04:47 PM EST on Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Cass Irvin wrote “Homebound” to change the way people look and feel about those with disabilities. It’s an insider’s view, a memoir, weaved with lifelong experiences.

And despite the fact there are now federal laws, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, Irvin is still confronting many of the same obstacles she first encountered in the 1950s.

At age 9, polio sucked the energy out of Cass Irvin's legs, leaving her in a wheelchair.

“Sometimes I think my whole life has been a journey to find out where my place is. For a long time I didn't realize everyone is on such a journey,” she says.

Her book does not dwell on what she lost, rather how much better life would be if people's attitudes were different.

“Most of the problems people with disabilities face are not because of the disability itself.”

To prove her point, Irvin took us on a trip. She's fortunate -- she has a van equipped with an automatic lift. And she has a very supportive partner in John Garrett.

Irvin took us to Carmichael’s Bookstore on Bardstown Road, a store that sells her book. There's a ramp leading up to the front door but after two attempts, Irvin gives up.

“The ramp is too steep. My chair would tip over backward,” she explains.

Besides, even if she braved the ramp she could not get in. A stair is sitting in the way.

“I know a lot of disabled people that live in this neighborhood that could not get into this store,” she says. “This book could bring in a lot of people, whole new patrons, unless they can't get in.”

Irvin did not think about that when she first started writing. She has been involved with disability issues for 30 years. She can recite numbers and federal disability laws but felt readers would get more out of her book if it focused on her life and those around her.

“I thought other people, people that did not have a disability, had it all figured out, that it is only I who didn't know where I fit in because I was different.”

Irvin has come to learn she's not different. She has the same wants and needs as everyone else.

“Disabled people are just like everybody else, just like everybody else. Its the obstacles society puts up that really limits our lives,” Irvin says.

The owner of Carmichael's, Michael Boggs, declined to talk to us on-camera. He says it would cost thousands of dollars to make the store on Bardstown Road accessible and there are other issues.

We visited a national chain bookstore in Saint Matthews. It carries Irvin's book and is accessible.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.