Getting the word out about disability rights to the Latino community sometimes means making a show of it. On a warm Sunday in May, a group of Latinos carry signs in Spanish advocating rights for people with disabilities. This group forms a strong contingent in the Cinco de Mayo parade in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, California. A father pushes his son's wheelchair, a husband assists his wife, while other disabled Latinos make their way down the parade route. Twenty non-disabled supporters join the group, walking slowly and calling out loudly, "We want rights for the disabled."   Some carry signs, holding them high up for the crowds along the parade route to see. "No soy el problema. Apoye el programa de cuidado en casa" (I'm not the problem. Support in-home care) reads one sign.

Latinos sometimes perpetuate attitudes that isolate people with disabilities. Part of the isolation that many Latinos with disabilities experience happens because families want to keep their problems private. Latinos often choose to keep a disabled family member protected and shut in the family home. Attitudes about disabilities are partly formed out of shame - not for the family member that is disabled but for the family's inability to provide for the disabled person. People with disabilities are left feeling that they are a "carga" or burden on their families.

Changing attitudes about disability among Latinos involves service providers meeting the community's needs as intimately as some do in the Fruitvale District. Latino youth and adults credit agencies like the Spanish-Speaking Council, the Fruitvale Center for Independent Living (CIL), and the Spanish-Speaking Citizen's Foundation for providing resources that improved their lives.

Yelling into a bullhorn along the parade route, Leticia Escalera, director of the Fruitvale CIL, sets the tone for the parade's animated disabled contingent. She believes the goal of outreach about disability is to allow disabled people the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers. For example, obtaining a wheelchair allowed young Saul Sanchez to go to school like the other kids.

Ever since the onset of their child's disability, the parents of five-year-old Saul Sanchez carried him around in their arms. Without money to purchase a wheelchair, the parents did their best to adjust to the situation. They were unaware they qualified for a wheelchair through CIL. Saul's parents assumed their son's disability would keep him out of school. It wasn't until a community member informed them of services through the Spanish Speaking Council that they hooked up with CIL. The Sanchez family now has a wheelchair for Saul so he can start school. The Sanchez family's story illustrates there is a communication breakdown when it comes to informing families about their rights. "When these families arrive at CIL, it is the first time they become aware of the resources available to them," explains Leticia.

What motivates Leticia is her personal experience. Leticia said,

"My mother was blind and unable to walk in the later years of her life. I had to quit school for a couple years to help her with daily personal care. We didn't have the money for a wheelchair so a relative loaned us one. The day after my mother died, he came for the wheelchair. This made me realize I need to do more to educate the Latino community about disabilities and help them find resources so that they can live a full life."

Some banners in the parade call attention to a second major purpose of the day's public education -- the need to become citizens and vote. Signs reading "Vote for Disabled Rights" and "Support Programs for In-Home Care" advocated for civic involvement. Jovita Soliz, director of the Spanish-Speaking Citizen Foundation, held a sign that read "Háganse Ciudadanos" (Become Citizens). The Foundation offers citizenship classes in Spanish. In the five years since CIL began sharing office space with the Foundation, the number of Latinos who became citizens increased from 3 in 1999 to 20 in 2003. When people come to CIL Leticia tells them that becoming citizens opens opportunities to participate in their communities. Although Latinos do not need to be citizens to receive services from CIL, they are reminded that by becoming citizens they have more power to advocate for themselves.

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