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when I was born I was born in a small town
in northern Indiana which at that time
the population was less than 9,000 and
and at that time they didn't have public transportation and things like
that
and my parents moved to Kokomo at that time they had public transportation but
they did away with it
the year my parents moved there they stopped it
and as I ...
I went to The school for the Blind it was a residential school
I started there in 1969
and was there for 14 years
of course that was
in the very beginning of when the
education system there was becoming more fair appropriate
public education and a lot of school systems were
starting to put the support into place in the public school systems
however the school system that I
would have attended back in my own community never felt
like they would have had an education system
that would have given me all the supports I would have needed
to get a quality education and so they continued to be willing to pay
for my parents to take me to Indianapolis
pay the transportation cost for my parents to take me the indianapolis
and to
the other costs that the school system would
to school for the blind for me to go there
my experience was more
it was hard yes it was hard in the beginning
to be separated from my family um
and that but it was harder on my siblings then it was on me
in that my brother couldn't understand why I had to go away to school
once I got adjusted to being away
and that
I hated i hated going home on Friday but
I loved coming back on Sunday and that
and for 14 years I did that I was very involved
in leadership activities in sports
a that throughout the years I was there it was like having a second family
I
you know i'd I today
and as I've grown in advocacy and that
if the opportunities to go to public school would have been there
yes that's where I would've wanted to be in
my home community but at the time I went to school there
that was the best option in I knew coming out of high school
that I didn't wanna be restricted
into what I could do and so I knew if I went back to Kokomo
there was no public transportation there was no sidewalks it was
an automotive community and that
and what it showed me
just you know that
I had choices I had a choice of
living where I have to depend on other people
to do things for me
to help me live my daily life or
to find a solution where
I was going to be as independent as I chose to
and as interdependent as I chose to
and so when I started looking at colleges
yes I could've went to I UK Indiana University at Kokomo for
as many years as I would have wanted to get a degree
but in order to get that degree I would have had to depend on family and friends
for transportation
I wouldn't have necessarily had the opportunity to participate in
extra activities as freely as I wanted
but by going to a community where there was public transportation
and sidewalks
and activities within walking distance
on-campus and off-campus housing
on-campus and off-campus eating establishments
I was I was able to live a more free life
and that and as we talked about livable communities
muncie at that time was a livable
community for me where I didn't see
living in Kokomo is being that for me
I can honestly say that I probably
benefitted me going to Ball State in that
their disabled students services
had a philosophy
that was more what my own personal philosophy was
and that was to be some and it goes right along with the independent living
movements
philosophy and that is that the person
who is using the Services
needs to be in control of how their program does
and that is how I got involved in the Independent Living movement
that's how I've continued to
I'm going to say become more self sufficient myself
if it would have been for
becoming familiar with it when I was in high school
I probably would have thought the only place I had to go once I got out of high school
was to remain at home and to
work for a community rehab program in a sheltered workshop
I wouldn't have known about that there was community activities that I could
engage in
and when I went to ball State like I said the director there
engaged his the students going through the disabled student services
program
to actually work with the University
in making sure things were accessible to get out in the community and become
involved
and so I would say that's how I got started