The inaugural Salt Lake Community College Disability Awareness week will feature memorable performances and inspirational events.
The week’s festivities will kick off on Monday Oct. 29th at the Taylorsville Redwood campus in the Student Event Center with a student panel discussion from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. featuring SLCC students living with disabilities.
Tuesday Oct. 30th will showcase a live performance from Jeremiah Maxey, whose inspirational one-armed guitar playing intends to captivate his audience at the SLCC Jordan campus from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with an additional performance at the same time at South campus on Wednesday Oct. 31st.
Also on Oct. 31st, SLCC Disability Resource Center Director, Candida Darling will be presenting a special event for faculty called, Disability 101, which promises to inform educators about the basics of working with disabled students. This hour long event will begin at noon on the SLCC Taylorsville Redwood campus in room 221 of the Student Center.
The week’s events will conclude on November 1st as the Disability Resource Center will be presenting the award winning film, The Music Within the true life story of disabled Vietnam War veteran, Richard Pimentel. Pimentel will also be the keynote speaker at the event to answer questions and help retell his amazing story.
Darling believes that the culture of disabilities on campus is just as much a part of SLCC’s campus environment as any other culture on campus.
“Sometimes I think people are a little bit afraid of people with disabilities, because they don’t understand,” says Darling. “It’s kind of a fear of the unknown.”
Darling hopes disability awareness week will help all students at SLCC better understand that their differences are not so different.
To learn more about Disability Awareness Week visit the Disability Resource Center here.
