When my phone began ringing late one night last week, I grabbed it, concerned it might be my elderly mother or another relative in need of something. The “Yikes!” call.
Instead, it was an editor from the newspaper telling me I’d forgotten to explain in my article if a young man who was the subject of my story had a disability. My reply was, yes, he did indeed have a disability. He was clearly shown in the picture accompanying the article sitting in a wheelchair while coaching his Allegany-Limestone (N.Y.) High School peers in a basketball scrimmage.
It then dawned on me that I hadn’t written one word about this young man, Dustyn Green, as having a disability. Green, who uses a wheelchair, was given the opportunity to coach basketball scrimmages for a student team as well as an adult team at the school in conjunction with Winter Week festivities on campus. Coaching basketball is something the 16-year-old sophomore, who loves all sports, would like to do professionally one day.
The fact that he has a disability is one of the reasons he was asked to coach the teams during the festivities at the school. His mother, Rebecca, said her oldest son is enthralled with basketball and often assists the coaching staff on the sidelines at the high school games.
It was also why we were reporting the story of a young man in a wheelchair coaching his first basketball game. Therefore, leaving out the fact Green has a disability in the copy was an oversight on my part and quickly corrected.
At first I attributed the omission of this critical component of the story to a long day at work, as the article had been finished relatively late in the evening.
While speaking to the editor, however, I realized that Green was such a dynamic kid with his outlook on coaching, that all focus on his disability vaporized during our interview. The 16-year-old’s complete focal point was on his abilities and what he plans to do with his life. His all-encompassing positive attitude was contagious to the point that I didn’t see him with a disability, just his abilities. It was as if a spell had been cast over me.
Throughout the scrimmage that night on the court, there was no doubt regarding Green’s abilities as a coach, he was in charge of the players and even the referee at times. One of the students on his team even commented on how well versed Green was with the sport and his coaching.
It should be mentioned that during the conversation with the editor at the newspaper, who is a very sensitive person, it was suggested we describe Green as wheelchair-bound in the article.
That term was quickly rejected and not used thanks to information I received during a seminar last fall at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. The keynote speaker at the seminar, Katie Smith, was the former Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania and is now a representative for the Parent Education and Advocacy Leadership (PEAL) Center in Pittsburgh. The seminar taught parents, educators and social workers how to help children with disabilities successfully transition into adulthood. Smith told those in attendance that language and attitudes used with children with disabilities can and does shape their outlook on life. People-first terms, which puts the person before the disability, was also touched on. For example, instead of saying someone is autistic, the preferred semantics is to say he has autism, and so forth with other disabilities.
At one point, Smith told the group how she really disliked the term “wheelchair-bound” as it implies that a wheelchair binds individuals to the device instead of enabling them. The correct term, she said, is to say a person uses a wheelchair, or other devices that make their lives better.
Smith was so emphatic with her dislike of the term, that it left an impression on me. Therefore, I’m sure I snapped “No” at the editor when it was suggested we use it.
After interviewing Green last week, I realized I had met a youngster who embodied the values Smith spoke about, as he was apparently raised to have confidence in his abilities and a can-do attitude.
And be forewarned that if you meet someone like Green, be prepared to have a spell cast over you. It is guaranteed you will only see his or her abilities.
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(Kate Day Sager covers meetings and various news events for The Bradford Era and Olean (N.Y.) Times Herald. One of her beats is the Allegany-Limestone (N.Y.) School District)
