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[Interview, New York State Office of Vocational Rehabilitation] [1989]
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375699394
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[Interview, New York State Office of Vocational Rehabilitation] [1989]
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Lex Frieden Collection: Records on Disability Rights
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
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MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection: Donated Historical Materials
Collection/Office of Origin:
Frieden, Lex, Collection
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Personal
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Employment/Interviews
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52169
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52169-007
Folder Title:
[Interview, New York State Office of Vocational Rehabilitation] [1989]
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AUG 16 '89 11:30 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.1
713 799-5060 799- 5000
528-0504
The University of the State of New York
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Office of Vocational Rehabilitation
Lex Frieden
TIRR Foundation
Bioms
Fred Francis
Number of Pages
14
reluding transmittal sheet)
Note: Transmittal should be addressed to a specific Unit or Person. After sending a facsimile
transmission, call the specific unit/person to Insure prompt pick-up of the document.
wilex,
artick, Thanks for your support
Ne double spaced this draft to make t
easeer to write between the lives.
Best Ryands.
Ind
AUG 16 '89 11:30 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.2
Describe for us your present position Lex as well as the
positions you have held in the last 10 years?
presently Executive Director of the TIRR Foundation
in? Houston. The Foundation develops resources and
provides support for the Institute for Rehabilitation and
Research which is a major comprehensive spinal cord
injury research training and treatment genter in the
Southwest.
I am also Assistant Professor of
Rehabilitation on the faculty of Baylor College of
Medicine in Houston. Prior to my present assignment I
was the Executive Director of the National Council on
Disability for four years during the Reagan
Administration. Before that I was the Director of the
Independent Living Research Utilization Project in
Houston. This was a technical assistance and training
program that helped to set up about 200 independent
living centers around the country.
Fred:
Let's get right to the core of it. What do you see as
the major issues effecting the Nation over the next
decade and into the next century with regard to research?
Lex:
For the next 10 to 20 years I think that research, as it
relates to people with disabilities, will focus on the
integration of persons with disabilities into the work
force and into society generally. That includes finding
AUG-16-89 WED 10:26
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AUG 16 '89 11:31 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.3
ways to help disabled people be more productive as
employees and helping employers structure jobs and the
work environment so that disabled people can indeed
participate fully and equally and be as productive and
efficient as any other employee. I think it also
involves research pertaining to housing, transportation,
communication, and a wide array of functional activities
that we all, as human beings, engage in each day. People
with disabilities face certain barriers that prevent them
from engaging as effectively as other people in these
activities. I think in the future we will have means of
accommodating disabilities that will create opportunities
for all of us, regardless of the type of disability we
might have to be annagrated the all
DO you predict that the main thrust of serving disability
populations will change over the next decade and within
the
first part of the next century?
I think two things will happen. One is that we will have
the technology and the information to enable us to begin
to provide opportunity, and begin to provide
rehabilitation for people who are on the extreme end of
the disability continuum. I think people with even the
most severe disabilities will be the focus of
rehabilitation research, education, treatment and
vocational rehabilitation. By the same token I think we
will expand our concept of disability to recognize that
some people with mental impairments who now aren't
regarded as being disabled in the strict sense,
be eligible for certain kinds of
programs, Whave very serious kinds of
conditions for which we can find appropriate methods of
the treatment and accommodation
Fred:
The demographics of disability seems to be shifting away
from the traditional spinal cord injury, physical, or
mental disability classifications and more towards social
disabilities. For example, the impact cocaine and crack
Techas had in increasing number of people with substance
abuse problems, the growing number of baby boomers
becoming alcoholics. The impact of AIDS: medical
progress may not be able to prevent this terminal
disease, but people will have longer periods of remission
and be capable of returning to work and community based
life. How do you feel these areas will define research
and disability over the next decade or the next century?
Lex:
Its difficult to answer that question because, in my
opinion, the rehabilitation field, in general, is going
to have to confront the question of whether or not
rehabilitation professionals have been appropriately
trained to deal with the disabilities that we now find
AUG-16-89 WED 10:27
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'HUG 1b '89 11:32 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
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resulting from social kinds of problems. I believe that
it's important for rehabilitation researchers to
or
recognize that there are certain characteristics ^
of
problems that we as a society and we as individuals have
)
that are common to one another regardless of whether we
have physical disabilities, cognitive impairments or some
kind of social disability. The question, I believe, is
really whether the rehabilitation professionals now
active in the field are willing to join hands with those
specialists who have abilities to deal with the problems
resulting from some of the socially oriented disabilities
you described.
Fred:
As those people with more traditional disabilities become
part.of the mainstream, does it in any way seem that both
research and the provision of services WATER become more
directed towards these ever growing social and newer
types of disabilities?
adom't think necessarily so. I think we will continue
to invest in research that is designed and oriented
towards helping make people with the traditional
disabilities more independent and productive. BY the
same token I believe that research, ens will probably begin
t to recognize the opportunity itself to engage in some
constructive lines of study pertaining to some of the
more recently evolved disabilities. I think we have a
AUG-16-89 WED 10:27
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AUG 16 '89 11:33 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
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2/ Knowledge to apply
lot to learn from what we have discovered about
attitudes
and functional characteristics and the rehabilitation of
people with more traditional types of disabilities.
here do.you see the leadership coming from in the area
of research? Will it be in government, through NIDRR or
inithe private sector?
