of the experience children are encouraged to fillMrs Goodbeersquos ldquoCarton of Caringrdquo (the box that thedollhouse comes in) with gently-used clothing and toysthey no longer need and donate them to Goodwill a net-work of 184 independent community-based organiza-tions in the US Canada and 14 other countries Theclothing and toys will be sold in its stores and the pro-ceeds will help fund the organizationrsquos job training pro-grams in the various communities it serves

ldquoDonating the things you no longer need is a form ofcharity in which anyone regardless of age can partici-paterdquo says George W Kessinger president and CEO ofGoodwill Industries International ldquoTogether parents

GTOY TEACHES KIDS

Do the Right Thing

NEW ACA CAMP Bigger and Better

THE MUSIC WITHINMatlinrsquos Got the Moves

ABILITY 9

new free web-based service from Sprint Web-CapTel(r) allows a person who can speak but haschallenges hearing over the phone to read word-for-word captions of their calls on a web brows-

er This new service is expected to help an estimated 23million Americans with hearing loss who may facechallenges hearing over the telephone

ldquoWe are always looking for ways to offer unique andeasy user experiences for our customers This new solu-tion from Sprint will offer the hard-of-hearing commu-nity the ability to enjoy the benefits of a natural phoneconversation by accessing real-time web-based cap-tionsrdquo says Mike Ligas director of Sprint Relay

With the new service users can make and receive callson their own telephone cell phone land-line or even anamplified phone During the call if they have difficultyhearing what is being said they can log into a dedicatedwebsite and read written captions of everything theircaller says Captions appear virtually at the same time asthe person speaks allowing users to enjoy a natural tele-phone conversation

This new service is available almost anywhere with aphone and internet access on a computer Even usingamplified phones the WebCapTel(r) will capture theaudio of the person speaking to the user and will changespoken sounds into words that can be read When dis-played on a web browser the user can change the fontsize color and even background When a call is com-pleted the user can save the captioned conversation forlater review allowing the user to concentrate on beinginvolved in the conversation

ldquoWebCapTel puts people with hearing loss back in con-trol of their own telephone conversationsmdashany timeanywheremdashby capitalizing on the convenience andprevalence of the Internetrdquo states Robert Engelke pres-ident of Ultratec Inc the company that developed Cap-Tel technology

ldquoIt gives people with hearing loss the confidence to relyon their telephones again leveling the playing field forprofessional opportunities in social situations and inmatters of personal safetyrdquo

The service is free to Sprint customers anywhere in theUnited States and within the US territories Howevercalls to or from international locations such as Canadaor Mexico are not applicable

To learn more visitwwwsprintcaptelcom

A

ost Baby Boomers underestimate their risk ofacquiring a disability that would cause them tomiss work for an extended period of timeaccording to a new survey conducted by Harris

Interactive on behalf of Americarsquos Health InsurancePlans (AHIP) The study also found that Baby Boomersare unaware of the most common causes of disabilityand donrsquot seem to be too concerned about them

This lack of awareness presents a significant threat totheir continued financial security said Karen Ignagnipresident and CEO of AHIP ldquoWhen individuals under-estimate their risk of disability they are less likely toprotect their income and are more vulnerable to thefinancial hardship that a disability can causerdquo

More than a third of Baby Boomers think the chances ofbecoming disabled due to illness or injury is five per-cent or less a slight majority think the chances are 10percent or less and two-thirds think the chances are 20percent or less In reality a worker has a 30 percentchance of acquiring a disabling injury or illness causinghim or her to miss three or more months of work beforereaching retirement according to the Social SecurityAdministration

The survey also found that nearly half (47 percent) ofBaby Boomers say they are not too concerned about theprospect of a disabling injury or illness

One of the reasons Boomers underestimate their risk isthe mistaken belief that injuries cause more disabilitiesthan illnesses According to the survey Boomers believethe most common causes of disability are back muscle orjoint problems (26 percent) injuries on the job (18 per-cent) and injuries off the job (16 percent) Howeverresearch shows that the most common causes of disabilityare illnesses such as cancer heart disease and diabetes

The survey found that most Baby Boomers accuratelybelieve they are more likely to acquire a disability thanpremature death and that most disabilities occur outsideof the workplace

For more on the survey findings go tohttpwwwahiporgcontentdefaultaspxdocid=22626

M

and children can explore how their donations go towardputting people to work and building stronger communities

ldquoChildren can feel good because their donations willhelp people earn a paycheck which helps them supportthemselves and their familiesrdquo says Kessinger

Goodwill which has 2100 retail stores nationwide alsoprovides employment services job placement opportu-nities and post-employment support

wwwshopgoodwillcomwwwlearningcurvecom

Correction In our last issue we misquoted CVSrsquos EileenHoward Dunn We wrote that her programs aim to help childrenldquolearn play and feedrdquo when she actually said that they aredesigned to help them ldquolearn play and succeedrdquo The erroroccurred in transcription

CAPTIONED CONVERSATIONSSprint Adds New Bells amp Whistles

BOOMERS VULNERABLEGroup Underestimates Risk

10 ABILITY

YOU TOO CAN LIVE WITH ED

Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with some of my greenie antics (likepouring a hundred pounds of concrete into the middle of the backyard lawn so I canhave an outdoor clothesline) but when we sit back and watch Living With Ed I feel

totally vindicated and give him a good punch in the arm saying ldquoSee I could bedoing all this stuff to the houserdquo

If you havenrsquot caught an episode of this HGTV show yoursquore missing out on someserious eco-cool not to mention quite a few laughs) ldquoHostedrdquo by long-time envi-ronmentalistuber-greenie Ed Begley Jr and his wife of 13 years Rachelle Car-son Living With Ed is sort of The Odd Couple meets Green Acres meetsLifestyles of the Rich Yet Responsible The show follows Begley and Carsonaround as he works to save the world and she while also concerned aboutglobal warming and the like craves a really really long shower once in awhile

Their show now in its second season is full of great information and quickgreen tips Even better Living With Ed Season 1 is now out on DVD SoImdashum youmdashcan kick it with the Begleyrsquos anytime yoursquod like

wwwlivingwithednet wwwhgtvcom

DISH DOODIE

Itrsquos more a matter of habit than anything We clear the table rinse thedishes and plop them into the dishwasher Isnrsquot that akin to hosing our-selves down before we get into the shower Fact is unless your dish-washer is ancient rinsing dishes glasses and utensils is unnecessarynot to mention wasteful Simply scrape off any particles with a wetsponge and load away

Next best If you must rinse your dishes (either because you had a par-ticularly messy meal or you run your washer infrequently) you can fill

the sink with water once and give your dishes a quick dip rather thanrunning the faucet

Also you know that sprayer do-hickey that tends to sit idly by while yourinse your dishes with water from the faucet Give it a go Like a shower-

head kitchen sprayers break the water stream into tiny droplets According tothe Environmental Protection Agency spray taps use 50 percent to 90 percentless water to rinse than when you use the faucet

The other thing to consider is that the hours following dinner tend to behigh-demand energy usage times You can cut energy costs by running the

dishwasher later in the evening perhaps before you turn in at nightAlso half-full dish loads are a huge waste of water and energy as yourdishwasher uses the same amount no matter how much is in it So be sureto load it up before you hit ldquostartrdquo and donrsquot forget to put the dry settingto ldquoenergy-saverrdquo Every penny counts

CHILL OUT

Spring has sprung and the summer months are edging closer If yoursquorelucky enough to have an air conditioner (I unfortunately am not) you need

ABILITY 11

to remember thatmdashjust like your furnacemdashit needssome yearly TLC

Be sure to check out your unitrsquos air filters once a monthand clean or replace filters as necessary Keeping filtersclean can cut energy consumption by 5 percent to 15percent Also make sure that the drain channels andcoils on outdoor units are not clogged

To keep cooling costs down run the forced-air systemrsquosfanmdashnot the air conditionermdashto maintain a comfortabletemperature Simply flip the thermostat to ldquofan onlyrdquo torecycle air throughout the house

Also while I can only guess (pout) how tempting itmust be to crank the AC when itrsquos 90-plus degrees out-side keep the thermostat at 78 degrees when yoursquorehome When no one will be there set the thermostat at85 degrees That way you reduce the need for air condi-tioning save energy and have extra cash on hand foryour Labor Day barbecue

Lastly if you have ceiling or other fans turn them onThe blowing air can make you feel five degrees coolerFans also use a lot less electricity than air conditioners

AHHHH LrsquoAMOUR

Want to show your true love that your intentions arepure and make up for whatever you have or havenrsquotdone lately While yoursquore at it why not be a littlemdashyou knowmdashresponsible while kissing your sweetiersquosderriere

SUSTAINABLE CHOCOLATE

Organic chocolate is produced without most syntheticpesticides and fertilizers or genetic modification Grow-ers also emphasize the use of renewable resources andconserving soil and water to enhance environmentalquality Search for organic chocolate online or look foroptions at natural and gourmet grocery stores

Fair Trade chocolate is produced by farmers and work-ers in developing nations who receive a fair price fortheir product Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers Crops are grown usingsoil and water conservation measures that restrict theuse of harmful pesticides

Rainforest Alliance chocolate is grown using integratedpest-management systems that limit the use of pesti-cides and fertilizers Crops are grown using water- soil-and wildlife-habitat conservation measures Farm labor-ers are paid salaries and benefits equal to or greater thanthe legal minimum wage of their countries

SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS

Organic flowers are grown without most synthetic pesti-cides and fertilizers or genetic modification Growersalso emphasize the use of renewable resources and con-serving soil and water to enhance environmental quality

Veriflora flowers are grown using water- soil- andhabitat-conservation measures The use of pesticidesand fertilizers is also restricted Farm laborers are com-pensated and protected according to internationalnational or local standards

As with the chocolates Fair Trade flowers are producedby farmers and workers in developing nations whoreceive a fair price for their product and trade is directSoil and water conservation measures restrict the use ofpesticides

Biodynamic flowers are grown without the use of syn-thetic pesticides fertilizers genetic engineering or ani-mal by-products Additionally flowers may not begrown in areas subject to strong electromagnetic fields

If you live in a temperate area buying local flowerswhich may or may not be certified is another option Tofind out if therersquos a seller near you check Local Harvesta searchable database of local agricultural products

by Kristen McCarthy Thomas

To learn more about these labels visit the eco labelswwwgreenerchoicesorg

For Chocolatewwwtranfairusaorg

wwwrainforest-allianceorgwwwsustainabletableorgfeaturesarticleschocolate

For FlowerswwwOrganicBouquetcom

wwwharmsvineyardsandlavenderfieldscom wwwDiamondOrganicscom

wwwverifloracomwww1800flowerscom

Kristen McCarthy Thomas is a public relations specialist with an integrat-ed marketing communications company in Southern California Sheleads the companyrsquos Environmental and Sustainability Task Forces andhelps the companyrsquos 70-plus associates ldquogreen uprdquo

Kristen writes the wwwjust2handsblogspotcom which wersquoll occasional-ly excerpt here She is writing a book on how parents can reduce theirfamilyrsquos environmental footprint through inexpensive (if not money-sav-ing) easy-to-understand steps as well as how to pass the torch of envi-ronmentalism to the next generation not only by action but example

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 9

new free web-based service from Sprint Web-CapTel(r) allows a person who can speak but haschallenges hearing over the phone to read word-for-word captions of their calls on a web brows-

er This new service is expected to help an estimated 23million Americans with hearing loss who may facechallenges hearing over the telephone

ldquoWe are always looking for ways to offer unique andeasy user experiences for our customers This new solu-tion from Sprint will offer the hard-of-hearing commu-nity the ability to enjoy the benefits of a natural phoneconversation by accessing real-time web-based cap-tionsrdquo says Mike Ligas director of Sprint Relay

With the new service users can make and receive callson their own telephone cell phone land-line or even anamplified phone During the call if they have difficultyhearing what is being said they can log into a dedicatedwebsite and read written captions of everything theircaller says Captions appear virtually at the same time asthe person speaks allowing users to enjoy a natural tele-phone conversation

This new service is available almost anywhere with aphone and internet access on a computer Even usingamplified phones the WebCapTel(r) will capture theaudio of the person speaking to the user and will changespoken sounds into words that can be read When dis-played on a web browser the user can change the fontsize color and even background When a call is com-pleted the user can save the captioned conversation forlater review allowing the user to concentrate on beinginvolved in the conversation

ldquoWebCapTel puts people with hearing loss back in con-trol of their own telephone conversationsmdashany timeanywheremdashby capitalizing on the convenience andprevalence of the Internetrdquo states Robert Engelke pres-ident of Ultratec Inc the company that developed Cap-Tel technology

ldquoIt gives people with hearing loss the confidence to relyon their telephones again leveling the playing field forprofessional opportunities in social situations and inmatters of personal safetyrdquo

The service is free to Sprint customers anywhere in theUnited States and within the US territories Howevercalls to or from international locations such as Canadaor Mexico are not applicable

To learn more visitwwwsprintcaptelcom

A

ost Baby Boomers underestimate their risk ofacquiring a disability that would cause them tomiss work for an extended period of timeaccording to a new survey conducted by Harris

Interactive on behalf of Americarsquos Health InsurancePlans (AHIP) The study also found that Baby Boomersare unaware of the most common causes of disabilityand donrsquot seem to be too concerned about them

This lack of awareness presents a significant threat totheir continued financial security said Karen Ignagnipresident and CEO of AHIP ldquoWhen individuals under-estimate their risk of disability they are less likely toprotect their income and are more vulnerable to thefinancial hardship that a disability can causerdquo

More than a third of Baby Boomers think the chances ofbecoming disabled due to illness or injury is five per-cent or less a slight majority think the chances are 10percent or less and two-thirds think the chances are 20percent or less In reality a worker has a 30 percentchance of acquiring a disabling injury or illness causinghim or her to miss three or more months of work beforereaching retirement according to the Social SecurityAdministration

The survey also found that nearly half (47 percent) ofBaby Boomers say they are not too concerned about theprospect of a disabling injury or illness

One of the reasons Boomers underestimate their risk isthe mistaken belief that injuries cause more disabilitiesthan illnesses According to the survey Boomers believethe most common causes of disability are back muscle orjoint problems (26 percent) injuries on the job (18 per-cent) and injuries off the job (16 percent) Howeverresearch shows that the most common causes of disabilityare illnesses such as cancer heart disease and diabetes

The survey found that most Baby Boomers accuratelybelieve they are more likely to acquire a disability thanpremature death and that most disabilities occur outsideof the workplace

For more on the survey findings go tohttpwwwahiporgcontentdefaultaspxdocid=22626

M

and children can explore how their donations go towardputting people to work and building stronger communities

ldquoChildren can feel good because their donations willhelp people earn a paycheck which helps them supportthemselves and their familiesrdquo says Kessinger

Goodwill which has 2100 retail stores nationwide alsoprovides employment services job placement opportu-nities and post-employment support

wwwshopgoodwillcomwwwlearningcurvecom

Correction In our last issue we misquoted CVSrsquos EileenHoward Dunn We wrote that her programs aim to help childrenldquolearn play and feedrdquo when she actually said that they aredesigned to help them ldquolearn play and succeedrdquo The erroroccurred in transcription

CAPTIONED CONVERSATIONSSprint Adds New Bells amp Whistles

BOOMERS VULNERABLEGroup Underestimates Risk

10 ABILITY

YOU TOO CAN LIVE WITH ED

Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with some of my greenie antics (likepouring a hundred pounds of concrete into the middle of the backyard lawn so I canhave an outdoor clothesline) but when we sit back and watch Living With Ed I feel

totally vindicated and give him a good punch in the arm saying ldquoSee I could bedoing all this stuff to the houserdquo

If you havenrsquot caught an episode of this HGTV show yoursquore missing out on someserious eco-cool not to mention quite a few laughs) ldquoHostedrdquo by long-time envi-ronmentalistuber-greenie Ed Begley Jr and his wife of 13 years Rachelle Car-son Living With Ed is sort of The Odd Couple meets Green Acres meetsLifestyles of the Rich Yet Responsible The show follows Begley and Carsonaround as he works to save the world and she while also concerned aboutglobal warming and the like craves a really really long shower once in awhile

Their show now in its second season is full of great information and quickgreen tips Even better Living With Ed Season 1 is now out on DVD SoImdashum youmdashcan kick it with the Begleyrsquos anytime yoursquod like

wwwlivingwithednet wwwhgtvcom

DISH DOODIE

Itrsquos more a matter of habit than anything We clear the table rinse thedishes and plop them into the dishwasher Isnrsquot that akin to hosing our-selves down before we get into the shower Fact is unless your dish-washer is ancient rinsing dishes glasses and utensils is unnecessarynot to mention wasteful Simply scrape off any particles with a wetsponge and load away

Next best If you must rinse your dishes (either because you had a par-ticularly messy meal or you run your washer infrequently) you can fill

the sink with water once and give your dishes a quick dip rather thanrunning the faucet

Also you know that sprayer do-hickey that tends to sit idly by while yourinse your dishes with water from the faucet Give it a go Like a shower-

head kitchen sprayers break the water stream into tiny droplets According tothe Environmental Protection Agency spray taps use 50 percent to 90 percentless water to rinse than when you use the faucet

The other thing to consider is that the hours following dinner tend to behigh-demand energy usage times You can cut energy costs by running the

dishwasher later in the evening perhaps before you turn in at nightAlso half-full dish loads are a huge waste of water and energy as yourdishwasher uses the same amount no matter how much is in it So be sureto load it up before you hit ldquostartrdquo and donrsquot forget to put the dry settingto ldquoenergy-saverrdquo Every penny counts

CHILL OUT

Spring has sprung and the summer months are edging closer If yoursquorelucky enough to have an air conditioner (I unfortunately am not) you need

ABILITY 11

to remember thatmdashjust like your furnacemdashit needssome yearly TLC

Be sure to check out your unitrsquos air filters once a monthand clean or replace filters as necessary Keeping filtersclean can cut energy consumption by 5 percent to 15percent Also make sure that the drain channels andcoils on outdoor units are not clogged

To keep cooling costs down run the forced-air systemrsquosfanmdashnot the air conditionermdashto maintain a comfortabletemperature Simply flip the thermostat to ldquofan onlyrdquo torecycle air throughout the house

Also while I can only guess (pout) how tempting itmust be to crank the AC when itrsquos 90-plus degrees out-side keep the thermostat at 78 degrees when yoursquorehome When no one will be there set the thermostat at85 degrees That way you reduce the need for air condi-tioning save energy and have extra cash on hand foryour Labor Day barbecue

Lastly if you have ceiling or other fans turn them onThe blowing air can make you feel five degrees coolerFans also use a lot less electricity than air conditioners

AHHHH LrsquoAMOUR

Want to show your true love that your intentions arepure and make up for whatever you have or havenrsquotdone lately While yoursquore at it why not be a littlemdashyou knowmdashresponsible while kissing your sweetiersquosderriere

SUSTAINABLE CHOCOLATE

Organic chocolate is produced without most syntheticpesticides and fertilizers or genetic modification Grow-ers also emphasize the use of renewable resources andconserving soil and water to enhance environmentalquality Search for organic chocolate online or look foroptions at natural and gourmet grocery stores

Fair Trade chocolate is produced by farmers and work-ers in developing nations who receive a fair price fortheir product Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers Crops are grown usingsoil and water conservation measures that restrict theuse of harmful pesticides

Rainforest Alliance chocolate is grown using integratedpest-management systems that limit the use of pesti-cides and fertilizers Crops are grown using water- soil-and wildlife-habitat conservation measures Farm labor-ers are paid salaries and benefits equal to or greater thanthe legal minimum wage of their countries

SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS

Organic flowers are grown without most synthetic pesti-cides and fertilizers or genetic modification Growersalso emphasize the use of renewable resources and con-serving soil and water to enhance environmental quality

Veriflora flowers are grown using water- soil- andhabitat-conservation measures The use of pesticidesand fertilizers is also restricted Farm laborers are com-pensated and protected according to internationalnational or local standards

As with the chocolates Fair Trade flowers are producedby farmers and workers in developing nations whoreceive a fair price for their product and trade is directSoil and water conservation measures restrict the use ofpesticides

Biodynamic flowers are grown without the use of syn-thetic pesticides fertilizers genetic engineering or ani-mal by-products Additionally flowers may not begrown in areas subject to strong electromagnetic fields

If you live in a temperate area buying local flowerswhich may or may not be certified is another option Tofind out if therersquos a seller near you check Local Harvesta searchable database of local agricultural products

by Kristen McCarthy Thomas

To learn more about these labels visit the eco labelswwwgreenerchoicesorg

For Chocolatewwwtranfairusaorg

wwwrainforest-allianceorgwwwsustainabletableorgfeaturesarticleschocolate

For FlowerswwwOrganicBouquetcom

wwwharmsvineyardsandlavenderfieldscom wwwDiamondOrganicscom

wwwverifloracomwww1800flowerscom

Kristen McCarthy Thomas is a public relations specialist with an integrat-ed marketing communications company in Southern California Sheleads the companyrsquos Environmental and Sustainability Task Forces andhelps the companyrsquos 70-plus associates ldquogreen uprdquo

Kristen writes the wwwjust2handsblogspotcom which wersquoll occasional-ly excerpt here She is writing a book on how parents can reduce theirfamilyrsquos environmental footprint through inexpensive (if not money-sav-ing) easy-to-understand steps as well as how to pass the torch of envi-ronmentalism to the next generation not only by action but example

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

10 ABILITY

YOU TOO CAN LIVE WITH ED

Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with some of my greenie antics (likepouring a hundred pounds of concrete into the middle of the backyard lawn so I canhave an outdoor clothesline) but when we sit back and watch Living With Ed I feel

totally vindicated and give him a good punch in the arm saying ldquoSee I could bedoing all this stuff to the houserdquo

If you havenrsquot caught an episode of this HGTV show yoursquore missing out on someserious eco-cool not to mention quite a few laughs) ldquoHostedrdquo by long-time envi-ronmentalistuber-greenie Ed Begley Jr and his wife of 13 years Rachelle Car-son Living With Ed is sort of The Odd Couple meets Green Acres meetsLifestyles of the Rich Yet Responsible The show follows Begley and Carsonaround as he works to save the world and she while also concerned aboutglobal warming and the like craves a really really long shower once in awhile

