Mexican American families are known to play a strong supportive role in caring for family members with disabilities. In the Latino community interdependence is more the norm than independence as expected in many mainstream households. However, even in Latino families, responses to disability vary, inevitably changing the culture.

The case of Angelina exemplifies the interplay between culturally responsive service providers and the family of the person with the disability. Five years ago Angelina worked at a recycling center in San Leandro until she injured her shoulder in a fall. After dealing with her injury, hospitalization, several surgeries and other related medical complications, the disability precluded her from returning to work. Angelina visited her local Center for Independent Living (CIL). A staff member at CIL referred Angelina to a disability counselor after determining her eligibility for benefits.

Angelina began taking English classes to open up the possibility of learning new job skills to transfer to a different career. The disability counselor helped her to get a babysitting job, which lasted only a brief period of time because her disability flared up while playing and lifting the children. This further prevented her from holding any job.

A year after her accident Angelina found herself in the middle of a divorce when her husband told her that she should find a job or move out. He accused her of being a drain on the marriage. She was forced into a divorce. Her family, however, blamed her for the situation. They disapproved of the divorce and her inability to work.

Following a year of physical and emotional therapy to recover from her last injury and the trauma of the divorce, Angelina's doctors felt it was safe for her to do part-time work. The disability benefits officer arranged for her to receive transportation and found her a part-time job at COSCO (a wholesale grocer) where she demonstrated kitchen implements in food preparation. Angelica also received money to ride the bus since she could not drive. She was, nevertheless a bit discouraged that the job paid only $7.50 an hour when she had been told that she would get paid $10.00 an hour. Although Angelina did not receive the pay she expected, she found herself curiously interested in her job because it raised her confidence (and gave her the opportunity) to speak English in public.

She describes, "I didn't know if I would be able to do it because I had never done anything like that before, but it was the only part-time job that they had available. And the doctor did not allow me to work full-time. Once I was there at the store, I really liked the work and was proud of myself that I could do it even if it was very painful to stand for any length of time."   She appreciated her new opportunity to work. But one day, she got so fatigued one day and fell down, injuring herself. Again, she required surgery and months off from work to recover.

Another year of recovery kept Angelina at home. This time she found it most difficult as she slipped into a very bad depression about the fact that her mobility was impaired such that she could not move much around the house or even attend English classes. Her hands swelled up with any repetitive motion. It was during this time when Angelina found how difficult it was for her family and friends to see her as a person with a disability. When Angelina did not show up at family gatherings or go out to socialize with her friends, they stopped coming to her house to help out because they believed that she was getting too dependent on their assistance.

With help from CIL, Angelina contacted an attorney to assist her in obtaining disability designation in order to receive permanent disability benefits.

While Angelina awaits the process of the State to qualify her for permanent disability benefits, she still holds out hope for recovery in a way that will allow her to work. She says, "I feel so much better when I'm working because I feel I'm contributing to my community or to society. But I'm sad that my body is in so much pain. It makes it tough to work and do the things I love." One of Angelina's dreams is to start her own business arranging artificial flowers and selling them at the flea market.

Although Angelina is making use of the disability service delivery system and other benefits to help her reenter the job market, many Latinos don't seek out these services. This indicates the complexity of the issues that people with disabilities face even when the delivery services offices can provide them with the necessary services. How can Spanish-speaking people with disabilities learn English fast enough to get retrained for a job that is possible for them to perform?

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