Thursday, March 7, 2013
Disability is a condition that results from limitations imposed on an individual
– with or even without diagnosed medical conditions – from external factors.
— Gilson and DePoy (2006) at a presentation at the University of Michigan
Planning for Walk & Roll in My Shoes has begun for 2013 in which several key administrators, faculty, staff and students experience a life-altering — perhaps life-enhancing — day by living outside their comfort zones.
Student Disability Services and the Office of Access and Equity will provide an opportunity for participants to accept a diagnosis which will fundamentally alter their ability to perform one or more everyday activities.
Participants will be assigned a particular disability such as a learning disability, vision or hearing loss, lower limb amputation, stroke, or a physical challenge that requires the use of crutches or a wheelchair. The day will begin when student “shadows” meet their participants and deliver the following information:
- A diagnosis of a specific disability,
- A range of limitations related to the disability,
- A list of typical accommodations for the disability,
- Strategies for coping with the disability.
Participants will face obstacles and make adjustments. Shadows will remain with participants throughout the day, providing support and consultation on an individual basis as participants begin to walk and roll in someone else’s shoes.
The goals of the Walk & Roll experience are:
- to increase participants’ awareness of disabilities,
- to encourage participants to reject disability assumptions and stereotypes,
- to encourage participants to seek input from individuals with disabilities when addressing the needs of those individual,
- to promote an attitude of inclusion on the University campus, making Clemson a more welcoming place for all members of the Clemson Family.
Disability Resources
Office of Access and Equity
S.C. Commission for the Blind
S.C. Assistive Technology Program
For more information about how you can participate in Walk & Roll in My Shoes, please email: sds-l@clemson.edu.
Imagine losing your voice.
Imagine losing the ability to see.
Imagine losing personal mobility.
Immerse yourself in an awareness event to explore life with a disability — invisible or visible.
Find your new normal.
Resources
In partnership with the “Walk & Roll” program, here are some online resources that are both helpful and relevant:
Characteristics of students with learning disabilities
Information about Universal Design in learning.
The F.A.T. City Workshop
For kids with learning disabilities, the classroom can be an intimidating place. In this video workshop, Richard Lavoie shows why. He leads a group of parents, educators, psychologists, and children through a series of exercises that cause frustration, anxiety and tension ... feelings all too familiar to children with learning disabilities. By dramatizing the classroom experience so vividly, Lavoie lets us see the world through the eyes of a child. At the end of the workshop, participants discuss strategies for working effectively with learning disabled children.
Myths and Facts
Everybody’s fighting some kind of stereotype, and people with disabilities are no exception. The difference is that barriers people with disabilities face begin with people’s attitudes — attitudes often rooted in misinformation and misunderstandings about what it’s like to live with a disability.