Duo wins award for care

As mothers of children with mental retardation, Mary Caniano and Catherine Schottenham have seen significant progress during the past 50 years in the lives of people with disabilities.

A lot of that progress is thanks to their efforts with the Albany County Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC).

Those efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Mrs. Caniano, a parishioner of St. Pius X Church in Loudonville, and Mrs. Schottenham, a member of West End Presbyterian Church in Albany, will receive the annual Four Chaplains Brotherhood Award Feb. 22 during ceremonies at the Samuel S. Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany.

Joint cause

Mrs. Caniano and Mrs. Schottenham met each other during the early 1950s at a support group for parents and friends of individuals with mental retardation. The group, originally known as the Capital District Chapter, became the Albany County ARC.

Mrs. Schottenham's son, David, was born in 1943, and Mrs. Caniano's daughter, Barbara, in 1952 -- and both women heard similar words from their doctors after giving birth.

Mrs. Schottenham was told that David would never be able to walk or talk and that he should be placed in an institution. Mrs. Caniano and her husband, James, were given the same lecture about Barbara.

"I looked at the doctor and said: 'You are not God. We will bring her home and give her all the love that a child deserves,'" Mrs. Caniano recalls saying.

Making a difference

During the support group meeting, Mrs. Caniano heard some participants using the word "sick" to describe children with mental retardation. When she took offense, Mrs. Schottenham noticed her reaction and introduced herself. From that encounter, the two women became not just good friends, but also outspoken advocates for people with disabilities.

Mrs. Caniano and Mrs. Schottenham found raising children with mental retardation to be filled with challenges and blessings. Mrs. Caniano wasn't sure how her older daughter, Donna Anne, or her friends would act around Barbara, for example. They responded quite well, with Mrs. Caniano reminding them of the Baltimore Catechism and how God created each person in His likeness and image.

For Mrs. Schottenham and her husband, Lawrence, such things as finding a babysitter weren't easy, but Mrs. Schottenham didn't mind.

Achievements

Over their years together, the two women have racked up some remarkable achievements:

* Mrs. Caniano has been involved primarily in administrative work with Albany County ARC and currently serves as its president. In 1966, she helped establish the Day Treatment Program, which focuses on utilizing the strengths of people with disabilities to develop skills they will need to achieve independence at home and at work. She also helped to obtain certification of the Day Treatment Program in 1976.

* Mrs. Schottenham has given numerous lectures to service groups, assisted in classrooms and helped with fund-raising for Albany County ARC since the 1950s. She has served on its board of directors for many years.

* In 1989, Albany County ARC paid tribute to Mrs. Caniano with the dedication of the Mary L. Caniano Center on Krumkill Road in Slingerlands. The 72,000-square-foot facility serves more than 500 individuals, and houses such programs as the Day Treatment Program and the Day Training Program, which offers men and women with mental retardation the experiences needed to develop vocational and social skills while earning wages.

* Albany County ARC also operates a Community Residence Program, one of several programs in which David Schottenham and Barbara Caniano have participated, and a Home and Community Based Service Waiver Program, which enables people with disabilities to participate in several activities instead of one specific day program.

Role of faith

Mrs. Caniano and Mrs. Schottenham both credit their religious faith with helping them to face the challenge of raising children with mental retardation.

"There comes a time when you ask, 'Why me?' But everything works out, and I think it all depends on Mom and Pop's attitude," Mrs. Caniano said.

Mrs. Schottenham believes that there's a reason she was given a son with disabilities, whether it was God's plan to increase her own understanding or to raise others' awareness of children with mental retardation.

"I think all of us go through testing to see how much courage and faith we really have," she said. "I wouldn't change him for the world. No matter how tired you get, or how bad you look, or what kind of a mess it is, you hold them close to you."

(The Four Chaplains Award is sponsored by Albany Post 105 of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. It is presented in memory of four army chaplains who lost their lives after giving up their life jackets to four enlisted men when their troopship, the Dorchester, was torpedoed and sunk on Feb. 3, 1943, in the North Atlantic during World War II. The award is given for outstanding participation and service in activities that tend to exemplify principles of brotherhood.)

(02-19-98) [[In-content Ad]]