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As the years have passed, the University has made considerable progress toward improving campus life for disabled persons-- renovations have occurred, organizations and committees have materialized and retreats have been held. Now, disability awareness is being brought to the classroom.

This semester Communication Processes and Disability, a team-taught class which concentrates on a range of disability issues is being offered. Through guest speakers, simulation activities, outside mentors and reflective readings and writings, the communicative actualities linked to disability are explored.

“Our goal is to increase awareness. This has to do with University’s mission-- to encourage people to care for others with physical difficulties,” asserted the Rev. Shawn Tracy, O.S.A. of Campus Ministry.

With Father Tracy, Paula Michal-Johnson, associate professor of communication and Margie Kernicky, a disabilities advocate, co-teach the class. Father Tracy facilitates the classroom, while Michal-Johnson acts as an academic resource. Kernicky, who faces the challenges of living with a disability, is referred to as the professional advisor.

Having been associated with the University for 25 years, Kernicky frequently speaks to the class from personal experience. Other speakers have also shared narratives about how their experiences with a disability have influenced the way they view and interact in the world. “While we cannot offer students a full sense of what having a disability means, we can open the life experiences of people with disabilities to them,” stated Michal-Johnson.

To further convey this message, the students took a simulated tour of the University in order to investigate the parts of campus that are and are not accessible while being in a wheelchair, on crutches or blindfolded. “This experience taught me the many challenges people with disabilities have to deal with just to get around. Margie as our leader, pointed out all the difficulties she and others have to face,” noted junior Kelly Ottenbreit.

The class is also linked with the Inglis House, an independent living arrangement for adults with disabilities. The residents, who have knowledge to share, serve as mentors to the students as they learn more about disabilities. Senior Jessie Finkelstein speculated: “The most important lesson I have learned from my mentor is people with disabilities are not their disability. My mentor has been an inspiration strengthening my belief that anybody can achieve anything they set their mind to.”

There are about 15 students enrolled in the class; it is primarily taken by communication majors as an elective course. According to Father Tracy, what bound the students together was knowing someone disabled in a certain aspect. Thus he hopes his students will leave the course “enlightened intellectually and having a deep sense of compassion for a common place in the human family.”

Kernicky concurred: “Somewhere along life’s journey, all of the students will be touched by what they saw, heard, read, or experienced firsthand. This is what is so encouraging and heartwarming for me to witness-- to realize that the world will be a more accepting and welcoming place for future generations of people with disabilities."