By Pam Brice
For The Herald
MILL CREEK – For two students and a faculty member at Heatherwood Middle School, wheeling around in a wheelchair to classes, lunch and recess is a fact of life.
For 30 students who volunteered this week to use the chairs, it was an eye-opening experience.
As part of Mobility Awareness Week, two students from each grade level volunteered to use a wheelchair so they could see what it’s really like.
“It was extremely hard for me to get to my classes because I’m in the portables, and going up and down the ramps is difficult,” 14-year-old Ryan McFadden said.
“There’s a lot of people who think it’s funny and want to push you around, but it’s not because you are not in control of it,” 13-year-old Kyle Meakins said.
Twelve-year-old Anthony Cruz said his grandfather is in a wheelchair, “and I wanted to see what it was like for my grandpa. It gives you a sense of helplessness going up and down hills. I felt like I was going to fall, and you get so tired of pushing and pushing.”
Anna Johnson, 12, said she fastened the seat belt to keep herself from wanting to get up and walk.
The program was designed to help students become more aware of the challenges people who are disabled face. Wheelchairs Northwest out of Bellevue donated the wheelchairs to the school for the project.
“It’s teaching them the etiquette of being around special needs kids and helping them be aware of the obstacles they may cause,” paraeducator Jean Sarcletti said.
The students found it’s a lot harder than they think. They talked about having to watch for doors closing on them, keeping their fingers out of the spokes and controlling the chairs when going down ramps. They also learned about empathy.
“I learned that sometimes when you see people in wheelchairs and you think it’s all fun riding around, it’s not- it’s a lot harder than you think,” Cruz said.
“You’ve got to be respectful for people in wheelchairs and watch out for them,” said Christina Past, 12.
Pamela Brice is a staff writer for the Enterprise weekly newspapers. You can call her at 425-673-6522 or send e-mail to brice@heraldnet.com
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