On Tuesday, October 15, one could probably hear the sound of a pin drop in the K100 conference room at Carroll Community College. The audience sat in riveted attention. Five Carroll students with disabilities were sharing their poignant yet inspirational personal journeys of living with disabilities while juggling college and other responsibilities.

Early Childhood Education major Amy Ader has dyslexia and dyscalculia. Education major Ardis Van Horn has a learning disability. Business major Nathan Clark has blindness. Computer-Aided Design major Chuck Kinney, Jr. has quadriplegia and traumatic brain injury. Accounting major Paul McCourt has a physical disability. Each student openly shared the challenges and joys of their individual circumstances. They encouraged their listeners to ask questions about anything, including how true help comes in the form of helping themselves.

Ader said: “I extremely enjoyed listening to my peers speak passionately about their disabilities and I believe we strongly affected the audience. They had great questions and I believe we answered them well. It felt great for me to tell people about my life and my struggles. I hope the presentation reminded them to never give up.”

Kinney said: “We are all disabled in some way. It may be more or less apparent for some individuals, but we are all individuals. I try my best not to label people, so I appreciate it when people do not label me and see me for who I truly am. I thank all of those who attended the presentation to hear each of us and our individual stories.”

The ADA Office and ADA Club leaders planned this event in part as celebration of National Disability Awareness Month in October. A goal was to raise general awareness of the issues surrounding disability on and off- campus. Another goal was to help students and faculty gain perspective and insight about others who may appear to be different. Yet a major theme was that students and faculty have much in common with people who have disabilities. The presentation provided an opportunity for the audience to hear stories of courage and perseverance, and of wisdom and humor, all presented in the most humble way.

This was the first time the ADA Office or ADA Club planned an event of this kind. “We are so proud of these students and what they’ve achieved. We’ve had lots of wonderful feedback from everyone who attended. People who were not able to attend may view a taped version of the presentation,” according to Director of Disability Support Services Joe Tatela.

Back to top