Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403150161
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV21 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Long
Ten-year-old David Taylor Jr., who lives with his parents and three older sisters in the Max Meadows area of eastern Wythe County, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair for some activities.
One of them is basketball.
That may seem quite a goal for a boy who has trouble walking, writing and even speaking. But, using a computer, David has been an A and B student. When girls' basketball season got under way at Max Meadows Elementary School, he knew the boys' season was next and wanted to be on one of the community teams.
His mother has been trying to help him reach that goal since October.
Judy Taylor's personal agenda goes beyond helping her son do all he can. She has done advocacy work for other families across the state with children who are not receiving the help required by the state regulations governing the handicapped, which meet or exceed the federal ones in practically every way.
``I don't receive any money for it, so I'm not a hired gun,'' said Taylor, who once dreamed of being a lawyer but could not afford the education.
She has received state recognition for her volunteer activities. She is part of a state effort to hire a lobbyist to work on behalf of special education. In Wythe County, she organized an annual Handicapped Barrier Awareness Day.
When basketball season started, David played in one game from the sidelines, but Taylor said neither she nor her son is satisfied with that. She has threatened a federal lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act unless he and his wheelchair are allowed on the basketball court.
Parents worry that their children or David could be injured if that is done. But his mother notes that he plays basketball during physical education classes at his school, as well as other sports. His favorite, he says, is soccer.
His mother said he was bumped once playing basketball during physical education. ``It was no big deal.''
The lawsuit is a threat Taylor has used before.
Last summer, she threatened to sue the state 4-H program if David could not attend the Southwest Virginia 4-H Center camp near Abingdon because of his disability. Officials with the 4-H program allowed him to attend and the matter never went to court.
Taylor also became an advocate for a learning-disabled child in a Wytheville elementary school, threatening to sue the Wythe County School Board if the boy was taken out of class because he was disruptive.
The boy returned to school. Parents of other children in his class have formed an organization for what they call majority rights, to seek ways within the legal system of protecting their children's access to a nonstressful educational environment.
People in Max Meadows are thinking of forming a similar group.
``I really feel like it's reverse discrimination,'' said Jo Ella Johnson. ``The other kids are starting to wonder why all the attention is focused on David.''
Some of the parents were visibly upset when a reporter and photographer from this newspaper attended the opening games at the school last month and took pictures of David.
``There's not a parent down there that wouldn't like to see their kid's picture in the paper,'' said Shirley McGee.
``We feel like our school is getting a black eye,'' Johnson said. ``Why do we have this problem, and no other school does? ... We are not discriminatory. We are not mean-spirited people, that winning is everything to us.''
``A lot of the parents up there tonight felt pretty upset about the coverage this kid is getting,'' Sammy Crigger said after the first series of games. ``This whole thing is getting blown out of proportion.''
Crigger is a member of the Max Meadows Athletic Commission, which has organized 14 basketball teams in the school for four age levels from kindergarten through fourth grade. About 100 boys are participating, following a similar basketball program for girls at the school.
The games are set up so each participant gets to play about the same amount of time, regardless of skill levels. Commission members sell tickets, raise money through concessions and pick up trash after games.
Taylor and her family moved to Wythe from a neighboring county about eight years ago because Wythe had programs for students with disabilities the other county lacked.
But Taylor's legal threats and the publicity they bring have made her controversial in this rural community.
``Most of the stuff that she is doing is creating problems between other kids and other parents,'' Crigger said. ``It's getting to the point where the kids hate to see anything come up sports-wise. ... We have let this kid participate to the best of his ability.''
Taylor disagrees. David's participation was limited to throwing the ball into play from his wheelchair on the sidelines, with someone moving his wheelchair for him.
Taylor, whose threatened suit includes the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, Wythe County Recreation Commission and Max Meadows Athletic Commission, complains about all those things.
``He was not allowed to really play. His team has five on the court plus him, which makes the game not legal. ... He was not even allowed to push his wheelchair, he got pushed. ... He was fed candy while he was supposed to be playing, which is dangerous to any child. He was treated as a spectator, not a player,'' she said.
County officials do not want David on the court because they agree with the other parents that the wheelchair could hurt someone.
County Administrator Billy Branson told Taylor in a letter that basketball ``is a fast-moving, competitive activity. To permit David to bring his wheelchair onto the court in such a situation would constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of both himself and others.''
Speaking for the county, Branson said David's activities would be restricted to throwing the ball inbounds and taking technical free throws. ``This would permit David to participate in the game without risking injury to himself or others.''
``I'm not ashamed of anything we're doing,'' Larry Sult, president of the Max Meadows Athletic Commission, said after the game in which David participated by throwing in the ball.
``I think we're going as far as we can go,'' he said. ``If they come down and tell us we've got to implement something else, we'll be glad to do that.''
``MMAC folks think David did great at doing nothing,'' Taylor said.
What's more, she said, she is already planning to sign up David to play football and baseball. David wanted to play football last fall. ``I thought it would fly over, but it didn't,'' she said, and he is still eager to join the other kids in football.
``I don't know what he can or he can't do, but I think it should be looked at and decided upon,'' Taylor said. ``The least he could do would be assistant coach. He could be encouragement for them.''
by CNB