Lakefield Herald Special Report

‘Time in My Shoes’ at St. Paul’s School

by Jamie Steel

Whether they were completing an obstacle course, playing wheelchair basketball, experimenting with sledge hockey or learning what it’s like to be blind, students at St. Paul’s Catholic School were taught a little about what it’s like to live with a disability.

The Time in My Shoes event on Monday (Dec. 12), hosted by the Accessibility Awareness Committee of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, focused more on the abilities of people with disabilities, says committee chair Alec Denys.

“We’re teaching them what it’s like to be in a wheelchair,” he says. “Were trying to show it’s not a terrible thing.”

Denys was instructing the kids through the obstacle course of opening a door, pouring a glass of water, traveling across a mat and going up a ramp, all while in a wheelchair.

If they made it through the door and managed to pour the water without soaking themselves, students worked their upper body strength as they struggled to go up the ramp. Once they did, however, they certainly seemed to enjoy the ride down.

Back in the gymnasium students gave wheelchair basketball and sledge hockey a chance. As they sped around in the chairs, fighting the urge to stand up to grab a ball or take a shot, students on the other side, playing sledge hockey, had a hard time moving at all without the use of their legs.

“They think this is really quite fun,” Denys says, as a student rolls by.

He says last year at the same event held at a Warsaw school, a young girl wanted to buy a chair because she enjoyed it so much.

In the other end of the school a group of students learned about blindness and the challenges and abilities of those who are legally blind.

Asher, a yellow lab guide dog, was on site to demonstrate a few of the commands he’s been taught since he was two months old.

The program kicked off at 9:45 a.m. and continued throughout the school day.

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