- LanguageAfrikaans Argentina AzÉrbaycanca
á¥áá áá£áá Äesky Ãslenska
áá¶áá¶ááááá à¤à¥à¤à¤à¤£à¥ বাà¦à¦²à¦¾
தமிழ௠à²à²¨à³à²¨à²¡ ภาษาà¹à¸à¸¢
ä¸æ (ç¹é«) ä¸æ (é¦æ¸¯) Bahasa Indonesia
Brasil Brezhoneg CatalÃ
ç®ä½ä¸æ Dansk Deutsch
Dhivehi English English
English Español Esperanto
Estonian Finnish Français
Français Gaeilge Galego
Hrvatski Italiano Îλληνικά
íêµì´ LatvieÅ¡u Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuviu Magyar Malay
Nederlands Norwegian nynorsk Norwegian
Polski Português RomânÄ
Slovenšcina Slovensky Srpski
Svenska Türkçe Tiếng Viá»t
Ù¾Ø§Ø±Ø³Û æ¥æ¬èª ÐÑлгаÑÑки
ÐакедонÑки Ðонгол Ð ÑÑÑкий
СÑпÑки УкÑаÑнÑÑка ×¢×ר×ת
اÙعربÙØ© اÙعربÙØ©
Leathaineach abhaile / Albums 117
Creation date / 2013 / Iúil / 10
- ADAPT (10)
Denver Post Photo by David Cupp: A semi dark room with sun streaming in the window at the back. Silhouetted against the window is an oxygen tank. In the foreground a young man (Michael Smith) with dark beard lies in bed, sheets drawn up to his chin, and his long dark hair laid out on the pillow above his head. He is looking at a young woman (Ellen Finch) who sits by the bed on his left. She is wearing a kerchief and baggy top and fades into the darkness at the bottom edges of the photo. In the black on the right side of the picture, these words are printed in white letters: - And I shall surpass any mountain, or ill or death itself - Mike Smith caption - Bureaucracy Adds a New Handicap for Residents of Atlantis Project Muscular dystrophy patient Mike Smith talks with Ellen Finch, an attendant at Atlantis Community in southwest Denver where he and seven other handicapped persons are living. Smith, 21, and four other Atlantis residents didn't receive their Social Security checks earlier this month because of foul-ups by the federal Social Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service in Denver and a Lakewood nursing home. - ADAPT (59)
Los Angeles Herald Examiner Monday March 7, 1988 [Headline] Sledgehammer tactics hit paydirt for disabled Gordon Dillow It was a pretty weird sight, even for a Saturday afternoon in Hollywood — a bunch of guys sitting in wheelchairs, pounding on the sidewalk with 10-pound sledgehammers. What's this? l wondered. A chain gang for disabled felons? A new hire-the-handicapped-for-heavy-manual-labor program by the city public works department? As it turned out it was neither. Instead, it was a group of disabled people resorting to what you might call "sledgehammer politics." The issue at hand was something that most of us probably never even notice — curb cuts. Curb cuts are those little ramps from the sidewalk to the street that they put at corners and crosswalks. Their primary purpose is not, as it may sometimes seem, to make it easier for skateboarders and other wheeled undesirables to terrorize decent sidewalk pedestrians; rather, curb cuts allow wheelchair people to get from the sidewalk to the street without having to wrestle themselves over a vertical curb. Curb cuts are an eminently sensible solution to that problem -— so sensible, in fact, that l had just assumed that every corner and crosswalk in this town had them. That’s an easy assumption for someone who isn't in a wheelchair. But a lot of places don’t have them — Hollywood, for example. Which brings us back to the sledgehammering wheelchair people. THE SLEDGEHAMMERING wheelchair people in Hollywood were organized by Bill Bolte, who heads a “disabled rights" organization called ADAPT. For months, years even, Bolte has been badgering City Councilman Mike Woo and other officials to install curb cuts on the star-embedded Hollywood Boulevard “Walk of Fame" and elsewhere. What Bolte got in return was a lot ' soothing talk -- and no curb cuts. Finally Bolte decided to pound the pols into submission. As he explained it to me, "They don't want to give us curb cuts? Fine. We'll make our own damn curb cuts.” So Saturday afternoon, Bolte assembled about 20 wheelchair people on Hollywood Boulevard just west of Mann Chinese Theater, passed out some sledgehammers and started pounding on the concrete curb, right in front of the stars for Ward Bond and Casey Kasem. The cops were right there, of course. But even though Bolte & Co. were clearly guilty of destroying public property, the cops didn't arrest anybody. For two reasons. First, no cop wants to tag somebody in a wheelchair, lest he be mercilessly ragged at roll call for picking on a disabled guy. Besides, cop cars aren't wheelchair accessible. And second, the sledgehammering wheelchair guys really weren't able to do much damage to the curb. Swinging a 10-pound sledge is hard enough standing up; sitting down it's darn near impossible. The best they could do was chip the curb a little bit. STILL, THE DEMONSTRATION garnered a lot of press attention, which in turn built a fire under some of our local pols. And before the day was out Mike Woo promised that the city would begin designing the Hollywood curb cuts within two weeks. Two weeks! Obviously, a little sledgehammer work can do wonders on a politician's head. Now don't get me wrong here. I don't necessarily believe that society can afford to remove every conceivable barrier that disabled people face. And of course I ordinarily wouldn't condone the sledgehammering of public property —- with the possible exception of some of those hideous modern art sculptures that they put in front of public buildings these days. Still, it doesn't seem like it would be a heartbreak of an effort for the city to install curb cuts at every corner. And it's too bad that wheelchair people had to break out the sledgehammers before the rest of us even noticed that they weren't already there. - ADAPT (14)
