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Wisconsin State Journal :: Daybreak :: 3G
Sunday, March 5, 2000
Jeff Mayers Capitol bureau chief
The ARC of Dane County is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. And
while Fran Bicknell wasn't there at the very beginning, she has been a big
part of the group that has helped change the lives of those who are developmentally
disabled.Frances B. Bicknell, 77, is one of those folks who became involved in a cause because of a child. That child is now 47, but Bicknell is still pushing for change, pushing for a better life for those born different than most of us.
Bicknell, born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, has been involved in other causes -- in 1963 she helped pass Madison's anti-discrimination ``fair housing'' ordinance, one of the first in the country -- but none was more personal than the cause that involved her son.
Brad Bicknell, the youngest of four children born to Frances and the late UW-Madison professor William Bicknell, was born three months premature and weighed less than 2 pounds. The ordeal left him blind, autistic and afflicted with a condition people used to call ``retarded.''
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At age 10, after years of going to the state school for the blind during the week and living at home on the weekends, the Bicknells were told they should send their son to an institution.
``We were told to give up, which we didn't want to do,'' Bicknell said recently in her light-filled home on the near West Side, sitting at a table covered with papers from her many projects. ``Our daughters were just as indignant as we were.''
That was the start of a battle to change state law so the developmentally disabled could go to public school. She was one of a core group determined to give parents a choice in the matter. The group lobbied state lawmakers, and with the help of former Democratic state Rep. Midge Miller of Madison, the law was changed in 1973.
It didn't affect Brad. By that time he was 20; he had stayed at home -- then in Middleton -- and would until age 31. But Fran became part of the advisory group that helped schools cope with the influx of children with different needs.
``It's not over,'' she said, citing the recent case of an autistic child from Madison who Bicknell said was ``expelled'' and sent to an institution. ``I feel very strongly that when children are little, they should have every opportunity. We don't know which ones will make amazing progress. We hope they all make progress.''
As it turned out, Brad has made limited progress. He goes to a sheltered workshop during the days, likes listening to classical music and jazz, and enjoys visits with his mother at home. He lives in a nearby group home that houses four people with severe developmental disabilities -- a home the Bicknells helped make possible through a federal grant. She calls her son ``resilient'' and ``healthy'' and ``a man who has learned to trust the world despite his early fearfulness.''
The house where Brad lives is one of five owned by the Portal Foster Center Board. That organization acts as a voluntary property manager. Bicknell is a member of that board.
She also is the legislative chair for the Autism Society of Wisconsin, president of the Madison Area Rehabilitation Centers Foundation of Dane County, and co-chair of the Advocacy Committee of the ARC of Dane County.
``I had planned to go into public affairs work,'' Bicknell said in reflecting on her volunteer career. ``I just didn't know I'd be doing it my whole life for free.''
She is part of the current bipartisan legislative push to boost pay for personal-care workers -- those who make de-institutionalization possible. Bicknell said there is a crisis now, one made worse by the general shortage of quality workers. In short, more money is needed -- for special-education programs and services for people like her son.
``One of my favorite quotations is: `Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.' We seem to have forgotten that.''
The ARC of Dane County celebrates ``Golden ARC -- 50 years'' with a dinner April 24 at CUNA International, on Mineral Point Road. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. For ticket information, call (608) 257-9738. ARC also has an annual golf fund-raiser. For more information, call (608) 238-0544.
\ PROFILE FRANCES B. BICKNELL
Work: Lifelong volunteer and activist for the developmentally disabled.
Age: 77.
Family: Married to UW-Madison professor William Bicknell, deceased. They had four children.
The person I admire the most is: ``My father, Reo Burgoon.'' Burgoon, a high school social studies teacher in Columbus, Ohio, helped shed light on slum housing in the city and probably ``wrote his congressman more often than his children,'' Bicknell said.
I wish I had more time for: ``Reading books.''
My nickname was: `` `Frugal Fran,' because I made the children save things. When recycling came in, I was back in style. It's a Depression hangover.''
My next vaction is: ``Going to Italy with my daughter (Sherry).''
The accomplishment I'm most proud of: ``Helping establish community services for people with disabilities.''
