BEGINNINGS

The story of Brookwood Community begins with Yvonne Streit and her Daughter Vicki. Forty-four years ago, when she was 10 months old, Vicki contracted mumps encephalitis, and lost much of what she had learned up to that time. To help her daughter, Yvonne, a special educator, went around the country to learn about the techniques being used to teach kids with similar problems. She spoke with Newell Kephart at Purdue and others at UCLA. She wanted to learn about very early special education.

When she returned, Yvonne Streit started a back yard program to educate Vickie. As she found other families with similar needs, the backyard program grew into a classroom. Eventually, it moved into a church, and grew with volunteers and still more children in need. The multi-sensory techniques and methods that were working with her daughter worked as well with other children with a variety of disabilities. Motor activities and the challenge of obstacle courses seemed to help children integrate information and better manage their environment.

It them became apparent that these physical strategies that were working with these severally handicapped children, worked even better with another group of students. Those now labeled as learning disabled, with average or above average IQ, responded in positive ways. This then began the story of the Briarwood School. Today, Briarwood School is a thriving institution for elementary and secondary school students with learning disabilities. About 80% of the graduates of this special education setting now go on to college, others are able to go to work.

But Briarwood was begun for those with more severe handicaps; a group that included those with mental retardation, brain injury, severe motor deficits, and autism. Someone needed to provide for their future. What would happen to them?

Rick DeMunbrun, a special educator too, joined Yvonne about twenty-four years ago to start working on a plan for this group in junior high and high school, as well as beyond school. They saw that these adolescents were burning out when faced with an academic curriculum; even one broken down into very small units. They started a vocational, technical program, working more on pre-vocational tasks from as early as 10, 11 and 12 years of age.

Parents found this hard to understand initially, for they were just coming to grips with the notion of their child’s future. But Yvonne and Rick felt hopeful that these people were somehow going to make a contribution, and they were going to do it by working. They believed these rather involved children could become productive, doing something with their hands. It wouldn’t be pencil and paper or telephone office work, but it would be productive work.

In the early 1980’s, as the group became eighteen and older, a new plan was needed. Yvonne traveled throughout the United States and to Europe to investigate Camphill Villages and other communities that supported populations wirh handicapping conditions. She and Rick explored group homes, sheltered workshops, private residential facilities, and state facilities. They observed programs in Germany, the Netherlands and in England, and were particularly impressed by the town of Bethel, in Germany. Bethel is a town of about 10,000 people, half of whom are disabled. This whole group is integrated into the city and all its activities.

One hundred- fifty to one hundred- seventy years ago, the town was a haven for those with epilepsy, who were cast out of society. In Germany, in those days, they were left to die, for they were thought to be possessed. A minister named Reverend von Bodelschwing was involved with their care, and with the birth of this special town. Eventually, it became a place that took in a wide variety people that did not "fit" into society, including alcoholics, those with cerebral palsy, and a whole range of others. What they did was put them to work in different locations throughout the town, as best they could.

Today, as Yvonne and Rick attempt to emulate such villages as a strictly private venture, they are being challanged by governmental agencies. The message they hear is, "For crying out loud, don’t get to be good because we don’t want you to be good without our involvement," and "Don’t be big because you’re going to be an institution and we’ve emptied out institutions."

When asked about the major challenges ahead, Yvonne mentions funding issues, especially "endowment." She describes endowment as the lifeblood of a facility like Brookwood. It is the funding for the future of the community.

Next Section