Their show now in its second season is full of great information and quickgreen tips Even better Living With Ed Season 1 is now out on DVD SoImdashum youmdashcan kick it with the Begleyrsquos anytime yoursquod like

wwwlivingwithednet wwwhgtvcom

DISH DOODIE

Itrsquos more a matter of habit than anything We clear the table rinse thedishes and plop them into the dishwasher Isnrsquot that akin to hosing our-selves down before we get into the shower Fact is unless your dish-washer is ancient rinsing dishes glasses and utensils is unnecessarynot to mention wasteful Simply scrape off any particles with a wetsponge and load away

Next best If you must rinse your dishes (either because you had a par-ticularly messy meal or you run your washer infrequently) you can fill

the sink with water once and give your dishes a quick dip rather thanrunning the faucet

Also you know that sprayer do-hickey that tends to sit idly by while yourinse your dishes with water from the faucet Give it a go Like a shower-

head kitchen sprayers break the water stream into tiny droplets According tothe Environmental Protection Agency spray taps use 50 percent to 90 percentless water to rinse than when you use the faucet

The other thing to consider is that the hours following dinner tend to behigh-demand energy usage times You can cut energy costs by running the

dishwasher later in the evening perhaps before you turn in at nightAlso half-full dish loads are a huge waste of water and energy as yourdishwasher uses the same amount no matter how much is in it So be sureto load it up before you hit ldquostartrdquo and donrsquot forget to put the dry settingto ldquoenergy-saverrdquo Every penny counts

CHILL OUT

Spring has sprung and the summer months are edging closer If yoursquorelucky enough to have an air conditioner (I unfortunately am not) you need

ABILITY 11

to remember thatmdashjust like your furnacemdashit needssome yearly TLC

Be sure to check out your unitrsquos air filters once a monthand clean or replace filters as necessary Keeping filtersclean can cut energy consumption by 5 percent to 15percent Also make sure that the drain channels andcoils on outdoor units are not clogged

To keep cooling costs down run the forced-air systemrsquosfanmdashnot the air conditionermdashto maintain a comfortabletemperature Simply flip the thermostat to ldquofan onlyrdquo torecycle air throughout the house

Also while I can only guess (pout) how tempting itmust be to crank the AC when itrsquos 90-plus degrees out-side keep the thermostat at 78 degrees when yoursquorehome When no one will be there set the thermostat at85 degrees That way you reduce the need for air condi-tioning save energy and have extra cash on hand foryour Labor Day barbecue

Lastly if you have ceiling or other fans turn them onThe blowing air can make you feel five degrees coolerFans also use a lot less electricity than air conditioners

AHHHH LrsquoAMOUR

Want to show your true love that your intentions arepure and make up for whatever you have or havenrsquotdone lately While yoursquore at it why not be a littlemdashyou knowmdashresponsible while kissing your sweetiersquosderriere

SUSTAINABLE CHOCOLATE

Organic chocolate is produced without most syntheticpesticides and fertilizers or genetic modification Grow-ers also emphasize the use of renewable resources andconserving soil and water to enhance environmentalquality Search for organic chocolate online or look foroptions at natural and gourmet grocery stores

Fair Trade chocolate is produced by farmers and work-ers in developing nations who receive a fair price fortheir product Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers Crops are grown usingsoil and water conservation measures that restrict theuse of harmful pesticides

Rainforest Alliance chocolate is grown using integratedpest-management systems that limit the use of pesti-cides and fertilizers Crops are grown using water- soil-and wildlife-habitat conservation measures Farm labor-ers are paid salaries and benefits equal to or greater thanthe legal minimum wage of their countries

SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS

Organic flowers are grown without most synthetic pesti-cides and fertilizers or genetic modification Growersalso emphasize the use of renewable resources and con-serving soil and water to enhance environmental quality

Veriflora flowers are grown using water- soil- andhabitat-conservation measures The use of pesticidesand fertilizers is also restricted Farm laborers are com-pensated and protected according to internationalnational or local standards

As with the chocolates Fair Trade flowers are producedby farmers and workers in developing nations whoreceive a fair price for their product and trade is directSoil and water conservation measures restrict the use ofpesticides

Biodynamic flowers are grown without the use of syn-thetic pesticides fertilizers genetic engineering or ani-mal by-products Additionally flowers may not begrown in areas subject to strong electromagnetic fields

If you live in a temperate area buying local flowerswhich may or may not be certified is another option Tofind out if therersquos a seller near you check Local Harvesta searchable database of local agricultural products

by Kristen McCarthy Thomas

To learn more about these labels visit the eco labelswwwgreenerchoicesorg

For Chocolatewwwtranfairusaorg

wwwrainforest-allianceorgwwwsustainabletableorgfeaturesarticleschocolate

For FlowerswwwOrganicBouquetcom

wwwharmsvineyardsandlavenderfieldscom wwwDiamondOrganicscom

wwwverifloracomwww1800flowerscom

Kristen McCarthy Thomas is a public relations specialist with an integrat-ed marketing communications company in Southern California Sheleads the companyrsquos Environmental and Sustainability Task Forces andhelps the companyrsquos 70-plus associates ldquogreen uprdquo

Kristen writes the wwwjust2handsblogspotcom which wersquoll occasional-ly excerpt here She is writing a book on how parents can reduce theirfamilyrsquos environmental footprint through inexpensive (if not money-sav-ing) easy-to-understand steps as well as how to pass the torch of envi-ronmentalism to the next generation not only by action but example

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 11

to remember thatmdashjust like your furnacemdashit needssome yearly TLC

Be sure to check out your unitrsquos air filters once a monthand clean or replace filters as necessary Keeping filtersclean can cut energy consumption by 5 percent to 15percent Also make sure that the drain channels andcoils on outdoor units are not clogged

To keep cooling costs down run the forced-air systemrsquosfanmdashnot the air conditionermdashto maintain a comfortabletemperature Simply flip the thermostat to ldquofan onlyrdquo torecycle air throughout the house

Also while I can only guess (pout) how tempting itmust be to crank the AC when itrsquos 90-plus degrees out-side keep the thermostat at 78 degrees when yoursquorehome When no one will be there set the thermostat at85 degrees That way you reduce the need for air condi-tioning save energy and have extra cash on hand foryour Labor Day barbecue

Lastly if you have ceiling or other fans turn them onThe blowing air can make you feel five degrees coolerFans also use a lot less electricity than air conditioners

AHHHH LrsquoAMOUR

Want to show your true love that your intentions arepure and make up for whatever you have or havenrsquotdone lately While yoursquore at it why not be a littlemdashyou knowmdashresponsible while kissing your sweetiersquosderriere

SUSTAINABLE CHOCOLATE

Organic chocolate is produced without most syntheticpesticides and fertilizers or genetic modification Grow-ers also emphasize the use of renewable resources andconserving soil and water to enhance environmentalquality Search for organic chocolate online or look foroptions at natural and gourmet grocery stores

Fair Trade chocolate is produced by farmers and work-ers in developing nations who receive a fair price fortheir product Trade is done directly between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers Crops are grown usingsoil and water conservation measures that restrict theuse of harmful pesticides

Rainforest Alliance chocolate is grown using integratedpest-management systems that limit the use of pesti-cides and fertilizers Crops are grown using water- soil-and wildlife-habitat conservation measures Farm labor-ers are paid salaries and benefits equal to or greater thanthe legal minimum wage of their countries

SUSTAINABLE FLOWERS

Organic flowers are grown without most synthetic pesti-cides and fertilizers or genetic modification Growersalso emphasize the use of renewable resources and con-serving soil and water to enhance environmental quality

Veriflora flowers are grown using water- soil- andhabitat-conservation measures The use of pesticidesand fertilizers is also restricted Farm laborers are com-pensated and protected according to internationalnational or local standards

As with the chocolates Fair Trade flowers are producedby farmers and workers in developing nations whoreceive a fair price for their product and trade is directSoil and water conservation measures restrict the use ofpesticides

Biodynamic flowers are grown without the use of syn-thetic pesticides fertilizers genetic engineering or ani-mal by-products Additionally flowers may not begrown in areas subject to strong electromagnetic fields

If you live in a temperate area buying local flowerswhich may or may not be certified is another option Tofind out if therersquos a seller near you check Local Harvesta searchable database of local agricultural products

by Kristen McCarthy Thomas

To learn more about these labels visit the eco labelswwwgreenerchoicesorg

For Chocolatewwwtranfairusaorg

wwwrainforest-allianceorgwwwsustainabletableorgfeaturesarticleschocolate

For FlowerswwwOrganicBouquetcom

wwwharmsvineyardsandlavenderfieldscom wwwDiamondOrganicscom

wwwverifloracomwww1800flowerscom

Kristen McCarthy Thomas is a public relations specialist with an integrat-ed marketing communications company in Southern California Sheleads the companyrsquos Environmental and Sustainability Task Forces andhelps the companyrsquos 70-plus associates ldquogreen uprdquo

Kristen writes the wwwjust2handsblogspotcom which wersquoll occasional-ly excerpt here She is writing a book on how parents can reduce theirfamilyrsquos environmental footprint through inexpensive (if not money-sav-ing) easy-to-understand steps as well as how to pass the torch of envi-ronmentalism to the next generation not only by action but example

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

12 ABILITY

Asense of humor opens doors and welcomes peo-ple into your life It breaks down barriers andcan even lead to a date When I see someone Irsquom

attracted to I go up to her bang my wheelchair into hershin and then run over her feet I roll away quickly butthe back of my chair reads HOW AM I DRIVINGCALL (626) 446-77 If she calls I know she has asense of humor

Laughter puts people at ease especially those who maybe uncomfortable interacting with a person who has adisability (And wersquove all met those types) When Imake fun of myself others realize that I am comfortablein my own skin and theyrsquore more likely to loosen up Imight lead off with something like ldquoEvery time I go outwith my friends they put my wheelchair in the frontseat and me in the trunk Whatrsquos up with thatrdquo Then Imight follow up with ldquoA lot of people ask me if sex isstill the same as it was before my injury I say lsquoHell noprices have skyrocketedrsquo ldquo

I have been a professional ldquosit downrdquo comedian formore than 20 years and part of my routine deals withdisability-related issues When people come up to meafter a show and want to tell me a joke rather than askwhat happened to me I know theyrsquove looked past mydisability and focused on my humor

Humor also helps get me through the day which ismore challenging for those of us who are disabledSome unforeseen headache often arises I fall out ofmy wheelchair I get a flat tire my seat cushion getspuncturedhellip Itrsquos not pretty but then again neither isTori Spelling and somehow wersquove managed to put upwith her all these years

Humor is important in a relationship too Itrsquos funny tolook at the other personrsquos face when yoursquore makinglovemdashor in the mirror if yoursquore doing it solo Humor isthe backbone of a relationship and if you donrsquot have abackbone then yoursquore going to run into trouble Goahead have some fun If your wife gets mad at you cuther hair while shersquos sleeping That stuff cracks me upReally itrsquos good clean fun for the whole family

Sometimes I make fun of something Irsquove read in thenews For instance a quadriplegic was recently thrownout of his wheelchair by a Florida cop This is anexcerpt from my humor blog about it

Cops and Drops

I guess by now wersquove all seen the video of the copdumping the quad out of the wheelchair This broughtback fond memories of my first marriage

ldquoYes dear Irsquoll wash your car Just please donrsquot do thatwheelbarrow thing to me againrdquo

Anyway what was that police officer clown thinkingThis particular clown was a woman FYI Thatrsquos right apolicewoman So this witch-in-blue tosses this fellow onthe ground What for It wasnrsquot like he banged her inthe shin and asked her for a date

The video was to say the least disturbing I thought Iwas watching an old Andy Griffith episode whereDeputy Fife pulls up his pants and says in his highpitched voice ldquoAnge you canrsquot trust these gimps inwheelchairs theyrsquore mighty sneaky What we got here isa fakerrdquo Next thing you know old Barney dumps himon the floor next to Otis while Goober stands wide-eyed at the door singing out ldquoGoooollyrdquo

That policewoman was an animal Where did this pigget the idea to act like a jackass I havenrsquot read theAmericans With Disabilities Act from cover to covermdashthough Irsquom sure itrsquos a page-turnermdashbut Irsquove got acrazy suspicion that chucking people out of theirwheelchairs is a no-no Maybe therersquos some newwacky law that says you can only read someone theirrights if theyrsquore floundering on the floor with threebroken ribs Come on you canrsquot treat human beingslike thatmdashonly family

Irsquom curious to hear her defense Did she recently switchto decaf Did she need an extra set of wheels I canhear her now ldquoWell a call came in for a 402 inprogress and we were out of squad cars so I figured Icould borrow the wheelchair and make a siren soundwith my mouth while I pursued the robber I figured thegimp could chill on the filthy station floor lsquotil I got backin a couple of hoursrdquo

Hey Dirty Rotten Copper wersquove got murderers rapistsand drug dealers ruining our neighborhoods Chaseafter them You should beat down the Crips instead ofthe cripples Starsky and Hutch would both be ashamedof you

Thatrsquos all for now folks Please donrsquot forget to tip yourwaitress on the way out

by Jeff CharleboisldquoHam on a Rollrdquo

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 13

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

14 ABILITY

COOL BEANSDiversity Brews at Starbucks

On the retail side Starbucks is known for making atasty cup of joe teaching us a sprinkling of Ital-ian and retailing everything from mugs to music

to books On the far side of the counter they get kudosfor working in harmony with the worldrsquos coffee growersas well as for being an employee-friendly corporation(How lsquobout that health insurance for part-timers)

Recently we caught up with the Seattle-based compa-nyrsquos Laura Swapp and Marthalee Galeota Swapp is theglobal director of Diversity and Inclusion while Galeotais the program manager of Accessibility We spoke withthem about Starbuckrsquos expansive concept of diversity

Chet Cooper Letrsquos talk about what you might considerldquobest practicesrdquo for Starbucks

Marthalee Galeota For us the key thing is not to look atdisability or accessibility as a stand-alone but to look atit more broadly throughout the entire company If wedesign a product a program a DVD or a service thenwe use universal design (barrier-free) approaches andthink through the different aspects of disability early inthe game That way we can bump up the companyrsquosability to engage a broader scope of people whether itrsquoscustomers or employees Wersquove also set the stage forsomeone who might be aging or in an accident or other-wise become disabled-temporarily or permanently-tohave a place that is comfortable and accessible

Laura Swapp One of our guiding principles is toembrace diversity as an essential component in the waywe do business We define diversity as encompassing allthe things that would touch equal opportunity inclusionor accessibility And so we build accessibility into theplatform of our larger diversity efforts

Cooper So yoursquore tapping a model similar to whatrsquosbeing used in the housing market where they talk aboutpeople being able to age in place But yoursquore using uni-versal design in an even broader context for bothemployees and customers right

Galeota Yes Itrsquos a more holistic approach Irsquod also addthat for many people who are deaf or identify with thedeaf community wersquore exploring a deaf-friendly workenvironment and how we might promote that So whenwe have multicultural marketing or a multicultural ini-tiative we want to make sure that we also include deafpeople within it

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting I was recently invited on a tripon the largest cruise ship in the world The voyage waschartered and nearly everyone on the ship was deaf

Galeota I had friends who went on that cruise Theyloved it You know when yoursquore in a place where every-

thing is totally accessible and in your own language itmakes a big difference

Cooper Thatrsquos true Royal Caribbean even taught theirstaff some sign language There were a lot of challengesbecause there were many languages on that ship As youknow therersquos American Sign Language Universal SignLanguage and several others It was fascinating towatch and try to communicate across the different lan-guage groups

Down the line do you think of having your partnerstake sign language classes internally so they canrespond and communicate to partners or customerswho sign

Galeota At a lot of our stores where there are deafbaristas or deaf store managers some partners do getintrigued and take classes on their own Sometimes alocal group will teach sign language In Canada weconnected with the Canadian Helen Keller Center andthey actually provided classes for our people

On occasion customers have come in and when theyrealized that their barista was deaf theyrsquove gone homegone online and learned how to sign the name of theirdrink Then theyrsquove come back and signed it to theirbarista So definitely the culture and language is onethat we support and encourage people to understand ona deeper level I do some of the interpreting here at Star-bucks and coordinate our interpreters

Cooper Irsquom not sure if you are aware of this but withCanadian Sign Language they have to add an ldquoEhrdquo tothe end of everything

(laughter)

Galeota We also have a service-animal policy andclasses on accessibility and disability here at our build-ing including accommodating members of the deafcommunity Wersquove made sure that our video and Inter-net news broadcasts both have closed captioning Wedid a pilot in one of the stores using Braille and largeprint menus so wersquore looking at a variety of things wecan do

The other thing that we have here in this building is a net-work of partners who have identified themselves as hav-ing a disability or who want to be an ally for accessibilityTheyrsquove gotten together and identified themselves as theStarbucks Access Alliance to help guide the companyaround issues relating to disability and accessibility

Cooper Starbucks appears to be doing more than manyother companies that wersquove spoken with How are youso effective

Swapp Marthalee has brought us a lot of expertise andserved as the architect of our plan I think wersquore also a

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 15

bit different because aswe mentioned earlierwe consider accessibilitya part of diversity

Cooper Right Foryears therersquos been apush by advocates toremind companies thatdisability should beincluded in diversity

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommo-dations when a person is hired but not much beyondthat So was that actually a part of the charter of thecompany when it was founded

Swapp No diversity became one of the guiding princi-ples after the company had been in existence for a whileBut we now see it as a critical component to our work

Chet Cooper Are you involved with the Business Lead-ership Networks (BLNs) in your area

Marthalee Galeota Yes wersquore new board members withthe US BLN

Cooper Do you know what your role will be

Laura Swapp Wersquore still figuring that out Wersquore pri-oritizing the national relationship and figuring outwhat wersquore doing locally Our strategic partnership ini-tiative defines what organizations we engage with andhow we bring them into partnership with the Starbucksfamily at multiple touch points So this is one of therelationships within that program

We will continue to look at how we partner with variouscommunities African-American LesbianGayBiTransgender Latino disabilityhellip There are other orga-nizations that wersquove worked with or will work with todetermine how we move forward in this phaseMarthalee will identify what the multiple touch pointswill be and how we will roll those out Obviouslyheadquarters is just one small piece of our world anditrsquos really more about how we engage our field opera-tions in these partnerships

Cooper Given what yoursquove learned what is Starbucksdoing that you would like to see other companies doand how can one expand these concepts from the localto the global

Swapp Again a holistic approach is very important Sowersquore always focused on the policies standards andguidelines inside our company that support a disability-friendly environment

Wersquore inquiring about education and awareness oppor-tunities For us that could be offering specific coursessuch as disability etiquette deaf-friendly culture or inte-gration into other core areas that we believe wouldenhance awareness Marthalee reviews all the marketingthat leaves the building from an accessibility standpointSo what we would say to other companies is to recog-nize that increasing accessibility and diversity requirepulling multiple triggers

Cooper You just had a shift in leadership at the topHow does that affect your division

Swapp We feel really optimistic about the support fordiversity work with this leadership team

Cooper Is there anything else that you wanted to talkabout or address

Galeota Just this year (chairman and CEO) HowardShultz participated in Great Hires a video that show-cases the benefit of employing individuals with signifi-cant disabilities The project was produced by the KingCounty developmental disabilities group King 5 TVand the Washington (State) Initiative for SupportiveEmployment The video highlighted three differentcompanies including Starbucks which are reaching outto people with disabilities in employment Itrsquos been seennationwide in Europe and in Australia Itrsquos even onYouTube and encapsulates our commitment

In our stores in particular we strive to make everythingaccessible to all of our customers Usually they order abeverage wait while it is being made and then pick itup But each of our stores has a sign at the register thatoffers customers assistance if they would like us to carrytheir order to their table Customers using wheelchairshave let us know how much they appreciate this Oneletter of thanks came all the way from a customer inEngland who wrote ldquoI am very restricted in mobilitydue to severe arthritis The service received was excel-lent without a doubtrdquo

Closer to home one of our baristas was searching foran avenue to reach out to the community Since Star-bucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy thebarista came up with the idea of holding a monthlyChildrenrsquos Story Hour and partnering with the NationalBraille Press by using their selections from the Chil-drenrsquos Braille Book of the Month Club The barista is

Universal Design by Tony Gale

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

16 ABILITY

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacyto a different level Children and parents gather eachmonth to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to themin Braille

Cooper Can you talk a little bit about how youapproach accessibility for both consumer and partnerwhen you build out a new retail store

Galeota In the US we follow Americans With Disabili-ty Act guidelines The aisles in the stores are sometimesan issue because things get moved and baskets of coffeebeans are here and there which makes it a little bit diffi-cult for people to come through who might be usingwheelchairs or canes So in training baristas we high-light accessibility so that people realize they need tokeep aisles clear

Therersquos also a table thatrsquos a bit oversized for peoplewho use wheelchairs It used to be a bit taller with adecal on it that said For our disabled customers But itstuck out like a sore thumb so now itrsquos the same heightas the rest of the furniture and blends in The verbiageon it now reads For customers with disabilities-usingpeople-first language

Cooper Anything else

Galeota Also the ldquohand-off planerdquo-where customersrsquobeverages and foods are placed-has been lowered innew stores When it was higher people of short statureor people in wheelchairs would have difficultly gettingtheir drinks Our drive-throughs are still a place whereyou order by talking into a little machine and thebarista inside hears you But for people who are deafwe put language on the drive-through menu board thatwelcomes them to go right up to the first window andorder from there They can write out what they want orcommunicate however they choose

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the

Leed model Hersquos on the board with the national groupand is working to get more of a universal design ratherthan just the (less stringent) ADA features that you haveto follow The Leed model is about building in a waythat is environmentally friendly

