The Essential News > Volume 1 Issue 1

Kids step into lives of the disabled

A program boosts empathy as students experience obstacles faced by others.

Taken from the Sacramento Bee and Kim Minugh -- Bee Staff Writer

Writing your name while looking into a mirror is a confusing exercise, marred with stray lines, misshapen letters and maddening frustration.

But the experience could be something like what Albert Einstein felt when he attempted to put his revolutionary theories on paper.

Einstein, who many say was dyslexic, is one of countless famous figures - and thousands of everyday people - believed to have struggled with a learning disability.

Through Granite Bay-based A Touch of Understanding, thousands of students are getting a glimpse into the mind-bending worlds some of their peers inhabit.

"This is kind of weird," said one fifth-grader participating in a hands-on presentation at Rio Linda Elementary School last week.

His neighbor squinted hard while concentrating on his shaky pencil in the mirror, his tongue peeking out of the side of his mouth.

"Is it confusing?" asked volunteer Ed Ennis. The students mutter "yes" in exasperation.

"Remember, people with learning disabilities have to deal with this confusion all the time. We have to respect our classmates with learning disabilities because they have to work extra hard."

So hard, in fact, it can be exhausting.

"You gotta try that," one wide-eyed student warned dramatically, as another group of students shuffled over to the mirror-writing exercise. "You cannot do that."

Through a series of six stations, A Touch of Understanding volunteers spent the morning trying to demystify disabilities that many people cope with. The organization, founded by Granite Bay resident Leslie DeDora, has visited an estimated 17,000 students in about 12 years.

The activities include walking blind with a cane, operating a wheelchair, examining orthopedic and prosthetic limbs, reading and writing in Braille, and writing while looking at a mirror's reflection.

In the last station, students listened to speakers who are living with a disability.

A presentation for about 30 students costs the school $300 - far below the approximately $1,400 actual cost to A Touch of Understanding, which covers transportation and insurance, DeDora said.

Creating empathy on her campus is an important and worthwhile goal, said Kelli Hanson, principal at Rio Linda Elementary. Her school houses three special education classes and some students with disabilities - including Tourette's syndrome and Down syndrome - have been mainstreamed into regular education classrooms.

"We wanted to build tolerance not only within our special education program but our regular education program," Hanson said. "We're trying to develop a community here of learners, and we're all learners, whether we have disabilities or not."

Similarly, volunteer Frank Burgett said the purpose is to help students realize that they share many more similarities with disabled people than differences.

"They know that they're not different. They're the same as you," he said. "It breaks down the barriers."

At the orthopedic and prosthetic station, volunteer Jackie Callahan explained various apparatus from back braces to replacement limbs.

"This looks a little spooky, but it really isn't. It was made for a little boy whose fingers didn't work," she said, holding up an arm brace with metal casings for each finger.

Without it, the boy had been helpless. But Callahan demonstrated how a flick of her wrist prompted the brace to open and close her fingers.

The apparatus changed the boy's life.

"You sure wouldn't want mom feeding you if you didn't have to (be fed)," she said.

In a separate classroom, speakers Nancy Sawhney and Pam Gehrts shared inspiring stories of how they have adapted to their own disabilities.

Sawhney, of Sacramento, uses a wheelchair because she lacks control of her left leg. To assist her in daily activities, she relies on Union Pacific Railroad - an 11-year-old golden retriever-black Labrador mix she affectionately calls "Uni."

Giving orders like "get" and "give," Sawhney demonstrated how Uni carefully retrieves dropped items and places them back into her owner's lap.

"You're doing wonderful," Sawhney coos as Uni retrieves a backpack. "Isn't she great?"
Sawhney reminded students to treat everyone with respect.

"We're all different. We all have certain abilities and disabilities," she said. "It's really important that we recognize that in one another."

Gehrts, of Granite Bay, has lived with Parkinson's disease for 14 years. Though once plagued with tremors that required her to use a wheelchair, she now stands tall, still and proud.

One year ago, two pacemaker-like devices were implanted into her chest. They send electric impulses deep into her brain via wires, slowing the effects of the debilitating disease.

Gehrts encouraged students to brighten the day of people with disabilities with a smile or a simple "hello."

"I want you guys to realize I am just like you guys. I like ice cream, and I like to be with friends," she said. "Don't ignore them, don't stare. Treat them just like anybody else."

Ten-year-old Amber Morgan said she will remember the presentation if she meets somebody with a disability.

"I would treat them the same as everyone else," she said, and then added thoughtfully, "as I would treat my friends."