From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Nov. 11, 1989:

Children at Cordley School were learning more about disabilities in a new program for second-graders. Students in Bev Hyde’s class met this week with Robin Routh, who had a hearing impairment, and Maura Hellyer, who was a Cordley parent who knew sign language and was Routh’s friend. “We felt like there was a need for children to be aware of differences, but also to see how much they are like people who have impairments,” said Carlotta Hemphill, Cordley’s counselor. Routh told the children that it was sometimes difficult for her to talk with very young people “because I can’t read your lips as well.” Routh went on to explain how people with hearing impairments relied on both technologies and their own senses to cope. She told the children about her computer that enabled her to communicate via telephone by making a printout of what the other person was saying. She told the students that she attended college and needed a sign-language interpreter in class to help her understand her professors. The second-graders also had a meeting with Sandy Stielow, an occupational therapist in the school district, who showed them how people with orthopedic impairments used various tools to cope. Mary Gordon, a teacher for students with visual impairments, also visited to talk to the children.