A Special Birthday Guitar

Pearl Bush teaches at the Diane S. Leichman School in Reseda, a high school for the developmentally disabled. For the past two years she has spent much of her time out of the classroom busing around the Valley to points of interest to her students. Bush and her husband, Leon, live in Tarzana.

Two years ago we started something called Community Based Instruction, CBI as we call it. For years I taught students in the classroom how to add, how to read, how to recognize signs out in the community. But they really don’t retain what they’ve learned in the classroom enough to use it properly out in the community.

So we decided, let’s teach them these things out in the community, let’s go to markets, to the libraries, to the post office, the Laundromat, the movies, the bowling alley, the flower shops. Let’s take the RTD, which is a viable means of transportation for our population, because they won’t be driving cars or walking. And let’s go when it rains, and let’s go when it’s hot and just experience the things that most people do.

After about four hours out in the community, we come back and discuss what we saw, what we did and how it relates to their everyday lives.

We also think that it’s important to educate the public out there about the handicapped. People in the community are a little put off when they see a group of handicapped, retarded people coming in their direction. So we go out in small groups, four students to a teacher or an assistant, no more than that.

You’ll see us, by the way. We cover the San Fernando Valley, and we know most of the bus drivers.

The response has been quite warm and quite accepting and helpful. I think it was the 6th of February, and it was Scotty’s birthday. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and he said he needed a sport coat, and some of the other students wanted to look at sweaters and clothes. So, Scotty, Wayne, Mirabella, Martha and I took the RTD and we found a sport coat and he tried it on, and we found some shirts and things like that, but we didn’t buy any.

We had just a wonderful time, but on the way back we missed the bus, so we decided to walk. We came to Norman’s Rare Guitars on the southwest corner of Tampa and Vanowen, and I said, “Let’s go on in.” Our population is no different than anyone else. They’re 20 years old. They’re interested in folk music, rock music, any kind of music. They listen to tapes, records, dance and just love it. So they were very excited.

We walked into the store, and there were two men in there, named Norm and Dan. And I said, “Would you mind if we looked around?” The students oohed and aahed over the guitars, and it was just fantastic. And so Dan asked if they’d like him to play something. They loved that, and Scotty or Wayne picked out a guitar, and Dan plugged it into the amplifier and started playing and singing. He asked, “What kind of music do you like?” Wayne said “rock ‘n’ roll,” and Scotty said “country.” They sang and played and the girls started dancing around.

And then as we were leaving, Scotty turned around and said, “It’s my birthday today, and I’m 20 years old.” And Dan and Norm looked at each other, and they picked up a guitar and said, “Happy birthday.” And Scotty said, “How much is it?” And he said, “It’s Scotty’s birthday present. All he has to do is share it with the other students at school.” And the tears rolled down Scotty’s cheeks.

He just stood there, and he couldn’t believe it. And I couldn’t believe it. Scotty lives in a group home, and I don’t think he knows who his parents are, or if he does, they’re long gone. I don’t know if anybody’s ever given him something like that.

He played it all the way back to school, strumming along. There were five of us walking along singing whatever he could play and sort of dancing around along the way. And the boys were strutting and feeling very proud and delighted.