Handicapped

The Reagan Administration, arguing in a highly controversial case that could affect AIDS patients in their jobs, Wednesday told the Supreme Court that people with contagious diseases should not be protected by federal anti-discrimination laws covering the handicapped. U.S. Solicitor General Charles Fried, advancing an apparent Catch-22 argument, said a person with a contagious disease is not legally "handicapped" unless he is actually "impaired."

Kelsey O'Maley, 9, can't feed herself. She can't walk by herself. She can't even sit up in her wheelchair without effort. On a roller coaster, though, Kelsey can do what any other kid does: have fun. So when she and her mom arrived this summer at Disneyland and discovered that the park no longer gives disabled patrons special access to rides, they were reminded of what Kelsey couldn't do. "For these kids, they don't get to be on swim teams or soccer teams.

It was a will of iron versus a pile of iron. Liz Young was tugging at an ancient, wide-toothed cogwheel partially buried beneath a jagged stack of scrap metal at an Alameda Street junkyard. She finally freed it with a yank and held it triumphantly. "There are wonderful things here," Young said, running her hand lovingly over one of the rusting, dirt-encrusted cogs. "Beautiful things." Young sees things from a different angle than most other people. She sees them as a sculptor.

Cade McNown, former UCLA All-American quarterback, briefly possessed a handicapped parking placard in 1997, apparently while he was fit enough to be practicing with the team. A review by The Times of Department of Motor Vehicles records shows that McNown had applied for and received the placard from February through mid-June 1997, shortly after his sophomore season.

If Peterson Santos or Darin French walked the halls of a typical high school, many students would feel uncomfortable and possibly avert their eyes. Some of the friendlier ones might offer them a smile, and, if no one were looking, perhaps even say hello. Santos, 18, and French, 20, are special students who attend a special school--Esperanza School. Established in 1973, Esperanza--Spanish for hope --educates 117 trainable mentally handicapped students--from preschoolers to adults.

Malissa Hathaway McKeith had met them all before: hotel clerks who tried to stick her in "crummy" rooms with no air conditioning or no paint, maitre d's who seated her at a table next to the kitchen or refused her a table at all. But this was home turf--Bernard's restaurant in the Biltmore Hotel where she had been more than 30 times, usually on business.

In a precedent-setting ruling, the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission declared Tuesday that AIDS patients are protected by state laws that guard the physically handicapped against job discrimination. Overturning the advisory decision of a state administrative judge, the seven-member commission unanimously ruled that employers cannot fire or otherwise discriminate against people with AIDS because of fear of contagion in the workplace.

Sharon Kawai looks tiny and helpless in her wheelchair, an easy mark for muggers. But when her instructor, Philip Axelson, lunges at her, she moves her hands and arms with surprising speed and dexterity. Kawai quickly deflects Axelson's arms, then twists one of his wrists, forcing the 6-foot-tall, 210-pound man to his knees, and thrusts her fingers upward to his eyes.

Chris Burke says he feels "very responsible" these days. The source of that responsibility is his new job--a highly coveted position as an actor in a new ABC prime-time series. But for Burke, who has Down's syndrome, the job is especially meaningful. "I'd like to be the role model to teach other people who have Down's syndrome to be actors and actresses and to be themselves and not try to be a big shot," he said.

Lingering fog shrouds the Venice boardwalk midday as Thomas Mundy rolls past ice cream vendors, T-shirt shacks and falafel stands, a discerning eye trained on the warrens of beach-themed kitsch and quick nibbles. He's not looking for leather thong pendants or Jamaican trinkets in memory of Bob Marley, or to commune with the manic crowd of in-line skaters and street artists.