IRVINE : Suddenly, a Life Full of Obstacles

Looking at the world through three pinholes poked in a pair of paper eyeglasses to simulate a visual disability, Christi Boettcher managed to overcome her first obstacle: ordering a photocopy from a store near UC Irvine.

But she encountered a problem when the cashier asked for 15 cents.

“Oh, this is fun,” Boettcher, 21, said Thursday afternoon as she held coins to her face, looking for the correct change.

Boettcher was one of 15 volunteers from the community who agreed to feign a disability while participating in a scavenger hunt around the shopping center. The city, the university and Irvine Valley College organized the scavenger hunt at the Market Place near UCI to help the volunteers become more aware of some of the problems faced by the disabled. October is National Disability Awareness Month.

Each volunteer teamed up with a disabled person to search for items such as a single coffee bean from a coffee shop and a rental application form from a nearby apartment complex. Each volunteer adopted the disability of their partner, many of whom are members of the Irvine Residents With Disabilities Advisory Board.

For one hour, the shopping center was full of clumsily operated wheelchairs as participants went from store to store looking for items.

“It’s easy when the doors are open,” said Bari Rudmann, a counselor for disabled students at Irvine Valley College. “But when they’re closed, it’s a big problem.”

Rudmann, who wheeled herself from a video store where she picked up an application form to rent videos, likened the experience to learning how to drive. She learned some tips on using a wheelchair from volunteer Aldo Sartor, 64, who has been using a wheelchair for seven years since an accident.

When Rudmann later tried to get to the UCI library, she ran out of arm strength before she got to the bridge that crosses Campus Drive from the shopping center to UCI. The bridge includes a steep ramp that Rudmann needed help ascending.

After the hourlong event, Boettcher gave her white cane back to her partner, Catherine Schmitt, 21, who has been nearly blind since birth. One of her biggest problems, Boettcher said, were negotiating stairways.

Bart Hansen, a Newport Beach developer, said his hour in a wheelchair gave him a new perspective on getting around. “An inch of concrete you have to climb when you’re walking doesn’t even come to mind as a problem,” he said. “But it’s a major obstacle when you’re in a wheelchair.”