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I read with interest Tina Calabro's Dec. 3 "Breaking Down Barriers" column ("Marching Into the Mainstream"). In the column, a band leader from West Allegheny High School is quoted as saying "It's awesome to see how far we've come." Truer words were never spoken.
I have a special interest in this article, as I, too, have a physical limitation -- cerebral palsy.
Back in the 1960s, I was an eighth-grader in Aspinwall Junior High, part of the Fox Chapel Area School District. I was a drummer in the school band. Near the end of the school year, the band director came to me and said that if I could not march on the football field during the half-time show, I could not be in the band. Knowing that I could not physically do that, I quit the band. Had I been born after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this would not have happened.
Things have changed. Today, when I attend Fox Chapel High football games, there is a female band member who uses a wheelchair. The school provides an aide for her, to get her on and off the field before and after the band's half-time show.
For me, I feel great that this young lady is able to perform with the band, and the school district supports her being there.
DENNIS J. IURLANO
Sharpsburg
First Published December 18, 2012 12:00 am
