Students learn perils of disabled hard way

Riley Prevost, left, leads Davis Rose out of Kory Reimer’s Grade 6 class at St. Andrew’s School March 20. Both chose blindness for their disability during a class exercise. Prevost because he wanted to appreciate the sense of vulnerability and Rose because he wanted to feel the unpredictability of his movements.

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

The simple, every-day abilities of walking or running, holding items with the hands, and communicating – these are things many people, including children, take for granted. But, suddenly or by chance, one or more of these abilities is not there, and the fear of losing personal over one’s life, or compensating by using other senses, comes into play. Even more compelling, the loss of mobility or communication opens the door to ridicule or teasing by others. These are issues two Grade 6 physical education classes at St. Andrew’s School confronted as part of an inclusion activity provided by their teacher, Kory Reimer. Each student chose a disability, such as having the use of only one arm or one leg, and they had to perform their regular activities for an entire school day on March 19-20 with their “disabilities,” including in P.E. “It’s a learning experience for the kids so they can gain awareness,” says Reimer. “It’s a real eye opener for them.” Some students chose to be mutes and put tape over their mouths, while others chose to be blind and put on blindfolds. Having a disability was a frustrating experience for many of the students. Only three out of 17 in the first group – Clay-Ce Badger, Nicholas Marzotko and Riley Prevost – made it through the whole school day. Reimer commends them. “I think the kids who persevered worked hard at it. They suffered through it, and did very well,” says Reimer. Badger used crutches for her disability. She says her arms and one leg became very tired at the end of the day. She fell a few times at recess and during P.E. at the end of day. She played dodge ball and used only one crutch, hopping to one side to avoid the balls. These experiences have made her think twice about wanting to use crutches. “When I was younger, I always thought crutches were fun. But now I know it’s kind of hard to walk around with them,” says Badger. Marzotko chose blindness for his disability. He found it difficult walking through hallways crowded with students. In P.E. he kept throwing the ball at the walls and at a member of his team. Marzotko was also confronted teasing by other students. Someone who was supposed to help lead him around actually led him into poles and he also hit a tree. Other students tried to pull his blindfold down. “It’s really hard to do when everyone’s trying to make it so you fail,” says Marzotko. Ella Cunningham was a mute. She communicated by writing and holding up messages. Ella found being blind very difficult, and she walked into a table in one instance. In addition, like other students, she was teased and other students yelled, “Trip her!” So she poses the question to them, how would they feel if they were to have a disability some day? “It’s really hard. People tease you, and they say things like ‘trip her!’ and they make you run into poles. I could get hurt, and I wonder if they would do that to anyone who was really blind?” asks Cunningham. “That’s really bad to do. They should stop it because, someday, they could have that disability and have other people do it to them.” Both Grade 6 P.E. classes came away with insights into the challenges that people with disabilities have to confront on a daily basis. This inclusion activity is similar to a project Reimer worked on in university. He asked his Grade 6 students, if they were the teacher, would they make other classes participate in a project like this. They said they would.

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