The Denver Post - Tuesday October 26, 1976 [Headline] Housing Sought By Handicapped Seven members of the Atlantis Community for the handicapped in Denver have been moved into their own apartments throughout the Denver area, but more apartments are needed, an Atlantis spokesman said Tuesday. Wade Blank, Atlantis codirecter, said the move of the physically disabled into their own apartments increased the independence that Atlantis is attempting to foster among the disabled. One or two-bedroom apartments are needed for Atlantis residents who are confined to wheel chairs, Blank said. The apartments may be furnished or unfurnished, he added. The Atlantis staff, on duty 24 hours daily, visits members of its community who are in their own apartments to make sure that their daily living needs are met. Apartments also are sought for the disabled who are facing loss of their independent living situation unless they can receive services such as Atlantis provides, Blank said. Apartments for the disabled, Blank said, should have doors at least 28 inches wide, an entrance that has no steps or just one or two steps that can be fitted with one of Atlantis' portable ramps. Interested apartment owners, landlords or managers may call Atlantis at 893-8040 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. An Atlantis member will meet with the landlord, and apartments that are suitable will be listed in an apartment guide for the disabled, Blank said. - ADAPT (46)
This is the continuation of the story that begins in ADAPT 45. The entire text is included there for ease of reading. - ADAPT (114)
This is a continuation of the article in ADAPT 105 and the entire story is included there for easier reading. - ADAPT (8)
Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 June 6, 1975 Mr. Wade Blank Atlantis Community Inc. 619 South Broadway Denver, Colorado 80223 Dear Wade: Thank you for inviting me to participate in the opening of the Atlantis Community units at Las Casitas. I know you made a special effort to work the ceremony around my schedule and I appreciate your arranging things so that I could share in the great moment. You are to be commended for your efforts on behalf of the Atlantis Community and I wish you continued success. Sincerely Timothy E. Wirth Best to all and stay in touch. - ADAPT (25)
[Headline] Atlantis Needs Help The eight handicapped persons living in Denver's Atlantis Community are proud people. They are seeking to sustain themselves to the best of their ability; that's why they are living in the experimental community now called Atlantis. But already, just as their attempt toward some degree of personal independence begins, they find themselves stymied by slow-moving bureaucracy. The eight had moved into a group of apartments at Las Casitas Housing Project in West Denver to establish a degree of self-determination above that offered in the nursing home where they formerly lived. They took up residence June 1. But despite early preparations to make sure their Social Security checks would arrive without interruption, several of the checks have been delayed and the continued operation of the program tor the next few weeks is in question. The burden will be increased by the move of six more handicapped persons July 1 into the Atlantis Community. If their checks, too, are delayed, the program will be in even more serious trouble. Now—through no fault of their own-the residents of Atlantis find themselves asking for temporary help. Persons wishing to help may become a founder member of Atlantis by donating $10 or more to Atlantis Community, 619 S. Broadway, Denver 80223 or 1232 Federal Blvd., Denver. In return, donors will receive Atlantis’ annual newsletter detailing the community's activities and will know that they have helped a worthwhile cause. Volunteers also may aid residents in shopping for groceries, washing clothes and other activities. Persons wishing to help may call 297-3056 or 893-8040. When the crisis is over, the Atlantis residents hope to return to their dream: self-sufficiency. - ADAPT (21)
PHOTO [no credit available]: A small woman (Debby Tracy) in a fairly large manual wheelchair, eye glasses, a paisley dress and sneakers, smiles and looks down toward the floor. Behind her two men and a woman are standing and also looking down and smiling. Caption reads: FROM LEFT, SAM SANDOS, RESIDENT DEBORAH TRACY AND LAMM. Lamm encouraged Atlantis residents to seek state funds for project. - ADAPT (75)
