How many times did your parents tell you that you could be anything you wanted to be or do anything you wanted to do when you grew up? Parents of children with disabilities offer the same encouragements, but try to keep the hopes and dreams of the child in check. The parents encourage their kids in whatever they do, all the while walking the delicate line between trying to make the child understand that, realistically, there may be some things they can’t do and helping them make their dreams come true.
With all the news from the wars overseas, the everyday violence in our streets and countless other heartbreaking and gut-wrenching stories, it is rare to find an uplifting human interest story of a person doing something good that parents can set forth as an example to their children. Even today’s athletes and celebrities can’t necessarily be good role models for children, as evidenced by Michael Vick’s reinstatement with the NFL or Nicolas Cage’s recent face-off with the IRS over unpaid taxes.
So who, besides their parents, can children with disabilities look up to as examples of what they can accomplish?
Athletes
Competing in her third Paralympic Games in Beijing last summer, Patty Cisneros was co-captain of the 2008 U.S. Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team. Cisneros led the 2004 team to a gold medal in Athens and, starting point guard in Beijing, helped lead her team to gold over Germany. Cisneros is an excellent coach as well as a stellar athlete. She led the University of Illinois' women's wheelchair basketball team to a national championship title in her first year as head coach in 2008.
Although he has not even been an American citizen for a full two years, Phil Scholz, who has been blind since the age of 15, is already shattering U.S. swimming records. Now a junior at Loyola College, Scholz made his first appearance in the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Actors
Mitch Longley, a 25-year paraplegic, has been perhaps the most recognizable actor with a disability on TV in the past few years. From his yearlong stint on Another World to his most recent role as a surveillance expert on Las Vegas, Mitch has been an almost constant presence on television.
Shoshannah Stern, best known for her role as Bonnie on the CBS series Jericho, was born into the fourth generation of a deaf family. She has appeared in several television series’ and is currently being considered for the role of a hearing-impaired hero on Heroes.
Politicians
Senator Chuck Graham, a Democrat from Missouri, is a paraplegic resulting from an automobile accident at age 16. Graham is a strong supporter of stem cell research and has been active on committees for education, gubernatorial appointments, veteran’s affairs and criminal jurisprudence. On November 4, 2008, Graham lost his Senate seat after being defeated in the general election by Republican Kurt Schaefer. He has announced that he has no plans to run for office again.
Greg Abbott has served as Texas Attorney General since December 2002. Abbott has served as a state trial judge and sat on the Texas Supreme Court for six years. He has received awards such as “Jurist of the Year” and “Trial Judge of the Year.” Shortly after graduating from Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville in the early 80’s, Abbott was partially paralyzed in a freak accident when a tree fell on him while he was jogging.
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