There was an unusual juxtaposition of stories in the City & Region section Thursday that illustrate quality of life issues experienced by people with disabilities in our community.
One of the stories was about 18-year-old Joey Gentile-Gioviano of Cheektowaga, who, because of his disability, benefits from water therapy. His family saved enough money to buy a backyard pool, but turned to the insurance company for help getting the special equipment necessary to get him safely into the pool.
The insurance company turned them down. But the Make-A-Wish Foundation did not. And now that he can get into the pool with the assistance of a lift, "He loves being in there," his mother, Marilyn Gentile told reporter Emma Sapong. "If it was up to him, he would just stay in the water."
The other story described the terrifying experience of several young people who are developmentally disabled, who were taunted and chased in their car by teens who seemed hell-bent on causing them harm. The teens were so aggressive they forced the victims to crash as they attempted to get on the Thruway.
But thanks to the outrage of the public, which gave the police eye-witness accounts and tips, three teens were arrested and are facing hate crime charges.
Those stories certainly show the best and the worst of the people who live here. But I also suspect they illustrate some of the problems many residents with disabilities experience on a daily basis in this community. We don't often hear about their problems, but being denied services they need, or being harassed or taunted when they just want to eat a burger, may surprise you, but they are in no way unusual.

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