[dis]Ability Awareness Week 2013

[dis]Ability Awareness Week 2013

            This year’s [dis]Ability Awareness Week was a huge success! On Tuesday March 19, the St. Louis Rugby Rams gave an awesome presentation at the Simon Recreation Center for SLU community as well as the general public.  They discussed the rules of wheelchair rugby, the equipment used, and introduced us to the team.  Three of the players traveled to London in 2012 to compete in the Paralympics!  It was an amazing experience to meet all of the players and the managers.  After talking with the audience, they played a scrimmage so that everyone could see the sport in action.  The team brought 2 extra rugby chairs with them to all the attendees to play with them! Many people jumped at this awesome opportunity.

                   

On Wednesday March 20 we had the largest attendance in the history of [dis]Ability Awareness Week when John Foppe came to speak about his life without arms.  John spoke and the emotions, struggles, and successes he has had throughout his life.  All of these things he has experienced have shaped into the successful businessman, husband, father, and friend he is today.  He was truly inspiring to all in attendance!

On Thursday March 21, SLU SOTA partnered with Billikens after Dark to host a trivia night for SLU students!  SLU’s Disability Services Club wrote the questions for the event and challenged everyone’s brains!  Did you know that the ratio for accessible parking spots to general parking spots is 1:25! 

And to conclude our amazing week, we hosted 36 Girl Scouts in grades 2-4 as they worked on achieving their [dis]Ability Awareness Exploration badge created by SLU OT students.  The girls participated in activities such as learning about Therapy Dogs, cooking with a disability, learning person-first language, learning to move around while using adaptive equipment, and seeing how the media portrays people with disabilities.  The girls and the leaders had nothing but great things to say about the experience!

            

Thanks to everyone who helped make [dis]Ability Awareness Week 2013 such a huge success!