The third-grader gripped one of the wheelchair's wheels, and then the other, pushing and pulling. He was trying to pivot.
"One hand pushes forward, the other hand pushes backwards - that's how you play basketball," the white-hatted, mustachioed man in a wheel chair joked. After getting the hang of it, the third-grader stood up and moved on while another student took his place.
Last Thursday and Friday Coe Elementary School played host to YADA (Youth Awareness Disability Assembly), a nonprofit group that educates students on how life is lived by the disabled.
YADA's goal is to create the kind of educational exposure lacking in past generations when the disabled were severely marginalized.
This was YADA's second visit to Coe.
There were five stations set up, demonstrating the worlds of dyslexia, service dogs, sensory skills, blindness and wheelchair use. Over the course of the two-day sessions students entered the gym 50 to 60 at a time and broke into small groups as they moved around to the various stations. Every few minutes a whistle would blow, and then it was on to the next station.
As students sat on the floor, the volunteer at the dyslexia station used diagrams to explain how the brain works. At the sensory station students tried on special sunglasses that blocked their peripheral vision, while others tried to walk a straight line with a weight on one leg.
Students experienced Braille at the blindness station and heard from a quadriplegic from Paralyzed Vets of America at the other end of the gym. The service dog station provided a comic touch; a big-pawed sheepdog named Marc sometimes slipped over the gym floor as he moved through his paces.
A large, black poodle named Charlie attended with his owner, who lives with epilepsy. Charlie can scent the onset of a seizure up to 15 minutes before it happens.
"I think our educational mission is to understand there are differences, different cultures, different world views," said Coe Principal David Elliott, who watched the proceedings, occasionally calling out encouragement to the students by name.
"This is the world we live in," Elliott said. "It's about learning how to respect and befriend and not feel threatened."
Elliott pointed to the dyslexia station.
"If you see somebody in a wheelchair or with a guide dog, those are obvious things," he said. "But the station on the brain and dyslexia is critical. These kids for whom learning comes easy discover that's not the case for other kids. That doesn't make the kid stupid. It's up to us to make changes, not the [dyslexic] kids."
Joe Volk, 8, approved of the session.
"I think I'll remember it's harder for some people," he said. "And they can't help it."
YADA says it can use more volunteers to help in its mission. To contact YADA, call director Laurie Fike at 425-486-6925.
[[In-content Ad]]