Well I frankly believe that leadership in these areas
wil come from outside government. It will probably come
from the private sector, from university and facility
based scholars, academicians and practical theorists who
have models that they want to test in the real world.
I think it is imperative that we have the support of the
public sector in terms of really getting to work studying
some of these problems and testing some of the hypothes
of
that the researchers will come up with, but I think the
real leadership has to come from the ideas that are
created by the private sector.
Fred:
Will these issues be determined by widely known issues
that we are facing as we go into the next century, the
aging of the workforce, the aging of our population, the
globalization of business to seek labor outside the
borders of the U.S.? HOW do you feel that these
megatrends that drive the general economy and society
will influence disability research?
-16-89 WED 10:28
AUG 16 '89 11:33 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.?
rehabilitions
Lex:
I think probably in two ways: One I think that the
megatrends and the recognition of the implications of
those trends will cause the government to set funds aside
to sponsor research in given areas, particularly those
you mentioned. second, I think that VV researchers will
come up with creative solutions and good questions.
There are probably scholars and research practitioners
who already recognize the forthcoming trends and the
implications of those trends and who already have some
very practical and imaginative ideas of ways to address
the challenges that we face as a society in the next 20
to 30 years. I think that those people who are motivated
by their own desire to test these ideas and to find out
if they really can make a difference, will also be
brought into rehabilitation for motives. that are very
different than those driven by the amount f.support that
might lie there
Let mepursue that line of questioning a little further.
think, in relation to what your saying, as the
population ages and there is an increased correlation
between disability related issues and needs of the
elderly, you see research and innovation coming from
different sectors? Sectors which are generally concerned
with dealing with the Nation's population as a consumer?
AUG-16-89 WED 10:28
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AUG 16 '89 11:34 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.8
trends that
Lex:
Absolutely. Employers will be much more motivated than
they have been to sponsor research programs of their own,
to try and find ways that employees who might be
considered marginal today can be the main line of their
workforce in the future. In the past employers haven't
really had the motivation to do that, but because of the
kinds JOHN demographic transit you've noted, I think
employers in the future will need to invest more in
inding ways to make their employees more productive,
regardless of whether they are disabled or not. Changing
demographics effect the economy and particularly, the
consumer demand for certain goods and services. As our
society grays, I believe that our interest will change
and our consumer needs and demands will change.
likewise
lilevise
You mention the private sector in terms of employers.
How about the private sector in terms of other areas?
The private sector in terms of marketing, production?
The private sector in terms of the "think tank" types of
resources that exist around the Nation? In the year 2000
will Lex Frieden be working for a Rand Corporation as
opposed to a medical based university or an independent
living research utilization laboratory?
Lex:
I don't necessarily believe that we are going to see
those kinds of dramatic changes in the way that we all
work or the types of employers that we have. Clearly,
AUG-16-89 WED 10:29
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AUG 16 '89 11:34 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.9
we are already changing to an information based,
communication oriented society. The implications are
that many more of us will be working from our homes,
we'll be using computer terminals, and having
workstations in places that are more convenient for us
as individuals. That has particularly important
implications for people felks with the most severe types of
disabilities who may be limited in terms of mobility and
other kinds of circumstances. As we change our focus
towards communications and technology, we will continue
to have needs and for basic kinds of services including
housing food and we'll always have grocery stores and
(well always have restaurants and we'll always have
motels and SO on. From that stand point we will always
have hospitals and rehab centers and we will always have
itation
folks who make things that others want to buy. so I
don't anticipate dramatic changes from the stand point
of what it is consumers want and what manufacturers and
suppliers provide We 11 have a need for information
specialists, but we' 11 still have a need for people felhs who
market and sell consumer oriented supplies and services.
I'm thinking of the resources that deal with marketing
and consumer needs of the general public becoming the new
source for dealing with the needs of the disabled rather
than the traditional sites in universities, medical
centers and research utilization laboratories.
AUG-16-89 WED 10:30
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P.09
HUG 10 me UVR CENTRAL OFFICE HLDHITI
touched on
Lex:
We transcend that. I know a lot of severely disabled
people who believe that their needs for equipment and
devices, as an example, can be better met by the local
hardware store than they can by a rehabilitation
hospital. As more of our society becomes disabled, and
that occur as we live longer, you are going to find
the average marketing approach addresses the kinds
Taba products that the person with a disability may need.
You know others examples the Chat one can now go into a
grocery store the Houston and find a fleet of Amigos
waiting there for any customer to use in the store, That
reflects changing attitudes in marketing that we have
never seen before and that I suppose will continue to
increase.
Let me give you another example and perhaps you might
want to speak from that. At one time environmental
control devices were for people with spinal cord injury or
complete loss of the use of all extremities. Today you
see the same application in many homes. You come in and
there is a panel where you can turn on the TV, turn on
lights, turn on the stereo, heat the water for cooking.
