LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the observation of the 100th Anni-
versary of the birth of Abilities! Founder Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr. on
May 10, 2012

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize that the
quality and character of life in the communities of New York State are
reflective of the concerned and dedicated efforts of organizations and
individuals who devote themselves to the welfare of the community and
its citizenry and have made strong contributions to the disability
community; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern and fully in accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the observation of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Abili-
ties! Founder Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr. on May 10, 2012; and
WHEREAS, Abilities!, located in Albertson, New York is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to empowering children and adults with disabili-
ties to be active, independent, and self-sufficient participants of
society; and
WHEREAS, Abilities!, originally Abilities, Inc., formerly known as the
National Center for Disability Services (NCDS), was begun by Dr.
Viscardi in a garage in West Hempstead, New York in 1952 and, in keeping
with his vision, has successfully demonstrated that people with disabil-
ities can be productive contributors to society and is a significant
provider of community-based services to thousands of people with disa-
bilities; and
WHEREAS, One of the world's most highly respected pioneers for the
rights and opportunities of people with disabilities, Dr. Henry Viscar-
di, Jr., passed away on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at the age of 91; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Viscardi broke down barriers imposed by his own physical
challenges and built his career on the conviction that "there really are
no disabled people, only people with varying degrees of ability"; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Viscardi's bold vision transformed the way employers,
educators and policy-makers viewed disabilities, laying the groundwork
for landmark legislation mandating the integration of people with disa-
bilities into everyday life; and
WHEREAS, Founded by Dr. Viscardi in 1952, Abilities! has evolved into
one of the world's foremost facilities for educating and training people
with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, Among Dr. Viscardi's many other contributions to public life,
he served as an advisor on disability issues to every president from
Franklin D. Roosevelt through Jimmy Carter; and
WHEREAS, Eleanor Roosevelt, in her introduction to one of Dr.
Viscardi's books, wrote that his accomplishments reflect "a personal
story of courage and determination, dignity and human rights"; and
WHEREAS, Known to many as Hank, Dr. Viscardi was born with underdevel-
oped legs and spent the first six years of his life in the Hospital for
Deformities and Joint Diseases in Manhattan; and
WHEREAS, Upon receiving his first set of artificial limbs, at the age
of 27, he looked the doctor in the eye and thanked him; the doctor's
response stunned him; and
WHEREAS, The doctor said "I don't want to be thanked. I'll tell you
what you can do, though. Someday maybe you'll have the chance to bring a
new life to another boy. If you can help somebody else, that's all I'll
ever ask."; and
WHEREAS, Inspired by this challenge, Dr. Viscardi not only went on to
help one boy, he embarked on his lifelong mission to empower people with

disabilities to lead self-sufficient, productive lives, helping hundreds
of people; and
WHEREAS, At Eleanor Roosevelt's urging, Dr. Viscardi left a successful
private sector career in 1952 to establish Abilities, Inc., formerly
known as the National Center for Disability Services, a manufacturing
enterprise staffed largely by injured World War II veterans, in a former
warehouse in West Hempstead; and
WHEREAS, At a time when people with disabilities were all but excluded
from the workforce, Abilities, Inc. was a revolutionary concept that
demonstrated that people with disabilities could, and should be, produc-
tive contributors to society; within a few years, Abilities, Inc. was
winning contracts from such defense industry giants as Grumman, General
Electric and IBM, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Viscardi's vision extended beyond the employment of
people with disabilities, it also encompassed education and research; in
the early 1960s, he moved his enterprise to a larger facility in Albert-
son, New York, where he established the Human Resources Center; and
WHEREAS, With new adult vocational training programs and a research
center, the Human Resources Center expanded into the Career and Employ-
ment Institute (CEI) and the Research and Training Institute (RTI), the
National Center for Disability Services, Abilities, Inc. and, subse-
quently, Abilities!, and entered the international spotlight; and
WHEREAS, In 1962, after a long, arduous process, Dr. Viscardi turned
another of his dreams into reality by gaining a charter from the New
York State Department of Education to establish the Human Resources
School on the Albertson campus; and
WHEREAS, Upon Dr. Viscardi's retirement, the school, which had become
one of the nation's leading K-12 educational institutions for children
with severe physical and medical disabilities, was fittingly renamed the
Henry Viscardi School in his honor; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Viscardi was a member of the faculty of the New York
University School of Medicine's Clinical Physical Medicine and Rehabili-
tation Department and his contributions to education have been recog-
nized around the world; universities in England, Japan, Korea and Canada
awarded him honorary doctoral degrees in law, education, science, humane
letters and literature and, in 1975, he was honored with the New York
State Board of Regents' esteemed James E. Allen Jr. Memorial Award; and
WHEREAS, Numerous professional and other organizations have, in addi-
tion, lauded Dr. Viscardi for his revolutionary influence on the busi-
ness world's approach to employing people with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, In 1957, he was the first non-medical recipient of the Ameri-
can Medical Association's Outstanding Service Citation, which had previ-
ously been given only four times since the AMA's founding over 100 years
earlier; the National Rehabilitation Association presented Dr. Viscardi
with its highest honor as well, the President's Medal; the Freedom Foun-
dation of Valley Forge honored him with its American Exemplar Medal; in
1983 the Horatio Alger Association named him to its list of Distin-
guished Americans; and he was the recipient of the American Association
of Retired Persons' 1992 Andrus Award for Community Service; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Viscardi was the author of numerous articles and eight
books; his book, A LETTER TO JIMMY, received the Niernberger Trichter
Literary Award in Bonn, Germany and in addition to his Presidential
appointments, he served as Chairman of New York State Governor Nelson
Rockefeller's Committee on the Handicapped; and
WHEREAS, At the time of his death in 2004, Dr. Viscardi was a resident
of Kings Point, New York and was survived by his wife, Lucile, four
daughters, sons-in-law, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchil-
dren; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the observation of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of
Abilities! Founder Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr. on May 10, 2012; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Abilities! and to the family of Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr.