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SFX - AMBI of SERIGNE WORKING. BRING UP WITH TRACK AND HOLD LOW UNDER TRACK.
SFX: CLICK OF CAMERA
It's about 8:00 pm. Annette Diiorio's still here in an art classroom after working a full eight-hour day. She stands in a huddle with two other therapists and a Korean NYU student. They surround Serigne, a 16-year-old boy who's snapping pictures with a camera. He can barely move his rigid limbs that rest at sharp angles in his wheelchair. Serigne does have good control over his head and neck though, which, today, is enough to turn him into a photographer. He leans his head against a 5-inch long lever that's attached to the camera by a wire. It sends an electrical signal that trips the shutter. A wide smile full of brown-stained teeth spreads across his face as he sees Diiorio, a petite, strawberry-blonde, cheering him on.
Diiorio, who's worked for over a decade as an occupational therapist at Elizabeth Seton Pediatric residence, introduced Serigne to photography. She says the disabled children in this facility, need creative pursuits just like anyone else.
TAPE - DIIORIO 1
[ANNETTE DIIORIO, THERAPIST:] if all you do is eat, sleep, go to work and go home you're not really truly healthy unless you have all these other means of expression as well. We're just providing them with the same opportunities as you would with anyone else in the community." (:13)
NARR: Some would say a disproportionate amount of resources are devoted to create this opportunity for Serigne. Three adults to one child. But Diiorio says it doesn't matter. She says her efforts to help Serigne doesn't cost any more money than is typically spent on a child without disabilities:
TAPE -DIIORIO 2
[ANNETTE DIIORIO, THERAPIST:] "I don't really necessarily think that they're getting any more money than a child that might have their own television and cable and video games and computers. I think if anything this is sort of tipping the balance towards a more equal equation." (:14)
Seton Pediatric would argue that these kinds of activities are vital to the full development of EVERY child, no matter their physical or mental limitations. This facility emphasizes choice and creativity as part of its curriculum. That's a departure from the way disabled children have been treated over the last century in the United States. Most children with disabilities didn't even have mandated access to education until the 1970s. She says that now educators are learning that developing the kids' artistic sensibilities has more benefits than just fun:
TAPE - DIIORIO 3
[ANNETTE DIIORIO, THERAPIST:] "Actually many times for a child it's so much more motivating to have them work on something that could be a hobby or a craft that they truly enjoy and you'll see this overflow of better postural skills and more language that comes out as a result." (:15)
.Her commitment to see these kids' lives improve shows in her body and the hours she works. Her biceps arms are sinewy with muscle from lifting the kids out of their wheelchairs to help them exercise. She uses her time outside of work to write grants so that activities like photography and yoga are available to the kids. That's the only way they'd get to have some of these extras:
TAPE -- DIIORIO 4
[ANNETTE DIIORIO, THERAPIST:] "As far as funding for car we are Medicaid driven. We don't get any additional monies, so we depend a lot on donations and a lot on specialized grants." (:11)
NARR: Diiorio says there are more children with disabilities like cerebral palsy and brain damage than there was just a few decades ago. That's because medical advances in neonatal care mean that more pre-term babies survive complicated pregnancies. Right now there are about five facilities in the New York metro area that provide similar care to disabled children. Seton Pediatric has 136 beds, and a long waiting list. Diiorio says the demand shows that training these children to use technology is worth it for society as a whole:
TAPE - DIIORIO 4
[ANNETTE DIIORIO, THERAPIST:] "The more you can get them to do, the more they are able to eventually get out of here and mainstream back into society. If we can get them to go to a level of care that is less intensive, then it's a huge benefit to the community." (:15)
NARR: Still, it's unclear how Serigne's ability to use this technology will actually help him. He can't move the camera he's using up or down. His therapists have to do this for him. And it's hard to tell if Serigne likes the photography or if he's simply enjoying the attention. He takes a picture of one of his art pieces leaned up against an easel. The inspiration for his art is not surprising for a 16 year old boy: he's made a collage of beautiful women, strutting and posing, which he's cut from fashion magazines.
Diiorio asks him if the picture is about one girl in particular:
TAPE - DIIORIO 5
[ANNETTE DIIORIO, THERAPIST:] One girl, or all girls?
Serigne: All girls.
Therapists in background: All girls.
Annette: Oh ok.
(:08)
He appears to enjoy taking surreptitious shots of his tall, blond art therapist Victoria, though. He quickly snaps the shutter whenever she wanders into the frame. Diiorio looks
on, crosses her arms and smiles.
SOC: Michelle Stockman, Columbia Radio News.