The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, April 1, 1981-Page 7
'life challenges handicaped students
(Continued from Page 1)
r awaauaaucas sa vaaa a aaac a i
din my lectures,' "Minor said.
1INOR WILL be graduating after
ther this spring or summer term. She
tranisf erred here from Laredo Junior
College in the summer of 1978 and must
meet the same requirements as other
stud nts.
Her handicap means she must spend
extra time and effort in her studies.
"Beiihg handicapped means you have to
be eteative. You have to learn to sur-
vive," she said.
MINOR, WHO is studying the history
of ' litical science, tapes her lectures,
an ten types them in Braille. She has
readers who read the assigned books to
herand who help her gather material
for research papers.
After graduating from high school,
Milior got Angel, her leader dog. Minor
said Angel allows her much more
mobility and independence but can also
be a hinderance at times. Although by
law; Angel is considered -a working dog
and. is allowed anywhere that Minor
*oes, she said landlords discriminate
against her illegally because they con-
side' Angel a pet.
In the areas the Angel can't help with,
such as shopping for new clothes or
makb up, getting a haircut, or having a
gopd time, Minor's friends come
through. They help her pick out clothes
and color-coordinate them.
NCE A FRIEND has told Minor
hit color something is, she remem-
esthe color by the texture and design
of the article.
Make-up, according to Minor, is a bit
harder to shop for and to keep
separated by color. For each color of
liistIck, she buys different brands so
sho-can distinguish the color by the
sn:el and shape of the container.
1eople probably think I'm nuts
wthen they see me smelling lipstick in
thte ore," she laughs.
hfinor said she loves to take walks
and have things described to her. She
said she is starting to forget what
everything looks like. "I try to remem-
ber something I really liked as a child
and remember what color it was-that
helps."
Minor stressed that being blind
doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy enter-
tainment the average college student
likes.
"I don't have to see a movie to enjoy
it, and while museums don't do much
for me, I still love to go to concerts,"
she said.
SNOW AND WHEELS don't mix, and
when a big snowstorm hits town,
most people find it more convenient to
leave their transportation at home.
But Ted Freeman can't leave his
wheels at home and yes, he does get
stuck. The first year medical student
recalls a time after a heavy snowfall
last year when his wheelchair just
wouldn't move.
"THERE WERE HUGE hunks of ice
and packed-down snow and there was
just no way I could get to where I wan-
ted to go. So I got out of the chair, threw
it over the bank, and crawled over the
bank, threw it over the next one, until I
got to the street."
Freeman, who has been at the
University for six years, said that aside
from the snow, he has very few com-
plaints. His disability hasn't confined
him very much, he said, because he
won't let it. When he wants to do
something, Freeman said, he'll find a
way.
For example, when the Central Cam-
pus Recreation Building was being
renovated, the University promised to
put in a wheelchair lift to the pool area.
The lift wasn't built right away, and
Freeman said the University's six mon-
ths were just too long for him to wait. So
Freeman, who loves to swim, said he
found a way.
"FOR A COUPLE months I pulled
my chair up two flights of stairs to get
to the pool. I was so glad when they
finally installed the lift," he said.
Freeman, who had polio as a baby,
said he has developed a great deal of
strength in his upper body. He doesn't
usually ask people for help, he said, and
doing everything by himself keeps him
in good physical condition.
"You know you'll be alone sometime
and you have to be ready," he said.
FREEMAN SAID HE doesn't have
much trouble getting around in the
medical school labs. The instructors
make sure he can get to any area he
needs to. And when its time to work on a
cadaver, he pulls himself up on a stool.
Because he is strong enough to stand
with braces, Freeman doesn't believe
his disability will hinder him much as s
doctor.
In fact, he said, his handicap has
given him a unique perspective that
will enhance his future career. "The
Med School wants a broad variety of
people so that they (future doctors) can
understand the different sectors of the
population. There aren't many
paraplegic doctors, but (there are)
thousands of paraplegic patients out
there," he said.
OTHER STUDENTS HAVE been
friendly and are interested in him, he
said. "People want to meet you. They
wonder, how does he function, what is
his ability, is he totally paralyzed?
People always have hidden assum-
ptions that they really believe are true,
but once they get to know you, they
start to accept you as a regular person.
At least it appears that way; you never
know for sure," he said.
