UMass Lowell Expert Available to Discuss Rosemary Kennedy’s Legacy
09/13/2018
Contact: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
Without Rosemary Kennedy, there may never have been an Americans With Disabilities Act or a Special Olympics.
Kennedy, born 100 years ago this week, inspired both and as a result has helped change the lives of millions: One in six children and one in five adults have some kind of physical, behavioral, language or learning disability that significantly impacts daily life, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Doreen Arcus, an expert on family relationships and childhood development, calls Kennedy “the most influential person with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the modern era.” Arcus can discuss how siblings with disabilities influence the development of other children in the family and help shape the family’s well-being.
Born at a time when families were advised to institutionalize children with disabilities, Rosemary was instead an integral part of the life of Kennedys, America’s foremost family. Before a lobotomy left her incapacitated at age 23, she was particularly close to her younger sister Eunice, went to dances escorted by big brother Jack and when she went away after her operation, her departure left 9-year-old brother Teddy confused and frightened.
But her brothers, who would become President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, and her sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, never forgot Rosemary. They would go on to lead the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and found the Special Olympics, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Arcus says Rosemary’s relationships with her siblings was the force behind their drive to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities to bring them “from the margins of society into the mainstream and the light of day.”
Arcus is a psychology professor at UMass Lowell, where she is part of the university’s Center for Autism Research and Education, a national leader in the field.
To connect with her, contact Nancy Cicco at 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, at 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu.