DECATUR - Spencer Goodwin
wears a Superman ball cap, jeans and a denim jacket as he sits in his
specially made wheelchair to teach children about people who have
disabilities.
Spencer makes other children laugh when he refuses
to talk about his math grade or confesses he kissed one of his three
girlfriends and got himself in trouble with the teacher.
Spencer is a puppet, and his voice actually belongs to his "mom," Jan Goodwin, a professional ventriloquist from Alton.
Her
goal is to teach children, and sometimes adults, that people with
disabilities are just people, who are entitled to equal access and,
most especially, kind treatment. Instead of staring at or avoiding a
person with a Disability, she said through Spencer, talk to him. Make
friends. Don't make assumptions.
"I'm not a spinal cord injury,"
Spencer said to fire cadets at Durfee Magnet School on Tuesday. "I'm a
kid with a spinal cord injury."
Goodwin's husband, Dick, uses a wheelchair due to a spinal injury from a car accident when he was 21.
Ever
since the accident, Goodwin said, he's served as an advocate for
disability issues. Since his retirement, he often accompanies his wife
when she gives presentations. Before retirement, he was the founder of
an organization that promoted accessibility in their community.
"I
had been a ventriloquist in my church and in other activities," Jan
Goodwin said. "I decided that would be a great way to reach kids and
educate them. I've learned a lot from Dick, being married to him and
seeing what he faced with his disabilities."
Fire Marshal Lyle
Meador met Jan Goodwin at a ventriloquist convention in Fort Mitchell,
Ky. Meador gives fire safety presentations with puppets and also is a
ventriloquist.
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