Take a walk in his shoes
You have all heard the saying that to empathize with someone you need to take a walk in their shoes. This October, many ambulatory individuals spurred to action by National Disability Month , did just that.
For a local reporter, instead of taking a walk in his shoes, it was his wheelchair. The “his shoes wheelchair” was Roger Sparks and the person taking his challenge to do her job for a day in a wheelchair was WHOI reporter Jessica Wheeler.
To read the full story visit www.hoinews.com.
For a group of young men, it was an empathy dinner. The men of Bradley University's Pi Kappa Phi held an empathy dinner at their chapter house on November 10, 2007. Over 70 students, faculty, and community participants donated $5 to have a meal of all you can each spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. The proceeds benefit Push America.
The purpose of the empathy dinner is to give participants an understanding of what it is like to live with a disability. Participants are assigned a disability at the door by selecting from a deck of cards. The disabilities that are simulated include blindness, deafness, being mute, limited vocabulary, loss of mobility (PARC provided wheelchairs for use at the dinner), loss of dominate arm, and loss of fine motor functions. The participants eat their meals and spend the evening with their simulated disability. This was the third year the men of Pi Kappa Phi have held the empathy dinner.
You can see pictures of the event by visiting the E-Mu Review blog. For more information on this dinner and other Pi Kappa Phi/Epsilon Mu Chapter events please send them an e-mail.
PARC is grateful for the continued support of the Epsilon Mu Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi!
If you would like to hold an "empathy" event and need some help with the preparations, PARC is happy to help. Please contact Sibylle LaHood at (309) 689-3608.
