Students Learn Challenges of Being Disabled

People often imagine what it would be like to go through life without the ability to see, hear or walk.

But to make these physical impairments more real, preschool students at Horizon Hills School pretended on Wednesday that they were disabled as part of a weeklong program called “Ability Awareness Days.”

Teachers wanted to give able-bodied pupils “a greater understanding of differences,” said special education teacher Carol Hanson.

As the children sat in wheelchairs and wore partially blacked-out glasses while doing simple tasks, it was apparent many were getting the point of the exercises.

“My grandmother must have good muscles,” Erin Mitchell, 4, told a teacher as she pushed herself down the sidewalk in a wheelchair.

Although Erin and her classmates spent some of the time joking around on crutches and walkers, “they’re learning this is not just a fun thing,” said Alan Murray, principal for a county-run special education program at Horizon Hills.

At stations set up on classroom tables, children donned bulky socks over their hands and then tried to string Cheerios on shoelaces. They strapped on knee braces and climbed stairs. They wore airport headphones and learned what it was like to have a hearing disability.

All throughout the session, teachers would ask, “What if you couldn’t talk?” “What if you couldn’t hear?”

It was unclear whether Colby Milham , 4, was frustrated with pretending to be physically impaired or just hungry when he gave up trying to sew Cheerio’s with his sock-covered hand and began eating the round cereal pieces.

Still, his mother was impressed with the activities.

“We don’t know anybody with disabilities,” Julie Milham said. “This might help.”