Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1958-01-02

Mrs. Rupert l.. Dunn
dren when they must be separated
from the family for the good Of
all.
When Billy reached II without
formal schooling because there
was none available, Mrs. Dunn
decided that the time had come
for action.
She was spurred on by heI
knowledge of what could be done
for children like Billy which she
had gained from her native coun
try. Scotland had had a program
for the handicapped well under
way many years earlier.
Her first steps when in four di
rections:
. She organized and went door
to-door in a survey "just to fine
where the handicapped children
were" The P-TAs distributed Is,
600 circulars in the 18th election
district and found 60 handicapped
children including 13 cerebral pal
sled of school age.
. As transportation had beer
the stumbling block for many
plans, she worked with the Ladies
of the Elks to raise $4,000 for &
station wagon.
. In 1913 she made the head
lines through her stirring plea t.
the County Council to restore &
$4,000 cut by the county manager
from the school budget aimed al
setting up the first special edu
cation program.
A fact that she found particu
Iarly irritating in that budget was
that the stray cats and dogs were
slated for more money than ths
handicapped children.
. She organized the parents
into the Montgomery County
Cerebral Palsy Association anc
the following year got them tc
join the United Cerebral Palsy
group with herself as a charter
member on the National board.
When these activities resulted
in the opening of the first classes
for cerebral palsied children in
Silver Spring intermediate in the
fall of 1949, she turned her atten
ton to the fight to get the State
laws modernized. Children who
were both mentally retarded and
physically handicapped could not
qualify for aid. At that time, such
children with more than one han
dicap fell into a norman STAND
category.
Along with this change in the
law, she fought to get the finan
cial support raised first from
5000 to $500 per child and later
to $500.
GeOrgina's description of hei
activities at this time is that "she
really bore down on people to
get things started"
She credits two people for her
successes then, DR.. Harold H.
Mitchell, Montgomerys director OF
school health, on the local level
and Governor William Preston
Lane, Jr., whom she describes as
ball of fire after one letter
from her.
In 1851 Billy was accepted at
Rosewood. The following year
Georgina transferred her allegi
ance from the county to Rose.
wood and founded the parents
group there.
Under her leadership, the asso
citation has raised money for
medical equipment" inter-com
systems, hydraulic lifts, TV sets
and radios, scholarships for the
nurses, and even medical bags
for the doctors. Nothing that will
contribute to the welfare of the
children is considered too large OF
two small to warrant attention.
Her present battle is to win
"the right to know what state
agencies request from the legis
lature In each years budget and
uniform treatment for all the
states handicapped"
Mrs. Dunn points out that next
years budget asks only SLIPS pei
child for the chronically III
whereas adults with TB will gel
$500 and chronically i'll adults
$4,000, and $2372 per capita fol
the deaf; If the requests are
granted.
This is in spite of the fact thai
the chronically i'll children need
a great deal more individual nurs
ing care and therapy than any ir
these three categories.
She is also fighting for mor'
financial aid for parents who, sht
saws, are oiled white" for kup