Handicapped senior not allowed to walk at graduation

LILBURN - Citing safety concerns, school officials in Gwinnett County did not allow a disabled high school senior to use a walker on the graduation stage. <br> <br> Masha Malikina, who was told she was paralyzed from the waist down after a car crash several years ago, has learned to walk using a walker. But Berkmar High School officials told her she would need to use her wheelchair for the ceremony. <br> <br> She said she had set a goal of walking at graduation and feels ``cheated&#39;&#39; by the decision. <br> <br> Malikina said she was told it would take too long for her to slowly walk across, and that graduation was already too long. <br> <br> School officials denied that time had anything to do with it. <br> <br> The graduate maintains her ceremony was ruined because she wasn&#39;t allowed to show everyone she could walk. <br> <br> She said, ``I&#39;ve said since the accident I would walk at graduation. I didn&#39;t ask for any special treatment the whole time I was at Berkmar. All I asked for was two minutes. And they told me I couldn&#39;t have it.&#39;&#39;

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/194261