Cooper Then yoursquore also looking at the products usedand the energy demands

Galeota Right Itrsquos all of that the energy the lightinghow you take advantage of the sun or the way the storeis oriented on the land that you have-all of that Thathas already been built into the Leed model What has-nrsquot been there is the more holistic universal accessibil-ity features

Cooper In our Green Pages section we write abouthow a healthier planet leads to healthier peoplebecause a lot of whatrsquos going on in the environment con-tributes to disabilities Regarding recycling have youlooked at a program where people bring their cups backin and you recycle them

Swapp Thatrsquos something thatrsquos handled on a market-by-market basis A lot of municipalities donrsquot have the abil-ity to recycle on a commercial level But we do back-of-the-house recycling in a majority of our stores wherespace and facilities permit

Galeota Any other questions

Cooper Yes Can I get a nonfat soy

(laughter)

For more information about the company go towwwstarbuckscom

To watch the Great Hires video visithttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=VPXiIYz4uw0

Laura Swapp

Marthalee Galeota

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 17

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

18 ABILITY

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 19

During the recent Super Bowl millions of viewerscaught a Pepsi commercial one that some sayrepresents an historic first The unusual ad fea-

tured a silent 60-second joke Two guys drive to theirfriend Bobrsquos house to watch the big game Once theyget to his street neither remembers his address So theysit in the car arguing in sign language until one of themgets a clever idea and lays on the horn One by one thehouses light up-except for Bobrsquos

Clay Broussard who plays Bob also developed thecommercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for27 years Though he is not deaf the two actors who playhis friends Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault areTheyrsquore also Broussardrsquos coworkers and members ofPepsiCorsquos EnAble an employee network for associateswith different abilities and for caregivers The three-year-old organization was founded to influence and pro-vide guidance to the company which also owns FritoLay Gatorade Tropicana and Quaker so that peoplewith different abilities were included at all levels Nowmore than 300 PepsiCo associates strong EnAble haschapters in New York California Ohio WashingtonArizona Florida and Texas

Chet Cooper How did you get involved with EnAble

Clay Broussard I have some familiarity with deaf cul-ture so EnAble interested me I joined to see what Icould contribute We have a real culture of diversityand inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi

Cooper How did you get familiar with the deaf culture

Broussard My wife and I attended a church whereeverything was entirely in sign language for seven oreight years There was no voicing of anything at all Sothat was a real immersion

Cooper How did you choose that particular church

Broussard In the congregation that we were part of atthe time there were a couple of deaf people and therewas some interpreting The deaf people became ourfriends and taught some of us sign language As thatgroup grew there was enough people to form a newcongregation where sermons could be held completelyin sign language and where the topics would beaddressed directly in the native language rather thaninterpreted Sign language interpreting is not a directway of communicating with deaf people

Cooper In the new congregation what was the percent-age of people who were deaf and what was the percent-age of people such as yourself and your wife

Broussard We talked about keeping track but con-sciously decided not to because we figured wersquore notcounting how many black people or white people are

here so why would we count the number of deaf vshearing Irsquom one of Jehovahrsquos Witnesses and we sup-port all kinds of languages So it was an outgrowth ofour work in that community in terms of education and Iwould say therersquos probably now a hundred or so congre-gations across the US that are conducted entirely insign language

Cooper You say ldquonowrdquo Do you think you were one ofthe first

Broussard I think we were among the first 40

Cooper So did that experience draw you into what wasgoing on within your work

Broussard What happened was a local chapter ofEnAble formed here in Dallas and I thought Thissounds pretty cool As I have some experience with thisaspect of diversity why donrsquot I see what I can con-tribute I joined and started listening to the goals andmissions that EnAble had locally You may not haveheard this but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand ofchoice and the employer of choice among people withdifferent abilities And so we talked about objectivessuch as accommodation and acceptability which fosterthe conditions for being an employer of choice

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for peo-ple How do you get to that You can do it through tra-ditional means such as participating in Multiple Sclero-sis walks and activities such as that but I thought Howcan we bring it into marketing and advertising and real-ly demonstrate to the outside world what our culture isall about at PepsiCo Because Irsquom familiar with the deafculture I thought Letrsquos borrow a joke from it and tell itthe PepsiCo way featuring our products and our peopleand do it in a language that the rest of the world can getand find humorous

Cooper Did you run into any bottlenecks within thecompany (Sorry)

Broussard (laughs) As a soft drink company we try toavoid bottlenecks Fortunately everybody from the top tothe bottom of this organization who heard about the con-cept was intrigued by it For some it was a little esotericso we had to make a demo version But once we got thedemo finished people could see it and they got excited

Cooper It became tangible So how did you make thedemo

Broussard First I hired an artist to do a storyboard ofthe ad concept We then took the storyboard and floatedit past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say ldquoWhat doyou think of this Is it right Does it match the cultureHow would it be received by both the deaf communityand the hearing communityrdquo This group remained onthe project throughout as consultants

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

20 ABILITY

Once we had their input I went to marketing and saidldquoHerersquos an idea that the employee network EnAble isexploring Tell me what your advice and counsel wouldberdquo And they gave us some great advice about focus-groups studies and achieving authenticity and thingslike that So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or12 questions to get feedback Nearly all the surveyresponses we got were incredibly positive with lessthan three percent coming back with anything negative

Cooper Those were probably the people who fell asleepduring the focus group

Broussard (laughs) So then my senior executiveallowed me to go forward with the demo I hired a localvideo production company to do it and we used all Pep-siCo employees The hardest part was convincing mywife to let me use our house

Cooper Was that your house in the commercial

Broussard No we only used it in the demo which wasa bit different In that version we started inside a houseand showed them watching a game After we shot thedemo my senior executive presented it to the seniorexecutive level team and there was immediate enthusi-asm They green-lighted the project and said ldquoWe wantto fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broadan audience as we canrdquo

Cooper And the rest is historyhellip So whatrsquos next for you

Broussard Irsquove been asked ldquoAre there follow-up con-ceptsrdquo There are a couple of concepts wersquore consider-ing Irsquom still a little new to the mysteries of marketing I

donrsquot know how those things get determined But wersquovegot ideas to contribute

Cooper So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole theway you did before

Broussard Yeah and I think marketing will determineif itrsquos something we want to pursue But in the mean-time the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over theInternet which has really been huge While the SuperBowl attracted 90 million households whatrsquos interest-ing is that when content on the Internet goes ldquoviralrdquo-millions upon millions of people forwarding it along tofriends and coworkers-it can potentially reach evenmore people

The reception the ad received on the Internet wastremendous beyond anything I would have conceivedof and it quickly went to like number three onYouTube Irsquove been told that of the 90 million viewerswho watched in on TV one in 10 households had some-body deaf or hard of hearing in the household

Cooper I think there are roughly 28 million people thatare deaf or hard-of-hearing

Broussard It struck me what a large percentage of thecommunity would identify with the ad We wanted totell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a waythat would appeal to a broad audience and in a way thatwas humorous

Cooper I think humor is a common denominator

Broussard On the business end we figured ldquoThis has aclassic element of typical PepsiCo advertising funhumor and a good productrdquo

Cooper What other activities are you working on

Broussard There are some things that Irsquom working onWe had a large company reach out to us after the adwas shown saying ldquoWersquore interested in talking aboutaccessibility awareness would PepsiCo considerworking with us on thatrdquo So thatrsquos something wersquorediscussing now

Cooper Thatrsquos interesting that you might provideawareness training to other companies

Broussard Irsquom currently working with the Dallas May-orrsquos Committee for the Employment of Persons withDisabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metro-plex - to determine how to create awareness of this topicinside our community Last year we sponsored a break-fast for local area HR people on the topic of ldquoonboard-ingrdquo persons of different abilities There are other thingsIrsquom working on but canrsquot talk about yet

The chapter of EnAble that Irsquom with had a kickoff

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 21

meeting for 2008 recently and we talked about what we want to accomplish thisyear Different people volunteered for various committees

Cooper I noticed yoursquore not saying ldquopeople with disabilitiesrdquo yoursquore saying ldquopeo-ple with different abilitiesrdquo

Broussard Thatrsquos very conscious on our part

Cooper Therersquos been a lot of talk within the disability movement about languagesuch as ldquopeople firstrdquo language the word ldquodisabilityrdquo Even though the wordldquohandicappedrdquohas been dropped itrsquos still a struggle to use the word ldquodisabilityrdquo

Broussard I donrsquot know if itrsquos offensive to people necessarily but you know wersquoreall-what is the common expression Wersquore all ldquotemporarily able-bodiedrdquo What Ithink ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo did is give the outside world a glimpse not just into deaf cul-ture but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture Senior leadershiprsquos advocacy of the con-cept of ldquoBobrsquos Houserdquo and their willingness to get behind it all the way to SuperBowl I donrsquot think could happen in just any organization I think PepsiCo is lead-ing the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time

Cooper Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters

Broussard I wouldnrsquot say that Everybody brings something different to the table

Cooper Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together

Broussard We have some national meetings where representatives from each chap-ter assemble

Cooper In person

Broussard I believe so yes Irsquove not attended one yet There are other employeenetworks such as the Womenrsquos Initiative Network (WIN) the Black ProfessionalsAssociation (BPA) and a Latino-based organization called Adelante

Cooper Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups

Broussard We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network because theissues that wersquore dealing with are so varied

Cooper Itrsquos not gender-specific itrsquos not race-specific itrsquos across the board

Broussard Yes And itrsquos not dealing just with individuals who represent that com-munity but caregivers who support those individuals in that community The NewYork chapter is doing a lot around autism I know one of the gentlemen involvedwith it there and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is some-where on the autism spectrum and in the New York area itrsquos even higher than thatSo itrsquos about creating awareness around this topic

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autismWhat ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCowho are also parents of children with autism come together in a support group andsay ldquoHerersquos how you handle and resolve thisrdquo It also fosters awareness andunderstanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing withSo therersquos an expression that wersquove got in PepsiCo about ldquoBring your whole selfto workrdquo People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children withspecial needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when wersquoreaware of what they need Like our CEO said ldquoWe do better by doing betterrdquo

wwwnadorgwwwpepsicocom

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

At first a recent press trip to Utah seemed to beall about hitting the slopes Each morning Jessi-ca ldquoTaskmasterrdquo Kunzer got us up out and onto

the mountain We skied all three days of our journeyWe also changed resorts all three days

ldquoDid you enjoy the ski lodgerdquo shersquod ask ldquoGreat thenyoursquoll love the next one Get your things Wersquore leavingrdquo

Of course Jessica said it all in a nice way Besides shehad to keep us moving as there was a lot to see duringthis Ability Awareness tour sponsored by Ski Utah Thepoint of the tour was to promote accessibility on theslopes Skiing is available to everyone the NationalAbility Center in Park City is there to help

Day one Park City Mountain I met Danelle DrsquoAquan-ni a skier who is legally blind and training for the Para-lympics along with Sally Tauber her ski guide At arecent retreat DrsquoAquanni learned that we each have99999 voices in our heads These inner chatter boxesinclude the voices of kindness anger mourning loveand showing off

She said she tried to ski while focusing on her lovingvoice which was helpful But when she engaged hershow-off voice she found she skied faster So with myshow-off voice egging me on I tried to keep up with theduo but they flew ahead Show offs

Though I was relatively slow compared to them Izoomed pretty fast by my own standards so maybe thevoice was working to an extent But Irsquom not that experi-enced Although I skied a little during college and atevents connected to this magazine itrsquos probably beenonly a little over a dozen times altogether

The next day Snowbasin Jessica paired me with ChrisWaddell a paralympian and five-time gold medalist(People named him one of ldquoThe Fifty Most BeautifulPeople in the Worldrdquo and Skiing called him one ofldquoThe 25 Greatest Skiers in North Americardquo) I skiedbehind him as well trying in vain to pick up tricks ofthe trade

Building on my shaky confidence from the first day Itried the mid-lift for the newly marked slalom course Ihad a blast carving turns and hitting gates for the first

22 ABILITY

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 23

time After a couple of runs Chris and Jessica anexcellent skier herself wanted to go to the start of thewomenrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey itrsquos the womenrsquos runrdquo they said by way of talkingme into it It was a challenge but I got through it Nextthey wanted to ski the menrsquos Olympic downhill run

ldquoHey surerdquo I said as if it were no sweat

Getting there required a separate gondola to the top ofthe mountain Until that point Chris had no problemwith accessibility He would ski to the chairlift and geton while remaining in his sit-ski But accessing the gon-dola however was a slightly different story We had tounhook the ski portion of his gear and needed severalpeople to help us carry him up the metal stair system

In the gondola I sat backwards looking down as weclimbed ever higher struggling with my fear of heightsby pretending to study my ski boots Thatrsquos when I wasouted The gondola operator asked if there was anyonewho hadnrsquot been to the top before I raised my hand andlooked around I was the only ldquovirginrdquo

I could only stare up the slop to see how high we weregoing as the gondola operator continued on about thelevel of risk and how at this elevation on the mountainIrsquod have to pay for my own rescue Then he asked ifanyone wanted to go back down

Thatrsquos when somebodymdashcould it have been um Jessi-camdashsaid ldquoNobodyrsquos going down in the gondolardquo

As the door opened I gulped trying to keep my eyesdirectly in front of me The beautiful view includedparts of four states but I hardly noticed because I wasdizzy and nauseous Sensing my panic Chris and Jessi-ca said ldquoYou can do it Yoursquore a good skierrdquo

Chris reattached to his sit-ski was the first down the ldquocat-walkrdquo a narrow strip that leads to the start of the menrsquosrun Swoosh He was down the mountain in a flash

Before Jessica took off she turned to me briefly andsaid ldquoFollow my linesrdquo I knew she was going to flydown the mountain At that moment my showoff voiceretreated behind my fear voice And the latter was loudFear it turns out has 99999 voices of its own including

Chris Waddell

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

24 ABILITY

fear of heights fear of dying fear of throwing uphellip

I did a half slide down the catwalk to the beginning ofthe run It seemed impossibly steep My strategy was toski side to side Off I went Down I went Down I wentagain Falling and falling Sliding on my back At onepoint I wondered Will it ever stop

I finally stopped but by then one of my skis had gonemissing Thatrsquos when Jessica kindly swooped down andreunited me with it I was happy to be saved but feelingembarrassed to look like a scary klutz in front of my host

Food is always a good salve for the wounds of theslopes Fortunately for me Snowbasin has two five-starrestaurants accessible ony by chairlifts The best part ofthe hour or so of great company and dining was the timesitting still so that my calm voice could return

After lunch Chris wanted to go back to the top againSuddenly I was in the mood to take pictures Hey Youcanrsquot ignore your photo-taking voice

Chris flew down the mountain again as I snapped away

That night we went to dinner with a number of peoplefrom Ogden UT where we had a great discussion abouthow the city is rejuvenating itself Downtown Ogden iswhere the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific Rail-road thus completing the trans-continental railroad Ofcourse back in the day that came with a price prostitu-tion opium dens a fair number of saloons

Ultimately the town had to clean up its act to become a

legitimate city Itrsquos done a great job These days therersquostalk about the first indoor ice climbing facility Worldrenowned climber Jeff Lowe supports the facility andplans to teach the sport there to people with MS

On our last day we skied Snowbird and met up withtwo families who were taking a class through theWasatch Adaptive Sports program One family hadtriplets and two of the three had cerebral palsy Whenthey first entered the program the instructor said to theirparents ldquoTell your sons to raise their right hands to goright and their left hands to go leftrdquo But the parentssaid ldquoThey canrsquot raise their armsrdquo

Peter Mandler executive director of the program con-tinued to work with them putting the children on amono ski and tethering them Another instructor stayedin front to keep an eye out As they skied the kids actu-ally started to move their arms for the first time Whenthey wanted to turn they indicated it with their armsThey skiied right on down the bunny slope with wideand wonderful grins on their faces

We then met up with Gael Yonnet a young Frenchphysician whorsquod been in a snowboarding accident bro-ken his back and become paraplegic His experience ledhim to change his focus to treating those with spinalcord injury He was just getting back in the game andwas inspired by the sit ski experience

On the way home I slept and lucky for me my 99999voices liked nap-voice as well

by Chet Cooper

wwwdiscovernacorgwwwwasatchadaptivesportsorg

wwwskiutahcom

Jessica ldquoTaskmasterrdquo and Chris

Tod Apedaile

Laura Schaffer Snowbird

Park City

John Paul Lodge Snowbasin

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 25

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

26 ABILITY

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 27

Enroute to our seven-day Alaskan cruise we flewfrom LA to Seattle a day early to enjoy a stay atthe legendary Fairmont Hotel Itrsquos an historic

five-star affair where anybody who was anybody hasbedded down at one time or another We journalists hada great dinner got to know each other and wanderedthrough the streets of Seattle The next morning weboarded the ms Noordam cruise ship part of HollandAmericarsquos fleet blew the horn and eased out into theharbor with the Seattle skyline and its signature SpaceNeedle at our back

The ship was elegant gleaming and quite accessiblefrom its wide-lane decks and halls to its easy-to-navi-gate elevators state rooms and dining areas As allcruises do they spoiled us with incredible food andgave us plenty of healthful seafood offerings so wecould feel a bit better about it all when we were piggingout at the midnight buffet They also have a cookingschool an eco-conscious spa and a Walk for the Cureevent which allows you to do 12 laps around the ship toraise money for breast cancer research

First stop Glacier Bay National Park where thepanoramic sweep of mountainous ice encircled us Itseemed touchably close and yet an hour later we werestill moving towards it thinking Wersquore almost therewersquore almost there Then we looked across the bay andspied another cruise ship that was as small as a dot andrealized that our whole sense of size and proportion wascompletely distorted The glacier was so much morevast and more imposing than we could imagine

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

28 ABILITY

One of the most incredible things about watching aglacier is that it changes before your eyes The localscall it calving when a big hunk of the whitish blue icesnaps off and crashes into the water As the glacierslowly moves into the sea it emits an echo that they callldquowhite thunderrdquo and gives you an even deeper respectfor nature

Next stop Juneau a woodsy-looking town that putsyou in the mind of the western frontier Because acces-sibility was never a problem our group put a gooddeal of wear and tear on our credit cards at variousstores and restaurants We bought indigenous craftssmoked salmon and bowls made out of a single piecewood But for those who like adventure Juneaursquos alsogreat for scenic bicycling and treks through its thicklush rain forests

From Juneau we flew in a small biplane to Sitka wherewe got in a few more gawks at glaciers and then came infor a landing directly on the water Then we headed to anearby cabin for a tasty salmon cook out As a finishingtouch the cooks slathered on sweet glaze which wasthe next best thing to honey according to the bears thatcame out of the woodwork in hopes of having dinnerwith us

ldquoStay back stay backrdquo the proprietors implored usThatrsquos when I grabbed my camera and rushed forwardHow many opportunities do you get to meet and greet abunch of furry friends the likes of dem bears Not oftenenough Irsquom afraid

In Ketchikan we hiked to a sanctuary for birds of preywhere I got some great shots of bald eagles as well aspictures of salmon swimming to spawn It was andincredible experience to witness the punishing upstreamjourney that would cost them everything

Thoughout our trip we saw elements of indigenous peo-plesrsquo rich culture including carvings of beautiful soap-stone as well as tall wooden totem poles that depict clanstories and histories

We also saw whales threading their vast bodies in andout of the water Everything was so picturesque that thecruise felt like slipping into another world-a world Iwouldnrsquot mind slipping into again and again HollandAmerica call me

by Chet Cooper

Holland America Line has more than 150 cruises that set sail to Alaskafrom Seattle and Vancouver between May and September Whether itrsquosviewing wildlife historic treks fly fishing kayaking or mountain climbingthere are plenty of shore excursions to suit your tastes

Fares start at about $850

wwwhollandamericacom

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 29

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

OPENING DOORS AND MINDS

In todayrsquos competitive society a college degree is crucial for success Notonly does a degree symbolize knowledge attained it also opens doors forgreater financial and social opportunities Over an adults working life high

school graduates earn an average of $12 million associates degree holders earnabout $16 million and bachelors degree holders earn about $21 millionaccording to the US Census Bureau

In addition to financial advantages other benefits of higher education includesuch intangibles as a tendency for postsecondary students to become more open-minded more cultured more rational more consistent and less authoritarianmdash

benefits that get passed down to succeeding generations These are qualities that societyvalues and a chance to develop them should be available to all students including thosewith disabilities

Universities are legally required to provide students who need them with reasonableaccommodations for course examinations provision of equipment and auxiliary aidsincluding sign language interpreters They must make certain that students know aboutthese services They are also required to ensure that students with disabilities are notdenied educational opportunities because of architectural barriers

While these laws are in place it often takes advocacy to put teeth into them Thatrsquos whythe Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) recently represented undergraduate and gradu-ate level students with disabilities at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)a sprawling campus of 17000 students

In the case plaintiffs alleged that despite persistent efforts by the students with disabilitiesto obtain accommodations for classes and classroomsmdashspread out over 67 buildings acrossmore than 400 acresmdashthey were unable to achieve the access required to complete theireducations The students had advocated on numerous levels including filing a complaintwith the US Department of Educationrsquos Office for Civil Rights Nevertheless the studentsalleged that they continued to experience myriad difficulties

One masterrsquos degree student with a spinal injury needed accommodations such as a stand-ing podium in class because she was significantly limited in her ability to sit at a typicaldesk However the podium was sometimes unavailable or had been moved to a placewhere she could not get to it easily which negatively affected her studies

Another student with a vision disability needed his textbooks and other written materialtranslated into alternative formats such as audiotapes or Braille and also required note-takers and testing accommodations He received the accommodations after weeks of delayor not at all and could not participate fully in his courses

These studentsrsquo experiences were echoed by the allegations of other plaintiffs and classmembers Some students were made to wait for weeks after classes had begun to receivemodified equipment and alternate format materials When instructional media was finallyprovided it was often inadequate Books on tape were inaudible or the wrong chapterswere recorded At times accommodations were modified or eliminated without notice inthe middle of an academic term Many students experienced architectural barriers through-out the campus

Now thanks to a recent settlement these doors of opportunity have swung wide for theseindividuals and other students with disabilities

