Like Other People

In October 1975, Eleanora Gambino was working on her masters degree in special education at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the classes that she was taking was a course on cerebral palsy. One night, a documentary entitled Like Other People was shown. It was about two young people who had cerebral palsy and were planning to get married. Eleanora was newly engaged to be married to a man who has cerebral palsy. Eleanora was born with cerebral palsy. She identified with many of the experiences the couple in the documentary was being subjected to. At the end of the documentary, the professor asked individuals what they thought of the documentary. One member of the class always arrived late and would sit near the door. He was a speech therapist. Eleanora always arrived early and would sit near the windows in front of the room. He never observed Eleanora walking. At that time, she walked with the classic scissors cerebral palsy gait. When the professor asked the speech therapist what he thought of the documentary, he replied, The documentary is unrealistic. Disabled people are too involved in themselves. They cannot love.