[Curb proposal gets support] would increase by $97, up to an average of $600. Average annual expenditures for repairs to curbs is $52,122, but if handicapped ramps were installed at those corners, the cost would be an additional $212,478 each year. "Literally hundreds of curbs have been put in at hardly any cost by developers putting in new construction," Patrick said. "The new (subdivision) ordinance is working really well." That ordinance requires developers to put in sidewalks with curb cuts. The city is working on a policy to handle situations where utility companies repair or reconstruct curbs or sidewalks. Legal questions have to be answered before that situation can be resolved. - ADAPT (91)
This story is a continuation of the article in ADAPT 88 and the entire text is included there for easier reading. - ADAPT (106)
[Headline] Handicapped Praise Wheelchair Service Sun. July 12, 1981, Denver, Colo. Rocky Mountain News- 65 (Continued from page 64) Even so, Conrardy said he has heard only one able-bodied passenger complain during his daily commuting trips. Offsetting that experience, Conrardy said, was an incident one afternoon at Colfax and Broadway. A crowded rush-hour bus stopped, and Conrardy said he told the driver he would wait for another bus because that one was too full. But the other passengers made room and invited him aboard, Conrardy said. The fear of hostility from other passengers or simply getting lost has kept some handicapped people from trying the new service, said Laurie Warner, co-director of education for Atlantis. For the couple of minutes it takes the lift to get them on or off the bus, the handicapped passenger is the center of attention for everyone on the bus, Warner said. And that can feel like “being on the grill,” Conrardy said. News Photo by Jose R. Lopez: A man (Mel Conrardy) in a short sleved plaid shirt and kaki pants sits in his motorized wheelchair on the sidewalk, his chin in his hand looking at a big bus. Behind him, further up the sidewalk, a line of people board the bus as the driver holds the door. caption reads: Mel Conrardy waits at Broadway and Colfax for an RTD bus with a wheelchair lift. An organization for the handicapped says the news lifts are a boon for handicapped and can provide an education for the bus drivers and the public, Conrardy says most people are patient during the two minutes it takes for the lift to operate when it is working properly. - ADAPT (69)
Denver Post Fri. Aug. 19, 1977 [This article is in ADAPT 69 and ADAPT 71, but is all included here for easier reading.] [Headline] Debbie Wins School Board Vote: She'll Stay at Boettcher School By Art Branscombe Denver Post Education Editor A compassionate majority of the Denver Board of Education voted Thursday night to let Debbie Tracy, a cerebral palsy victim, continue to attend the Boettcher School she loves, even though she is over the age of 21. The vote came after a stormy interlude in which Board President Omar Blair shouted down Miss Tracy’s attorney, Nathan Davidovich, when the latter tried to address the board. The 4-3 vote on a motion by Board Member Kay Schomp specified that Miss Tracy may attend Boettcher School for the handicapped only for the first semester of the 1977-78 school year, while legal action is pending to straighten out her status. The tuition at Boettcher School is more than $6,000 per year for nonresident students. However, while the school board was in executive session considering the issue, Davidovich revealed he filed a motion in Denver district court late Thursday seeking a temporary restraining order requiring school officials to allow Miss Tracy to continue at Boettcher until the courts act on his plea for permanent relief. A hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order was to be held early Friday before Judge Robert Fullerton, Davidovich said. A companion lawsuit, filed by Davidovich and attorney Charles Welton, in behalf of Miss Tracy, four of her companions in the Atlantis Community and other handicapped persons, seeks: Compensatory education for Miss Tracy and others of her class of handicapped persons who were denied admission to public schools programs "for a period equivalent to the number of years during which an adequate education was denied them". To invalidate Colorado laws limiting public education to children between the ages of 3 and 21, as applied to handicapped persons over 21 who are educable and have been denied an education suited to their needs in public schools. The plaintiffs motion estimates there may be as many as 10,000 handicapped persons in Colorado who would belong to this class. The school board was unaware the companion legal actions had been filed when Miss Tracy, a dozen or more of her companions at the Atlantis Community- a community of handicapped persons, most of them in wheelchairs- and her parents and lawyers appeared in the board room of the Denver Public Schools Administration Bldg. 900 Grant St. Mrs. Schomp, chairman of a board subcommittee