Cheryl Oliver Dick

Lakisha of Special Needs Cheryl Oliver Dick

This story takes place around the 1920's. A time of prohibition and gangsters a time period where some could afford new cars, and others still rode carriages. Roads were still dirt and full of ruts. Electricity had not reached every home in the country. Homes were still mostly heated by wood stoves. Medicine wasn't as advanced as it is today, and ideas about the disabled and living conditions were different back then. Back in the years prior to the 1970's handicapped people were treated differently by society. Many disabled people were born into families where other members did not fully understand the disability. The disabled person was made to suffer needlessly. Many times due to ignorance or intolerance, many times families didn't accept them, it's also true in some cases, families did. They would not explain their disability to them, why they were different, or why they were not accepted. In some cases, the parents and siblings did not understand themselves. They only assumed they had less intelligence than the others. Family members often expressed irritation with their disabled charge, and sometimes, family members would become abusive. Many disabled people throughout the course of their lives faced some type of abuse. The widespread misunderstanding regarding disabled individuals led to isolation and loneliness for a lot of disabled individuals, especially for those with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome or other developmental or intellectual disabilities. Often times family members and caretakers didn't treat disabled people as fully human, with the same needs for love and care and friendship that all family members need. Keeping a disabled child at home was, and still is, difficult. A family can prevent negative impacts on a disabled person, and help the person to have a closer to normal life. In "Lakisha of Special Needs" you will meet a girl with Cerebral Palsy. Although trials for the disabled may be different, you will experience the trials that Lakisha went through, and her fight to be part of a normal life. Many of the things that happen to Lakisha in this story happened to someone I know. I felt people need to be more aware of the disabled people in our community. Even with laws to protect them, there is still abuse.