Maria J. Clark-Adragna

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“Advocate for those with disabilities loves performing.” Home News Tribune, May 13, 2004.

Maria Clark-Adragna, a disabilities advocate, has a passion for performing. She has been an actress and a singer in off-Broadway productions and regional theater. And from all accounts, she is a superb public speaker, and wants to do more of it.

In order to speed the process of getting back into speaking, Maria has hired a public relations firm (the Bailiwick Company of Stockton, N.J.) which has produced a full-color brochure listing testimonials from people who have heard her speak.

If you’re fortunate enough to spend any time with Maria, you end up smiling. You smile because Maria is upbeat, and a good companion, and can drop in lines that are humorous- and often self-effacing-but always confident.

But, Maria said, if all you see is her short stature, “then you’re not really seeing me, are you?”

“You see people when you get to know their humanity,” she said at a small table in Borders Books and Music in Bridgewater, the town where she lives and where she has worked as the corporate sales representative for the last three years. Prior to her job with Borders, Maria worked in administrative positions with Johnson & Johnson.

I was getting to know her humanity, about where she grew up and her own dreams, and where she wanted to go from where she is now.

As an advocate, Maria has worked with the Middlesex County Department of Human Services and the County Office for the Disabled.

Debra A. Hehir, personal assistance services program coordinator, recounted the many times Maria spoke at presentations, and how she did it clearly and with humor, educating audiences on disability issues and accommodations.

In 1994 and 1995 Maria hosted and helped produce a cable TV show, the “ Open Circle,” with a variety of guests and themes related to disabilities.

After work with the “ Open Circle,” Maria began bringing her message into the classroom and began lecturing to New York University graduate students of occupational therapy.

Maria was born in Jersey City, one of six children- the rest brothers. She does not know her father, was long ago estranged from her mother and was raised by her grandparents, Camillo and Mary Adragna, a Sicilian couple who she revered so much she has attached their name to hers.

“I was very much a social butterfly in high school,” she said. “I was just like any teenaged girl, wearing makeup and flirting with boys and not doing my homework.”

She graduated from Colonia High in 1986.

Maria, 36, is single, but, she says, “on the hunt.”

“I’d like to get married,” she said, “And who you fall in love with is who you fall in love with…If you’re disabled or not, it doesn’t matter if I’m attracted to you.

“Maria also wants children, and whether she marries or not, hopes to adopt.

“I love kids,” she said.

She is writing her memoirs and is still collecting material. She remembered that when she was a very young child, her grandmother liked to carry her outside and show her off, despite what neighbors said about her disability.

Many of Maria’s talks are given at corporations and schools, and there is always a question-and-answer period.

“In one,” Maria recalled, “a little boy, about 8, asked if people ever laugh at me

“Sometimes,” she replied

“Do you cry?” the boy asked.

“Yes, I do.” She said.