LETTERS: DISABILITY FAIR WILL DISPLAY TALENT, RESOURCES

To the editor:

What is independent living? How can I get around in my own community if I have a disability? What resources are out there to help me get on with life after experiencing a disability? I have a certain type of disability: What support groups are there to help me get on with life? I want to go back to school, but I have a disability: Who can help me? What work opportunities are out there for persons with disabilities? I have problems that limit my mobility in my home: What technology is out there to make living at home more productive? Can a support dog improve my independence? Most people only see my disability, but I want to show people that I have talents and more to offer the community.

These questions and more will be answered at SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence Inc.'s fourth annual Disability Talent and Resource Fair to be held 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday at the Osage Centre, sponsored in part by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, Heartland Home Health, United Mobility of Sikeston, Cyberonics and the Area Wide United Way.

State Rep. David Schwab and state Sen. Peter Kinder will be present to open this year's event. They both have been instrumental in supporting important legislation that benefits constituents with disabilities. Please come out and meet those two dedicated men and show your support for their efforts.

There will be a workshop by Assistive Dogs for Living of St. Louis. Guest star is Patra, the 1998 service dog of the year and this year's Governor's Award winner for Missouri. Patra is a seizure-alert dog and has been instrumental in lifesaving detection efforts for her owner, Donna Jacobs. The phenomenal work that assistance dogs perform will be discussed at two workshops to be held Saturday.

The latest van conversions and wheelchairs will be on display, as well as adaptive toys for children with disabilities. There will be artists displaying their artwork and crafts from all over Southeast Missouri.

An Arts for All program will be from noon to 4 p.m. in the front parking lot. This is a new Arts Council of Southeast Missouri program that SADI is proud to be a co-sponsor for. More volunteers are needed to help with this event, so come out and help us create. Volunteers need to be at the Osage Centre by 9 a.m. in order to learn the use of the equipment which allows children and adults with and without disabilities to create art side by side. The unique equipment attaches to a wheelchair or can be pushed by hand. Everyone participating will take home a work of art.

October if Ability Awareness Month. We would like to invite everyone to come and meet the people who make a difference in the lives of persons with disabilities every day. See what true independence means, and see the abilities you support through your efforts at giving to both United Way and to SADI.

Here is a question I know all of you can answer: How do you treat a person with a disability? Like a person. For more information about the fair and how you can help, call 651-6464.

MARYANN "MIKI" GUDERMUTH, Executive Director

SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence Inc.

Cape Girardeau