When John McGovern watches a certain 5-year-old at play, he sees the huge difference made by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The disabled child participates in local park district programs side by side with other children in the community.
“It really helps families to keep their kids at home and not place them in a [care] facility,” said McGovern, executive director of the Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association. “We hear that from a lot of families.”
McGovern was one of several readers responding to last week’s column about the effect the ADA has had on people’s lives.
The ADA passed in 1990. Since then, professionals such as McGovern have watched their budgets grow tenfold to help include special-needs children and adults in local park district and recreation programs. The Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association budget was $40,000 in 1994 and $450,000 in 2003. The organization serves 10 park districts and two municipalities on the North Shore, ranging from Glenview to Lake Bluff.
“One of the requirements of the ADA is that services be available in `the most integrated setting,'” McGovern wrote in an e-mail that initiated a longer conversation. “In a burst of common sense, Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice actually created a good definition for that phrase. The most integrated setting is the one in which people with and without disabilities interact together.”
In the northern suburbs, McGovern and his staff provide support for about 800 disabled children in what are called “inclusion placements” each year, compared with 35 in 1994. It might be an 8-year-old with autism joining an after-school program, a 10-year-old in a wheelchair playing sports or a 4-year-old with cognitive impairment registered for a preschool group.
A Northbrook woman e-mailed about her experience as well.
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“I have an almost 18-year-old son who is autistic,” she wrote. “He has limited language, occasionally challenging behavior and learning differences, but his abilities far exceed his limitations. My son had the good fortune to grow up in the northern suburbs of Chicago and has benefited from one of the most outstanding special education programs in the country. My son is out in the community daily through school, recreation and with his family.”
But where this mother and other parents see the positives in childhood days, they are deeply concerned about their children’s adult years. A number of e-mails about last week’s column pointed to the uncertainties faced by disabled adults in the job market.
The ADA hasn’t delivered in employment opportunities, many readers wrote. In particular, parents and officials expressed disappointment in the performance of Illinois state programs.
“My son is not able to live independently, and he is not likely to be competitively employed utilizing natural supports, though that is certainly a goal I have for him,” wrote the Northbrook mother. “The current funding in Illinois limits availability of programs and housing to those whose parents are in crisis, dying or dead. Funded programs are in isolated, segregated workshops and developmental training centers. Funded housing is in larger, institutional settings of anywhere from 15 to a hundred or more people.”
Parents are taking matters into their own hands, the Northbrook mom said.
“Everyone deserves to live, work and recreate in his or her own community. A small group of motivated parents have worked to create a community-based day program [called the Adult Community Transition Program in Highland Park] that provides a transition from school to community life. Another small group of motivated parents are working on creating affordable housing options for adults with developmental disabilities. There is much going on to improve programs and housing, but until our state gets the message that some of its most vulnerable citizens are not being served at all, and many are being served inappropriately, nothing will happen.”
Rick Derer, a reader from Clarendon Hills, e-mailed with a dissenting view about the ADA. He called it “classic regulatory overkill” and has set up a Web site, www.derer.com/ADA.htm, to make his point.
A Chicago public high school teacher wrote to describe her experiences starting a program that previously didn’t include disabled students.
“We are making inroads, but there are many hurdles,” she wrote. “I cannot even think about what turning 21 is going to mean to their opportunities for socialization and meaningful activities.”
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E-mail Bob Condor at [email protected]. Send health and fitness news to [email protected].