Students learn about disabilities first-hand

[Guest guest]

Students learn about disabilities first-hand

By D.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20080207/LOCAL0101/802070315/1015/LOCAL01

" Oh no! " he mumbles each time he runs into the wall and has to push

away.

Austin, 10, finally makes it to the water fountain but struggles to

reach the stream of water from his seat.

" You can't lift your body, " Ann ston, a parent volunteer,

reminded him. " You can't use your legs. "

Austin improvises and moves his wheelchair to sit at an angle to the

fountain, allowing him to lean over to the side, tilt his head and

take a drink. " I barely got a drink, " he said. " I only got my tongue

wet. "

Austin was participating with his fourth-grade class in the Everybody

Counts program at Cherry Tree Elementary last week. The program,

which involves all grade levels, teaches kids about physical and

mental disabilities by making them experience the challenges that

come with them, said Barb Dauby, who has coordinated the program at

Cherry Tree for five years. Each grade level learns about different

disabilities, including visual, hearing and motor impairments.

" The purpose of this is for you to see what it feels like, " Kenya

Cobb, a parent volunteer, told fourth-graders. " If you see someone

who has a disability, you need to know how you can help. "

Austin realized just how tough it would be to use a wheelchair daily.

" Every time I tried to stop, I just slid, " he said. " Every time I

tried to turn, I went the other way. "

Students also used walkers and crutches to move down a hallway, with

their legs bound together at their knees.

Kaley Dickerson, 10, used a walker while trying to carry books.

" These are really heavy books, " she said while struggling down the

hallway.

In another room, students put socks on their dominant hand and taped

their thumb and pointer finger together on their other hand to

understand how it would be to have limited hand function.

Students attempted to cut paper, button a shirt and use spoons to eat.

" You're at the grocery store and you just dropped all your money,

your best homework, and your pencils, " said parent volunteer Barbara

Will Conway as she threw those items on the floor. " What do you do? "

She reminded them that they couldn't bend over because they had to

pretend they had back and leg problems.

Broad used a reacher -- a long pole with a clasping mechanism

at the bottom -- to grip the items. " That was hard, " said. " It

makes me feel pretty bad for them (people with disabilities). "