The DRLC and the Law Offices of David G Geffen secured the rights of CSUSB studentswith disabilities in a recent federal class action settlement (Jackson et al v CaliforniaState University San Bernardino et al) The settlement resolves a challenge to what plain-tiffs alleged was CSUSBrsquos systemic failure to provide consistent accommodations and

30 ABILITY

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 31

physical access for students with disabilities The classaction suit alleged violations of federal and state disabil-ity rights laws including the ADA and Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973

As part of the settlement the University has also agreedto spend approximately $117 million to remove archi-tectural barriers and enact substantial campus-widechanges This will ensure that the more than 300 stu-dents with disabilities who seek services from CSUSBare fully accommodated and well-served This includesalternative and accessible furniture accessible softwarein computer labs campus transportation staff and facul-ty training as well as student grievance procedures Theagreement also mandates the creation of an emergencyevacuation plan for students with disabilities

ldquoAddressing barriers to education is critical to ensuringthat people with disabilities are independent and inte-grated members of societyrdquo says Shawna L Parksdirector of litigation for the DRLC and lead counsel onthe case ldquoThe scope and depth of the commitmentsmade by the university in this settlement will usher in anew era at CSUSBrdquo

In fact it already has The masterrsquos student was awardedher degree in 2007 shortly after the court approved thesettlement Likewise the plaintiff with a vision disabili-ty was able to receive his alternative reading materialsand testing accommodations and is back in school

This agreement will serve as a model for how campusesacross the nation can appropriately serve students withdisabilities This is especially significant in light of theincoming influx of student veterans many returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan who are expected to begincollege in the near future

by Paula Pearlman amp Debra Patkin

For more information visitwwwdisabilityrightslegalcenterorg

The Mission of the Disability Rights Legal Center formerly the WesternLaw Center for Disability Rights is to promote the rights of people withdisabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights byproviding legal and related services We are located on the campus ofLoyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles and work with Loyola Lawstudents in all of our programs

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

32 ABILITY

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 33

By most accounts low back pain is the leadingcause of lost work time in the US and perhaps inmuch of the developed world In the early days

of the Industrial Revolution at least one physicianassociated the malady with the ldquoback-breakingrdquo workof railroad construction and described the condition asldquoRailway Spinerdquo

Although back pain is somewhat better understood thesedays it is still the most common complaint heard in adoctorrsquos office Most of these complaints are attribut-able to degenerative arthritis of the spine which alladults have as a natural part of the aging process Theword arthritis actually means inflammation in the jointsand the spine is one long series of joints

Virtually everyone will experience back pain at somepoint in life In addition to occasional excruciating backpain symptoms can include numbness and weakness inone or both legs difficulty walking bowel and bladderproblems as well as sexual dysfunction

Fortunately most people will only have a few minorepisodes which will respond to home remedies suchas rest and over-the-counter medications Othershowever may require additional measures includingaltering work habits or replacing an old mattress witha new more supportive one Still others who experi-ence ongoing chronic back pain will get partial relieffrom more advanced treatments and go on to live rela-tively normal lives

Those with the most severe cases may continue to findthemselves in declining health and be referred by theirgeneral practitioners to see a neurosurgeon These spe-cialists are trained to operate on the brain and spineSome orthopedic surgeons also perform spine surgerymdasha procedure which should always be a last resort

Traditional therapies include medication physical thera-py chiropractics pain management and sometimessurgery Non-traditional treatments include acupunctureand acupressure Unfortunately no treatment is com-pletely effective in every case

Use of non-traditional potions and herbs not regulatedby the FDA should be approached with caution Mostare ineffective while others if used improperly cancause liver damage and other problems

Often there is a psychosocial component to back painLife stressors or depression for example may requirespecific therapies When the stress or depression isaddressed the pain may vanish

Those on a quest to ease chronic back pain shouldbeware While many therapies are touted success ratesare disappointingly low This can be as frustrating forcare providers as it is for patients In general doctorstend to believe that the best treatments for a disease arethose that can be scientifically proven Even the treat-ments for back pain that have been studied the mosthave not produced impressive results

A person who has exhausted most available remediesand seeks the advice of a physician can expect a some-what regimented approach The primary care physicianmay prescribe a slightly stronger pain medication orsimple exercise regimen This is an appropriate stalltactic as back pain often resolves on its own or withsimple intervention

If symptoms persist despite initial treatments a primarycare physician may then refer the patient to a physicaltherapist A trial of physical therapy frequently involvesmoist heating pads massage and range-of-motion exer-cises applied during a series of several visits per weekStrength training or more rigorous therapies arereserved for periods when pain is absent or minimal

Frequently an MRI scan is obtained to better assess theexact nature of any degenerative changes in the spine Inthe case of low back pain the MRI will show the lowerpart of the spine called the lumbar spine Aside fromexcluding the rare more serious diagnosis this con-tributes little to the initial management of low backpain Most of the time an MRI only shows the degener-ative changes in the spine that all adults have Most ofus are not aware that we have these age-related changesin our spines because we are not having severe enoughsymptoms to warrant an MRI scan

When physical therapy is no longer effective the nextstep may be a referral to a pain management specialistwho usually has expertise in anesthesia or physicalmedicine This person may invoke a number of treat-ments from careful administration of potent narcotics toinjections of anesthetics and steroids directly into thelumbar spine

All too often in this country the next step is referral toa spinal surgeon (neurosurgeon or specially-trainedorthopedic surgeon) In many instances spine surgeryis relatively effective However in others there is littleor no improvement or the relief is temporary and symp-toms return in a few years Though most operations arecompleted successfully and many patients recoverwithout a hitch never lose sight of the fact that suchback operations are considered major surgery andtherefore involve risk

For those who suffer pain in their cervical spine (neck)the story is nearly the same However degenerativearthritis in the neck can cause symptoms in the arms aswell Cervical spine disease is fraught with an additionalconcern in that the spinal cord itself can be involvedPressure on the spinal cord causes a greater array ofsymptoms some of which may not recover even if thepressure is relieved surgically This lowers the thresholdfor surgical treatment in the case of cervical spine dis-ease but does not change the scrutiny with which thedecision to have surgery should be made

In the next installment of our special series on painmanagement wersquoll discuss fibromyalgia

by E Thomas Chappell MD

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

34 ABILITY

vote State and local governments may comply withADA accessibility requirements in a variety of waysincluding redesigning equipment reassigning servicesto accessible locations altering existing facilities orconstructing new ones In choosing the manner inwhich to comply with these ADA regulations stateand local governments must give priority to thosealternatives that provide the most appropriate integrat-ed setting

Despite these laws many people continue to experienceaccessibility problems at their local polling place As aresult I requested that the US Government Account-ability Office (GAO) survey people with disabilitiesabout their perception of their access to polling placesand to alternative voting methods

The GAO visited nearly 500 polling places nationwideduring the 2000 election and reported that 84 percent ofthem had one or more barriers to accessibility In addi-tion the GAO found that none of the places surveyedoffered ballots in an alternative format or voting equip-ment adapted for voters who are blind While the resultswere discouraging their exposure did add support forstronger provisions for voters with disabilities in 2001rsquosHelp America Vote Act (HAVA)

This act contained a number of provisions designed toincrease accessibility for voters with disabilities Forexample state and local governments are eligible toreceive federal funds to make paths of travel entrancesexits and voting areas at polling places more accessibleAdditionally each polling place is now required to havevoting equipment that accommodates everyone includ-ing the blind and those with low vision so that theyenjoy the same privacy and independence that is accord-ed to others

Following the passage of HAVA and the 2004 electionthe GAO has reported improvements in state provisionsand local practices However we do not know the extentto which these advances have resulted in improvedaccessibility of polling places and voting systems onelection days Thatrsquos why I have requested that GAOreexamine the issue during the 2008 election

I know that many of you disability advocates continueto work with state and local officials to ensure that localpolling places are accessible and I commend you onyour efforts Together we can ensure that voters withdisabilities can fully participate in the electoral process

Senator Tom Harkin D-IA

Sincerely

Senator Tom Harkin

wwwharkinsenategov

A VOTE FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Dear ABILITY Magazine Readers

Voting is the foundation of our American democraticsystem yet until recently many voters with disabilitiesfaced physical barriers at the local polling place Thisoften discouraged them from participating in electionsWhen they did it was often by absentee ballot

I believe that people with disabilities should have achoice about how they wish to vote If they want to goin person they should be able to do so Consequently Ihave worked to ensure that they have the option to votein a full equal and integrated manner

Historically accessibility issues facing voters with dis-abilities on election day generally fall into two cate-gories physical access to the polling place and ldquoballotaccessibilityrdquo There are a number of federal laws thattogether are intended to afford voters with disabilitiesaccommodations in both of these areas

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 voters who areblind disabled or unable to read or write are entitled toassistance by a person of the voterrsquos choice This personis permitted to accompany the voter into the booth

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi-capped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places forfederal elections (with a few exceptions) be physicallyaccessible to voters with disabilities Additionally statesare required to make available voting aids for those whoare disabled including instructions printed in large typeat each polling place and information about telecommu-nications devices for those who are deaf

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)requires that people with disabilities have access to pub-lic services programs or activities including the right to

ABILITY 35

ABILITY 35

In their new book Big Brain The Origins and Futureof Human Intelligence authors Gary Lynch PhDand Richard Granger PhD ask ldquoDoes size matterrdquo

Here are some clues

1 Based on physical size alone menrsquos brains are biggerthan womenrsquos (But if women are right men think withanother part of their anatomy anyway)

2 There were pre-human primates now extinct whosebrains were relatively larger than ours

3 Chimpanzees perform better on certain memory tasksthan college students

To knock some sense into their own skulls Chet Cooper editor-in-chief and E Thomas Chappell MDmanaging medical editor of ABILITY Magazine andneurosurgeon recently spoke with Granger who is aprofessor at Dartmouth College in Massachusettsabout the book he co-authored with Lynch a professorat the University of California Irvine The two scien-tific researchers undertook a groundbreaking study ofthe human brainrsquos evolution Both prominent neurosci-entists they trace human intelligence back at least tensof thousands of years to before the Boskops pre-humans with brains 30 percent larger than ours Grangerand Lynch endeavor to understand Alzheimerrsquos via acomputer model to comment on the limits of the humanbrain and to examine such stellar thinkers as AlbertEinstein

Chet Cooper Gary is in California and yoursquore in Mass-achusettshellip how did the two of you get together to writethis book

Richard Granger We both used to be at UCI I came toDartmouth to take an interdisciplinary position Dart-mouth College founded the Neukom Institute which isaimed precisely at the questions that interest me most

Namely how can we understand brain cell connectionsas circuits How can we understand the complex sys-tems of the brain so thoroughly that we can actuallybuild ldquosimulacrardquo or computer models of them Theinstitute is in the building stages now at Dartmouth anditrsquos an exciting and challenging prospect

Cooper When you think about building a computermodel of the brain given the complexities of what goeson with memory and the organrsquos other functions canyou say how yoursquore going to pull that off

Granger Sure There are a few key ideas One is to consider the connections between brain cells and treatthem like electrical circuits We can actually build brain-like circuits and study them

Another notion to consider is that much of what webecome as humans is learned Some things are hard-wired so to speak based on evolution and genetics orDNA Other things are acquired from our various lifeexperiences That combination is the one-two punch sci-entists are striving to understand

We are trying to build circuits with an architecture simi-lar to that of the brain Computers have what is called anarchitecture which is a set of circuit designs that can dosuch tasks as calculations Though computers are nowquite sophisticated they canrsquot ldquothinkrdquo ldquorecognizerdquo orexecute many of the tasks that humans can do with theirbrains How well we understand the brain is anothermatter entirely but our knowledge base continues toevolve

We can already ldquoteachrdquo the circuits wersquove built Weliterally hold up a cup in front of a robot and sayldquoHerersquos the cuprdquo Then we move it and say ldquoNow thecup is over hererdquo and then we ask it ldquowhere did thecup gordquo We teach it the relationships between objectsin the real world what it perceives what it ldquohearsrdquo

36 ABILITY

ABILITY 37

The computer can respond to simple language such asyou might use with a child to format its own internalsoftware models for what itrsquos seeing and hearing

This sounds a bit like magic but existing computer tech-nology allows machines to change their output based oncertain input This is analogous in a rudimentary way toa child never touching a hot stove again

Tom Chappell How does this relate to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Granger Attempts at AI have had a goal related to oursfor a long time Much of the early study in this area wasnot focused on the brain It was focused on studyinghuman behavior and trying to see if we could imitatethat behavior with a computer In all fairness this is a bitlike trying to understand a carwithout looking under thehood More recent endeavorspay attention to what theactual mechanisms or theldquoenginesrdquo of the brain areand how they actually workOur idea is to better under-stand the intricacies of brainfunction to give us a realistic shot at building roboticbrains

Cooper I guess one of my concerns is the concept ofignorance and how we might replace a personrsquos igno-rance with a certain idea Thatrsquos the good thing aboutignorancemdashitrsquos curable If you introduce the person toinformation in a specific way you may get them tounderstand it Often it seems the only way for a personto understand something is by experiencing it Irsquom talk-ing about temperament theory specifically a tempera-ment that is rigid The only way a person with a rigidtemperament is going to change their thinking is by hav-ing an experience that is different from what they per-ceive to be the truth

So Irsquom wondering how thatrsquos ever going to be possibleIf you look at extremists for instance they truly believewhat they believe There seems to be no way to changetheir views no matter how inaccurate they are So thequestion is if you could understand the brain mecha-nisms that support this kind of thinking could youchange it for the better And if you could would it beethical to do so

Granger Thatrsquos a tough issue and one thatrsquos on all ofour minds these days Picture a teenager who just does-nrsquot realize that a car really is dangerous until he gets inhis first accident At that point his whole conception ofwhat hersquos doing while hersquos driving changes The abilityto simulate experiences is already happening in what wenow call virtual reality Many kids these days areexposed to this in video games with uncertain results tobe sure If we can train people by simulating reality so

that they perceive realistic experiences it may be asuperior way to learn

If however you are talking about a person unwilling tolearn new ideas thatrsquos a different story entirely One cer-tainly doesnrsquot want to turn to thoughts of ldquobrainwashingrdquo

Chappell Irsquom curious about the scientific approach youuse Are you studying the ldquocircuitryrdquo of the brain andthen trying to emulate it with electrical circuits or areyou learning more about electrical circuits and then try-ing to see if they apply to the brain or both

Granger Itrsquos the former much more than the latterWersquore trying to take the computational and engineeringknowledge that we have and apply it to brain functionto help us see if we can understand what kind of

ldquomachinerdquo a brain really is

However working in the otherdirection is quite interesting aswell If we can understand braincircuits we can build artificial cir-cuits that might be able to ldquoplugrdquo

into brains Circuits that might beable to act as prosthetics and improve

or repair brain function

Chappell The ldquoquantum leaprdquo is the connectionbetween the brain and the mind Eric Kandelrsquos work onthis problem won the Nobel Prize As you know he wasable to show chemical changes in the rudimentary ner-vous system of a simple invertebrate that occurred withchanges in the organismrsquos behavior as it ldquolearnedrdquomdashorbetter stated adapted to changes in its environment Arethere circuits that are capable of making changes basedon input

Granger Absolutely Understanding the mechanisms forlearning is a crucial piece of our work Building onwork by Kandel and many others wersquove increased ourunderstanding of the biophysical (electrical and chemi-cal) changes that occur at the synapses Synapses are theconnections between neurons (nerve cells) in the brain

Understanding how biophysical changes occur in thebrain during learning has led to an increasingly sophisti-cated understanding of how we learn This has alreadyled to the development of novel drugs many of whichare currently in human testing and novel hypothesesand treatments for learning-related conditions Suchknowledge also underlies our ability to build artificialbrain circuits These artificial brain circuits called sim-ulacra can also ldquolearnrdquo on a synapse-by-synapse basis

Chappell So you start out with simplistic circuits andrudimentary functions emulating a lower organismrsquosnervous system and then you build on that

Granger Yes A lot of that is going on in our field

The average humanbrain size is about 1350

cubic centimeters Einsteinrsquosbrain was less than 1250

Obviously itrsquos easier to build simpler mechanisms butitrsquos also potentially frustrating because no one wants tobuild a simple mechanism and then discover that it is noton the pathway to bigger and better mechanisms One ofthe reasons wersquore studying the evolutionary progressionof small brains to big brains is precisely because wewant to know where the highway went that led tohumans as opposed to some other version of our species

Chapell When you say ldquosmall brainrdquo and ldquobig brainrdquoyoursquore talking about evolutionmdashhow nervous systemshave evolved from simple ldquolower organismrdquo nervoussystems to the mammalian brain

Granger Thatrsquos right Actually all mammalsrsquo brains areextraordinarily similar The brain of a mouse and thebrain of a human are except for their size far more sim-ilar than they are different The neurons the chemistriesand the brain areas are basically thesame The organization and the com-munication between those brainareas are basically the same Thedifferences between the brains oflower mammals and humans areenhancements of the same basicbrain structure So we do study sim-pler brains to better understandldquobigrdquo brains We are getting vitalhints from the simple brains andstudying how those ldquoscale uprdquo Thisway we can understand what aspectsof small brains actually compare tothose of larger brains

Chappell Since mammalian brainsare all similar you are probablymore interested in key developmentsin brains that occurred along thesub-mammalian levels of the evolu-tionary chain

Granger Right The goal isnrsquot just tounderstand mice or cockroaches we really want tounderstand humans Early vertebrate brains like thoseof fish actually have some of the constituents that arestill present in mammalian brains even in humans Soyes we are using each of these clues along the evolu-tionary ldquohighwayrdquo to understand the human brain

Chappell You mentioned the cockroach and the humanThatrsquos a big jump in brain complexity What are somegood examples of organisms with nervous systems ofintermediate complexity that have given you usefulinformation

Granger There are two parts to the answer One is tosay begin with the earliest vertebratesmdashfish Thenmove in short steps along the evolutionary chain tostudy the brains of the earliest mammals which are rela-tively simplistic The brains of fish and lower mammals

are based primarily on the olfactory system (parts of thebrain linked with sense of smell) It appears that as thebrain evolved our other senses developed ldquoon toprdquo ofthe olfactory system so to speak As we go up that scalefrom mice to dogs to primates to humans we getincreasing size and subtle but important differences inthe ways various areas of the brain develop

Cooper Eventually if things continue to progress weshould be able to build models of certain chemicalactivities or to track the failure of those activities thatoccur in the human brain right

Granger Thatrsquos right For instance we might model thebinding of dopamine (a brain chemical or neurotrans-mitter) with its specific receptor or the failure of thisinteraction that occurs in Parkinsonrsquos disease Anotherexample might be a model of glutamate (another neuro-

transmitter) transmission and theproblems that occur in AlzheimerrsquosDisease and so on

Cooper What is the link betweenthe ldquobrainrdquo and the ldquomindrdquo

Granger One of the big questionsin this field is Do minds arise sim-ply because there is a brain Is themind simply what the brain doesIf not what other information aboutthis do we need to put in our com-puter models of the brain

So one can imagine getting to apoint where we build a completebrain that has its synapses and itschemical transmissions simulatedits brain compartments and com-munication between them yetdoesnrsquot give rise to perceptionmemory or consciousness

But it is still feasible that as we build these things up tothe scale that we hope to build them more properties ofldquothe mindrdquo will emerge

The suggestion was made that if we can build machinesthat are intelligent in ways we are not perhaps thecombination of our human intelligence and thesemachines might overcome our shortcomings We oftensee that in science where the instrumentation is vital tomaking the leap in knowledge We couldnrsquot under-stand the universe without telescopes and infraredastronomy We couldnrsquot understand chemistry withoutelectron microscopes and so on This may be anotherround of ldquotool-buildingrdquo that we have to go through tounderstand the mind

Cooper What would you like people to walk away withafter reading your book

38 ABILITY

ABILITY 39

Granger We think of humans as the pinnacle of evolu-tion There were human-like creatures some closeldquocousinsrdquo of ours that lived 10000 to 20000 years agoThey had brains substantially larger than our own rela-tive to their body size These species may have evenbeen smarter than us They may have been more capablethan us Yet somehow they didnrsquot survive evolutionarypressures so to speak If they were around now maybeour society would be more advanced

Cooper Yoursquore talking about the Boskops

Granger Yes The Boskops and many others TheBoskop is just sort of our ldquoposter childrdquo but there are anumber of well-studied skulls from 10000 to 30000years ago that are much larger than ours Endocasts ormolds of the would-be brain size were made from theseand theyrsquore big shockingly big

It raises the question how is it that we ended up thisway How did we get the intelligence that we have Orwere we somehow selected to survive for our slightlylesser intelligence Is there some crucial ability that wehave that they didnrsquot have

Chappell Does size really matter or is it more of an effi-ciency issue When we are infants brain growth is whatdetermines the skull size So what if the Boskops werejust genetically programmed to be larger animals andtheir brains were just larger because they were larger

Granger The skeletons that go with these large skulls areslim and about 5 feet 6 inches tall They look like medi-um to small humans but with huge skulls We evaluatethe brain-body ratio a topic we return to repeatedly in thebook One of the key questions is just the one you posedTo what extent does brain size make the difference

Therersquos an enormous amount of evidence that just with-in a species such as humans bigger brains donrsquot mat-ter The average human brain size is about 1350 cubiccentimeters Einsteinrsquos brain was less than 1250

The range of brain sizes within a single species is sub-stantial You often hear from people who claim that dif-ferent races or ethnicities have bigger brains and moreintelligence but that is simply not the case When mea-surements are taken we find that size within a speciesreally doesnrsquot matter

On the other hand between species itrsquos the organizationof the brain that matters When you compare speciesconsidering two animals with similar size bodies butdifferent size brains you do see behavioral differ-encesmdashthings that itrsquos pretty hard to think of as any-thing but differences in intelligence

Take an ape and a human of roughly the same size forexample The human has a brain that is easily threetimes larger Itrsquos hard not to say that there is somethingin that The same thing happens in many other speciesin ldquohead-to-headrdquo comparisonsmdash(laughs) pun notintended

