UMD Crash Course
by Traci Ohlenkamp
On March 9, 2005 disability awareness was everywhere at the University
of Minnesota Duluth. Access For All, the only student organization
on campus that promotes disability awareness, sponsored a one of a
kind event in the Kirby Ballroom. Students, faculty, and community
members were invited to attend a Disability Crash Course. This all
day event offered the Duluth community the chance to gather information
about different disabilities, hear special speaker presentations, and
participate in simulations.
This year the Crash Course was proud to have presenters from Canine
Companions for Independence, Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, University
of MN-Duluth Communication Disorders Department, and Deaf and Hard
of Hearing Services. There were also tables with information and technology
for Autism Spectrum Disorders and Learning Disability.
Crash Course visitors
were invited to participate in an “unfair
spelling test” where they experienced what it might be like
to have a moderate, mild, or severe hearing loss. Lastly, the Crash
Course offered an inside look at what traveling around the UMD.
campus in a wheelchair is all about. Visitors got the chance to
traverse the campus in wheelchairs borrowed from Courage Duluth.
A door prize raffle,
a free pizza lunch during a special Canine Companions presentation,
and the promise of extra credit for class brought in students
by the handful. Others attended just to ask questions and see what’s
new in the world of disability. Attendance for the event
doubled from 150 in 2004 to 300 this year.
Next year Access For
All will have the goal of increasing attendance yet again. This
will mean adding new presenters, finding more simulations, and
offering more free food for those poor starving students. As the
student coordinator of Access For All I can say that my main goal
for the Crash Course is for visitors to walk in with questions
and walk out with an open mind. All it takes is one group, like
Access For All, to make a huge difference on a campus of 10,000
people in a city of 80,000 people. 300 people left our event with
a better picture of what disability culture is all about. That’s
a great start. Now we just have to reach the other 79,700.
Traci Ohlenkamp is the Student Coordinator of Access For All at the
University of Minnesota Duluth.
