Those Who Do – Teach

ST. LOUIS – The unusual way she met Pat Hall is lodged in Bridgette Jenkins’s memory more than 20 years later.

She was organizing a picnic for freshmen at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. As she was scurrying about making sure all the activities were going as planned, her foot suddenly stuck and she fell. As Bridgette lay on the ground rubbing her leg, a student came up to her.

“She was hovering over me, telling me I didn’t fall correctly,” recalls Bridgette, a counseling psychologist in UMSL’s office of multicultural relations.

The student was Pat Hall, a business major. By the time Pat had reached college, she had become an expert at falling. Cerebral palsy had impaired her ability to walk, but she walked and ran all the same. As a frequent faller, she had learned how to minimize damage.

True to her nature, Pat was sharing the lesson with others.

Pat has been a teacher all her life. She doesn’t have a classroom, but she uses opportunities to educate.

Today, she is director of ADA services for the St. Louis Metro. Since 2001, she has worked to ensure that the city’s public transportation services are accessible as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Often using her own experience, she helps individuals learn to use the transportation system to achieve greater independence in their lives.

At the Transit Access Center, she and her staff evaluate how well individuals can access a bus or light rail by using actual bus steps and seats, ramps, a curb cut, a stoplight and other devices to simulate the experience of a passenger.

The office trains passengers to use the bus and light rail system effectively. If they are not able to use fixed-route services, they may be certified for curb-to-curb van service.

In Pat’s job, having a disability is an advantage. “It gives me an understanding. At the same time, I don’t accept the excuses.”

She believes any client who is able to access regular services, should do so. It’s important for people to understand the progress that’s been made integrating individuals with disabilities into the mainstream of life, she says.

“We’ve come a long way since the ADA. The accessible entrance is now the main entrance, not in the back alley where they throw out the potato peels.”

Growing up in a family that never coddled her, Pat was mainstreamed in schools before it was common for children with disabilities. Her awkward gait was a challenge on the playground and ballfield.

“I was obviously very different. I didn’t walk normally,” she points out. “I learned early on that I would need an education.”

Part of her education was learning how to fit in with other children and to find solutions, such as playing tennis on a smaller court.

She now uses a scooter for most outdoors mobility and knows that accessible transportation opens doors.

“I use the Metro system constantly to get around. My mother always complains that I’m never home. I don’t let grass grow under my feet.”

Pat is active in her church and enjoys going to movies and Cardinals baseball games. She is often on the hunt for a good bargain – with her teenaged goddaughter, who is the daughter of her friend Bridgette – the one who now knows how to fall.

“At Macy’s, they know her by name,” Bridgette says, adding that whenever she hears a scooter, she expects to see Pat.

“She’s been able to make accommodations so her life remains enriched,” Bridgette says. “She has not used her disability as any reason not to reach her potential. She has used her disability to help people.”

After getting a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UMSL, Pat obtained a master’s in rehabilitation counseling from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale. She worked previously at an independent living center and in UMSL’s disability access office.

She continues to find opportunities to teach. Instead of taking offense at questions from children curious about her disability, she answers each one.

“Now, this kid won’t be so afraid the next time he sees someone in a wheelchair,” she says. “Maybe it’s not a grand impact, but I can educate one or two at a time.”

She also participates in sensitivity training to help adults understand the perspective of individuals with disabilities.

She explains that some people quickly make false assumptions when they see a person with a disability. A grocery store clerk once rang up her purchase assuming she was using food stamps. At times, fellow bus passengers have tried to hand her money.

Pat tells a nondisabled person: “You’d be considered a slouch if you weren’t working. For me, it’s a pat on the hand (for working). We’ve got to get past that.”

Bridgette is pleased that her daughter has learned about issues surrounding disabilities from the best of teachers. “I don’t think I could order a better godmother, and I don’t think you could get a better friend.”