Mrs. Macaulay's appearance was a personal challenge that also highlights how the courthouses accommodate witnesses and jurors with disabilities.

Mrs. Macaulay, who recently underwent brain surgery, indicated a few days before she testified that she was nervous about appearing in court because she can't speak.

Instead, Mrs. Macaulay gave a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to answer yes or no. Her left hand rested on the table in front of her as she slowly signaled that she believed her daughter would not have hurt Maggie if she were in her right mind.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that people with disabilities have access to public programs and services. Barbara Parker, who has worked in rehabilitation for more than 20 years, said that means that the courts must ensure witnesses with disabilities "can be equally effective" in their testimony. The similar Rehabilitation Act of 1973 covers federal courts, she said.

Ms. Parker is the director of the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at Maryville University of St. Louis and supervises students who help those with disabilities in work settings, home life and courtrooms.

"It's very rare these days to exclude someone from testifying because of a disability," she said. "We just have so much technology to help them."

Help could be as simple as providing an American Sign Language interpreter for a deaf witness or juror. Other solutions may involve letting someone who has difficulty speaking write short answers or providing a "speech board," on which witnesses can touch or point to answers.

Before Mrs. Macaulay's testimony, state District Judge Chris Oldner agreed to the unusual method of answering questions so she could testify, attorneys said.

Collin County District Attorney John Roach, a former judge, said although witnesses and jurors with disabilities are not an everyday occurrence, having to accommodate needs is not rare.

Before Mrs. Macaulay testified, he called the manner of questioning "a smart idea, if that's what the judge wants to do." But he also said the judge would be within the law if he refused.

Mr. Roach once presided over a case as a judge where a juror was deaf.

A sign language interpreter simply sat through the trial and deliberations, he said.

Another time, a juror only had one arm. When it was time for jurors to take the oath before the trial, "I simply said raise your hand instead of raise your right hand."

Wheelchairs can easily be accommodated in jury boxes, he said.

Mr. Roach said aiding those with disabilities is never difficult.

"We just solve the problem – whatever it is."

Defense attorney Greg Westfall, based in Fort Worth, said that although jurors seem sympathetic to witnesses with disabilities, it rarely carries over to the state or defense's case.

"The jury will certainly start out very sympathetic towards her," Mr. Westfall said of Mrs. Macaulay's testimony. "The jury will be patient and really try to understand ... I don't see her engendering any special sympathy that will translate to the defendant."

By Jennifer Emily
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/plano/stories/DN-adacases_17cco.ART0.North.Edition2.1da684f0.html