This doesnrsquot mean necessarily that added intelligence hasadded survival value That remains to be seen Humanshavenrsquot been around that long in evolutionary terms

Cooper This was fun

Granger Yes it was I found it quite stimulating

In general movement and sensation on the left side ofyour body is controlled by the right hemisphere of

your brain and vice-versa About 90 percent of the pop-ulation is right-handed performing most importantfunctions such as writing with the right hand

In almost all of these people most of their languagefunction (reading understanding speaking and writing)is controlled by their left hemisphere This is referred toas ldquoleft-hemisphere dominancerdquo

Of the 10 percent or so of people who write left handedabout a third also have most language function in theleft hemisphere Another third or so have most languagefunction in the right hemisphere and others have con-siderable amounts of language function in both hemi-spheres Those who use both hands equally well(ambidextrous) have no dominant hemisphere

When it comes to primary use of a particular foot sayfor kicking a ball the picture is not quite as clear Thishas often perplexed people who are trying to learn toride a surfboard skateboard or snowboard and who arenot certain about what would be considered ldquoputtingtheir best foot forwardrdquo

Most people figure out naturally which foot arrange-ment is more comfortable Given the preponderance ofleft hemisphere dominance in the population most peo-ple tend to put their left foot forward

In most board sports the rear foot is the control orldquopowerrdquo foot But many of us including many of uswho are almost completely right-handedmdashor left hemi-sphere dominantmdashstill put our right foot forward on asport board which officially makes us goofy-footed

40 ABILITY

ABILITY 41

Growing up in Santa Monica CA celebrity chef

Sandra Lee remembers her grandma baking a

special cream cheese and peach cake for an

aunts birthday Grandma Lorraine made the dessert

with love peaches and a dash of pain

ldquoShe rubbed her hands a lotrdquo the host of the Food Net-

work TV show Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra

Lee recalls ldquoI knew she was fatigued in pain and that

her hands were swollen But at three and four years old

I didnt understand whyrdquo

Lees grandma had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) a chronic

progressive disease of the immune system that causes

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

ABILITY 37

The computer can respond to simple language such asyou might use with a child to format its own internalsoftware models for what itrsquos seeing and hearing

This sounds a bit like magic but existing computer tech-nology allows machines to change their output based oncertain input This is analogous in a rudimentary way toa child never touching a hot stove again

Tom Chappell How does this relate to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Granger Attempts at AI have had a goal related to oursfor a long time Much of the early study in this area wasnot focused on the brain It was focused on studyinghuman behavior and trying to see if we could imitatethat behavior with a computer In all fairness this is a bitlike trying to understand a carwithout looking under thehood More recent endeavorspay attention to what theactual mechanisms or theldquoenginesrdquo of the brain areand how they actually workOur idea is to better under-stand the intricacies of brainfunction to give us a realistic shot at building roboticbrains

Cooper I guess one of my concerns is the concept ofignorance and how we might replace a personrsquos igno-rance with a certain idea Thatrsquos the good thing aboutignorancemdashitrsquos curable If you introduce the person toinformation in a specific way you may get them tounderstand it Often it seems the only way for a personto understand something is by experiencing it Irsquom talk-ing about temperament theory specifically a tempera-ment that is rigid The only way a person with a rigidtemperament is going to change their thinking is by hav-ing an experience that is different from what they per-ceive to be the truth

So Irsquom wondering how thatrsquos ever going to be possibleIf you look at extremists for instance they truly believewhat they believe There seems to be no way to changetheir views no matter how inaccurate they are So thequestion is if you could understand the brain mecha-nisms that support this kind of thinking could youchange it for the better And if you could would it beethical to do so

Granger Thatrsquos a tough issue and one thatrsquos on all ofour minds these days Picture a teenager who just does-nrsquot realize that a car really is dangerous until he gets inhis first accident At that point his whole conception ofwhat hersquos doing while hersquos driving changes The abilityto simulate experiences is already happening in what wenow call virtual reality Many kids these days areexposed to this in video games with uncertain results tobe sure If we can train people by simulating reality so

that they perceive realistic experiences it may be asuperior way to learn

If however you are talking about a person unwilling tolearn new ideas thatrsquos a different story entirely One cer-tainly doesnrsquot want to turn to thoughts of ldquobrainwashingrdquo

Chappell Irsquom curious about the scientific approach youuse Are you studying the ldquocircuitryrdquo of the brain andthen trying to emulate it with electrical circuits or areyou learning more about electrical circuits and then try-ing to see if they apply to the brain or both

Granger Itrsquos the former much more than the latterWersquore trying to take the computational and engineeringknowledge that we have and apply it to brain functionto help us see if we can understand what kind of

ldquomachinerdquo a brain really is

However working in the otherdirection is quite interesting aswell If we can understand braincircuits we can build artificial cir-cuits that might be able to ldquoplugrdquo

into brains Circuits that might beable to act as prosthetics and improve

or repair brain function

Chappell The ldquoquantum leaprdquo is the connectionbetween the brain and the mind Eric Kandelrsquos work onthis problem won the Nobel Prize As you know he wasable to show chemical changes in the rudimentary ner-vous system of a simple invertebrate that occurred withchanges in the organismrsquos behavior as it ldquolearnedrdquomdashorbetter stated adapted to changes in its environment Arethere circuits that are capable of making changes basedon input

Granger Absolutely Understanding the mechanisms forlearning is a crucial piece of our work Building onwork by Kandel and many others wersquove increased ourunderstanding of the biophysical (electrical and chemi-cal) changes that occur at the synapses Synapses are theconnections between neurons (nerve cells) in the brain

Understanding how biophysical changes occur in thebrain during learning has led to an increasingly sophisti-cated understanding of how we learn This has alreadyled to the development of novel drugs many of whichare currently in human testing and novel hypothesesand treatments for learning-related conditions Suchknowledge also underlies our ability to build artificialbrain circuits These artificial brain circuits called sim-ulacra can also ldquolearnrdquo on a synapse-by-synapse basis

Chappell So you start out with simplistic circuits andrudimentary functions emulating a lower organismrsquosnervous system and then you build on that

Granger Yes A lot of that is going on in our field

The average humanbrain size is about 1350

cubic centimeters Einsteinrsquosbrain was less than 1250

Obviously itrsquos easier to build simpler mechanisms butitrsquos also potentially frustrating because no one wants tobuild a simple mechanism and then discover that it is noton the pathway to bigger and better mechanisms One ofthe reasons wersquore studying the evolutionary progressionof small brains to big brains is precisely because wewant to know where the highway went that led tohumans as opposed to some other version of our species

Chapell When you say ldquosmall brainrdquo and ldquobig brainrdquoyoursquore talking about evolutionmdashhow nervous systemshave evolved from simple ldquolower organismrdquo nervoussystems to the mammalian brain

Granger Thatrsquos right Actually all mammalsrsquo brains areextraordinarily similar The brain of a mouse and thebrain of a human are except for their size far more sim-ilar than they are different The neurons the chemistriesand the brain areas are basically thesame The organization and the com-munication between those brainareas are basically the same Thedifferences between the brains oflower mammals and humans areenhancements of the same basicbrain structure So we do study sim-pler brains to better understandldquobigrdquo brains We are getting vitalhints from the simple brains andstudying how those ldquoscale uprdquo Thisway we can understand what aspectsof small brains actually compare tothose of larger brains

Chappell Since mammalian brainsare all similar you are probablymore interested in key developmentsin brains that occurred along thesub-mammalian levels of the evolu-tionary chain

Granger Right The goal isnrsquot just tounderstand mice or cockroaches we really want tounderstand humans Early vertebrate brains like thoseof fish actually have some of the constituents that arestill present in mammalian brains even in humans Soyes we are using each of these clues along the evolu-tionary ldquohighwayrdquo to understand the human brain

Chappell You mentioned the cockroach and the humanThatrsquos a big jump in brain complexity What are somegood examples of organisms with nervous systems ofintermediate complexity that have given you usefulinformation

Granger There are two parts to the answer One is tosay begin with the earliest vertebratesmdashfish Thenmove in short steps along the evolutionary chain tostudy the brains of the earliest mammals which are rela-tively simplistic The brains of fish and lower mammals

are based primarily on the olfactory system (parts of thebrain linked with sense of smell) It appears that as thebrain evolved our other senses developed ldquoon toprdquo ofthe olfactory system so to speak As we go up that scalefrom mice to dogs to primates to humans we getincreasing size and subtle but important differences inthe ways various areas of the brain develop

Cooper Eventually if things continue to progress weshould be able to build models of certain chemicalactivities or to track the failure of those activities thatoccur in the human brain right

Granger Thatrsquos right For instance we might model thebinding of dopamine (a brain chemical or neurotrans-mitter) with its specific receptor or the failure of thisinteraction that occurs in Parkinsonrsquos disease Anotherexample might be a model of glutamate (another neuro-

transmitter) transmission and theproblems that occur in AlzheimerrsquosDisease and so on

Cooper What is the link betweenthe ldquobrainrdquo and the ldquomindrdquo

Granger One of the big questionsin this field is Do minds arise sim-ply because there is a brain Is themind simply what the brain doesIf not what other information aboutthis do we need to put in our com-puter models of the brain

So one can imagine getting to apoint where we build a completebrain that has its synapses and itschemical transmissions simulatedits brain compartments and com-munication between them yetdoesnrsquot give rise to perceptionmemory or consciousness

But it is still feasible that as we build these things up tothe scale that we hope to build them more properties ofldquothe mindrdquo will emerge

The suggestion was made that if we can build machinesthat are intelligent in ways we are not perhaps thecombination of our human intelligence and thesemachines might overcome our shortcomings We oftensee that in science where the instrumentation is vital tomaking the leap in knowledge We couldnrsquot under-stand the universe without telescopes and infraredastronomy We couldnrsquot understand chemistry withoutelectron microscopes and so on This may be anotherround of ldquotool-buildingrdquo that we have to go through tounderstand the mind

Cooper What would you like people to walk away withafter reading your book

38 ABILITY

ABILITY 39

Granger We think of humans as the pinnacle of evolu-tion There were human-like creatures some closeldquocousinsrdquo of ours that lived 10000 to 20000 years agoThey had brains substantially larger than our own rela-tive to their body size These species may have evenbeen smarter than us They may have been more capablethan us Yet somehow they didnrsquot survive evolutionarypressures so to speak If they were around now maybeour society would be more advanced

Cooper Yoursquore talking about the Boskops

Granger Yes The Boskops and many others TheBoskop is just sort of our ldquoposter childrdquo but there are anumber of well-studied skulls from 10000 to 30000years ago that are much larger than ours Endocasts ormolds of the would-be brain size were made from theseand theyrsquore big shockingly big

It raises the question how is it that we ended up thisway How did we get the intelligence that we have Orwere we somehow selected to survive for our slightlylesser intelligence Is there some crucial ability that wehave that they didnrsquot have

Chappell Does size really matter or is it more of an effi-ciency issue When we are infants brain growth is whatdetermines the skull size So what if the Boskops werejust genetically programmed to be larger animals andtheir brains were just larger because they were larger

Granger The skeletons that go with these large skulls areslim and about 5 feet 6 inches tall They look like medi-um to small humans but with huge skulls We evaluatethe brain-body ratio a topic we return to repeatedly in thebook One of the key questions is just the one you posedTo what extent does brain size make the difference

Therersquos an enormous amount of evidence that just with-in a species such as humans bigger brains donrsquot mat-ter The average human brain size is about 1350 cubiccentimeters Einsteinrsquos brain was less than 1250

The range of brain sizes within a single species is sub-stantial You often hear from people who claim that dif-ferent races or ethnicities have bigger brains and moreintelligence but that is simply not the case When mea-surements are taken we find that size within a speciesreally doesnrsquot matter

On the other hand between species itrsquos the organizationof the brain that matters When you compare speciesconsidering two animals with similar size bodies butdifferent size brains you do see behavioral differ-encesmdashthings that itrsquos pretty hard to think of as any-thing but differences in intelligence

Take an ape and a human of roughly the same size forexample The human has a brain that is easily threetimes larger Itrsquos hard not to say that there is somethingin that The same thing happens in many other speciesin ldquohead-to-headrdquo comparisonsmdash(laughs) pun notintended

This doesnrsquot mean necessarily that added intelligence hasadded survival value That remains to be seen Humanshavenrsquot been around that long in evolutionary terms

Cooper This was fun

Granger Yes it was I found it quite stimulating

In general movement and sensation on the left side ofyour body is controlled by the right hemisphere of

your brain and vice-versa About 90 percent of the pop-ulation is right-handed performing most importantfunctions such as writing with the right hand

In almost all of these people most of their languagefunction (reading understanding speaking and writing)is controlled by their left hemisphere This is referred toas ldquoleft-hemisphere dominancerdquo

Of the 10 percent or so of people who write left handedabout a third also have most language function in theleft hemisphere Another third or so have most languagefunction in the right hemisphere and others have con-siderable amounts of language function in both hemi-spheres Those who use both hands equally well(ambidextrous) have no dominant hemisphere

When it comes to primary use of a particular foot sayfor kicking a ball the picture is not quite as clear Thishas often perplexed people who are trying to learn toride a surfboard skateboard or snowboard and who arenot certain about what would be considered ldquoputtingtheir best foot forwardrdquo

Most people figure out naturally which foot arrange-ment is more comfortable Given the preponderance ofleft hemisphere dominance in the population most peo-ple tend to put their left foot forward

In most board sports the rear foot is the control orldquopowerrdquo foot But many of us including many of uswho are almost completely right-handedmdashor left hemi-sphere dominantmdashstill put our right foot forward on asport board which officially makes us goofy-footed

40 ABILITY

ABILITY 41

Growing up in Santa Monica CA celebrity chef

Sandra Lee remembers her grandma baking a

special cream cheese and peach cake for an

aunts birthday Grandma Lorraine made the dessert

with love peaches and a dash of pain

ldquoShe rubbed her hands a lotrdquo the host of the Food Net-

work TV show Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra

Lee recalls ldquoI knew she was fatigued in pain and that

her hands were swollen But at three and four years old

I didnt understand whyrdquo

Lees grandma had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) a chronic

progressive disease of the immune system that causes

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

Obviously itrsquos easier to build simpler mechanisms butitrsquos also potentially frustrating because no one wants tobuild a simple mechanism and then discover that it is noton the pathway to bigger and better mechanisms One ofthe reasons wersquore studying the evolutionary progressionof small brains to big brains is precisely because wewant to know where the highway went that led tohumans as opposed to some other version of our species

Chapell When you say ldquosmall brainrdquo and ldquobig brainrdquoyoursquore talking about evolutionmdashhow nervous systemshave evolved from simple ldquolower organismrdquo nervoussystems to the mammalian brain

Granger Thatrsquos right Actually all mammalsrsquo brains areextraordinarily similar The brain of a mouse and thebrain of a human are except for their size far more sim-ilar than they are different The neurons the chemistriesand the brain areas are basically thesame The organization and the com-munication between those brainareas are basically the same Thedifferences between the brains oflower mammals and humans areenhancements of the same basicbrain structure So we do study sim-pler brains to better understandldquobigrdquo brains We are getting vitalhints from the simple brains andstudying how those ldquoscale uprdquo Thisway we can understand what aspectsof small brains actually compare tothose of larger brains

Chappell Since mammalian brainsare all similar you are probablymore interested in key developmentsin brains that occurred along thesub-mammalian levels of the evolu-tionary chain

Granger Right The goal isnrsquot just tounderstand mice or cockroaches we really want tounderstand humans Early vertebrate brains like thoseof fish actually have some of the constituents that arestill present in mammalian brains even in humans Soyes we are using each of these clues along the evolu-tionary ldquohighwayrdquo to understand the human brain

Chappell You mentioned the cockroach and the humanThatrsquos a big jump in brain complexity What are somegood examples of organisms with nervous systems ofintermediate complexity that have given you usefulinformation

Granger There are two parts to the answer One is tosay begin with the earliest vertebratesmdashfish Thenmove in short steps along the evolutionary chain tostudy the brains of the earliest mammals which are rela-tively simplistic The brains of fish and lower mammals

are based primarily on the olfactory system (parts of thebrain linked with sense of smell) It appears that as thebrain evolved our other senses developed ldquoon toprdquo ofthe olfactory system so to speak As we go up that scalefrom mice to dogs to primates to humans we getincreasing size and subtle but important differences inthe ways various areas of the brain develop

Cooper Eventually if things continue to progress weshould be able to build models of certain chemicalactivities or to track the failure of those activities thatoccur in the human brain right

Granger Thatrsquos right For instance we might model thebinding of dopamine (a brain chemical or neurotrans-mitter) with its specific receptor or the failure of thisinteraction that occurs in Parkinsonrsquos disease Anotherexample might be a model of glutamate (another neuro-

transmitter) transmission and theproblems that occur in AlzheimerrsquosDisease and so on

Cooper What is the link betweenthe ldquobrainrdquo and the ldquomindrdquo

Granger One of the big questionsin this field is Do minds arise sim-ply because there is a brain Is themind simply what the brain doesIf not what other information aboutthis do we need to put in our com-puter models of the brain

So one can imagine getting to apoint where we build a completebrain that has its synapses and itschemical transmissions simulatedits brain compartments and com-munication between them yetdoesnrsquot give rise to perceptionmemory or consciousness

But it is still feasible that as we build these things up tothe scale that we hope to build them more properties ofldquothe mindrdquo will emerge

The suggestion was made that if we can build machinesthat are intelligent in ways we are not perhaps thecombination of our human intelligence and thesemachines might overcome our shortcomings We oftensee that in science where the instrumentation is vital tomaking the leap in knowledge We couldnrsquot under-stand the universe without telescopes and infraredastronomy We couldnrsquot understand chemistry withoutelectron microscopes and so on This may be anotherround of ldquotool-buildingrdquo that we have to go through tounderstand the mind

Cooper What would you like people to walk away withafter reading your book

38 ABILITY

ABILITY 39

Granger We think of humans as the pinnacle of evolu-tion There were human-like creatures some closeldquocousinsrdquo of ours that lived 10000 to 20000 years agoThey had brains substantially larger than our own rela-tive to their body size These species may have evenbeen smarter than us They may have been more capablethan us Yet somehow they didnrsquot survive evolutionarypressures so to speak If they were around now maybeour society would be more advanced

Cooper Yoursquore talking about the Boskops

Granger Yes The Boskops and many others TheBoskop is just sort of our ldquoposter childrdquo but there are anumber of well-studied skulls from 10000 to 30000years ago that are much larger than ours Endocasts ormolds of the would-be brain size were made from theseand theyrsquore big shockingly big

It raises the question how is it that we ended up thisway How did we get the intelligence that we have Orwere we somehow selected to survive for our slightlylesser intelligence Is there some crucial ability that wehave that they didnrsquot have

Chappell Does size really matter or is it more of an effi-ciency issue When we are infants brain growth is whatdetermines the skull size So what if the Boskops werejust genetically programmed to be larger animals andtheir brains were just larger because they were larger

Granger The skeletons that go with these large skulls areslim and about 5 feet 6 inches tall They look like medi-um to small humans but with huge skulls We evaluatethe brain-body ratio a topic we return to repeatedly in thebook One of the key questions is just the one you posedTo what extent does brain size make the difference

Therersquos an enormous amount of evidence that just with-in a species such as humans bigger brains donrsquot mat-ter The average human brain size is about 1350 cubiccentimeters Einsteinrsquos brain was less than 1250

The range of brain sizes within a single species is sub-stantial You often hear from people who claim that dif-ferent races or ethnicities have bigger brains and moreintelligence but that is simply not the case When mea-surements are taken we find that size within a speciesreally doesnrsquot matter

On the other hand between species itrsquos the organizationof the brain that matters When you compare speciesconsidering two animals with similar size bodies butdifferent size brains you do see behavioral differ-encesmdashthings that itrsquos pretty hard to think of as any-thing but differences in intelligence

Take an ape and a human of roughly the same size forexample The human has a brain that is easily threetimes larger Itrsquos hard not to say that there is somethingin that The same thing happens in many other speciesin ldquohead-to-headrdquo comparisonsmdash(laughs) pun notintended

This doesnrsquot mean necessarily that added intelligence hasadded survival value That remains to be seen Humanshavenrsquot been around that long in evolutionary terms

Cooper This was fun

Granger Yes it was I found it quite stimulating

In general movement and sensation on the left side ofyour body is controlled by the right hemisphere of

your brain and vice-versa About 90 percent of the pop-ulation is right-handed performing most importantfunctions such as writing with the right hand

In almost all of these people most of their languagefunction (reading understanding speaking and writing)is controlled by their left hemisphere This is referred toas ldquoleft-hemisphere dominancerdquo

Of the 10 percent or so of people who write left handedabout a third also have most language function in theleft hemisphere Another third or so have most languagefunction in the right hemisphere and others have con-siderable amounts of language function in both hemi-spheres Those who use both hands equally well(ambidextrous) have no dominant hemisphere

When it comes to primary use of a particular foot sayfor kicking a ball the picture is not quite as clear Thishas often perplexed people who are trying to learn toride a surfboard skateboard or snowboard and who arenot certain about what would be considered ldquoputtingtheir best foot forwardrdquo

Most people figure out naturally which foot arrange-ment is more comfortable Given the preponderance ofleft hemisphere dominance in the population most peo-ple tend to put their left foot forward

In most board sports the rear foot is the control orldquopowerrdquo foot But many of us including many of uswho are almost completely right-handedmdashor left hemi-sphere dominantmdashstill put our right foot forward on asport board which officially makes us goofy-footed

40 ABILITY

ABILITY 41

Growing up in Santa Monica CA celebrity chef

Sandra Lee remembers her grandma baking a

special cream cheese and peach cake for an

aunts birthday Grandma Lorraine made the dessert

with love peaches and a dash of pain

ldquoShe rubbed her hands a lotrdquo the host of the Food Net-

work TV show Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra

Lee recalls ldquoI knew she was fatigued in pain and that

her hands were swollen But at three and four years old

I didnt understand whyrdquo

Lees grandma had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) a chronic

progressive disease of the immune system that causes

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

ABILITY 39

Granger We think of humans as the pinnacle of evolu-tion There were human-like creatures some closeldquocousinsrdquo of ours that lived 10000 to 20000 years agoThey had brains substantially larger than our own rela-tive to their body size These species may have evenbeen smarter than us They may have been more capablethan us Yet somehow they didnrsquot survive evolutionarypressures so to speak If they were around now maybeour society would be more advanced

