Emma Parker knew it would take courage for a disabled person to participate in the Junior Choreography Showcase.
Before Winter Break, she asked the special education department to send out a mass e-mail to students in wheelchairs to star in the dance she has been choreographing. Accepting people with disabilities is the theme of her dance.
Anne Plassman was her only respondent.
Plassman, age 32, has never danced in public, but now she will take on the lead role in Parker's dance "I Wasn't Disabled." The performance will take place the weekend of April 17 and 18.
"We've met twice a week since the beginning of the semester for movement sessions," Parker said. "We figured out what her limitations and abilities are. She will really be dancing, moving her arms and legs, during the performance."
Plassman said she was eager to try something new.
"When I decided to do this, I didn't know Emma and I'd never danced before," Plassman said.
Plassman said she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was three months old. According to the Resource 4 Cerebral Palsy Web site, two or three out of 1,000 children over age three in the United States is diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
"This was hard for my parents to hear, but they were always there for me," Plassman said. "My older brother is my best friend. He lives in Indianapolis, and I miss him."
Plassman grew up in Fort Wayne, and in elementary school, she was the only person with a disability.
Plassman went to a private school after elementary because her parents felt that the public school was too big.
She obtained an undergraduate and masters degree from Ball State University.
"Until I was 18, my mom was my primary caregiver," Plassman said. "When I was in college, I hired people to help me. Sometimes I had to fire people too."
She remembers that it was sometimes embarrassing to work with people her age, and they didn't always do what they were supposed to do.
For the last four years, Plassman has been a client of New Hope Home Care. Plassman told Jodee May, a caregiver at New Hope Home Care, that her experiences with New Hope were much better than with her former student caregivers.
"She has more determination than 20 men," May said.
Plassman sees four caregivers for four and a half hours every day. They assist with daily life skills like bathing and eating.
"Some of our clients have caregivers for 20 hours out of the day," May said. "Having caregivers for just about four hours says a lot about Anne's independence."
One afternoon, May invited Plassman to eat dinner with her family, and she had asked her son to carry Plassman up the 16 steps to their front door. But when Anne got there, she insisted on walking. With some help from the Mays, she made it.
"She's very limited, but what she can do, she will tell you," said May. "She will say, 'It's for me to do.' We do things with her, not for her."
Junior Choreography ShowcaseFriday, April 17- 7:30 p.m.Sat., April 18- 7:30 p.m.Sun., April 19- 2:30 p.m.Venue: Ball Gym, KDS Rm 214Hosted by: Theatre and Dance Department
What is Cerebral Palsy?
- Any of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood
- Affects muscle movement
- Caused by abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movement
- In the United States, 2 or 3 out of every 1,000 children have this disease
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