PSU Magazine Fall 1990

Looking beyond barriers PSU 20 Alumna Laurie Schwartz-Knee transcends physical limitations and becomes an advocate for the state's disabled. Article and photographs by John R. Kirkland I n Omaha, Neb. , half-way through her 64-day wheelchair journey across the country, Laurie Schwartz-Knee ('84 BS) fo und herself greeted by a group of 40 people cheering her on in her mi ss ion. Her miss ion was to show the country that people with di sabilities didn 't just sit at home; that they want to be - and can be - productive members of the community . She wanted to show that the old terms that described people like her just didn 't fi t: she was not a " victim" of cerebra l palsy or a cerebral palsy "sufferer. " She was not "di sabled," although she did have a di sability. What stands out in her memory about Omaha, back in 198 1, was that thi s group of 40 were in wheelcha irs, like her. But unlike her, many of them had not been out of a nursi ng home in three years. The fact that they chose thi s occas ion to come into the light of day proved to her that not only was she getting the attention of the country' s leaders, but she was getting across to the peopl e with disabilities. "I am not a ' victim,"' she said. " I am not tied to my chair." Schwartz-Knee has demonstrated this pos itive attitude time and again by reaching beyond her physical limitations and showing that the real barriers are those of the mind , not the body. Laurie ' s cerebral palsy mani fests itself in impaired speech and lots of involuntary movement.