Newsletter14

I HATE BLANKET LAWS AND REGULATIONS ! ! !
There should always be reasonable exceptions.
Below is a good example:

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GIRL OVERCOMES ACCIDENT TO GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL
By Associated Press, 7/9/2001 02:16
ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) For Sara Edgerly very little in life
is easy including high school. That's because when she was
11, a car she, her twin brother and his friend were riding
in broke through the ice on Merrymeeting Lake, trapping her
under the freezing water for nearly 40 minutes. Edgerly's
brother and his friend escaped, but couldn't get her out.
Since then, she has been confined to a wheelchair, hasn't
been able to speak and can only move her fingers, eyes and
make facial expressions.

But that didn't stop her from finishing high school. Now 21,
Edgerly graduated from Spaulding High School last month and
got a standing ovation from her peers. According to her
mother, Ellen, Edgerly communicates by looking at E-tran
boards, thick sheets of paper with various answers on them. She
''speaks'' by moving her eyes toward her answer.
It took Sara Edgerly longer than normal to finish high
school because she took one class a semester and was tested
using multiple choice exams printed on E-tran boards.
Terri O'Brien, the woman's longtime nurse, said Edgerly also
was able to participate in projects by choosing pictures to
include in collages or using a method called "hand-over-hand."
Using this method, Edgerly's hand rests on another person's,
allowing her to paint and draw with assistance. "It gives her
some limited control over the finished project," O'Brien
said.

In addition to hard work, Edgerly's success also is due to
help and understanding from her peers. When the senior class
gathered to have a picture taken, one of Edgerly's classmates insisted
that she sit with the rest of the class on the
bleachers. When O'Brien tried to explain that Edgerly needed
to sit in her chair, the student persisted, saying, "We'll
hold her up."

But her graduation isn't all cause for joy. Now that Edgerly
is 21, she will receive less financial aid, limiting her
access to improved technologies that could make it easier
for her to communicate. "When other individuals turn 21 it's
a time for celebration. For Sara, it's actually hurting her,"
Ellen Edgerly said. Edgerly's mother said she hopes her
daughter eventually can get a job and live in an apartment
attached to the family home, but acknowledges that
financially that will be difficult. "If there's no funding,
then Sara will stay in this room and will live between these
walls," Ellen Edgerly said.

Meanwhile, Edgerly keeps going. Arrangements already are
being made so she can take college classes at the College for Lifelong
Learning. "She's like a flower if she's left at home
she'll close up and wilt. We can all benefit from education,"
Ellen Edgerly said.
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There are hundreds of other people who are adversely affected
by similar laws and regulations. I know of people who are
receiving cash and assistance every month because they are
alcoholics and drug addicts and can�t work, so why should
this girl and others like her not get help?

To quote an ad for United Negro College Fund "A MIND IS A
TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE."

JBS