on special education, noted the persons in wheelchairs in the audience and, at the start of the board's meeting, moved to take up Miss Tracy's case before it would normally come up on the agenda. The board voted, 6-1, to do so, with only Board Member Robert Crider dissenting. Mrs. Schomp then moved that the board allow Miss Tracy to continue at Boettcher School for the first semester of the new school year "while we are seeking a state ruling as to where funds for her education should come from". State special education funds go only-unless the new court action determines otherwise- to children under the age of 21. Crider asked whether admitting Miss Tracy would set a precedent binding the board in the case of other handicapped persons. Michael Jackson, the school board's attorney, said the motion by Mrs. Schomp would only commit the board for one semester. Mrs. Schomp said the subcommittee was aware of possible legal pitfalls. "We are also aware we can't commit the school district to something illegal," she added, "but the subcommittee felt we shouldn't penalize this one person while the whole ponderous (fund - seeking) process is taking place. "The best solution may well be in the courts," she noted. Miss Tracy's problem is that in addition to cerebral palsy, she has perceptual handicaps. After being denied admission to the school system, she wasted nine years at the Ridge State Home and Training School and another five at the United Cerebral Palsy Center- in neither of which she received any substantial education After two years at Boettcher, she now reads at about the third-grade level, her mother, Elaine Jacoby, said. "I love school- my teacher helps me there, and I learn things I never learned before,"Debbie said recently. And she wants to continue there. However, this spring, because she is 21, she was "graduated" from Boettcher with a "certificate of attendance" rather than a high school diploma. And school officials said she should go to Opportunity School rather than continue at Boettcher. Crider insisted at the board meeting that allowing her to continue at Boettcher "puts every board member in the position of making a decision that may affect us for years". He moved to table the motion to admit Miss Tracy. Board Member Bernard Valdez supported his motion, asserting that if the board voted to admit her to Boettcher it would "defuse" the lawsuit her attorneys were preparing. At that point, Davidovich moved to the speakers table in the bedroom and tried to say something. Chairman Blair pounded his gavel and told Davidovich to "Shut up.. I don't want to hear anything from you. We offered to set up a special meeting with you and you refused." When Davidovich persisted in trying to speak, Blair gaveled him down and then called for an executive session of the board, which lasted for more than half an hour. During the executive session, Davidovich told reporters he merely wanted to tell the board he already had filed the lawsuit and the board's action wouldn't affect that. When the board returned, it voted not to table Mrs.Schomp's motion, then voted to approve it, both on 4-3 votes. Voting for admitting Miss Tracy were an unusual combination: Board Members Naomi Bradford, Marion Hammond, Virginia Rockwell and Mrs. Schomp. Against were Blair, Crider, and Valdez. After the vote, a disgruntled Blair thundered that the vote "is not a precedent set by this board in any way, shape, or form". Members of the Atlantis Community- 11 of whom were by then sitting in front of the room in their wheelchairs- booed him lustily. The school board then recessed- having done nothing else on their agenda to that point- for a dinner break. Asked about how she felt about it all, Debbie Tracy said , "Yes, I'm happy" about being allowed to continue at Boettcher. "It all seemed to be pretty interesting,"she added. " And I'm tired of staying at home." - ADAPT (28)
[Headline] Alter Nursing Home Rules Colorado legislators came face to face recently with what many observers consider one of the major concerns in the nursing home field: the need for some individualization of treatment groups within facilities. Residents of the youth wing at Heritage House, 5301 W. 1st Ave., told lawmakers that for many months they had been encouraged to make remarkable progress toward self determination and varying degrees of independence. But late in 1974 the situation deteriorated into custodial and repressive care, resulting in deep bitterness between staff and patients and loss of self confidence by the patients, they said. At first, the problem seemed to revolve around personalities of two former youth wing coordinators and whether one could communicate more effectively with administrators than the other. But it developed during the hearing that there were indeed some apparent moves by administrators to intimidate staff members who had provided transportation to the hearing for several disabled young persons and their beds and wheelchairs. During an angry and tearful exchange, legislators learned that officials