Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

First-grader Kaela Townsend experiences what it's like to get around in a wheelchair.

Wheelchairs in classroom provide lesson in empathy

By Shari Kaplan

By incorporating three wheelchairs into her classroom for an entire week, Louise Van Meter first-grade teacher Sandy Yellenberg teaches her students not only understanding but true empathy for physically challenged children and adults.

Each of Yellenberg's students only spent a few hours during the week experiencing life from a seated perspective, in contrast to the many individuals who use wheelchairs as a part of everyday life. But those few hours were enough to make a lasting impression.

Yellenberg said this year, like last year, some students felt uneasy touching or sitting in the wheelchairs at first, but became more comfortable following activities such as maneuvering around an outside slalom course of school chairs or scooting across the room.

This year's wheelchairs were procured by David Efferson of Wheelchairs of San Mateo. He often uses a wheelchair himself because his legs were weakened by polio, which he explained to the class when he brought the chairs in.

"This completely demystifies wheelchairs for 6-year-olds. It also teaches them problem-solving skills on how to look at things from different angles," Yellenberg explained. "They learn that help isn't really help unless someone is asking for it. Kids want a sense of accomplishment, and this is the best way to show them that other people want it, too.

"The response my kids have been getting from other kids is great. The other students are stopping and watching, and you can tell that everybody wants a turn," she added.

Students Jane Riley and Justin Maynard both agreed that "rolling around" in the chairs was great fun. Eric Odell liked that, too, but added he didn't like trying to get a drink from the water fountain. Other students had to help him get to the faucet.

"You don't always get to do stuff that everybody else is doing--like planting seeds," Eric said as the class was involved in filling cups with dirt and transplanting vegetable seedlings.

Darien Martin, who was having trouble getting classmates to bring her dirt and cups, learned firsthand the frustration of losing some of her independence. Yellenberg explained to the class that when they take turns, they should remember to include kids in wheelchairs.

"I don't like [being in a wheelchair] because I can't walk and run and play, or do the monkey bars," Darien added.

When classmate Courtney Mardis had similar problems with the seed-planting, Yellenberg reminded her that until her hour was up, she couldn't get out of the chair and would need to figure out how to do things herself or ask for assistance.

"When you're in a wheelchair, do you like it when other people push you or help you?" Yellenberg asked her students, reminding them to do things for their wheelchair-using classmates only when asked.

"One kid pushed me, but I didn't want to be pushed. I want to learn how to turn and do it by myself," Jordan Corey said.

To further encourage students' empathy and awareness that week, Yellenberg held oral and written activities for students to think about different issues related to disabilities. They also learned and sang one of Yellenberg's favorite songs--she calls it "I've Got a Friend"--in which blind, physically and mentally challenged characters tell of how they are more the same than "different."