Max Starkloff s world changed forever on the night of August 9, 1959, after a horrific car accident. The crash left him quadriplegic, but not a victim.Max became frustrated with his desire to do more than merely survive his accident. He was not willing to accept the prognosis of a life of dependence for people with injuries like his. His frustrations mounted as he discovered firsthand society s patronizing and negative attitudes toward people with disabilities and the lack of access and opportunity for an independent, fulfilling life. From the nursing home in which he lived, Max founded a privately funded independent living center he called Paraquad.After spending a dozen bleak years in the nursing home, Starkloff emerged with his wife, Colleen (a physical therapist he met in the nursing home) and they committed themselves as a relentless, uncompromising force on behalf of disabled people everywhere.In 2003, Max and Colleen left Paraquad to establish the Starkloff Disability Institute. SDI is working to change societal attitudes about people with disabilities by crafting and disseminating a positive message about living with disability. Their goal is to improve mainstream employment opportunities for people with disabilities, which improves independent living and productivity, and enablespeople with disabilities to become contributing members of our society. Through their 40 years of work they realized that the non-disabled community must join with the disability community to ensure that disabled citizens are fully assimilated with the rest of our society.Max died on Dec. 27, 2010, leaving Colleen and longtime associate David Newburger as co-directors of the Institute. He left a world that he changed for the better both for himself, people with disabilities, and society at large. This is his story, their story, and ours. "
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