Sitting in a blue sleeveless summer dress in front of Starbucks, Christine Burke is enjoying the heat of a Danville summer. Today, she drove herself to coffee and loves the freedom her new drivers’ license allows. She is also free of her wheelchair this afternoon, but has her crutches tucked discreetly under the table.
When another patron walks by and asks, in a friendly voice, “What happened to you?” she laughs. Realizing then that she is disabled, not injured, the customer stammers out an apology. Burke smiles and reassures the stranger, “No big deal.”
For Burke, disabled since birth, living with physical limitations is “no big deal.” Born with spina bifida, a problem caused when her spinal column didn’t close properly in the womb, Burke is comfortable with her physical abilities. She knows she doesn’t have feeling in her feet and she suspects the feeling in her legs has been affected, but she doesn’t let it slow her down.
Burke’s ability to live in the mainstream of life is a relief to her parents, Dawn Graeme and Randy Burke. There was no sign of trouble during her pregnancy, and Graeme remembers clearly the fear she felt when she realized in the delivery room something was wrong.
“Nothing prepares you for this,” says Graeme of the day she learned her baby girl had spina bifida. A physical therapist by training, Graeme knew a bit about the birth defect when Christine was born, but had a lot to learn. “I was very sad and worried. I questioned if I could deal with this,” recalls Graeme.
As time passed, doctors evaluated Christine’s condition. Infants born with spina bifida suffer from a broad spectrum of physical and developmental problems. According to Graeme, the unknown extent of the disability left the family holding their breath. But as time passed and their little girl began hitting developmental milestones, the family was able to relax: Her only limitations were physical.
Five years after her birth, like other kids her age, Christine was ready to start kindergarten, at Baldwin Elementary School. The school administrators originally wanted to place Christine in a Special Education classroom, insisting she would be more comfortable in an environment tailored to her needs. The family refused this arrangement, arguing their daughter would benefit from being with able-bodied kids. Their determination landed Christine in a mainstream classroom with her peers.
Graeme points out that the family has had a positive school experience, and at the same time, they have had to be their own advocates. Burke’s disability has not affected her cognitively, only physically, but in those early school years, many teachers needed reassurances that her disability would not create a distraction in the classroom.
So, each year, Burke’s mom and dad advocated to keep her mainstreamed, and each year, Burke excelled in school, proving her parents right.
Today, Burke is a confident, accomplished 16-year-old, entering her junior year at San Ramon Valley High School. She is a budding leader in the disabled community, sings soprano in the school choir, and still finds time to play competitive wheelchair tennis and basketball.
Debbie Beyers, a resource teacher at San Ramon Valley High School, has worked with Burke and her family for the past two years. As a resource teacher, Beyers helps about 30 students with different disabilities by advocating for and supporting their needs. Throughout her time in high school, Beyers has been her “Mom away from home,” says Burke.
And Beyers says that it is a delight working with Burke.
“Christine is strong-willed, positive and a pleasure to work with,” says Beyers. “She does every piece of homework, and teachers love her positive attitude.”
Her grades reflect her dedication to schoolwork. Despite missing six months of her first two years in high school due to surgeries related to her disability, she maintains a 3.5 grade point average.
“Christine will definitely go on to a four-year school, and it is likely she will earn either an academic or athletic scholarship,” adds Beyers.
Once her schoolwork is complete, Burke’s passion is athletics. She focuses her efforts on wheelchair tennis and basketball and is playing both at a national level.
In tennis, she is currently ranked No. 10 in the country in the juniors and No. 11 in the country in Women’s A division for U.S. Wheelchair Tennis. She boasts of having competed in the U.S. Open Wheelchair Tennis Competition.
In basketball, she plays off-guard for the Bay Area Outreach and Recreational Program’s (BORP) Bay Cruisers Varsity Basketball team. Tim Orr, the director of BORP’s sports program has known Burke for many years.
“Christine has great communication on the court, and she is very good at supporting other players,” said Orr. “She is increasing in strength and agility and improving her shooting.”
Orr says that wheelchair basketball is tough to master. It takes about seven years for players to learn to handle the wheelchair, the ball and the defense by the other team, he explains, but Burke is well on her way to excelling in the sport.
Her athletic ability has allowed her to travel the country competing in basketball and tennis. In fact, last year she was a starting guard on the National Championship Junior Varsity team.
Burke uses her athletic endeavors to connect with her peers. This spring she helped organize an exhibition game pitting the BORP Cruisers’ against the varsity basketball players of San Ramon Valley High. The Cruisers spotted the Wolves 70 points, but the Wolves had to play in wheelchairs.
Led by Burke, the Cruisers beat the Wolf Pack by 2 points, 77 to 75. All had a good time, and the varsity basketball players developed a new appreciation for life with a disability – and some sore arm muscles.
“It was just the right combination of fun and competition,” said Orr of the event.
Wanting to build on the leadership experience gained by organizing the basketball game, Burke attended the Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) in Sacramento this summer. Sponsored by the Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, a part of the Employment Development Department, the forum brings youths with visible and hidden disabilities together to live, laugh and learn with each other for five days. Of thousands of applicants, Burke was selected to be one of 60 participants this year.
The conference included leadership development exercises, small group discussions, and meetings with legislators to discuss issues impacting the disabled community. The objective of the conference is to prepare students with disabilities to reach their career goals and lead independent lives.
For Burke, the conference was eye opening. Familiar with the challenges she faces daily, some of the exercises helped her see the variety of challenges faced by people with other disabilities. The conference provided her with tools to be a proactive leader for the rights of the disabled community, and it made her feel the outlook for the disabled is brighter now than ever before.
Burke wants to use her experience at the Youth Leadership Forum to spearhead an effort to start a disability awareness day at her school. She hopes the effort will include the opportunity for students to live a day with a simulated disability. Her hope is this exercise will deepen the understanding her peers have for challenges faced by the disabled.
Even though college is two years away, Burke is already making plans for life after high school. With her sights set on attending the University of Arizona in Tucson, Burke plans to continue her academic and athletic career through college. The school has strong wheelchair basketball and tennis teams. Ideally, Burke would love to play on those teams while studying to be a pediatric nurse. Being a nurse would allow her to give to other sick kids some of the support she has received from the nurses who have helped her.
“With a lot of nurses, I am just a teenager,” says Burke. “They come into the room and just talk to me. They don’t treat me like a medical case.”
And Burke knows about being a “medical case.” She has spent a lot of time in hospitals, enduring a total of 15 surgeries. Many have been on her back, but others have been on her ankles, hips and neck.
But the surgeries are history for now, and she is busy shopping for school clothes and planning for her future.
Perhaps that is the most striking thing about Burke. Through her positive outlook and strong will, her disability is “no big deal.” She is just another teenager getting ready for the new school year.
Community Briefs: Tango and Jazz at City Center | Alamo and Danville road closuresApril 3, 2026 9:31 am
