UIS events will mark Disability Awareness Week

SPRINGFIELD – The University of Illinois at Springfield’s Office of Disability Services, Delta Sigma Omicron, Office of Student Life, Inter-Club Council Board, Student Activities Committee, and Speaker’s Bureau will sponsor a number of activities during Disability Awareness Week, March 31 through April 4. All events will be held on the UIS campus and are free and open to the public.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, displays will be available in the Public Affairs Center concourse that will explain and distribute information about a number of area organizations and the services they provide.

Monday, March 31, has been designated Deaf/Hard of Hearing Awareness Day. Organizations featured in the exhibit area will include Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois, Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation, Illinois Commission for the Deaf, Springfield Center for Independent Living, and Plug It! (an awareness tool).

From 10 to 11 a.m. in PAC conference room G, H.E.A.R. and the Illinois School for the Deaf will present a program on “Deaf Culture.”

At 7 p.m. in the Student Center, located in the Student Life Building, comedienne Kathy Buckley will perform. Buckley, who is hearing impaired, is a four-time American Comedy Award nominee as best stand-up female performer and has appeared on The Tonight Show with

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Jay Leno and the Howard Stern Show. Note: Buckley’s performance contains mature material and is not intended for younger audiences.

Tuesday, April 1, is Physical Disabilities Awareness Day. Organizations explaining and demonstrating their services on Tuesday include DHS-Office of Rehabilitation Services, Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois, SCIL, Personal Mobility, Quad Sports, and the Occupational and Physical Therapy departments and Rehabilitation Services at Memorial Medical Center. Staff will present simulations and maneuvering relating to accessibility. An adaptive technology showcase will demonstrate the Dragon Dictate, Cirque Cruise Cat keyboard, and Intellikeys software programs.

At 6:30 p.m in the UIS Gym, the Sixth Annual Wheel Chair Basketball Game will pit the

UIUC Whizz Kids against the UIS Wheelies, a team of faculty, staff, and students. The UIS pep band and cheerleaders will perform. For over 50 years, the University of Illinois wheelchair athletics program has sent athletes and coaches into competition at world championships and the Paralympics. The men’s team recently finished third at the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament in Whitewater, Wisconsin, and will play in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Division I Regional Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona, at the end of March.

Wednesday, April 2, is Visual Disabilities Awareness Day. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the PAC concourse, staff from SCIL and the UIS Career Services Office will offer tips to help individuals with disabilities interview for both jobs and internships.

Organizations represented in the display area will include WUIS Reading Information Service, UIS Office of Student Volunteers and Service Learning, UIS Counseling Center, and Service Animals. The adaptive technology showcase will feature demonstrations of Job Access With Speech, Zoom Text, and CCTV.

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Thursday, April 3, is Psychiatric Disabilities Awareness Day. Organizations in the display area will include the UIS Counseling Center and Vine Street Clinic.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in PAC E, Karla Carwile, director of Disability Services at UIS, will present a program on “Teaching Students with Disabilities.”

At 7 p.m. the Academy Award-winning movie A Beautiful Mind will be shown in Brookens Auditorium, located in the lower level of Brookens Library. The film is based on the true story of John Forbes Nash Jr., a mathematical genius and schizophrenic who, with the help of his wife and colleagues, struggled with his illness for many years and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. A Beautiful Mind stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, and Jennifer Connelly.

Friday, April 4, is Learning Disabilities Awareness Day. The Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois and SCIL will be featured in the display area. The adaptive technology showcase will demonstrate Dragon Dictate, Text Help Gold, Kurzweil 3000, Read and Write, and ABBY FINE Reader.

From noon to 1 p.m. in PAC E, Rachael Sjostrom will give a presentation for academic advisers of students with disabilities.

UIS campus facilities are fully accessible to the mobility-impaired. For more information about any of these events, contact the UIS Office of Disability Services at 206-6666 (TTY 206-6668).

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