Cafe252 Craziness

I was in charge of coordinating this weeks activity experience of adaptive dining. As a group we played off of the idea of making a "dining experience." Included in the experience were three tables with 6 chairs. Each filled with a person with a disability and a CTRS to guide them all through the dining experience. Each person had their own specific cue-card with potential situations that could arise due to their specific disability. My specific role was to act as the waitress of the dining experience at "Cafe252." My duty was to act "not-accommodating" and then switch to accommodating half way through the activity. The entire activity turned out to be quite the experience, to say the LEAST!

I witnessed some things that I will never forget, many of which apply directly to my professional development. I learned that as crazy as this experience may have been.. that it was very real. For example, taking clients/patients out to a community outing. Real situations that I may encounter dealing with accessibility barriers, knowledge and training of the waitstaff, behavior episodes, accommodations, and adaptions.

I learned a lot from facilitating this activity and being able to observe most of the classroom behavior with an insider's perspective. However, on a personal level, I learned that it was very difficult for me to be "not-accommodating." I was cautiously reprimanded by waitstaff to be more unaccommodating. Dealing with the people with disabilities and treating them poorly was against everything in my bones! It was very counter-instinctual to raise my voice to the the blind person, to not looking directly at the person with Cerebral Palsy, to not communicate directly to the person, rather the CTRS. It was all so wrong. It reiterates why we have courtesy rules and why we advocate for the rights and proper treatment of people with disabilities.

I believe this activities had many opportunities to strive for excellence. The activity was very HANDS ON and required myself and my classmates to really get INTO character. I would like to say kudos to my entire class and most especially my PROFESSOR :)) Heather! I believe because I stepped out of my comfort zone and got into character it allowed for my peers to do so as well. Heather.... you raised the bar and exceeded expectations for character and for that you deserve this short and sweet Strive for Excellence-Winner of the Week!

SEE PICTURE: Note Heather flying a paper airplane!