Cooper Yoursquore talking about the Boskops

Granger Yes The Boskops and many others TheBoskop is just sort of our ldquoposter childrdquo but there are anumber of well-studied skulls from 10000 to 30000years ago that are much larger than ours Endocasts ormolds of the would-be brain size were made from theseand theyrsquore big shockingly big

It raises the question how is it that we ended up thisway How did we get the intelligence that we have Orwere we somehow selected to survive for our slightlylesser intelligence Is there some crucial ability that wehave that they didnrsquot have

Chappell Does size really matter or is it more of an effi-ciency issue When we are infants brain growth is whatdetermines the skull size So what if the Boskops werejust genetically programmed to be larger animals andtheir brains were just larger because they were larger

Granger The skeletons that go with these large skulls areslim and about 5 feet 6 inches tall They look like medi-um to small humans but with huge skulls We evaluatethe brain-body ratio a topic we return to repeatedly in thebook One of the key questions is just the one you posedTo what extent does brain size make the difference

Therersquos an enormous amount of evidence that just with-in a species such as humans bigger brains donrsquot mat-ter The average human brain size is about 1350 cubiccentimeters Einsteinrsquos brain was less than 1250

The range of brain sizes within a single species is sub-stantial You often hear from people who claim that dif-ferent races or ethnicities have bigger brains and moreintelligence but that is simply not the case When mea-surements are taken we find that size within a speciesreally doesnrsquot matter

On the other hand between species itrsquos the organizationof the brain that matters When you compare speciesconsidering two animals with similar size bodies butdifferent size brains you do see behavioral differ-encesmdashthings that itrsquos pretty hard to think of as any-thing but differences in intelligence

Take an ape and a human of roughly the same size forexample The human has a brain that is easily threetimes larger Itrsquos hard not to say that there is somethingin that The same thing happens in many other speciesin ldquohead-to-headrdquo comparisonsmdash(laughs) pun notintended

This doesnrsquot mean necessarily that added intelligence hasadded survival value That remains to be seen Humanshavenrsquot been around that long in evolutionary terms

Cooper This was fun

Granger Yes it was I found it quite stimulating

In general movement and sensation on the left side ofyour body is controlled by the right hemisphere of

your brain and vice-versa About 90 percent of the pop-ulation is right-handed performing most importantfunctions such as writing with the right hand

In almost all of these people most of their languagefunction (reading understanding speaking and writing)is controlled by their left hemisphere This is referred toas ldquoleft-hemisphere dominancerdquo

Of the 10 percent or so of people who write left handedabout a third also have most language function in theleft hemisphere Another third or so have most languagefunction in the right hemisphere and others have con-siderable amounts of language function in both hemi-spheres Those who use both hands equally well(ambidextrous) have no dominant hemisphere

When it comes to primary use of a particular foot sayfor kicking a ball the picture is not quite as clear Thishas often perplexed people who are trying to learn toride a surfboard skateboard or snowboard and who arenot certain about what would be considered ldquoputtingtheir best foot forwardrdquo

Most people figure out naturally which foot arrange-ment is more comfortable Given the preponderance ofleft hemisphere dominance in the population most peo-ple tend to put their left foot forward

In most board sports the rear foot is the control orldquopowerrdquo foot But many of us including many of uswho are almost completely right-handedmdashor left hemi-sphere dominantmdashstill put our right foot forward on asport board which officially makes us goofy-footed

40 ABILITY

ABILITY 41

Growing up in Santa Monica CA celebrity chef

Sandra Lee remembers her grandma baking a

special cream cheese and peach cake for an

aunts birthday Grandma Lorraine made the dessert

with love peaches and a dash of pain

ldquoShe rubbed her hands a lotrdquo the host of the Food Net-

work TV show Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra

Lee recalls ldquoI knew she was fatigued in pain and that

her hands were swollen But at three and four years old

I didnt understand whyrdquo

Lees grandma had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) a chronic

progressive disease of the immune system that causes

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

40 ABILITY

ABILITY 41

Growing up in Santa Monica CA celebrity chef

Sandra Lee remembers her grandma baking a

special cream cheese and peach cake for an

aunts birthday Grandma Lorraine made the dessert

with love peaches and a dash of pain

ldquoShe rubbed her hands a lotrdquo the host of the Food Net-

work TV show Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra

Lee recalls ldquoI knew she was fatigued in pain and that

her hands were swollen But at three and four years old

I didnt understand whyrdquo

Lees grandma had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) a chronic

progressive disease of the immune system that causes

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

ABILITY 41

Growing up in Santa Monica CA celebrity chef

Sandra Lee remembers her grandma baking a

special cream cheese and peach cake for an

aunts birthday Grandma Lorraine made the dessert

with love peaches and a dash of pain

ldquoShe rubbed her hands a lotrdquo the host of the Food Net-

work TV show Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra

Lee recalls ldquoI knew she was fatigued in pain and that

her hands were swollen But at three and four years old

I didnt understand whyrdquo

Lees grandma had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) a chronic

progressive disease of the immune system that causes

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

42 ABILITY

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

ABILITY 43

stiffness inflammation and damage to the joints of thehands and feet (See A Joint Project p 45) GrandmaLorrainersquos challenges were exacerbated by the fact thatshe worked in the cafeteria at the local Rand Corpora-tion where she prepared meals for the multitudes

Still cooking brought her a great deal of joy

ldquoShe baked for showers weddings and church bakesalesrdquo said Lee whorsquos recent book is called Made FromScratch A Memoir As a youngster she followed hergrandma around the kitchen picking up pointers Forinstance her grandmother never boiled the macaroni formac and cheese ldquoShersquod bake it all together tossing thenoodles in butter adding her water cheese cream andputting it in a dishrdquo Voila one pan to wash

Today Leersquos many books as well as her Food Networkshow in which she uses 70 percent store-bought prod-ucts with 30 percent fresh ingredients is built on tipsgleaned from grandma who died nearly a decade ago

In tribute to the woman who most inspired her Leerecently added a component to her business and charita-ble work called I Can With RA The program helpscooks living with the condition shop organize theirkitchens and whip up delicious dishes in a way thatcauses the least discomfort

The eldest of five Lee learned how to be enterprisingearly on She and younger sister Cindy went to livewith their grandmother when her mother a teen parentfound herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities ofrearing small children Times were hard Leersquos grand-mother applied for welfare and food stamps whichcreated a financial bridge until the two children wereolder and reunited with their mother then living inWashington state

ldquoMy grandmother taught me to save money and to be acoupon clipper which introduces you to new innovativeproducts ingredient combinations great flavor andtaste She took a less expensive roast over a moreexpensive cut and told the butcher to cube itrdquo whichhelped it cook down and become tender more quickly

Her grandmotherrsquos way of managing RA was to keep herkitchen tools at hand right there on the counter whichLee does to this day Having a family member witharthritis also made Lee aware that those with the condi-tion must deal with dietary concerns creating meals thatare low in salt and sugar while foregoing alcohol

On her website for cooks with RA the author urgesthem to ldquotake someone with you to the grocery storeand to use paper plates so you donrsquot have to do dish-esrdquo Lee herself says that she eats off of paper plates acouple of days a week

She urges cooks with RAmdashand really everyonemdashto

use bamboo steamers to cut down on caloric fatsSteamers with stacked layers she says allow you toprepare two different items a fish and a vegetable forinstance all at once

The celebrity chef adds that buying pre-chopped or pre-sliced veggies which might cost a bit more is anotherway to make meals more painless She suggests thatpicking something up at a salad bar letting the bakeryslice a fresh multigrain loaf of bread or having a fish-monger crack shellfish are additional ways to be gentleto onersquos hands

ldquoI try to keep prep time within a 20-minute rangebecause when wersquore hungry wersquore hungry nowrdquo shesays

More tips from Lee to organize your kitchen

Use open shelving so that prep tools and plates areeasier to access

Put items high enough so that you donrsquot have to bend

Pour pasta into a metal colander and carefully set thatinside a pot of boiling water When your macaroni isdone use oven mitts to lift it up and drain it right thereat the stove so you donrsquot have to lug a heavy pot ofwater back over to the sink

Lee working in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Despite her RA saucyGrandma Lorraine taught Leehow to fire it up in the kitchen

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

44 ABILITY

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

ABILITY 45

and the Arthritis Foundation has bonded with an RAsupport group of women over the last year and a halfhelping them to get cooking stay encouraged and brain-storm ways to help themselves and others Theyrsquove alsogiven her valuable ideas for her new website such asusing pots and bowls with two handles so that theweight is distributed between both hands and thereforefeels lighter

One of the chefrsquos books that is due to be published in2008 Short Cut Meal Solutions offers the opportunityto save additional steps by preparing one meal that canbe stretched out for two or three more As Lee puts itldquoCook once eat thricerdquo

That concept is another page right out of her grandmarsquosplaybook Lee says crediting her elder as the originatorof the semi-homemade approach to cooking GrandmaLorraine helped her refine the notion of ldquomaking mealsspecial and thoughtful while saving money becauseeveryone is overextended with too much to do and notenough money to do itrdquo she says

Ironically it was dealing with food stamps as a childthat made Lee a more astute adult At the time shefound the experience ldquoscary and embarrassinghellip Youhad to go to the grocery story and figure out how tomake the dollars stretch throughout the whole monthrdquo

There were things she could buy on welfare and thingsshe couldnrsquot so she organized her cart with eligibleitems in one part and ineligible items in another

ldquoIt wasnrsquot fun but it was a very good learning experi-encerdquo teaching her how to glean good values for themoney

Lee applied that same approach to decorating her familyhome back in the day which led in her 20s to her firstmulti-million dollar enterprise a home-decorating kitcalled Kurtain Kraft which she sold on QVC

Though money was unbelievably tight during her for-mative years the famous foodie now finds she has plen-ty in her cornucopia to share with others It was Lee andher team who first contacted the Arthritis Foundation tocreate an online site for people with RA In Los Angelesand New York she lends her name and her time to Pro-ject Angel Food and Godrsquos Love We Deliver respec-tively

Leersquos Grandma Lorraine continues to be her source ofinspiration and motivation ldquoI want to reach out to peo-ple who have felt unsupported unheard and scaredrdquo shesays ldquo I want them to have a place to turn ldquoI want tochange livesrdquo

Pamela K Johnson

her RA which made the things she loved to do likecooking and baking difficult It was really insightful tolearn from Pat some of the science behind the diseaseand how it impacts patients in their daily livesrdquo

RA affects more than two million people 75 percent ofwhom are women between their 40s and 60s when theymay still be caring for children but also starting to dealwith aging parents Says Daul who works at NewYorkrsquos Buffalo Infusion Center ldquoItrsquos a terrible time to besidelined by a potentially crippling diseaserdquo

Early signs of RA are aches andor stiffness in the jointsthat last a few minutes to several hours Perhaps youcanrsquot get your rings off because your fingers areswollen or you feel fatigued as if you have the flu

ldquoIf a patient says lsquoIt feels like Irsquom walking on rocksrsquo alittle light bulb goes off in my headrdquo adds Daul whowill then take a thorough medical history from a patientldquoA familyrsquos history is important to knowrdquo she saysldquoMom and dad brothers and sisters aunts and unclesgrandmother and grandfathermdashfamily health is linkedwe may have a family predisposition for RA

ldquoMy father had a positive RA blood factor He didnrsquothave RA but his sister did If I ever begin to feel thesymptoms I will tell the intake doctor about my familyhistory with the condition This is how we begin to put

Food rockstar Sandra Lee may be the front personfor the I Can With RA campaign but Patricia DaulRN provides strong back up behind the scenes

ldquoWorking with Sandra is a great honorrdquo says DaulldquoHer Simply Homemade concept of 70 percent storebought and 30 percent fresh is a perfect marriage ofideas If you have RA and canrsquot stand and chop veggiesfor an hour you can still have great stews and soupsrdquo

RAmdashRheumatoid Arthritismdashis a chronic progressivedisease of the immune system resulting in stiffnessinflammation pain and damage mostly to the joints ofthe hands and feet It is one of 80 autoimmune diseases

Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recog-nize its own self-down to the sub-molecularlevelswhich results in an immune response against itsown cells and tissues

Together Lee and Daul who has worked as a nurse for25 years 17 of them in the area of autoimmune dis-eases do community outreach educating people on RAas well as helping cooks turn out tasty dishes with aminimum of discomfort

ldquoI saw first hand the difficulties my grandma faced with

bull a joint project bull

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

to be a trigger which turns on this faucet of sortsbringing inflammation to the joints causing swellingand erosion of the tissues Irsquove seen patients whosehands are deformed These drugs can keep the diseasefrom getting worse I donrsquot want to see peoplersquos handslike that anymorerdquo

Though Daulrsquos patients ask her all the time what causesRA she says she doesnrsquot have the answer But becausemost patients with it are female she says hormones mayplay a role Other factors could be bacterial viral orenvironmental in nature

ldquoThere are so many theoriesrdquo she says but no answersThatrsquos why she encourages people to talk about whatworks best for them ldquoMy patients are very generous insharing their diagnoses and experiences They say lsquoThisis what Irsquove done this is what helps mersquo ldquo

Working with Lee Daul has shared her knowledge andinsights with I Can With RA support groups and onlineThe website not only offers recipes useful tips forworking in the kitchen and tools that lighten the load ofa cook with RA but also links to other sources of relat-ed information such as the Arthritis Foundation

ldquoWith the support groups a person can say lsquoYes I knowsomeone else who has RA and I donrsquot feel so alonersquo ldquo

PK J

wwwicanwithracom

46 ABILITY

together the puzzle when a patient comes in we need alot of details to make a diagnosisrdquo

As is the case with autoimmune diseases in generalthe effects can be mild moderate or severe They tendto have flare-upsmdashperiods when they get worse-aswell as remissionsmdashwhen they all but disappear Usu-ally however they donrsquot go away and the flare-upsincrease Fortunately both the disease and the symp-toms are typically treatable

Daul recommends that a person with symptoms of RAseek out medical attention early because treatment maynot only help with symptoms but can potentially arrestthe diseasersquos progression

Within the past 10 years says the nurse biologic med-ications have emerged which treat adults with moderateto severe RA These medications not only improve phys-ical function but control the advance of joint damageldquoThatrsquos huge in a rheumatology settingrdquo she says ldquoUntiltherersquos a cure we want to keep people functioningrdquo

Itrsquos best to work with a rheumatologist who chooses anaggressive course of treatment using the latest category ofDisease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DIMARDS)These treat not only symptoms but go after the diseasemolecules or target specific cells responsible for theinflammatory cascade that often occurs

ldquoWe donrsquot know what gets RA going but there appears

Patricia Daul and Sandra Lee help to addsome spice to the lives of cooks with RA

ABILITY 47

ABILITY 47

48 ABILITY

Stunt Double

ABILITY 49

Irsquove been in a wheelchair for more than a decade butonly in the last year or so have I had a strange andpowerful new urge The urge to move Irsquom not just

talking about my legs (those fantasies I save for mydreams) but to take planes trains and automobiles andsee the world I want a well-stamped passport

The great American hero Dean Moriarty in Jack Ker-ouacrsquos Beat classic On The Road put it best

ldquoWe gotta go and never stop til we get thererdquo

ldquoWhere are we goingrdquo asks his pal Sal Paradise

ldquoI donrsquot knowrdquo Moriarty says ldquobut we gotta gordquo

Exactly

I think this case of middle-aged wanderlust has some-thing if not everything to do with my paralysis Sittingstill day in and day out is not all itrsquos cracked up to beYou need a countervailing force to feel energized andlogically that force is movement Tooling around themall only gives you the illusion of going somewhereSure itrsquos fun to zip along on the slick flooring scaringold ladies but you always end up back at the same park-ing space

When yoursquore in a plane heading from Los Angeles toQatar as I did recently with ABILITY editor-in-chiefChet Cooper you arenrsquot experiencing the illusion ofmovementmdashyoursquore zooming man

Itrsquos not unlike the feeling you get when you ski down amountain in an adaptive ski rig If you could just com-bine these two sensory highs flying long distances andskiing full speed yoursquod be rocketing towards nirvanaOne possibility is traveling to the all-indoor all-fake-snow ski slope theyrsquove created in the Emirate of Dubairight next door to Qatar Sixteen hours on a plane plus a12-hour time change for five minutes of pure downhillterror sounds like a dream vacation to me

Of course my urge to leave town might be some Freudi-an impulse to run away from paying bills and watchingJeopardy every night but thatrsquos about as far as my psy-choanalytical skills go I just want to keep it moving Sowhen I got a call out of the blue from a very up-marketBritish magazine called Spa Business about an ldquounder-coverrdquo reporting assignment I hoped theyrsquod say

ldquoIf you donrsquot mind going to Bangkok in October with atwo-day lay-over in Fijihelliprdquo

Unfortunately Thailand wasnrsquot on the itinerary I onlyhad to travel 50 miles not 8000 Even before theyexplained the assignment I blurted ldquoyesrdquo This maymake me sound easy but they had me at the word ldquospardquo

The assignment was a gem Spend a day at the sumptuous

yet reasonably priced Glen Ivy Hot Springs in CoronaCA in the desert east of Los Angeles Then I was toreport back on how they treat a person in a wheelchairThat was the undercover part

Since Irsquod become paralyzed Irsquod never thought of visit-ing a healthy retreat like this I donrsquot know why It prob-ably has something to do with the residual embarrass-ment of appearing unclothed or semi-clothed in publicin a chair Yoursquore vulnerable enough as it is Beingnaked and impaired sounds like a one-two punch toyour dignity Like a lot of paralytics I had to be pushedinto doing this or lured by a British editor

I also had to convince myself This wasnrsquot just an awk-ward potentially embarrassing trip to a spa to get mas-saged muddied up and moisturized this was a job aninvestigative assignment and I owed it to spa-loverswith disabilities everywhere to thoroughly check theplace out

Besides being a day off from real life I realized I wasalso trying my hand at a burgeoning genre of journal-ism accessibility reportage This has been around indisabled-specific media for a while but now itrsquos startingto expand Like big-city restaurant reviewers travel crit-ics such as Peter Greenberg and those people who writethose frothy ldquoWhat a soft mattressrdquo fluff pieces forTravel and Leisure there is now a whole new area ofgeneral-interest mass media coverage of places you cantake a friend or relative who is disabled So I was justdipping my toe in the pool so to speak

About the time I visited Glen Ivy for instance the NewYork Times ran a long piece by restaurant critic FrankBruni entitled ldquoWhen Accessibility Isnrsquot Hospitalityrdquo Itwas an in-depth study of the many problems peoplewith disabilities encounter while dining out in NewYork from getting in the door to getting to the loo Inone Italian hot spot a woman with a disability said thatto get to the bathroom it would ldquoliterally have requiredall diners to stand up and remove the outer chairs of allthe tablesrdquo Her solution was to ldquodehydraterdquo before din-ner and avoid the john altogether

The article ended with a list of establishments labeledldquoTop Tables for Diners With Their Own Chairsrdquo Youcan be sure that I along with a lot of other chair userswill carry that list on our next trip to NYC Some 50-million strong PWDs are not just a cause we are a hugemarket something both Bruni and at least those sevenswanky joints in Manhattan know very well

Part of me I confess secretly hoped that Glen Ivy HotSprings was woefully inaccessible and that the staffwould ignore me patronize me or otherwise treat meshabbily That way I could write a snippity self-right-eous rant against the universal view of people in wheel-chairs and those who are disabled in general as second-class citizens

50 ABILITY

But that didnrsquot happen From the moment I arrived atthe spa and noticed the dozen well-marked handicappedparking spaces awaiting me to the moment I rolled backto my car feeling like a limp washrag I was more thanaccommodated I was treated with dignity respect andwall-to-wall helpfulness just like any other stressed-outspa-craving supplicant on a family budget

Glen Ivy Hot Springs has been a commercial venturesince the late 1800rsquos but only recently grew from amodest mineral bath into an 11-acre complex surround-ed by golf courses and born-yesterday residential com-munities It is equipped with multiple pools and baths acorps of masseuses and masseurs a ldquoClub Mudrdquo whereyou can be covered in restorative red clay a restauranta grotto and a staff of the cleanest-cut young people thisside of Disneyland

Jason was one of the staff members who made my ownstay so memorable He stepped up to show me aroundand point out the fully accessible lockers showers sinksand toilets Except for a few steep inclines the groundswere wheelchair-friendly My first stop was a 50-minuteolive sage ldquorenewrdquo massage The table was instantly low-ered to meet the level of my chair The masseuse had notrouble figuring out my problem zone the shoulders ofcourse which are the focal point of aches and pains forsomeone who pushes a manual chair around all day Shedid a great job and didnrsquot once mutter ldquoYou poor thingrdquo

Then Jason introduced me to a cheap item every spashould have an old fold-up standard-issue wheelchairthat you can probably pick up at a flea market for $25and toss away when it rusts or breaks down Themoment I transferred into that relic I could make a lot ofstops at Glen Ivy with no hassle I could roll into thesteam room or shower without having to transfer to ahard surface I could enter Club Mud sit in a convenientarea coat myself (and the chair) with mud dry in the sunand then roll into an outdoor shower stall and wash off

Finally I could enter the underground grotto havemyself painted from head to toe in a pea-green concoc-tion of sea kelp aloe vera and other elixirs sit in ahydrating chamber as it did its magic and then showeroff again That old chair became my constant compan-ion throughout the day

