Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 8, 1992 TAG: 9203060097
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN LENGTH: Long
Dave Mauck feared he wouldn't know what he was doing. After all, he thought, it's not every day that someone decides to build a friendship with a person who is mentally retarded.
Especially someone who has disabilities of his own.
"As soon as we saw each other, I had a feeling inside that I'd like to check this out and see what it's all about," said Mauck, who has a hearing impairment. "And now, sometimes I think it was truly fate."
David Warren Mauck, 35, has worked at Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. for almost 12 years. He's been 75 percent deaf in both ears for a lot longer than that.
"I had a fever when I was 2 or 3 years old," the Dublin resident said. "I've had nerve deafness in both ears ever since then."
"It's not so bad," he added. "I can leave my hearing aids off and I don't have to hear anything!"
Although hearing aids help and he's able to read lips, Mauck still was taunted in school.
He chalked it up to differences and people's inability to understand them and carried on with his business.
He didn't let it stop him.
Mauck graduated from Radford High School in 1975, from New River Community College and from East Tennessee State.
And despite some of life's tough knocks, he did well. Of course his immense size helped him gain some self-confidence too.
Without heels, Mauck says, he's 6 feet 6. With the cowboy boots, he's closer to 7 feet.
And his hands are huge.
They've done construction work, boxing, kick boxing and karate, but those are the most tender hands this side of Pulaski County.
He can softly pick up his friend J.C. out of his wheelchair without so much as a grunt.
J.C. Quesenberry's mind is trapped inside a dysfunctional body.
He has a form of cerebral palsy and he doesn't vocalize well. He can sign about 150 words, but most of what he says is distorted.
If you listen closely, you can pick out a word that hints at the meaning of what J.C. is trying to say.
If you don't take the time to pay attention, his words sound like garbled noises.
And J.C. gets frustrated if you don't understand what he's saying. He will lay his chin on his chest, exhale with exasperation and roll his eyes up at you. It's as if he doesn't understand why someone can't understand him.
J.C. has been this way since he was born 38 years ago. He learned that a wheelchair was an extension of himself and he learned that communication was limited.
He has family in Floyd and carries a photo album around with pictures of his mom and three sisters. Dave made it for him after taking J.C. to visit his family at Christmas - it was the first such visit in seven years.
His family has a hard time communicating with J.C., Dave said. His mom is getting on in years and it's hard for her to care for him.
Dave understands all this and helps the family talk with J.C. when they see him.
He has become a link between J.C. and the outside world.
"Over the past few years, J.C.'s development has improved and Dave has helped with that," said Bob Droney, supervisor at the Fairlawn House where J.C. lives.
"His behavior has improved with Dave," he added. "He's maturing and a lot of that is because of the friendship component."
J.C. has lived at the Fairlawn House, a federally funded intermediate care facility, for four years. There are 12 residents at the home, which is a New River Valley Community Services Board program that works to create a learning environment.
The residents, aged 17 to 50, are mildly, moderately, severely or profoundly mentally retarded.
The 15 staff members work to make their lives more educational and progressive while providing a home setting.
Volunteers, including Mauck, have become an important aspect of the residents' care over the past few years.
"The volunteers used to be here to just fulfill basic needs, but now they provide the icing for the cake," Droney said. "They have worked real well for us."
Mauck and other volunteers receive community training to prepare them for one-on-one work with a mentally retarded individual. Instead of just pushing a wheelchair around, a volunteer learns how to communicate, how to help and how to teach a disabled person.
"And it doesn't take all that much of your time," Mauck said. "I feel that the good Lord gave us all this time and we have to choose how to use it."
And because March is Mental Retardation Awareness Month, Droney said it's important for people to know that they are needed.
"It's hard for me to take J.C. out sometimes when I look behind me and see the others standing there on the porch," Mauck said. "It really gets to you that you can't help them all."
Dave and J.C. met at a 1990 Christmas party sponsored by the Dublin United Methodist Church, to which Dave belongs.
The church's men's group had had Droney come in to discuss the Fairlawn House before the party to see if anyone was interested in volunteering.
"I never knew it existed," said Dave, who loves working with children and who has two of his own.
"I kind of related this to working with children and decided I'd try and sign up to be matched with a resident."
Response to Droney's pleas was so great that Dave and his family weren't paired with a match, but they decided to attend the party anyway.
"I was helping J.C. off the bus and was telling his match that this was the guy he'd be working with," remembered Dave. "But when I tried to give J.C. to his match, he wouldn't let go of my arm."
The next thing Dave knew, he was feeding J.C. his Christmas dinner.
"But he's sneaky," Dave said teasingly of J.C. "Here I was, not really knowing what I was doing and one of the staff people comes up and says `Now J.C., you can feed yourself. Why are you making him feed you?' I laughed! Next thing I know, he's trying to feed me to make it up to me."
A true friendship was born.
J.C. has since become part of Dave's family and attends birthdays, picnics, holidays and dinners.
The friendship includes a lot of eating because J.C. especially likes outings to Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy's.
And they go other places too, such as shopping, the movies and church.
They have their own way of communicating, which includes jokes, sign language and questions. And if someone does something wrong, the other will make an X by crossing their fingers.
"That comes from our behavior charts," Droney explained. "When a resident misbehaved, they got an X on their chart next to the appropriate behavior."
"I ususally get more X's than he does!" Dave said.
The relationship has been an easy transition.
"You just have to give yourself time to let the relationship develop," Dave said. "It ends up being natural, just like it is with other family members."
Dave's wife, Connie, and two children, daughter Erika, 8, and son Devin, 5, think of J.C. as family.
And when these people are mentioned, J.C. points to Dave's wedding band, which symbolizes his family.
Because of J.C.'s continued improvement, he will move to the Elmtree Group Home in Pearisburg soon, a place with fewer staff members that allows for more independent living.
It is a move that Dave's friendship has inspired.
Droney said the distance was a concern, because they want Dave to be able to visit since the friendship has become so important to J.C.'s improvement.
"I can't think of anything that could possibly happen that would keep me from seeing him," said Dave, who has also been inspired by J.C.
Not only has Dave become more involved with volunteering - he also works with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program - he and his two brother-in-laws are working to help the elderly and the handicapped.
They have started Virginia Specialty Housing, a non-profit corporation to build inexpensive homes for older and disabled people.
"I've been blessed and why shouldn't I share that?" Dave said.
For all of his hard work, Dave has been nominated for a 1992 Governor's Award for Volunteering Excellence, which doesn't interest him as much as continuing his work to help others in the community.
"I hope more people will volunteer to help people like J.C.," he said. "You don't have to be scared. Just know that you can't do it all in a day, but with a little help and a schedule, it can be easier than you think."
"People can call me and I'll help them."
For information on opportunities at the Fairlawn House, call 831-5916.
by CNB