3 WAYS TO LISTEN
1. Listen to the full article here.
2. Right click here and “save as” to save an mp3 of the article to your computer.
3. Listen to sections of the article by pressing the play buttons that appear before a set of words in the article below.
READING LEVEL 5
Transportation for Disabled People
Lupe Martinez
In my family, there is a disabled person. He is my son. His name is Pedro and he is 43 years old.
He attends a program for disabled adults in Berkeley, Monday to Friday. The bus must pick him up at 8:30 am and return him at home at 3:30 pm. But the bus is not usually on time, and I think many families have the same problem as me.
Some days, the bus arrives on time, but other days, it doesn’t. I call the office to find out what time they will pick him up, and I only get the voicemail.Sometimes, they forget to pick him up in the morning or in the afternoon. Somebody in my family has to drive to the program to pick him up. They never call me to explain.
These changes in the schedule do not help him, and they are not good for me or my family. He gets very anxious. Routine works well for him. When my son is anxious, the whole family suffers with him.I take English class every day, but because of these changes I can’t always attend my class. I can’t look for a job because I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow with the transportation.
Who speaks for disabled people? Our special children need safe and sure transportation.
Guadalupe Martinez is an ESL student at the Literacy for Every Adult Program (LEAP) in Richmond, CA. She came from Mexico almost 40 years ago with her husband and children.