A car crash disabled Sandie but she is facing the challenge

Press, 10 November 1978, Page 13

A car crash disabled Sandie but she is facing the challenge

By

JOHN BROWN

Sixteen weeks ago Sandie Murray, aged 26, had everything going for her. She ' still has, but from now on she must live from a wheel-chair. “Disabled” is a term which does not rest easily on the shoulders of this vivacious young teacher from the Kurow Area School.

Thrown from the rear seat of a car during an accident earlier this year, Sandie suffered injuries which have forced her to accept a new life style, new challenges, and what for many might be a daunting prospect.

By her own admission she is a person who lives for the day, and she has taken to her new mode of living with the same determi nation and

spontaneity that guided her on a world-wide work ; ing holiday and through a long association with sporting and social activities.

While her friends, relatives, pupils, and professional colleagues must learn to cope with the new image they have of Sandie, her own determination to live with her disability — and to teach others to do likewise — places her in a special position.

Being “different” in this country of conformity is bad enough, but for Sandie, a daughter of the Mayor of Hawera, it is not going to stop her making a firm commitment to integral.ng with a normal community. And as part of this avowed intention she is

making a positive move to ensure that her special relationship with • the children she teaches will not be hampered. As a beneficiary under the Accident Compensation Scheme, alterations have been made to the Kurow Area School and to her Otago Education Board flat to enable her to continue in teacning. More important, perhaps, than these alterations is Sandie’s decision to break new ground in

working with her pupils. In tackling the problem of incontinence, common to most wheelchair users. Sandie Murray has decided to discuss it with her young charges so that any fear of embarassment for them or her is removed. Like all other wheelchair users, she has found that children have a special ease with the disabled person because eye-to-eye contact comes easy for the adult sitting at the childs’ level.

Any suggestion that disabled people might not be suitable for teacher training gets a rapid rejoiner from Sandie Murray. “Per-

haps before my accident I never thought that much about it. but it is now pretty obvious to me that teaching is one profession in which a person who is physically disabled can excel.” Never a timid person. Sandie now has an almost crusading zeal to ensure that the voices of disabled peoples are heard. “It’s of little use sitting back in a corner and feeling sorry for yourself. It is of use, however, to make sure you get a fair deal and

this means being a full part of the community. Anything else is a bit silly when you realise how much human talent might be wasted.”

From her dose contact with most of the 290 pupils of her school, where she will resume teaching in February, and from her continuing involvement in the community life of the small North Otago town, Sandie will bring about a change in people's attitudes to physical disability which will ultimately affect many hundreds of people. Already convinced that physically disabled child-

ren, wherever possible should be educated in an ordinary school, she believes strongly that if special provisions aie not made within the ordinary school system foi such pupils then the community as a whole will be the loser. "A person’s friends are made during school life and early adulthood. Only by mixing people up as much as possible can you hope to break down prejudice, suspicion, and intolerance. "Sure, there are some special cases where physically disabled children cannot immediately fit into the ordinary school environment but surely this should be. for ; benefit of all children the eventual aim.” In her long period of rehabilitation at the Spinal Injuries Unit at Christchurch Hospital. Sandie Murray had the close support of many staff and other disabled people. Like so many before her she has been lucky in the help she has received from an astute, humane physictherapist, Miss Cos ter Veer. A former physical education teacher who trained in The Hague, Cos ter Veer is a fittmg con trast to the makeshift premises which serve as a

social room-cum gymnasium for patients from the spinal unit. Her initial and characteristic Dutch reserve conceals a deep understanding of people denied many of her New Zealand-born colleagues. Not frightened to "buck the system” in the interests of her patients. Cos ter Veer adds strong weight to Sandie Murray's philosophy. "I don’t believe that a sudden disability can change ones personality all that much. If you've been a less than positive person beforehand it might bring out the 'fight er' in you. hut I doubt it,’ Sandie Murray says “So much of how we cope with the problems rely on the people that support and encourage you. and also on lifes pre vious experiences. Ihe people 1 feel really sorry for are those young disabled people who have little real experience of life to draw on." Sandie Murray ha« few illusions about her part in the scheme of things. If there is action about she will weigh in with her share. Her brightness, wit, and intelligent approach to life will help dispell many doubts which still pervade the community about disabled people.