Northwest's Child helps disabled young adult expand his future

At age 3, Vishal Saraija was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable, progressive disorder in which the immune system goes berserk and attacks the central nervous system. The attacks scar the nerves in ways that prevent the muscles from sensing what they're being asked to do. It is rarely found in children under 15, but there it was, and in Saraija's case, he owned his first powered wheelchair by age 12.

Now 20, he is in his fourth wheelchair -- for the first time a new one, not used, he said -- which he drives with his right thumb because that is the only appendage left that he can really count on.

To steer, he uses a joystick that is barely larger than the eraser on the end of a well-used No. 2 pencil, but don't call it a joystick, he said "It's a 'thumbstick.' "

Saraija said his new motorized chair is the best yet, and it should be at $30,000, but it has one drawback, especially on cold days.

"I wish it had an outlet for a heating blanket," he said.

The motorized chair does come with a customized oxygen supply. To take the occasional hit while speaking, he sucks from a plastic tube near his chin, but he doesn't need it to power his voice, which is soft and understated, but can be laced with humor.

A graduate of Seattle's Nathan Hale High School, Saraija received formal schooling through the district's special-education offerings and with help from after-school programs designed to assist disabled children. These programs really benefit working parents, such as Saraija's mother, Umi, a single mom and social worker with irregular hours.

With graduation and the arrival of adulthood, however, the safety net that had helped Vishal Saraija as a child mostly disappeared.

Then last December, Umi Saraija showed her son a Readers Care Fund story she found in the Seattle P-I.

It told about one of the fund's beneficiaries -- Northwest's Child, a private, nonprofit Seattle-based organization founded 17 years ago by Darcy Hupf. The story said Hupf was expanding her focus to include day care and respite care for families with seriously disabled young adults.

"She asked me what I thought," Vishal Saraija said. "I said 'Why not call and find out?' "

So they did.

The beauty of Northwest's Child is Hupf's dedication to the little things, the things that become gigantic when you are stuck in a wheelchair and your mom has to work.

It's for things like showing up for parent-teacher conferences, interceding into an otherwise private situation when a family's intercession is required but compromised by outside influences. Things like getting into college.

In Vishal Saraija's case, Hupf helped the family advance this young adult into a future with possibilities, and as a result, he is now on the threshold of a college career.

On Jan. 7, he will steer his motorized chair into a sociology class at Cascadia Community College in Bothell, where student volunteers will help him take notes.

Why sociology? Saraija said he hopes to better understand and perhaps figure out a way to improve the public treatment of disabled people, especially those in wheelchairs.

"People can be condescending," he said. "They think of you as 'little,' with no idea of who you are. They may even pat you on the head."

His advice: "If you don't know what to say (to a disabled person), don't say anything."

Saraija's arrival will clearly be Cascadia's gain, for he is quite a guy.

After Hupf and Northwest's Child won a long and complicated licensing battle with the state earlier this year, Hupf tapped Saraija to make the announcement at Blanchet High School where Northwest's Child operates an adult-care program that is popular with Blanchet students.

Saraija accomplished his assignment before a full-house student-body assembly and received a standing ovation.

"They cheered like crazy," he said.

What kind of speech was it?

"Succinct and to the point," he said, which was no surprise, for Saraija is no slouch when it comes to public speaking. He is an accomplished member of Toastmasters International.

To find out more about Northwest's Child and what it can do for disabled youngsters, call its offices in Seattle, 206-526-2493 or Lynnwood 425-431-4930, or go to its Web site, northwestchild.org

Other Readers Care Fund beneficiaries this year include: Seattle Education Access, which helps homeless and other marginalized youths work toward college careers; Renton Area Youth and Family Services, helping at-risk children and their families in South King County; the Santas and their elves at Seattle's Forgotten Children's Fund; Rise n' Shine, which focuses on children challenged by HIV and AIDS whether they are infected or live with someone who is; and New Futures, which runs after-school care, and family literacy programs in low-income apartment complexes in Burien, SeaTac and White Center.

READERS CARE

For more than a quarter-century, Seattle P-I readers have donated generously to the newspaper's annual Readers Care Fund, generating more than $5.6 million for local charities. Today we feature another of the six charities selected for 2007.