NICC Calmar holding "Abilities Awareness Week" this week

NICC Calmar's Office of Disability Services will be sponsoring "Abilities Awareness Week" this week on the Calmar campus to promote awareness of persons with disabilities and to provide a forum for NICC students with disabilities to share their life and learning experiences.

NICC Calmar Provost Dr. Liang Chee Wee on Monday will give a presentation on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Additional guest speakers include Becky "Maddy" Harker, executive director for the Iowa Council for Developmental Disabilities and Stephanie Maury, transition coordinator and special education consultant for Keystone Area Education Agency.  A student panel will discuss their disability and how it impacts their life and learning and the Iowa Department for the Blind will teach awareness with attendees through the White Cane Travel Training for Sidewalks demonstration. These events will be held in the Student Center Commons from 9 a.m. until noon Monday.

On Tuesday artwork created by persons with disabilities will be displayed in the Calmar Campus Student Center from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

On Wednesday John Kohles, who has Asperger's Syndrome, and guest speaker Glenda Koehn of the Autism Society of Iowa, will give presentations prior to a 10:00 a.m. showing of the Movie, "Temple Grandin," a 2010 biopic starring Claire Danes as a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses. Freewill donations will be accepted during this time, with proceeds to benefit the Autism Society of Iowa.

Therapeutic Massage by Audrey will be available in the Testing Center, located in the Student Center on Wednesday and Thursday

Concluding the week's events at the Calmar campus, Jim Stachowiak, the coordinator for the University of Iowa's Center for Assistive Technology Education and Research (ICATER), will speak in the Student Center, Room 109. Stachowiak, with the help of a $340,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Higher Education, plans to grant all students access to their preferred learning style through an effort called the universal design for learning. The program seeks to accommodate different learning styles through assistive technologies for students reading, writing or listening to classes.