These things were once associated with compensating for
limitations. Now they are signs of a higher level of
living.
AUG-16-89 WED 10:30
0000003Z518 473 6073
P.10
Lex:
You can find a lot of examples like that, the handheld
portable telephone, the remote control for the standard
television, the remote controls that one can carry and
virtually turn on and off every appliance and light in
the house. Those are all good examples. We've all seen
this kind of movement from technology as it was
originally conceived to benefit people with disabilities
finding an application among the general public. We've
seen that happen before with the automatic transmission,
for example, which I understand was developed originally
by an inventor for a person who couldn't use the clutch
and now most of us have automatic transmissions in our
automobile and wouldn't live without them regardless of
whether we are disabled or not. We'll continue to see
those kinds of advances and they will probably come
faster given the demographics.
What-about the recent great attention EYE has been given
spinal cord regeneration? Some prominent people in the
publ ic eye becoming quadriplegic has sort of spurred this
on
Well, we're not far away from the point that we
can have the they devices to replace hearing, we can have
devices to replace sight and we can have devices to
replace damaged nervous systems. All of these kinds of
advances are bound to occur although it probably takes
AUG-16-89 WED 10:31
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P.11
longer to do the basic science, the basic research than
some people imagine at this point in time. Repairing
the spinal cord is many times more difficult than sending
a man to the Moon and bringing him back. The comparison
is often made that if we can send a man to the Moon than
why can't we fix a torn spinal cord? But the fact is the
research in doing the latter is much more complex than
the nvolved in sending a man to the Moon and back.
Nonetheless we are moving in that direction. We have
those kinds of goals and we're making progress, by doing
the basic research 14 suspect that in the future we may
become more organized in our efforts and Ithink that
will help the research to move along more quickly as
they 9.00
scientist in one Nation discover that their doing
something that fits in very neatly with what scientists
in another Nation are doing to address the same problem.
We can more efficiently direct our resources in that
matter and come to a solution more quickly. We already
are seeing great advances in the area of artificial
vision, replacement hearing and other kinds of
sophisticated technology being applied to solve problems
of persons with disabilities but as we have discussed
here the likelihood that we will eradicate disability by
applying sophisticated technology in the future is very
low. Many disabilities are coincident with other kinds
of circumstances that society has to face and we have
discussed some of those.
AUG-16-89 WED 10:31
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P.12
standpoint of investments in research, and from the
standpoint of demands for new products. These kinds of
considerations will drive the responses of the system.
Let me ask you one final question. What would a National
Institute of Disability Research directed by Lex Freiden
look like in the year 2010 and what would be its major
priorities?
Lex
T think that it is important for rehabilitation research
to view itself in the context of the whole society and
not simply in the context of certain narrowly defined
disability types. I think in the year 2000 the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
should evolve into an organization that can help
determine priorities for research and can play a
facilitative role in helping people with disabilities
articulate their needs. It can help all of us to
understand what we can do to provide better access,
accommodations, and opportunities for people with the
most severe disabilities. I think its important for the
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation
Research to assume a role of leadership in helping to
coordinate and establish objectives for a broadranging,
widescale effort that involves the private sector through
our educational network, the university system, through
the "think tanks" that you mentioned before, through
AUG-16-89 WED 10:32
0000003Z518 473 6073
P.14
Fred:
What are the driving issues that you feel will enhance
research utilization over the next decade and the next
century. Is it new markets to open in terms of product
development? Is it demands of an untapped labor resource
in a time of dwindling young people entering the labor
market? Is it a compassionate morale commitment that we
have to improve the life of people? How would you
prioritize these in terms of the driving forces that we
will be guided by?
While those are certainly important considerations, I
would say, the most important driving force that will
motivate rehabilitation research, technology transfer,
and further developments in these areas are the needs of
persons with disabilities who are better able than ever
before. and will be even more able in the future, to report
their own needs and desires. They themselves will decide
priorities and effect, through Stheir own efforts,
policies that will determine where priorities are. I
think that the independent living movement has played a
significant role in helping people with disabilities
AS recognize their opportunity and responsibility. M
persons with disabilities recognize more opportunity,
we recognize that we are obligated to assume more
responsibility and that responsibility includes helping
to determine where the priorities should be from the
AUG-16-89 WED 10:32
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AUG 16 '89 11:38 NYS OVR CENTRAL OFFICE ALBANY
P.15
private employers and through our traditional kinds of
rehabilitation research programs and facilities as well
as other government agencies. I think its important for
NIDRR in the future to develop better linkages with other,
government research programs including those operated by
the Dept. of Commerce, Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Housing
and Urban Development, the Dept. of Transportation, the
Dept. of Education, the Dept. of Health and Human
Services and probably also by the way the Dept. of
Defense which conducts a great deal of research much of
which might be pertinent to persons with disabilities.
think you can't excuse any major sector from the
obligation of doing research and determining how the
research that they do affects the lives of people with
disabilities'a I believe that it is important for the
NIDRR to assume the role of coordination of
research by all of these agencies and the
different sectors involved