Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

A Day in the Life of Ed Roberts

Lee Roberts talks about his father, Ed Roberts

Traveling by Van

Lee Roberts: His van was just a… He had a truck ramp, like, he had a truck forklift that was put into… He bought a Dodge Ram Truck van and then they have a specific lift put onto the back of the truck. I think the lift was like 10,000 pounds, so it's a big guy. And it just electronically folded down then lowered kind of like you'd see on a bus only this thing was straight steel, straight steel, and it didn't have like a straight like this. It kind of forked out for more room for his chair, cuz my father's chair wasn't so much wide as it was long, but it was 750 pounds and it had four car batteries inside of it that controlled the motorized chains on either side that got his chair up to about I'd say 10 miles an hour And then that also did the respirator, which was right on top of the batteries in the back. And the respirator connected to a hose, which came up into his mouthpiece, which went into his mouth and that's how he breathed.

But the van would take him to the office. He'd be in the office however long he needed to be after scheduling with Janice and other people in the office. Always on conference calls. He always liked to have a communion of people when he was talking. At least that's what I observed when I was in the office.

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The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center, the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2401MNSCDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

This website is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,152,808.00 funded by ACL/HHS and $222,000.00 funded by non-federal-government source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.