A group of volunteers spends a week in wheelchairs to learn about the challenges facing their handicapped classmates.

08:14 AM EDT on Thursday, April 15, 2004

BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer

Journal photo / Bill Murphy Chris Fernandes gets a hand ascending a ramp to the library at Rhode Island College. Fernandes was one of eight RIC students who are using wheelchairs to get around campus this week.

PROVIDENCE -- Chris Fernandes is 6 feet tall and weighs 195 pounds, most of it muscle. A physical-education major, he loves lifting weights. He also uses a wheelchair.

Yesterday morning, his physical-education class moves outside to measure their stride or pace. "Walk naturally," his professor, Karen Castagno, tells everyone.

For Fernandes, she modifes the exercise, marking one of his wheels with a piece of blue tape. She tells him to count each rotation, which she says will be the equivalent of one stride.

It starts to rain. Water pools in Fernandes' lap, soaking the seat of his chair. When he's on the move, he cradles an oversized blue umbrella in his lap.

When the class goes back inside, everyone but Fernandes takes the stairs. He takes the elevator. When the door closes, it shuts out the easy chatter from the hallways.

"I feel a little out of the loop," he says.

After class, Fernandes, wearing jogging clothes and a trim beard, wheels uphill, toward the library. Already winded, he pauses before a steep ramp. "Need a ride, man?" a young man asks, then pushes him up the ramp.

"I don't like asking for help," says Fernandes, a junior from Cumberland. "I'm very stubborn. It's an ego thing, I guess."

In the Donovan Dining Center on the Rhode Island College campus, Fernandes goes to get a cup of coffee, but the counter is too wide. It doesn't matter. He can't carry an open cup of coffee and maneuver his chair, especially when there are ramps and bumpy roads to negotiate.

By the end of the day, Fernandes' arms and shoulders ache; his hands are blackened from handling the wheels.

This week, Fernandes and seven other students had a chance to experience campus life through the prism of someone using a wheelchair.

During lunch yesterday, the students gathered at the Unity Center to share what it was like to navigate Rhode Island College from a different vantage point.

Jetzabel Rosado, a freshman at RIC, read from her journal:

Journal photo / Bill Murphy Fernandes balances a book on his lap as he works with fellow students, from left, Josh Nelson of Burrillville, and Leigh Simbrow and Alexis Bouchard, both of Warren.

"I kept getting stuck," says Sarah Damueda, a freshman. "I wanted to cry. By the time I got to class, I was wet and stinky."

"I rolled from point A to point B and my arms were killing me," says Nyisha Conry, who only lasted 10 minutes. "I was banging into walls. I couldn't get out of the door."

While most of the students were treated with kindness and respect, a few experienced the casual thoughtlessness that disabled people sometimes endure.

When Stephanie Alexander wheeled into the dining hall to buy a deli sandwich, the cashier said, "Hurry up. I don't have all day."

"Some of my friends didn't say hi to me," Rosado says. "They didn't want to have anything to do with me, but I'm the same person. I didn't change."

Access Challenge was the brainchild of Dana Wright, a student intern in the multicultural affairs office who relies on a wheelchair to get around campus. The program was sponsored by the Unity Center and the Office of Student Disabilities.

Besides getting a wheelchair, each participant received a camera and a journal to document their thoughts and feelings. Some students did it for a day; others, like Fernandes, are doing it for a week. Gary Penfield, vice president of student affairs, attended a day's worth of meetings in a wheelchair.

In February, the college held a four-day training session on disability awareness for faculty and staff. Another session is planned next month.

"It's one thing to be in compliance" with disability laws, says Aaron Bruce, director of the Unity Center. "It's another thing to be welcoming."

The experience was nothing short of revelatory.

"I always empathized with Dana before," sophomore Kemi Price says. "Now I know what it feels like."

Says Rosado, "I won't ever take my legs for granted."