GIMPS: GROUP PROVIDES SUPPORT, FORUM FOR MOBILITY IMPAIRED

Don Amelon found out he had a degenerative spinal disease in the spring of 1973.

"At first I would stumble when I stepped off a curb or walked up steps," he said. "Then it got worse. Much worse."

By 1979, wheelchair-bound, Amelon retired from his post as a professor of industrial arts at Southeast Missouri State University.

But he refused to allow his disease to keep him from moving around, being active and enjoying life. He built an elaborate elevator inside his Jackson home to enable him to access his basement workshop. He built another chair lift outside to make it easier for him to get to his car.

Both elevators are powered with motors from electric garage door openers.

His world was further expanded about three years ago when he joined the GIMPS -- Greater Illinois Missouri Paralytic Support group -- at St. Francis Medical Center.

GIMPS was founded in 1986 by Jim Dean, an occupational therapist at St. Francis, who saw a need for a support group among patients or former patients with spinal injuries.

A majority of the group's monthly meetings are of a recreational nature, although some are for educational purposes.

On Wednesday, Sgt. Carl Kinnison from the Cape Girardeau Police Department will speak to the group on parking and safety issues related to mobility impaired residents of the area.

Along the same lines, the group published a handbook for wheelchair-bound people called "Access Cape." The booklet outlines the degree of accessibility of area restaurants and bars to mobility impaired people.

"We wanted people with mobility problems to know in advance, before they left their homes, if they could find parking, could get into the building, or even could use a restroom in a particular restaurant," said Larry J. Easley, public relations director and member of the group. "It's a good thing to have.

"Even if the restaurant is not accessible, it's good for people to know so that they don't go there expecting to be able to get in," he said. "When you face a barrier like that in a wheelchair, it's very frustrating."

But Easley said getting around is becoming easier for handicapped people, since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and with recent heightened awareness of physically handicapped people.

"It's always amazing to us that people don't see barriers that are so obvious to us," said Easley. "But when you get out in public in a wheelchair, you do not want to cause a fuss.

"You don't want to have someone haul you over a curb or up a flight of stairs," he said. "You already feel obvious enough."

For Amelon, GIMPS has allowed him an opportunity to share some of his inventions with people who can benefit from them.

"I have invented a lot of things to help me get around and to best suit what I like to do," said Amelon. "At the meetings, we share ideas with one another."

When the group's president, Edward Snider, built a new home, he sent the contractor to Amelon's house to check out his elevators. The contractor then built similar devices in Snider's house.

The group draws its membership from people within about a 50-mile radius of Cape Girardeau. Members are encouraged to bring their spouses to the monthly meetings.

Once a year for the past few years, the group has sponsored wheelchair basketball games at the Show Me Center.

"Those guys are amazing," said Easley of the players. "Even for people like us, it's hard to believe that someone in a wheelchair can do that.

"It's really an inspiring kind of thing," he said. "But it also shows people the possibilities open to mobility impaired people."

Easley said there are groups who skydive, ride motorcycles, climb mountains, go bicycling and enjoy a variety of other activities.

"We don't have a lot of opportunities like that in Cape Girardeau," he said. "In fact, most of us are too darned old for that kind of thing anyway."

The members of the group range in age from about 11 to 70.

"Most of the people are there as the result of a car accident," said Amelon. "There are some like me who have debilitating diseases."

Amelon said he would be glad to share his inventions with other mobility impaired people who may not know about or belong to GIMPS.

"After knowing what I do now, I can understand the special needs of people like me," he said. "We're all in this together."

Easley echoed his sentiments.

"I've met a lot of really good people in this organization," he said. "But one of the things you realize right away after going to just one or two meetings is that your problems aren't the least bit unique.

"When you just sit at home, you develop this `oh woe is me,' attitude that doesn't get you anywhere," Easley said. "Being in a group like this, it's hard to feel sorry for yourself. We all have mobility problems and everyone approaches them differently."

"Just by being at the meetings every month, everyone is making an effort," Easley added. "They are finding that they can be happy, even if circumstances aren't as they wished they would be."