The Fourth of July is a time for us to celebrate our democratic republic and praise our founders for creating a constitutional government that protects the rights of all citizens.
Families who have disabled children are both challenged and blessed. Once a family learns they have a handicapped child, it changes their life and the lives of those around them. Special adaptations may have to be made for the child to thrive and progress. Those who are charged with the care of a handicapped child - parents, siblings, family members or hired caregivers - have one of the most challenging jobs in the world.
Before the federal government intervened to support Special Education (Public Law 94-142 in 1975) a few states and local communities sought to provide care for the physically and mentally disabled child. With rare exceptions, those institutions did not work well. Children were not well cared for nor loved, and were frequently warehoused - "out of sight out of mind." The few exceptions were exemplary state schools for the visually and hearing impaired.
The special education law -major civil rights legislation - gave voice to advocates of the handicapped: Parents, teachers, and organizations dedicated to the care and well-being of handicapped children. P.L. 94-142 and its various iterations over the decades have given hope and quality of life to an entire generation of citizens.
My brother-in-law, Dan, came to visit us recently. He is 64 years old and he has been mentally handicapped since birth. His doctors don't know the reason - lack of oxygen, a problem with forceps, or autism? But he is seriously handicapped.
Dan was born into a loving family, a family that was artistically gifted, well educated, and professionally accomplished. Dan's older brother is a Harvard graduate with a doctorate from Stanford University. Dan's sisters boast of accomplishments in law, architecture, music and art. Haunting insights into a brilliant, more "normal" Dan were occasionally apparent - an uncanny gin-rummy player and a memory for baseball statistics that was phenomenal. He amazed all who listened.
Dan graduated from a public high school with the help of special education. He is literate and somewhat independent. Dan was in the Boy Scouts and became an Eagle Scout without any special accommodations. He appreciates music and art. His mother in particular, and his father to the best of his ability, loved this special child and gave to him those things they valued.
While at Lake Tahoe on a recent beautiful June day, Dan sat for several hours by the lake in silent reverie to look into the clear beauty of the water and the snow-capped mountains. Someone once said, "Treasure your exceptions." So I do.
• Dr. Eugene T. Paslov, former Nevada superintendent of schools, is a board member for Silver State Charter High School in Carson City.