Okay Glen Ivy wasnrsquot completely accessible None ofthe doors for instance opened automatically makingthem a struggle to get through And ironically the onefeature of the place where no one could figure out howto get me in was the actual hot spring It bubbled up intosmall individual pools that made any transfer from awheelchair extremely difficult If the staff had providedme with a solid chair of some kind I could have loweredmyself to the ground and just scooted into one of the hotsprings outlets but they couldnrsquot locate such a chairIn the New York Timesrsquo piece I mentioned earlier oneresourceful New Yorker in a wheelchair hauled a 12-

pound fiberglass ramp around with her to get up anddown small flights of stairs in local eateries If I hadstuffed a simple metal folding chair in my trunk I couldhave gotten into those medicinal waters The lessonbeing buy a bigger car or truck for all of this life-enhancing paraphernalia you should have on hand

The swimming and therapeutic pools had no readyaccess either If Glen Ivy was really on top of thingsthey would have installed a self-operating hydraulic liftto ease me into the water Short of that a simple rampwould have allowed me to roll in and out of the water inthat utility chair Of course like the lady above I couldhave supplied that ramp myself another handy item forthe back of the super-sized pick-up

These various stumbling blocks were upsetting but notthat upsetting I guess by the time I realized what Icouldnrsquot do with ease I had been subjected to so muchde-stressing that I didnrsquot really care On the other handif I had gone out there principally to take a soothingsoak in the hot springs or a dip in a salt-water pool Iwould have asked for my money back

So I guess on the Accessibility Meter of 1 to 10 10being best Glen Ivy garners a 7 plus or maybe an 8Jason on the other hand gets a full 10 and hopefully anice bump up in his next paycheck

Spa Business seemed pleased with the finished articleand I can only hope that itrsquos the beginning of a beautifulfriendship Certainly there are spas all over the Mediter-ranean that need to be critiqued with the cool eye of aglobe-trotting paralytic If not Corsica how about aweekend trip to the new Paris Hotel in Las VegasRumor has it they have both a state-of-the-art hydraulicpool lift and a coterie of young lovelies in French maidoutfits bringing you fresh towels Okay I made up thatlast part but I wonrsquot really know until someone sendsme on a mission to find for myself

If I play my cards right maybe some day I couldbecome the Gene ShalitPeter Greenberg of the field andproudly wear the moniker Accessibility Critic At Large Have chair will travel

by Allen Rucker

Allen Rucker is a regular contributor to ABILITY and the author of TheBest Seat In The House How I Woke Up One Tuesday And Was Paralyzed for Life among other books wwwallenruckercom

For more info go towwwglenivycom

ABILITY 51

52 ABILITY

ABILITY 53

In the background a flute played in a sweet song about rainbows as Rohan Mur-phy tapped the raw power of his arms and shoulders to raise and lower his bodyon a tablersquos edge Up down up down Then he paused briefly to switch gears as

his ripped chest muscles bulged through his sleeveless shirt Next he effortlesslylifted himself into a handstand did a set of push-ups and then broke into a hand spin

Did I mention that all of this took place on a conference room table

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

ABILITY 49

Irsquove been in a wheelchair for more than a decade butonly in the last year or so have I had a strange andpowerful new urge The urge to move Irsquom not just

talking about my legs (those fantasies I save for mydreams) but to take planes trains and automobiles andsee the world I want a well-stamped passport

The great American hero Dean Moriarty in Jack Ker-ouacrsquos Beat classic On The Road put it best

ldquoWe gotta go and never stop til we get thererdquo

ldquoWhere are we goingrdquo asks his pal Sal Paradise

ldquoI donrsquot knowrdquo Moriarty says ldquobut we gotta gordquo

Exactly

I think this case of middle-aged wanderlust has some-thing if not everything to do with my paralysis Sittingstill day in and day out is not all itrsquos cracked up to beYou need a countervailing force to feel energized andlogically that force is movement Tooling around themall only gives you the illusion of going somewhereSure itrsquos fun to zip along on the slick flooring scaringold ladies but you always end up back at the same park-ing space

When yoursquore in a plane heading from Los Angeles toQatar as I did recently with ABILITY editor-in-chiefChet Cooper you arenrsquot experiencing the illusion ofmovementmdashyoursquore zooming man

Itrsquos not unlike the feeling you get when you ski down amountain in an adaptive ski rig If you could just com-bine these two sensory highs flying long distances andskiing full speed yoursquod be rocketing towards nirvanaOne possibility is traveling to the all-indoor all-fake-snow ski slope theyrsquove created in the Emirate of Dubairight next door to Qatar Sixteen hours on a plane plus a12-hour time change for five minutes of pure downhillterror sounds like a dream vacation to me

Of course my urge to leave town might be some Freudi-an impulse to run away from paying bills and watchingJeopardy every night but thatrsquos about as far as my psy-choanalytical skills go I just want to keep it moving Sowhen I got a call out of the blue from a very up-marketBritish magazine called Spa Business about an ldquounder-coverrdquo reporting assignment I hoped theyrsquod say

ldquoIf you donrsquot mind going to Bangkok in October with atwo-day lay-over in Fijihelliprdquo

Unfortunately Thailand wasnrsquot on the itinerary I onlyhad to travel 50 miles not 8000 Even before theyexplained the assignment I blurted ldquoyesrdquo This maymake me sound easy but they had me at the word ldquospardquo

The assignment was a gem Spend a day at the sumptuous

yet reasonably priced Glen Ivy Hot Springs in CoronaCA in the desert east of Los Angeles Then I was toreport back on how they treat a person in a wheelchairThat was the undercover part

Since Irsquod become paralyzed Irsquod never thought of visit-ing a healthy retreat like this I donrsquot know why It prob-ably has something to do with the residual embarrass-ment of appearing unclothed or semi-clothed in publicin a chair Yoursquore vulnerable enough as it is Beingnaked and impaired sounds like a one-two punch toyour dignity Like a lot of paralytics I had to be pushedinto doing this or lured by a British editor

I also had to convince myself This wasnrsquot just an awk-ward potentially embarrassing trip to a spa to get mas-saged muddied up and moisturized this was a job aninvestigative assignment and I owed it to spa-loverswith disabilities everywhere to thoroughly check theplace out

Besides being a day off from real life I realized I wasalso trying my hand at a burgeoning genre of journal-ism accessibility reportage This has been around indisabled-specific media for a while but now itrsquos startingto expand Like big-city restaurant reviewers travel crit-ics such as Peter Greenberg and those people who writethose frothy ldquoWhat a soft mattressrdquo fluff pieces forTravel and Leisure there is now a whole new area ofgeneral-interest mass media coverage of places you cantake a friend or relative who is disabled So I was justdipping my toe in the pool so to speak

About the time I visited Glen Ivy for instance the NewYork Times ran a long piece by restaurant critic FrankBruni entitled ldquoWhen Accessibility Isnrsquot Hospitalityrdquo Itwas an in-depth study of the many problems peoplewith disabilities encounter while dining out in NewYork from getting in the door to getting to the loo Inone Italian hot spot a woman with a disability said thatto get to the bathroom it would ldquoliterally have requiredall diners to stand up and remove the outer chairs of allthe tablesrdquo Her solution was to ldquodehydraterdquo before din-ner and avoid the john altogether

The article ended with a list of establishments labeledldquoTop Tables for Diners With Their Own Chairsrdquo Youcan be sure that I along with a lot of other chair userswill carry that list on our next trip to NYC Some 50-million strong PWDs are not just a cause we are a hugemarket something both Bruni and at least those sevenswanky joints in Manhattan know very well

Part of me I confess secretly hoped that Glen Ivy HotSprings was woefully inaccessible and that the staffwould ignore me patronize me or otherwise treat meshabbily That way I could write a snippity self-right-eous rant against the universal view of people in wheel-chairs and those who are disabled in general as second-class citizens

50 ABILITY

But that didnrsquot happen From the moment I arrived atthe spa and noticed the dozen well-marked handicappedparking spaces awaiting me to the moment I rolled backto my car feeling like a limp washrag I was more thanaccommodated I was treated with dignity respect andwall-to-wall helpfulness just like any other stressed-outspa-craving supplicant on a family budget

Glen Ivy Hot Springs has been a commercial venturesince the late 1800rsquos but only recently grew from amodest mineral bath into an 11-acre complex surround-ed by golf courses and born-yesterday residential com-munities It is equipped with multiple pools and baths acorps of masseuses and masseurs a ldquoClub Mudrdquo whereyou can be covered in restorative red clay a restauranta grotto and a staff of the cleanest-cut young people thisside of Disneyland

Jason was one of the staff members who made my ownstay so memorable He stepped up to show me aroundand point out the fully accessible lockers showers sinksand toilets Except for a few steep inclines the groundswere wheelchair-friendly My first stop was a 50-minuteolive sage ldquorenewrdquo massage The table was instantly low-ered to meet the level of my chair The masseuse had notrouble figuring out my problem zone the shoulders ofcourse which are the focal point of aches and pains forsomeone who pushes a manual chair around all day Shedid a great job and didnrsquot once mutter ldquoYou poor thingrdquo

Then Jason introduced me to a cheap item every spashould have an old fold-up standard-issue wheelchairthat you can probably pick up at a flea market for $25and toss away when it rusts or breaks down Themoment I transferred into that relic I could make a lot ofstops at Glen Ivy with no hassle I could roll into thesteam room or shower without having to transfer to ahard surface I could enter Club Mud sit in a convenientarea coat myself (and the chair) with mud dry in the sunand then roll into an outdoor shower stall and wash off

Finally I could enter the underground grotto havemyself painted from head to toe in a pea-green concoc-tion of sea kelp aloe vera and other elixirs sit in ahydrating chamber as it did its magic and then showeroff again That old chair became my constant compan-ion throughout the day

Okay Glen Ivy wasnrsquot completely accessible None ofthe doors for instance opened automatically makingthem a struggle to get through And ironically the onefeature of the place where no one could figure out howto get me in was the actual hot spring It bubbled up intosmall individual pools that made any transfer from awheelchair extremely difficult If the staff had providedme with a solid chair of some kind I could have loweredmyself to the ground and just scooted into one of the hotsprings outlets but they couldnrsquot locate such a chairIn the New York Timesrsquo piece I mentioned earlier oneresourceful New Yorker in a wheelchair hauled a 12-

pound fiberglass ramp around with her to get up anddown small flights of stairs in local eateries If I hadstuffed a simple metal folding chair in my trunk I couldhave gotten into those medicinal waters The lessonbeing buy a bigger car or truck for all of this life-enhancing paraphernalia you should have on hand

The swimming and therapeutic pools had no readyaccess either If Glen Ivy was really on top of thingsthey would have installed a self-operating hydraulic liftto ease me into the water Short of that a simple rampwould have allowed me to roll in and out of the water inthat utility chair Of course like the lady above I couldhave supplied that ramp myself another handy item forthe back of the super-sized pick-up

These various stumbling blocks were upsetting but notthat upsetting I guess by the time I realized what Icouldnrsquot do with ease I had been subjected to so muchde-stressing that I didnrsquot really care On the other handif I had gone out there principally to take a soothingsoak in the hot springs or a dip in a salt-water pool Iwould have asked for my money back

So I guess on the Accessibility Meter of 1 to 10 10being best Glen Ivy garners a 7 plus or maybe an 8Jason on the other hand gets a full 10 and hopefully anice bump up in his next paycheck

Spa Business seemed pleased with the finished articleand I can only hope that itrsquos the beginning of a beautifulfriendship Certainly there are spas all over the Mediter-ranean that need to be critiqued with the cool eye of aglobe-trotting paralytic If not Corsica how about aweekend trip to the new Paris Hotel in Las VegasRumor has it they have both a state-of-the-art hydraulicpool lift and a coterie of young lovelies in French maidoutfits bringing you fresh towels Okay I made up thatlast part but I wonrsquot really know until someone sendsme on a mission to find for myself

If I play my cards right maybe some day I couldbecome the Gene ShalitPeter Greenberg of the field andproudly wear the moniker Accessibility Critic At Large Have chair will travel

by Allen Rucker

Allen Rucker is a regular contributor to ABILITY and the author of TheBest Seat In The House How I Woke Up One Tuesday And Was Paralyzed for Life among other books wwwallenruckercom

For more info go towwwglenivycom

ABILITY 51

52 ABILITY

ABILITY 53

In the background a flute played in a sweet song about rainbows as Rohan Mur-phy tapped the raw power of his arms and shoulders to raise and lower his bodyon a tablersquos edge Up down up down Then he paused briefly to switch gears as

his ripped chest muscles bulged through his sleeveless shirt Next he effortlesslylifted himself into a handstand did a set of push-ups and then broke into a hand spin

Did I mention that all of this took place on a conference room table

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

50 ABILITY

But that didnrsquot happen From the moment I arrived atthe spa and noticed the dozen well-marked handicappedparking spaces awaiting me to the moment I rolled backto my car feeling like a limp washrag I was more thanaccommodated I was treated with dignity respect andwall-to-wall helpfulness just like any other stressed-outspa-craving supplicant on a family budget

Glen Ivy Hot Springs has been a commercial venturesince the late 1800rsquos but only recently grew from amodest mineral bath into an 11-acre complex surround-ed by golf courses and born-yesterday residential com-munities It is equipped with multiple pools and baths acorps of masseuses and masseurs a ldquoClub Mudrdquo whereyou can be covered in restorative red clay a restauranta grotto and a staff of the cleanest-cut young people thisside of Disneyland

Jason was one of the staff members who made my ownstay so memorable He stepped up to show me aroundand point out the fully accessible lockers showers sinksand toilets Except for a few steep inclines the groundswere wheelchair-friendly My first stop was a 50-minuteolive sage ldquorenewrdquo massage The table was instantly low-ered to meet the level of my chair The masseuse had notrouble figuring out my problem zone the shoulders ofcourse which are the focal point of aches and pains forsomeone who pushes a manual chair around all day Shedid a great job and didnrsquot once mutter ldquoYou poor thingrdquo

Then Jason introduced me to a cheap item every spashould have an old fold-up standard-issue wheelchairthat you can probably pick up at a flea market for $25and toss away when it rusts or breaks down Themoment I transferred into that relic I could make a lot ofstops at Glen Ivy with no hassle I could roll into thesteam room or shower without having to transfer to ahard surface I could enter Club Mud sit in a convenientarea coat myself (and the chair) with mud dry in the sunand then roll into an outdoor shower stall and wash off

Finally I could enter the underground grotto havemyself painted from head to toe in a pea-green concoc-tion of sea kelp aloe vera and other elixirs sit in ahydrating chamber as it did its magic and then showeroff again That old chair became my constant compan-ion throughout the day

Okay Glen Ivy wasnrsquot completely accessible None ofthe doors for instance opened automatically makingthem a struggle to get through And ironically the onefeature of the place where no one could figure out howto get me in was the actual hot spring It bubbled up intosmall individual pools that made any transfer from awheelchair extremely difficult If the staff had providedme with a solid chair of some kind I could have loweredmyself to the ground and just scooted into one of the hotsprings outlets but they couldnrsquot locate such a chairIn the New York Timesrsquo piece I mentioned earlier oneresourceful New Yorker in a wheelchair hauled a 12-

pound fiberglass ramp around with her to get up anddown small flights of stairs in local eateries If I hadstuffed a simple metal folding chair in my trunk I couldhave gotten into those medicinal waters The lessonbeing buy a bigger car or truck for all of this life-enhancing paraphernalia you should have on hand

The swimming and therapeutic pools had no readyaccess either If Glen Ivy was really on top of thingsthey would have installed a self-operating hydraulic liftto ease me into the water Short of that a simple rampwould have allowed me to roll in and out of the water inthat utility chair Of course like the lady above I couldhave supplied that ramp myself another handy item forthe back of the super-sized pick-up

These various stumbling blocks were upsetting but notthat upsetting I guess by the time I realized what Icouldnrsquot do with ease I had been subjected to so muchde-stressing that I didnrsquot really care On the other handif I had gone out there principally to take a soothingsoak in the hot springs or a dip in a salt-water pool Iwould have asked for my money back

So I guess on the Accessibility Meter of 1 to 10 10being best Glen Ivy garners a 7 plus or maybe an 8Jason on the other hand gets a full 10 and hopefully anice bump up in his next paycheck

Spa Business seemed pleased with the finished articleand I can only hope that itrsquos the beginning of a beautifulfriendship Certainly there are spas all over the Mediter-ranean that need to be critiqued with the cool eye of aglobe-trotting paralytic If not Corsica how about aweekend trip to the new Paris Hotel in Las VegasRumor has it they have both a state-of-the-art hydraulicpool lift and a coterie of young lovelies in French maidoutfits bringing you fresh towels Okay I made up thatlast part but I wonrsquot really know until someone sendsme on a mission to find for myself

If I play my cards right maybe some day I couldbecome the Gene ShalitPeter Greenberg of the field andproudly wear the moniker Accessibility Critic At Large Have chair will travel

by Allen Rucker

Allen Rucker is a regular contributor to ABILITY and the author of TheBest Seat In The House How I Woke Up One Tuesday And Was Paralyzed for Life among other books wwwallenruckercom

For more info go towwwglenivycom

ABILITY 51

52 ABILITY

ABILITY 53

In the background a flute played in a sweet song about rainbows as Rohan Mur-phy tapped the raw power of his arms and shoulders to raise and lower his bodyon a tablersquos edge Up down up down Then he paused briefly to switch gears as

his ripped chest muscles bulged through his sleeveless shirt Next he effortlesslylifted himself into a handstand did a set of push-ups and then broke into a hand spin

Did I mention that all of this took place on a conference room table

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

ABILITY 51

52 ABILITY

ABILITY 53

In the background a flute played in a sweet song about rainbows as Rohan Mur-phy tapped the raw power of his arms and shoulders to raise and lower his bodyon a tablersquos edge Up down up down Then he paused briefly to switch gears as

his ripped chest muscles bulged through his sleeveless shirt Next he effortlesslylifted himself into a handstand did a set of push-ups and then broke into a hand spin

Did I mention that all of this took place on a conference room table

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

52 ABILITY

ABILITY 53

In the background a flute played in a sweet song about rainbows as Rohan Mur-phy tapped the raw power of his arms and shoulders to raise and lower his bodyon a tablersquos edge Up down up down Then he paused briefly to switch gears as

his ripped chest muscles bulged through his sleeveless shirt Next he effortlesslylifted himself into a handstand did a set of push-ups and then broke into a hand spin

Did I mention that all of this took place on a conference room table

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

ABILITY 53

In the background a flute played in a sweet song about rainbows as Rohan Mur-phy tapped the raw power of his arms and shoulders to raise and lower his bodyon a tablersquos edge Up down up down Then he paused briefly to switch gears as

his ripped chest muscles bulged through his sleeveless shirt Next he effortlesslylifted himself into a handstand did a set of push-ups and then broke into a hand spin

Did I mention that all of this took place on a conference room table

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

Murphy 24 was in the room to impress agroup of suits at the advertising agency thatultimately green-lighted his recent Nikecommercial

ldquoIt was like going to a job interviewrdquo Mur-phy said about his demonstration via web-cam ldquoThey asked me if I could do any-thing athletically for them So I hopped upon this big meeting table and starting doinga bunch of push-ups and handstand push-ups just like I do in the commercial I guessthey loved itrdquo

The former wrestler and current power-lifter admitted that it was surreal to be inthe ad a 34-second spot entitled ldquoNoExcusesrdquo which can be found onYouTube or the US Paralympics web-site

ldquoIt was a dream come true to be in a Nikecommercialrdquo he said ldquoEver since I was akid Irsquove been watching (their) commercialson TV with my favorite athletes likeMichael Jordan and Jerry Rice So to saythat I have my own hellip is unbelievablerdquo

The ad was his first international mediaexposure But then again Murphy is usedto being in the lead

As a freshman in high school he went outfor wrestling at the encouragement of hiseighth-grade gym teacher Ron CarteauMurphy who had both legs amputatedwhen he was 4 as a result of a birth condi-tion won two matches as a 98-poundfreshman at New Yorkrsquos East Islip HighSchool Four years later he graduated witha 30-3 record

Then there was the day that he wheeled into Troy Sunderlandrsquos office at Penn StateUniversity and asked to be part of thenationally renowned wrestling team Hewent on to win three matches during histime at Penn State as the only bilateralamputee in Division I

ldquoHersquos like a father figure to merdquo Murphysaid of Sunderland ldquoHersquos helped me out alot Hersquos helped me in wrestling and inliferdquo

As part of their training regimen thewrestling team had to run up Mount Nit-tanymdasha local mountain near campus thatrises 2077 feet above sea level Thecoaches said Murphy could opt out Then

54 ABILITY

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

56 ABILITY

they said he could just do half and that would be fineThen they ran out of words as they watched him com-plete the entire runmdashon his hands

One day Murphy tried powerlifting In his first compe-tition he set a national record In the second competi-tion the 2006 IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) Powerlifting World Championships in Korea heearned the bronze medal in the Junior Division (22 andunder) by lifting 281 pounds Recently he lifted 325pounds He wasnrsquot seeking to qualify for the 2008 Para-lympic Games in Beijing Chinamdashhersquod already donethatmdashbut simply to challenge himself

ldquoStill achieving more than what he was capable of afew months ago is a credit to himrdquo said Teri Jordan theability athletics coach at Penn State ldquoWhen he goes (toBeijing) he wants to do the best he possibly canrdquo

Murphy is headed to the September Paralympic Gamesin Beijing with the US powerlifting team He qualifiedfor the gamesmdashanother first for Murphymdashby beingamong the top 10 ranked powerlifters in the world inhis weight class

ldquoTo be honest three years ago I had no clue what theParalympics wererdquo said Murphy ldquoWhen I was youngerI tried disabled sports in Long Island NY where I grewup and it just wasnrsquot really fun It wasnrsquot competitiverdquoMurphy didnrsquot like the non-competitive aspect of thegames where there were no hard feelings and everyonewas a ldquowinnerrdquo ldquoSports isnrsquot about everyone winningrdquohe declared ldquoSports is about a winner and a loserThatrsquos what makes sports so great the competitivenessrdquo

Murphy took up wrestling for the competition Theworkouts buffed him up from a 90-pound teenager to a125-pound chiseled man heading into this summerrsquostraining And itrsquos the workouts that have bridged the gapbetween his wrestling career and powerlifting which hesees as his future

