Today's highlight was our trip to the Ability Center. I think it was probably my favorite experience so far. Their program is extremely effective for bringing awareness about people with disabilities. When they showed the video "The Ten Commandments For Talking With People with Disabilities", I learned a lot on how you should treat people with disabilities. Most of the rules were just plain common manners, but it made me sad to see that there were people out there who did everything wrong when it came to interacting with them.
Watching the movie reminded me of a girl I used to go to school with in 6th grade. Her name was Bridgette Crawford. When the host of the video turned out to have cerebral palsy, that's when I remembered her and her legacy. As the host talked about all the things he was able to do and how successful he was, I thought of her. Bridgette was truly a bright girl; she also had cerebral palsy. She was one of the sweetest girls, but a few of my classmates always alienated her. I used to sit next her in class all the time because of our assigned seating, so I knew her a little better than others. She turned out to be a leader for children with disabilities- by the end of the year, she was organizing marathon walks, hosting fundraisers, and speaking out about cerebral palsy. It made me so proud to see her like that. I feel like everyone should support the disabled and help them get their voice out there. Sometimes they're left with themselves silence, and that isn't fair to them. They deserve the love and support anyone else would get.
Anyways, the activities that we did throughout the day were also eye-opening. I think everyone's favorite one was the PB&J activity. I liked that one too, but I really liked the talk the lady who was legally blind gave us. It was pretty amazing how she didn't get depressed or angry when she lost her sight. It made me grateful for my own sight - despite needing contacts/glasses to see - and I felt a lot of respect for her and her ability to adapt.
All in all, I think the visit to the Ability Center was worth it. I felt like it put a lot of things in perspective for me, and I'd be more than happy to help out there if need be.
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