Freeman didn't even realize that he
was handicapped, he said, "until I
reached high school and became in-
terested in girls. Then I knew that I was
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Plan a college semester at sea aboard the
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University, may be transferred. Cur-
riculum includes visits to numerous edu-
cational and historical places from Maine
to the Virgin Islands.
HARVEY GAMASE is a 95-toot U.S. Coast
Guard inspected auxiliary schooner. For
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phone-
DIRIGO CRUISES
39 Waterside Lane, Clinton, CT 06413
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different." He said he withdrew for a
while, but now he feels just like anyone
else. ,
Although polio put him in a
wheelchair, Freeman said this made
him all the more determined. "I had to
make it. There was no question about it. I
just knew I couldn't let it beat me. I
knew I was just like everyone else and I
had to compete and stay active," he
said.
He added, "The way I look at it,
there's a lot of people out there a lot
worse off."
* * *
I N THE SIX YEARS since she found
out she had multiple sclerosis, Ann
Daly has learned to take each day as it
comes.
MS is a disease of the central nervous
system. It interferes with the brain's
ability to control such functions as
seeing, walking, talking and hearing.
DALY WAS seventeen when she first
noticed she was having ®eye trouble,
seeing double, and that she no longer
had any energy. At first she passed it
off, because the symptoms went away.
When they returned, however, there
was no denying that something was
wrong anddDaly eventually had to be
hospitalized.
Daly's outlook on life changed once
she was diagnosed as having MS, she
MANN THEATRES
UtL LAGE 4
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Daily Discount Matinees
TUESDAY BUCK DAY
said. "MS taught me to live for the day.
You don't realize how contingent your
life is. You assume it's going to last
forever, and it doesn't."
The disease affects many scattered
areas of the brain and spinal cord. The
symptoms can be mild or severe, and
they come and go unpredictably. Sym-
ptoms, which vary from person to per-
son, might include eye trouble, speech
problems, partial or complete paralysis
of any part of the body, extreme fatigue
and loss of equilibrium.
AFTER DALY'S FIRST period of
exacerbation (onset of symptoms), she
had a five-year remission. Then, very
unexpectedly, she went into another
exacerbation a year ago last October.
Daly had to leave school and was
hospitalized.
Daly said MS has given her a new
perspective on the trials of handicap-
ped life.
"I think one of the things that I've ex-
perienced is a perspective on how han-
dicapped people have to adjust. I feel
like I've been from A to Z in terms of
physical capabilities. I know what it's
like to have your hearing and eyesight
compromised, to use a wheelchair and
a walker."
THE UNIVERSITY has been very
helpful to her adjustment, Daly said. She
noted that professors have been under-
standingabout her sudden absence in
the middle of the term.
Daly talked about why people
sometimes have negative attitudes
toward the handicapped.
"All of us need to believe that the
physical qualities that we take for gran-
ted are givens, and that they'll never
go away. When you see someone who is
handicapped it's a reminder that all of
us are very fallible," she said.
"I never knew how wonderful it was
to walk until I couldn't. Losing most of
my eyesight and getting it back taught
me that there is a beauty in things that I
never saw before," said Daly. But she
adds, "I still slip very easily back into
taking things for granted. It's unfor-
tunate, but we all do it."
the ann arbor..
Film( cooperative
TONIGHT
TON IGHT
presents
WIZARDS
7:00& 10:20-AUD. A
HEAVY TRAFFIC
8:40-AUD. A
$2 SINGLE FEATURE
$3 DOUBLE FEATURE
J .
1 srAt,
-o -U
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PUT EM AWAY
=.::aido6oo >: > :
' rtes
Ctga,
If you can live without
your cigarettes for one
day. you might find you
can live without them
forever.
JUST FOR A DAY.
Students ConcernedAbout A Reoccurence (S.C.A.R.)
Presents:
S"HATE GROUPS
IN THE 80's"
-Are they on Campus?
-Are they Gaining Legitimacy?
-WHAT CAN WE DO?
Guest Speaker MARTIN DOCTOROFF
-Member of the National Civil Rights Committee
of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
Also: Movie ("Night and Fog") and Student Produced A.V. presentation
THURSDAY, APRIL 2nd
Y
NORTH CAMPUS
Bursley Hall
7 pm
if You Care Be There!
CENTRAL CAMPUS
Michigan Union Ballroom
8 pm
,
Students Concerned About A Reoccurance (S.C.A.R.)
presents:
A MEMORIAL TO THE
UITIMC flE 1A7T1 fL"Mflf"lrE