Way Too Long

Okay it's been way too long since my last post and I can only say that I have been lazy. Plenty of interesting things have been happening, but I just haven't taken the time to address them on my blog. Let's start with something that is fitting for this blog...disability awareness.

Way back in the fall I had a class of students spend 4 hours in a wheelchair on the campus of Georgia Southern University. There insights and experiences were amazing! In addition, I spent the better part of a day in a wheelchair myself. I taught my classes and went everywhere that I needed to. By the end of the day, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. My hands had massive blisters, my shoulders were sore and perhaps worst of all, my pride was in tatters.

I must have looked particularly pitiful trying to maneuver around campus because several people came to my rescue to help me up some hills. As someone who likes to be very independent, this was very difficult to say the least! I learned several things through this experience.

First, GSU does NOT have a wheelchair friendly campus. The beautiful brick sidewalks are terrible to roll on and there are numerous sidewalks that lead to nowhere. There were several times when I just ran out of sidewalk and had to turn around and go back the way I came. Also, some of the sidewalks are too narrow. If I was on the sidewalk, everyone else had to get off the sidewalk. If I were with friends, they would have had to walk in the grass.

Second, wheeling through parking lots is amazingly unsafe. When sidewalks disappeared, I took my life into my hands and tried to roll through parking lots. I can't see the drivers and because I am not in their normal sight lines, drivers can't see me. It was literally a terrifying experience.

Third, people are friendly and want to help....for the most part. I think that because we don't interact with people in wheelchairs on a regular basis, we don't know what to do or say. People did hold doors and offer assistance which was great, but people definitely were uncomfortable around me and unsure of how to act.

Fourth, I had an entertaining/sad moment. I went to visit a faculty member in another building. This building was a temporary building but the University had added a very manageable ramp leading up to the front entrance. However, when I did reach the front entrance I realized there was a step into the building. I tried for about 10 minutes to "jump" the step. I tried going backward, I tried going forward, I tried holding the door frame and pulling myself up and over, but nothing worked. I finally had to admit defeat and step out of the chair to pull myself in the door.

Finally, I learned that I am tremendously blessed. It is not that I couldn't traverse the campus in a wheelchair; however, it is significantly more difficult to do it in a wheelchair. Remember your abilities and be thankful for them. Don't feel sorry for people in wheelchairs, be active in finding ways to make their transportation easier.