Walking BlindfoldedNoah Swimmer ran into the wall while trying to make his way across the room using a blindfold and cane.
"It's impossible because everything is totally black," said Noah, a fourth-grader at Roosevelt Elementary School. "It makes it much easier to appreciate what handicapped people go through."
All fourth-graders at Roosevelt participated Friday in a disability awareness workshop, sponsored by Oakland Schools. The program, which started several years ago by two parents in Rochester schools, is a hands-on workshop that helps students become more aware of the needs of people with disabilities.
While West Bloomfield schools have participated for five years, it was a first for Roosevelt.
Promoting Awareness"It promotes awareness of the disabilities and lets them experience what people with disabilities go through," school social worker Mary Matich said. "It also teaches them compassion."
Students rotated through four stations and tested crutches, prosthetics, vision goggles, talking calculators, Braille machines, head pointers, adaptive silverware and hearing aids. They also played catch with one arm tied down and did dot-to-dot games using a mirror to demonstrate a learning disability.
In addition, they measured the height of doorways, handles and drinking fountains to verify that they met Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.
Difficulties Using a WheelchairStudent Delaney Hofmann had difficulty maneuvering a wheelchair through obstacles.
"You have to be really strong to turn the wheels," Delaney said. "The hardest part was trying to hold the door open and wheel through it."
Thirishika Bala fumbled as she tried to button a shirt and tie a shoe while wearing gloves.
"Having a disability doesn't make you any worse or any better than anyone else," she said. "We're all the same, and should all be treated the same."
Reprinted with permisson from the West Bloomfield Eccentric |