Associated Students, Inc. hosted a wheelchair basketball game yesterday in the Physical Education building’s East Gym, as part of Disability Awareness Week.
The wheelchair basketball game was organized by four students from Disabled Student Services and overseen by Brianna Huntsinger, ASI secretary for disability affairs.
“There’s two distinct populations on campus … there are so many commonalities [between the two] but most people don’t realize it,” Huntsinger said. “Basketball is a way to break the barrier between the two populations.”
The event stressed the need for involvement by those who are not disabled, in order to understand the challenges faced everyday by those in wheelchairs or with other disabilities.
“As able-bodied people, we need to take into account people who don’t reap the benefits and [can participate] in leisure activities,” senior psychology major Abtin Hashemian said.
The event attracted students from Cal State Long Beach and surrounding communities. Rosie Avar, a sophomore criminal justice major at Cypress College, came to participate in the event.
“I [used to think] I couldn’t play basketball,” Avar said of her disability. “But once I tried it, I could see I could do it. [Now] I’ve played for the last three years.”
The event was the first of the Disability Awareness Week, which continues today with an event entitled “A Day in our Shoes.” According to a press release, students will learn what it is like living with a disability by partaking in exercises that simulate hearing and visual impairments as well as learning, cognitive and physical disabilities. The event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at 3 p.m., the students who participated will relay their experiences in a discussion panel in the University Student Union, room 304.
There is a resource fair focusing on health, wellness and disability issues at the Friendship Walk tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will include a performance from an a capella group, followed by a guest lecture by Brian Tom, an advocate for disabled athletes, at 2 p.m. in the University Student Union ballrooms.
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