Events give a sense of life with a disability

The Associated Students for Empowerment hosted Disability Awareness Day on Friday to help the UNM community appreciate the day-to-day experience of being disabled.

The ASE hosted several activities to show able-bodied individuals what it is like to be disabled, including wheelchair basketball and a blindfold obstacle course.

High school student Carter Radzka participated in the wheelchair challenge. He said moving through campus in a wheelchair wasn’t easy.

“We see people who are handicapped around, but we never have the opportunity to experience it,” he said. “After trying out being in a wheelchair, it’s shocking how much they have to go through every day just to get simple things done.”

Albuquerque’s wheelchair basketball team, the Kings, encouraged people to sit in a wheelchair and play basketball with them. Jake Schmalzriedt, a representative for the team, said the Kings began at UNM and are always looking for more student participation.

“All you need is any type of lower-limb disability,” he said. “It could be as severe as an amputee, or as little as having a blown-out knee. This team was started by UNM students about 30 years ago, and now it is half community and half students.”

The city of Albuquerque’s Human Rights Office hosted a booth providing courses for people with disabilities. Juanita C. Martinez, the investigations officer for the office, said it hears many concerns from disabled members of the UNM community who want campus resources to be more accessible.

“It’s important that not only the educators here become more aware, but the campus itself becomes more universal,” Martinez said. “Hopefully this awareness day will not only broaden awareness but also open up a possible dialogue on campus to get people talking about these issues and advocate change.”

Patricia Small, an instructional media specialist at the
Accessibility Resource Center, said UNM educates faculty members on disability accommodations.
“Faculty are getting more educated about it,” Small said. “We send letters out. Our Web site has more instruction on it.”

The National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico also had an information booth at Disability Awareness Day. Senior Tara Sena, one of the students running the booth, said being blind isn’t a problem that separates her from the community.

“I want the community to know that blindness is merely a physical nuisance,” she said. “It is nothing to be ashamed of. I can do whatever I want, and just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I am any different than the rest of the world.”