2007 NETWORKING® MAGAZINE’S DAVID AWARD HONOREE.

DON DREYER
Director, Nassau County Office for the Physically Challenged

BY MAUREEN TRAXLER

“ While memorable is a great way to describe an event, unforgettable is better,” says Don Dreyer in explaining his exuberance on a sweltering July 26, 1990 as he watched from the White House South Lawn and witnessed President George H.W. Bush sign the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. “It was a stunning experience and I felt a great sense of accomplishment for a journey that took a long time.”

Dreyer’s feeling of accomplishment was genuine; he
traveled the journey. In 1977, Dreyer was named
Director of the Nassau County Office for the Physically
Challenged. After spending a few years reaching out to
people with disabilities and determining how the
County could be most responsive with programs and
policy development, he was asked by County
Executive Francis Purcell to serve on two steering committees of the National Association of Counties
(NACo), the country’s largest public policy group of
municipalities.

“ On a personal and professional level,” remarks
Dreyer, “that was a crossroads in my life.” Never before
had he traveled by air independently, and his successful
navigation of taxi cabs, hotel rooms and conference
halls brought great self-confidence. The experience also
enabled Dreyer to meet influential people, from commissioners and legislators to county executives across
the country. He says, “I learned the things I needed to
know to truly become a part of the national disability
movement. I gained an understanding of the collaborative
process and the independent living needs of
people with disabilities in a broad sense as well as
locally.”

By July 26, 1990, Dreyer had already made presentations
at major conferences on such topics as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Kansas City), Handicap Nondiscrimination Impact on Counties (Las Vegas), Equal Access to County Services (Baltimore), and Consensus Building Strategies (Nashville). He was among a NACo committee of 12 that formulated a Section 504 compliance manual to guide 2,400 counties across the nation receiving federal funds in the steps necessary to make their services
and facilities fully accessible and usable by people
with disabilities.

Dreyer recognized, too, that the business community
was “key” to the success or failure of creating a more accessible and inclusive society for people with disabilities. In 1985, Dreyer had an opportunity to approach two Long Island Congressmen, Tom Downey and Ray McGrath, who sat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and suggest tax code modifications that would create incentives for the business world to make accessibility more attractive and cost effective. The result, continues
Dreyer, “was a tax deduction that made it possible
for businesses to set aside parking for the handicapped,
modify work sites to employ people with disabilities, and remove barriers to consumerism.”

“ This disability rights movement is not about charity,”
declares Dreyer, “it is about doing the right thing so
everybody benefits and has a life of greater inclusion.”
Bringing the thought closer to home, he adds,“ Disability is only a moment away in anybody’s life. It could affect the child of a professional athlete or the mother of a restaurateur. It spans gender, age, religion, race, political affiliation, economic standing and community status.”

Through Dreyer’s leadership, he established an interagency committee, which brought about an ADA-compliance initiative that affected all County departments
and agencies. This initiative led to the removal of barriers
in a wide range of County facilities and programs,
and an additional project led to the construction of
almost 9,000 curb-cuts throughout the road system. In
recognition of these efforts, Nassau County received the
designation as a “Model ADA Program” by NACo.
On a regular basis, Dreyer presents programs to
Chambers of Commerce, labor groups, educators and
disability organizations. He developed the first Police
Academy curriculum on “Police Interaction with
People with Disabilities,” which he has taught personally
to every class of Nassau County police recruits
since 1984. Recently, Dreyer initiated a Disability
Leadership Institute for college students with disabilities
that focuses on developing leadership and appropriate
advocacy for change in a post-ADA society.
Dreyer produced and hosted a Cablevision program,
entitled “Capabilities in Health,” and continues to write
a column for the Able newspaper. He continues to speak
at major conferences and for prestigious organizations,
such as the Nassau County Bar Association, Molloy and
Dowling Colleges, American Institute of Architects,
Metropolitan New York College Placement Officers
Association, Lupus Foundation and L.I. Epilepsy
Association, among others.

Dreyer’s community service includes his positions as
director of the Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Day
Charity Parade Committee, which each year benefits a
local, national and Irish charity; member of the Verizon
Community Advisory Board; trustee of the Henry
Viscardi School, and Advisory Board member of the
Association for the Help of Retarded Children. He
served on the 1998 Goodwill Games Planning
Committee and was chairman of the Celebrity and
Special Events Committee of the 1984 International
games for the Disabled.

A Hofstra University graduate with a bachelor’s
degree in English and Master of Science in Counselor
Education, Dreyer is a member of the Adjunct faculty at
Hofstra’s School of Communication. “Teaching gives
me the ability to impact the lives of young people,”
notes Dreyer, “There’s nothing better than that.”
Dreyer credits his parents, 1936 refugees from Nazi
Germany, with finding ways to bring the outside world
to a homebound child with a physical disability. Their
persistence helped him develop his interests in music,
sports and the preservation of endangered wildlife and
natural habitats. He recalls his mom reading Golden
Books about animals and his parents bringing him to
the Staten Island and Bronx Zoos. “Their encouragement
to make me see the beauty of the world helped
me develop my positive spirit,” he adds. He remembers
his mom’s persistence in getting him into
Sheepshead Bay High School because, he notes, “She
knew it would mean everything to me to be in a regular
school environment.”

If one can say his prayers were answered, those are
Dreyer’s words, as he explains that he waited 47 years
to meet his wife Barbara. He says, “She’s an extraordinary,
uniquely caring and wonderful person.” The couple
lives in Rockville Centre.

NETWORKING® January 2007