The athlete had no prior experience in powerliftingbefore his initial competition He had only liftedweights ldquoThe main thing I can take from wrestling isbeing disciplined with the workoutshellip and eatinghealthyrdquo he said ldquoEverything elsemdashall the exercisingphysiology that you put into wrestlingmdashis totally differ-ent from powerliftingrdquo

The weight lifting goal for wrestling is to have lessweight and more repetitions For powerlifting itrsquos theopposite an explosion of power to lift the heaviestweight and then itrsquos over So far hersquos bridged that gap

Youth is his advantage He was the second-youngestpowerlifter to compete in Korea as well as last yearrsquosParapan American Games in Brazil where he came inseventh place Powerlifting ability coach Jordan says isfull of 40- and 50-year-olds who continually get stronger

as they age and progress in the sport

Another plus Murphyrsquos got a superior support systemin place Mary Hodge who coaches the US Paralmpicteam has provided him with training techniques Hersquosalso received coaching from former Olympic athletes

While his Nittany Lion wrestling days may be overMurphy continues to train on Penn Statersquos campus withformer teammates thanks to Coach Sunderland Mur-phy earned a bachelorrsquos degree in kinesiology from theschool and is currently pursuing a masterrsquos in healthpolicy and administration there

ldquoRohan has made the commitment to being a great ath-leterdquo said Jordan ldquoHe wants it hersquos going to do his bestto get it but hersquos not going to be upset as long as hersquosdoing his best And I think thatrsquos what each of us shouldstrive forrdquo

The jingle on Murphyrsquos commercial is addictive youhear it once and it sticks But when the ad stops itrsquos notthe music that the viewer remembers most itrsquos MurphyAfter completing his amazing handstand push-ups heshakes the tension from his arms springs up into hiswheelchair and wheels down the hall Itrsquos a workman-like demeanor and thatrsquos addictive too

ldquoHersquos such a great inspiration to athletes around him aswell as everyday individuals like myselfrdquo said JordanldquoWhat heart What desirerdquo

by Josh Pate

Josh Pate is a regular contributor to ABILITY Magazine and also worksfor Turner Sports Hersquos covered NASCAR and collegiate athletics andhas written features on sport and disability the Paralympic Games andveteran rehabilitation He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son

US Paralympics (with commercial)wwwusparalympicscom

Paralympics Bioolympic-usaorgparalympics39341_53224htm

YouTube (commercial)youtubecomwatchv=qaXfFRx5ZWw

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

ABILITY 57

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

58 ABILITY

Irsquove performed at clubs colleges and conferences allaround the country but Irsquod never felt as moved aswhen I spoke to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Med-

ical Center in Washington DC Veterans injured in Iraqand Afghanistan go there to be rehabilitated In a smallway performing for the brave men and women of themilitary made me feel as if I were serving my country

There was nothing heroic about what happened to me Iwas in a car accident in high school broke my neck andbecame disabled It was a case of wrong place wrongtime But to voluntarily put oneself in harmrsquos wayknowing the potential danger is another matter entirelyMy gift to these vets would be to offer a brief escapefrom the trauma theyrsquod suffered For 15 minutes theycould sit back and laugh (Those too ill to join us at theshow caught it on video monitors in their rooms)

Dana Bowman served as emcee He brought me andmotivational speaker John Siciliano along Dana is adouble amputee who was named a Special Forces Sol-dier and a member of the Golden Knights the elite para-chute team of the US Army His previous presentationsat Walter Reed have all been well received Beyond fre-quent appearances there hersquos given more than 400speeches over the last few years and has been featuredin Sports Illustrated Readerrsquos Digest and People maga-zines and on such TV shows as Dateline A CurrentAffair and Real TV

In 1994 Dana and Jose Aguillon one of his GoldenKnight teammates were practicing a maneuver knownas the ldquodiamond trackrdquo which calls for jumpers to flyaway from each other for about a mile and then turn180 degrees and swoop back in crisscrossing in thesky Dana and Jose had demonstrated the move manymany times without a problem but that day rather thancrisscross they slammed into one another at a speed of300 miles per hour Jose died instantly while Danarsquoslegs were severed from his body one above the kneeand one below

After his wounds healed Dana became the US Para-chute Teamrsquos lead speaker and recruiting commanderHis motivational messages have touched everyonewhorsquos heard them and demonstrate that people withphysical challenges can continue to work and excel

As Dana finished up he turned the room over to Johnwhom hersquod met five years ago during one of his gigsJohn too is very energetic and pulls his audience intohis world using his acting talent along with a com-pelling Power Point presentation

In high school John and his friends left a restaurant onenight and were blindsided by a car Although no onedied John awoke in the hospital with a neck brace andtube in his throat so that he could breathe As he laythere an eerie feeling overwhelmed him Somethingwasnrsquot right Soon after he learned that doctors had

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

ABIL-

had to amputate his right leg four inches above the knee

Before his accident John had been a track star Lookingtragedy square in the eye he learned to walk again andthen to run competitively this time specializing in 100and 200 meter sprints He trained intensely and evenearned an invitation to the 1996 Paralympics Trials heldin Atlanta GA where he broke the eventrsquos 200-meterrecord and secured a spot on that yearrsquos USA Team

In the interim he became a speaker traveling the coun-try to tell people that there is life after a disability Heassured the Walter Reed audience that there are manyindividuals around the nation and around the world whoface the same challenges that he has Now his mission isto touch as many peoplemdashdisabled and able-bodied aspossiblemdashby sharing his story

After Johnrsquos incredible message I launched into mycomedy routine with a disability joke ldquoIrsquom not goingto move around too much on stage because franklymy wheels are killing me I think I may have aningrown spokerdquo

Laughter filled the room

Then I went onhellip ldquoSince Irsquove been in a wheelchair Irsquovenoticed therersquos nothing within walking distancerdquo Ithrew in a bit of military humor to let the audience

know I was one of them ldquoWhen I was 18 I was injuredin a military accident As I was stalking my ex-girl-friend I got blindsided by a Salvation Army truckrdquo

I told them about the time my father saved me fromdrowning by taking his foot off my head I talked aboutmy life my family and dating ldquoIrsquom so naiumlverdquo I saidldquothat my girlfriend told me she wanted to lsquojust do itrsquo SoI went out and bought her a pair of Nikesrdquo As I closedthe laughter and applause told me Irsquod done good Whenit comes to the military the last thing you want to do isbomb Thatrsquos their job

After the three of us performed we were presentedwith a certificate by Sergeant Segraves who thankedus I suspect the audience inspired us more than weinspired them Since our injuries we speakers havecome a long way and now the soldiers will have tofind theirs With guts and courage Irsquom sure they will

Lifersquos sorrows are counterbalanced with its joys Thedifference between those who embrace its challengesand those who get slammed is attitude Itrsquos the differ-ence between remaining stuck and rolling forward

by Jeff Charlebois

Jeff Charlebois is a public speaker professional comedian and ABILITYMagazine columnist

The ABILITY House program working with Habitat for Humanity ABILITY Awareness and ABILITY Magazine reaches out to volunteers with disabilities to helpbuild accessible homes for low-income families with disabilities We are seeking

corporations foundations and churches to sponsor more homes We can build in nearly 100 countries Please contact us for more information

infoabilityawarenessorg wwwabilityawarenessorg

60 ABILITY

A C R O S S1 Film where a blind man falls in love with an Indianwoman (2 words)8 Poes story The ___ and the Pendulum10 For every11 African American sprinter who upset Hitler by win-ning at the 1936 Olympics13 All you ___ is Love The Beatles14 Lances machine16 Story of a deaf boy who cannot speak but writes let-ters to his mother (2 words)22 TV show honored for its accurate portrayal of acharacter with a disability ___ my children24 Boxers weapon25 The peoples legal name John __26 President who served 4 terms and had polio28 Medium like perception29 Electronic communication31 Tablespoon abbr33 Tanni Greys married name (outstanding ParalympicGames performer)36 Princess and the ___37 That guy39 Mer or Ber ending40 False collective belief42 He could not read till he was 12 and went on toinvent the electric light bulb43 Raise in emotional state44 Run ____ hip-hop group47 www locations49 _____ and Bess51 State were Louise May Alcott wrote Little Women52 See 56 across54 Mini for one55 Bo Dereks number56 ___ ___ person (goes with 52 across)57 Move where John Travolta plays a character withamazing powers that no one can understand

D O W N1 Movie about the true story of a 13 year old boy whohad AIDS2 Law and Order actor with T3 Act rudely towards4 Night breathing problem5 Place to meet Tiger6 Provoke7 Approval8 Movie starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washingtonwhich deals with discrimination against people whohave AIDS9 Movie starring Anthony Hopkins centered around acircus employee struggling to overcome disability (3words)12 Neithers cousin15 Top womens surfer ____ Hamilton who lost herarm in a shark attack and became a champion after that17 Excited state18 Opponent19 Eli Mannings org20 High flyers21 Island for short23 ____ Lonely Boys27 Entertainer award30 Tatoo letters often32 Proposal34 Connects with (2 words)35 The wrong side of well-built38 Poet who wrote Paradise Lost when blind41 Total loss abbr45 Clown46 Shrek is a cool one48 Actress Lupino50 Sheep like memory51 They are Blue in Vegas53 Philosophical verb55 Love __ love you baby answers on page 63

ABILITY 61

62 ABILITY

In my wild misspent youth I trod many paths andstrove toward many goals The hats Irsquove put on andtaken off include attorney college professor photog-

rapher disability advocate Capitol Hill staffer andWhite House aide Yet it never occurred to me that Imight one day rise to the lofty heights of judge in aWest Texas Black-Eyed Pea Cookoff

This local tradition began generations ago with a rivalrybetween two writers who claimed to rustle up the bestchili Today there are cookoffs for almost anything thatwalks crawls slithers flies or is road-killed inside ourstate borders

For me the fun began shortly after I moved to WestTexas Thatrsquos when the International Black-Eyed PeaCookoff came a-calling and I was invited to decidepeoplersquos fates The competition is held annually in theTerlingua ghost town area of the Big Bend Proceedsbenefit Terlingua High School (After the judging cupsof peas are sold with a piece of cornbread for $1)

This year I was a judge at the 17th annual Pea-Off asitrsquos come to be known Raised in a family with a proudtradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Yearrsquos DayI am eminently qualified for my post

First a bit about the people gathered around the potsWest Texas is divided into two groups Those who livein Terlingua and those who donrsquot The regionrsquos primitive

remote nature attracts free spirits of the 60rsquos You willfind novelists poets artists musicians parole violatorsand those whorsquove slipped quietly into the Federal Wit-ness Protection program The latter sleep like babies atnight confident theyrsquoll never be found

In my first foray into Pea-Off judging 14 Styrofoamcups were passed among the seven of us We were givena plastic spoon and told to discard it after each taste ofthe numbered containers However after spoons fell intoshort supply we were told to just ldquowipe them off with apaper towelrdquo I may be nearly blind but Irsquom certain thatseveral of the judges were using their shirttails and atleast two were simply licking the spoons clean(er)

The culinary grades were (1) awful (2) poor (3) fair(4) good and (5) outstanding That year I determinedthat three were awful four were poor four were fair andthree were good None impressed me as outstanding

This year we had 24 entries and the assault on my tastebuds was unlike anything Irsquod ever experienced I wasonly able to rate three of the entries good The other 21were so bad as to be nearly inedible

I am certain that one of the entrants seasoned his peaswith paint thinner although another theory is that thecontestant boiled the peas in tequila One Styrofoam cupcontained unidentified ingredients that could only bereached by pressing your plastic spoon through a thick

ABILITY 63

ANSWERS

white barrier that resembled albino silly putty The con-coction below seemed to be a combination of half-cooked black-eyed peas and fermented grass shavingsEither of these two abominationsmdashthe paint-thinnerpeas or the silly putty onesmdashcould substitute for waterboarding in a torture chamber

When I asked the judge to my right how he had ratedthe silly putty peas he said ldquoAre you kidding I cansee and I wasnrsquot about to sample that stuffrdquo

When it was first created the competition was betweentwo pots of peas at the now-defunct Desert Deli DinerYou voted by paying a buck for either a cup from pot Aor a cup from pot B The cooksrsquo names were withhelduntil the voting was complete In a time-honored Texastradition you could vote as many times as you wantedas long as your vote was accompanied by a dollar Thisis also the method used in electing the mayor of Terlin-gua who until his demise was a beer-drinking goatMaybe Billy is what was floating in that cup of goo-covered peas

by George Covington

64 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 65

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

A C R O S S1 Film where a blind man falls in love with an Indianwoman (2 words)8 Poes story The ___ and the Pendulum10 For every11 African American sprinter who upset Hitler by win-ning at the 1936 Olympics13 All you ___ is Love The Beatles14 Lances machine16 Story of a deaf boy who cannot speak but writes let-ters to his mother (2 words)22 TV show honored for its accurate portrayal of acharacter with a disability ___ my children24 Boxers weapon25 The peoples legal name John __26 President who served 4 terms and had polio28 Medium like perception29 Electronic communication31 Tablespoon abbr33 Tanni Greys married name (outstanding ParalympicGames performer)36 Princess and the ___37 That guy39 Mer or Ber ending40 False collective belief42 He could not read till he was 12 and went on toinvent the electric light bulb43 Raise in emotional state44 Run ____ hip-hop group47 www locations49 _____ and Bess51 State were Louise May Alcott wrote Little Women52 See 56 across54 Mini for one55 Bo Dereks number56 ___ ___ person (goes with 52 across)57 Move where John Travolta plays a character withamazing powers that no one can understand

D O W N1 Movie about the true story of a 13 year old boy whohad AIDS2 Law and Order actor with T3 Act rudely towards4 Night breathing problem5 Place to meet Tiger6 Provoke7 Approval8 Movie starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washingtonwhich deals with discrimination against people whohave AIDS9 Movie starring Anthony Hopkins centered around acircus employee struggling to overcome disability (3words)12 Neithers cousin15 Top womens surfer ____ Hamilton who lost herarm in a shark attack and became a champion after that17 Excited state18 Opponent19 Eli Mannings org20 High flyers21 Island for short23 ____ Lonely Boys27 Entertainer award30 Tatoo letters often32 Proposal34 Connects with (2 words)35 The wrong side of well-built38 Poet who wrote Paradise Lost when blind41 Total loss abbr45 Clown46 Shrek is a cool one48 Actress Lupino50 Sheep like memory51 They are Blue in Vegas53 Philosophical verb55 Love __ love you baby answers on page 63

ABILITY 61

62 ABILITY

In my wild misspent youth I trod many paths andstrove toward many goals The hats Irsquove put on andtaken off include attorney college professor photog-

rapher disability advocate Capitol Hill staffer andWhite House aide Yet it never occurred to me that Imight one day rise to the lofty heights of judge in aWest Texas Black-Eyed Pea Cookoff

This local tradition began generations ago with a rivalrybetween two writers who claimed to rustle up the bestchili Today there are cookoffs for almost anything thatwalks crawls slithers flies or is road-killed inside ourstate borders

For me the fun began shortly after I moved to WestTexas Thatrsquos when the International Black-Eyed PeaCookoff came a-calling and I was invited to decidepeoplersquos fates The competition is held annually in theTerlingua ghost town area of the Big Bend Proceedsbenefit Terlingua High School (After the judging cupsof peas are sold with a piece of cornbread for $1)

This year I was a judge at the 17th annual Pea-Off asitrsquos come to be known Raised in a family with a proudtradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Yearrsquos DayI am eminently qualified for my post

First a bit about the people gathered around the potsWest Texas is divided into two groups Those who livein Terlingua and those who donrsquot The regionrsquos primitive

remote nature attracts free spirits of the 60rsquos You willfind novelists poets artists musicians parole violatorsand those whorsquove slipped quietly into the Federal Wit-ness Protection program The latter sleep like babies atnight confident theyrsquoll never be found

In my first foray into Pea-Off judging 14 Styrofoamcups were passed among the seven of us We were givena plastic spoon and told to discard it after each taste ofthe numbered containers However after spoons fell intoshort supply we were told to just ldquowipe them off with apaper towelrdquo I may be nearly blind but Irsquom certain thatseveral of the judges were using their shirttails and atleast two were simply licking the spoons clean(er)

The culinary grades were (1) awful (2) poor (3) fair(4) good and (5) outstanding That year I determinedthat three were awful four were poor four were fair andthree were good None impressed me as outstanding

This year we had 24 entries and the assault on my tastebuds was unlike anything Irsquod ever experienced I wasonly able to rate three of the entries good The other 21were so bad as to be nearly inedible

I am certain that one of the entrants seasoned his peaswith paint thinner although another theory is that thecontestant boiled the peas in tequila One Styrofoam cupcontained unidentified ingredients that could only bereached by pressing your plastic spoon through a thick

ABILITY 63

ANSWERS

white barrier that resembled albino silly putty The con-coction below seemed to be a combination of half-cooked black-eyed peas and fermented grass shavingsEither of these two abominationsmdashthe paint-thinnerpeas or the silly putty onesmdashcould substitute for waterboarding in a torture chamber

When I asked the judge to my right how he had ratedthe silly putty peas he said ldquoAre you kidding I cansee and I wasnrsquot about to sample that stuffrdquo

When it was first created the competition was betweentwo pots of peas at the now-defunct Desert Deli DinerYou voted by paying a buck for either a cup from pot Aor a cup from pot B The cooksrsquo names were withhelduntil the voting was complete In a time-honored Texastradition you could vote as many times as you wantedas long as your vote was accompanied by a dollar Thisis also the method used in electing the mayor of Terlin-gua who until his demise was a beer-drinking goatMaybe Billy is what was floating in that cup of goo-covered peas

by George Covington

64 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 65

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

62 ABILITY

In my wild misspent youth I trod many paths andstrove toward many goals The hats Irsquove put on andtaken off include attorney college professor photog-

rapher disability advocate Capitol Hill staffer andWhite House aide Yet it never occurred to me that Imight one day rise to the lofty heights of judge in aWest Texas Black-Eyed Pea Cookoff

This local tradition began generations ago with a rivalrybetween two writers who claimed to rustle up the bestchili Today there are cookoffs for almost anything thatwalks crawls slithers flies or is road-killed inside ourstate borders

For me the fun began shortly after I moved to WestTexas Thatrsquos when the International Black-Eyed PeaCookoff came a-calling and I was invited to decidepeoplersquos fates The competition is held annually in theTerlingua ghost town area of the Big Bend Proceedsbenefit Terlingua High School (After the judging cupsof peas are sold with a piece of cornbread for $1)

This year I was a judge at the 17th annual Pea-Off asitrsquos come to be known Raised in a family with a proudtradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Yearrsquos DayI am eminently qualified for my post

First a bit about the people gathered around the potsWest Texas is divided into two groups Those who livein Terlingua and those who donrsquot The regionrsquos primitive

remote nature attracts free spirits of the 60rsquos You willfind novelists poets artists musicians parole violatorsand those whorsquove slipped quietly into the Federal Wit-ness Protection program The latter sleep like babies atnight confident theyrsquoll never be found

In my first foray into Pea-Off judging 14 Styrofoamcups were passed among the seven of us We were givena plastic spoon and told to discard it after each taste ofthe numbered containers However after spoons fell intoshort supply we were told to just ldquowipe them off with apaper towelrdquo I may be nearly blind but Irsquom certain thatseveral of the judges were using their shirttails and atleast two were simply licking the spoons clean(er)

The culinary grades were (1) awful (2) poor (3) fair(4) good and (5) outstanding That year I determinedthat three were awful four were poor four were fair andthree were good None impressed me as outstanding

This year we had 24 entries and the assault on my tastebuds was unlike anything Irsquod ever experienced I wasonly able to rate three of the entries good The other 21were so bad as to be nearly inedible

I am certain that one of the entrants seasoned his peaswith paint thinner although another theory is that thecontestant boiled the peas in tequila One Styrofoam cupcontained unidentified ingredients that could only bereached by pressing your plastic spoon through a thick

ABILITY 63

ANSWERS

white barrier that resembled albino silly putty The con-coction below seemed to be a combination of half-cooked black-eyed peas and fermented grass shavingsEither of these two abominationsmdashthe paint-thinnerpeas or the silly putty onesmdashcould substitute for waterboarding in a torture chamber

When I asked the judge to my right how he had ratedthe silly putty peas he said ldquoAre you kidding I cansee and I wasnrsquot about to sample that stuffrdquo

When it was first created the competition was betweentwo pots of peas at the now-defunct Desert Deli DinerYou voted by paying a buck for either a cup from pot Aor a cup from pot B The cooksrsquo names were withhelduntil the voting was complete In a time-honored Texastradition you could vote as many times as you wantedas long as your vote was accompanied by a dollar Thisis also the method used in electing the mayor of Terlin-gua who until his demise was a beer-drinking goatMaybe Billy is what was floating in that cup of goo-covered peas

by George Covington

64 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 65

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

ABILITY 63

ANSWERS

white barrier that resembled albino silly putty The con-coction below seemed to be a combination of half-cooked black-eyed peas and fermented grass shavingsEither of these two abominationsmdashthe paint-thinnerpeas or the silly putty onesmdashcould substitute for waterboarding in a torture chamber

When I asked the judge to my right how he had ratedthe silly putty peas he said ldquoAre you kidding I cansee and I wasnrsquot about to sample that stuffrdquo

When it was first created the competition was betweentwo pots of peas at the now-defunct Desert Deli DinerYou voted by paying a buck for either a cup from pot Aor a cup from pot B The cooksrsquo names were withhelduntil the voting was complete In a time-honored Texastradition you could vote as many times as you wantedas long as your vote was accompanied by a dollar Thisis also the method used in electing the mayor of Terlin-gua who until his demise was a beer-drinking goatMaybe Billy is what was floating in that cup of goo-covered peas

by George Covington

64 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 65

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

64 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 65

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

ABILITY 65

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

68 ABILITY

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

ABILITY 69

E v e n t s amp C o n f e r e n c e s

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

70 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

ABILITY 71

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

ABILITY 75

76 ABILITY

76 ABILITY