Shepherd University - Cohongoroota Yearbook (Shepherdstown, WV)

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. N . ' S S C' tf' cf. Sl sits? iris-iiliiliti IDE. N Kwlso S lf, 5, N X 1981 Copy by Theresa Hanuk Photography by Jim Thomas Design by Marv Lou Uftermohlen 1981, designated by the United Nations as the Interna- tional Year of Disabled Persons CIYDPJ, serves as a mile- stone in the lives of the 450 million disabled persons throughout the world today. For the first time in history, the contributions and needs of disabled citizens are receiving world-wide recognition. And it's about time! Long regarded as second-class citizens, disabled persons have been denied the chance to have a decent education, a job and the other joys of life that many take for granted. In education, students with disabilities in seeing, hearing and mobility were often sent to special schools which dealt solely with students of the same disability. Students who were labeled mentally retarded were sent to other state institutions which were often less effective than the special schools. Some students, however, lived at home and at- tended city schools where classes were created to deal with their particular needs. Students with minor problems such as speech difficulties or learning disabilities attended spe- cial education classes in public schools. However, these stu- dents were not guaranteed a key to the future any more than those who attended the other kinds of schools. With the idea of mainstreaming, children who were sent 6 to special schools, institutions, or special education classes in public schools were allowed to attend schools in their town or district. This fostered a lot of positive and negative actions and feelings. Teachers had to learn skills necessary to teach speech classes for the hearing impaired and those children with other speech difficulties, braille and mobility for the blind, and basic remedial classes for those with learn- ing disabilities. When the disabled student enters college, more than likely his instructors aren't going to have the special train- ing his elementary and high school teachers did. He must be ready to explain to college professors he is capable of han- dling classes and all the responsibility and work involved. Then he has to prove he can do it! The student has to draw on the resources of tutoring services to help him with his courses. After graduation, the disabled person is, more than likely, going to be expected to have more resources and references when applying for a job, especially in this day of high un- employment. In the past, persons with disabilities were de- nied jobs because employers assumed they wouldn't be able to do the work or that the job was too risky for them. In recent years this has changed. There are now disabled workers in industrial types of employment, as well as in desk jobs and teaching positions. In the past, the only type of

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Jan. 20, 1981 11:57 a.m. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 69, was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States Jan. 20, 1981 at 11:57 a.m. 12:33 p.m. As President Reagan concluded his inaugural address at 12:33 p.m. QESTJ, the first of two Algerian airliners transporting the 52 hostages left Teheran's Mehabad Airport. The 52 American hostages had been officially released after 444 days of captivity in Iran. The Front Page tr Jgraplz-v and dvszgn by M lla' N uelzvl Super Bowl XVI In Super Bowl XVI, played on Jan. 24, 1982, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21. The first Super Bowl ever held in a snowbelt city, the game was played in the Pontiac CMichiganJ Silverdome in front of 81,270 fans and to a national television audience of 105 million. . . . Continued on pages 74,75 Due to mounting unrest and diminishing authority, the Polish government, on Dec. 13, 1981, declared a state of emergency and issued a temporary decree of martial law curtailing civil rights and halting operations of Poland's independent trade union federation, Solidarity. These developments were apparently caused by Solidarity's decision on Dec. 12, 1981 to call for a nationwide referendum to decide whether to retain or reject the communist system of government. ..-I if gm . ix Nu ,- 5

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-'rizwupf 1 251' 'P , a vm Wil Qi A H f' ad- xl- ,,,,, '12-3. f.-,.z'g.' ' vi .-,,.,,, ta N 'Ano ' ' li' 'Q Ji 'i':.- industrial job a person with a disability was likely to get was working in a sheltered workshop or operating a vending stand. Now there are blind piano tuners, deaf nurses and kitchen workers, as well as switchboard operators with speech difficulties. The IYDP has done a lot to make these facts known to the public. For quite a long time, recreation was considered some- thing that a disabled person just couldn't do. Those people were left to sit back in the yard or out on the sidelines. In this century a lot has been done to change this. National, state and regional Special Olympics teams have been or- ganized to give the disabled person an opportunity to get involved in sports. The U.S. Association for Blind Athletes was founded in 1976. Today, competitors of all ages come together to com- pete in swimming, wrestling, downhill skiing, gymnastics, and track and field. Medals are awarded in the same man- ner as in any other national preliminary to the Olympics. Those who make the Olympics go to the International Olympics for the Blind, which was held in Canada in 1976 and in Holland in 1980. The President's Council on Physical Fitness in also aimed toward the disabled student or adult. There were several national events in 1981, such as the Wheelchair Olympics held in Richmond, Va. President and Mrs. Reagan were contributors to this event. Local sources of support are jaycee groups who sponsor events for disabled children and community centers which are adapting their facilities so disabled persons can make use of them. Many other types of activities are underway. Disabled people want to be recognized for the things they can do. All they really want is a chance. The International Year of Disabled Persons has brought this to the attention of the general public. Public awareness, however, isn't the only good thing to come of the IYDP. Training and awareness activities to promote attitudinal changes were also provided. These included the training of managers and supervisors on disability topics, teaching disabled employees their rights and educational opportunities, distributing public informa- tion on disability, and many others. Affirmative action pro- grams were also developed for the recruitment, placement and promotion of disabled persons in the federal agency work force, for the improvement of facilities and programs to provide physical and information access, for the identifica- tion and elimination of barriers to the selection and training of disabled employees, etc. This and much more was accomplished in 1981 to promote Full Participation and Equality ilYDP,s theme? for the world's disabled citizens. But this isn't a one-year thing, it's a life-time necessity. 7