A Mother's Touch: The Tiffany Callo Story

With an aging population swelling the ranks of the physically disabled, who numbered 43 million in 1987, Newsweek correspondent Mathews ( Es ca lan te ) here addresses the complex issue of their rights, including parenting. To dramatize the legal, financial and social obstacles that confront the handicapped who seek self-sufficiency, he effectively uses the poignant case of a struggle against bureaucracy by disabled 19-year-old Californian Tiffany Callo, who sought to recover her two healthy children, whom the Department of Social Services had put up for adoption, deeming her unfit to raise them. Thanks to a sympathetic reporter (also handicapped), her court hearing attracted wide media attention, as well as support from a disabled attorney and an understanding psychologist, among others. While Callo was unable to secure custody of her sons, the case engendered state and federal civil rights legislation, such as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, designed to improve conditions and open up employment opportunities for the handicapped. Author tour. (Aug.)