Remember no one is asking for an end to traffic calming, just TC reform. You be the judge.

From The Houston Chronicle
published on Sunday, May 23, 1999

Her Bones are brittle, but her spirit is strong

BOILING SPRINGS, Pa. (AP) -On cue from a counselor, fourth-graders at Iron Forge Educational Center snap strands of uncooked spaghetti. The sound makes classmate Cortney, Wickard cringe.

But it's an education for them all. As counselor Carole Posavec explains: The snap could just as well have been yet another broken bone for 10-year-old Cortney, who has already had more than 75.

Osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare genetic defect of bone collagen, has deformed the connective tissue that Cortney's bones build on. As a result, her bones are so brittle that, like that crackle of spaghetti, snaps have echoed through her life.

Despite such preventive lessons, Cormey's time at school can be hazardous. Her arm and bones in her spine were broken when a school bus, en route to summer day care, hit a speed bump. Now, to avoid jostling at school, she's coaxed through the hallways with the help of aide Janelle Basehore.

Cortney attends classes in the battery-operated wheelchair she's has since 3, maneuvering herself to one desk configured to fit and to an-other that looks just like all the others. Her classmates are largely indifferent to the differences, and in return Cortney is optimistic.

From a special vantage point, youngster watches her friends as they run from bus to building. From the sidelines, she cheers their re- cess games of four-square. And she makes plans for a career as teacher. "I set my teddy bears up and pretend they're my students," she says.

Her mother Penny asks for no special treatment beyond the basics. Her "big sister," 6-year-old Brooke, doesn't expect any either. On weekends, the three regularly take "walks" - Penny on foot, Brooke on bicycle, Cortney juicing her chair.

The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., which Cortney visits .twice a year, estimates that 50,000 Americans have this birth de-fect. Edward Schwentker, a professor of orthopedics at Hershey Medical Center, calls it rare; he sees a new patient about every two years.