f
(
bu r>ennis Peterson
Accepting the challenge: that's what dis
abled people do when they acknowledge
their limitations and learn to work within
these boundaries, and we can accept the
challenge of making ourselves accessible. I
have gained much strength from working
with physically challenged people, feeling
that charity is an important part of a person's
life. My attitude towards charity is a very
Jewish one. In Hebrew the word charity is
Uedakah. which also means righteousness.
In other words, charity is not a favor you do,
but rather simply the right way to act. It
started when I volunteered time for the Volun
teer Braille Services who. through their Inde
pendent Living Program, provide counseling,
communication training, travel training,
housekeeping, and adult education for the
visually impaired. Their Corporate Motto is "It
is impossible to give dignity, independence
and enrichment to someone else s life with
out making your own abundantly happy."
This led me to be on the Gay Care Com
mittee for Lesbian and Gay Pride 83. which
provides for day care, medical attention, in
terpreters. and accessibility. Seeing the
beauty of American Sign Language (ASL)
made me finally begin learning ASL and
brought me in contact with members of the
Northwest Chapter of Rainbow Alliance, a
national organization of hearing impaired
lesbians and gay men. When I first met Hank,
who is now a good friend, he asked me if I
wanted to dance. This really threw me off
guard. I need to be motivated by just the right
music and sometimes wine to get in the spirit
of things, but Hank was quite at ease. In his
article. “ Silent Speech, Inner Rhythms" for
the Neu' York Native (December 5-18)
Richard (Jlmans writes: "Some night at the
Saint (a NY disco) there will be a failure in the
sound system. The music will stop, and we ll
all be left standing high and dry. All except for
Sam and his friends. Then we'll be watching
them for the rhythms, instead of the other
way around. And that night, maybe we. too.
will finally learn to dance to our own inner
music." (By the way. for those wishing to do
volunteer work with the deaf, there is a new
service called NW ANSIR that relays TTY
messages. Call Denise at 231 -1889.)
These experiences have taught me that it is
good to reach out to people who are diffe
rently abled. for you will often learn and grow
more from the contact than they, but most of
all it teaches how to see the inner person, a
talent that needs nurturing in us all. Before
you make the effort it is good to know some
thing about the subcultural differences in or
der to behave appropriately and get across
the right message.
Some of us hold back from talking or help
ing physically challenged people because the
sympathy that moves us when we see some-
FACTORY
M l 11 £111113
M e n s R e so u rc e C e n te r C o u n s e lin g S e rv ic e
GAY THERAPISTS
The Coffee Merchant
THE BROADWAY COFFEE MERCHANT
1637 N E Broadway
Portland. OR 97232 ■ 284 9209
THE HAWTHORNE COFFEE MERCHANT
3562 S E Hawthorne
Portland. OR 97214 ■ 230 1222
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211 N.W. Davis 228-1340
Just Out.
February 1985