at the nursing home had “withheld” the time cards of staff members who, when off duty, had transported the young residents to the hearing. Those officials received a stern warning from Rep. Wellington Webb, D-Denver, chairman of the House Committee on Health, Environment, Welfare and Institutions, that their attitude was unacceptable and would be dealt with. Beyond the immediate clash at Heritage House, a deeper problem more reflective of the problem throughout the nursing home industry arose. Administrator Tom O'Hallaran explained the home is required to meet rigid federal and state standards that don’t take youth wings into account. One official suggested that the youth wing be reclassified to fit into a different regulatory category. But neither does that category address specifically programs for young persons. The biggest villains are the state social services department and state legislators, who together decide how much money young and old persons need for nursing home care, suggested Sandy Anderson, a welfare caseworker in Jefferson County. In a strongly worded appeal, she said geriatric staffing patterns and programs aren't adequate in a youth wing and per diem funding isn't sufficient. Miss Anderson’s point was the crucial one of the day. Different types of patients with differing needs shouldn't be mixed, yet that is the prevailing practice. A visit to almost any nursing home will find young and old, mental patients and senile retirees, able and disabled, and those needing custodial care and those who are bedridden mixed indiscriminately. The result is misery for patients and inefficient services from the nursing home staff. While it is obvious that officials at Heritage House have attitudinal problems to work out, it is also clear that the larger problem needs to be seriously addressed by the legislature. Colorado lawmakers should make sure that state rules are changed to allow differential treatment and should take their concerns to officials in Washington who administer federal funding and regulation systems. The change must occur all the way to the highest level of regulation. - ADAPT (49)
Rocky Mountain News Wednesday morning April 6, 1977 [Headline] Jeffco health chief says new tests show higher peril from Flats plant 4 PHOTOS FOR THE NEWS BY TIM SPANGLER: First photo (top left) is of a man in a dark jacket (James Chidlaw) standing and tipping over another man (Dennis Wilcox) in wheelchair; his right front and back wheels are off the ground and the standing man is holding the back of his chair. They are in a parking lot with a large white building behind them. In the background other people are standing or walking in the distance. A woman standing near them watching has her hands up. The man in the wheelchair (Wilcox) has a big beard, glasses and a hat with a brim. He is wearing a striped shirt, and the woman in front of him has bell bottoms on. His chair appears to be a motorized wheelchair. Second photo (top right), a man (Chidlaw?) in a dark shirt or jacket is on the ground and two other men are reaching downward in his direction, possibly pushing or holding him down. One of them appears to be wearing a work uniform while the other has on a hat with a feather, a turtleneck and bell bottoms. In the background other people seem to be approaching. Third photo (bottom left) shows the man with the feather in his hat and another person starting to lift the man (Wilcox) in the striped shirt up from the ground. His wheelchair is not visible. Another man (Wade Blank) appears to be talking to the man in the dark jacket (Chidlaw) who is now standing. Meanwhile the man in the work uniform has one hand on the jacketed man's back. The fourth photo (lower right) shows a small crowd of people. A man in a dark shirt (Chidlaw?) has his hand up one finger pointing while Wade and the man in the work uniform watch. Something is happening in front of them but it is hard to tell exactly what. Wilcox's arm in the striped shirt is visible from behind someone else, somewhere between ground and wheelchair heights. [Subheading] Demonstrator encounters rough going Parking lot manager James Chidlaw, upper left, pushes handicapped protestor Dennis Wilcox off his lot during demonstration at Denver's federal office complex Tuesday. Wilcox felt to street and fellow demonstrators...(not legible)...law to ground. At bottom, Wilcox is helped up while other protestors angrily....Chidlaw, who later was cited for assault. Incident preceded an all-night sit-in at the federal office building. Story another photo on page 6. - ADAPT (6)
United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 May 29, 1975 Mr. Wade Blank Atlantis Project Denver, Colorado Dear Wade: Congratulations on the opening of the Atlantis Project's facility. I wish that I could be with you today. You are to be commended on the perseverance you have shown in getting the Atlantis Project off the ground. I am sure that this facility will be a model for the nation in housing for the handicapped. Sincerely yours, Gary Hart U.S.S.