Paralympian April Holmes will give her
keynote address “Stop Limping Thru Life,
Start Running" on Oct. 7 at the Kent
Student Center at 7 p.m. as part of events
marking disAbility Awareness Month at
Kent State.

Kent State University’s Student Accessibility Services once again celebrates disAbility Awareness Month this October, emphasizing abilities over disabilities. The Kent State community is invited to participate in free events this month.

“We hope this program brings the Kent State University community together, encouraging them to step back and think about disability and accessibility,” says Shannon Cowling, deaf and hard-of-hearing services coordinator at Kent State’s Student Accessibility Services. “Student Accessibility Services is represented on each Kent State campus, and collectively provides academic accommodations to more than 2,000 students. We'd like everyone to know how to use us!”

DisAbility Awareness Month kicks off Oct. 1 with Dogs on Campus in the Kent Student Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. All students are welcome to stop by and interact with the therapy dogs and learn more about Student Accessibility Services.

The second event is the Homecoming Parade on Oct. 3. Student Accessibility Services, along with the Council for Exceptional Children, will walk in the parade, passing out candy and promoting disAbility awareness around Kent.

On Oct. 4, the office, with support from Kent State’s Intercollegiate Athletics, will host its inaugural bike ride starting at Dix Stadium. Participants are encouraged to register online in advance at www.kent.edu/sas/registration. Those without bikes may reserve one courtesy of FlashFleet services by contacting Cowling at scowlin1@kent.edu.

“Options range from a one-mile walk-and-ride to a century-mile ride, which is 100 miles,” says Cowling. “October is also National Sustainability Month, so we collaborated with Kent State’s Office of Sustainability, which was able to donate items for a raffle that will be held at the event.”

On Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m., the office invites the community to join together to paint the rock in honor of the monthlong awareness initiatives.

On Oct. 7 in the Kent Student Center at 7 p.m., Paralympian April Holmes will give her keynote address “Stop Limping Thru Life, Start Running.” Holmes was in a train accident in 2001 that resulted in the loss of her left leg below the knee. Cowling says she was chosen by the disAbility Awareness Month committee and Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement because of her inspirational story and motivational perspective.

On Oct. 14, the formal events will conclude with a student panel "Disability Disruption: A Graduate Student Panel Discussion." The event will take place in the Kent Student Center, Room 306, from 2:30-4 p.m. This session will include information about disability studies conducted by three graduate students, Stefanie Amiruzzaman, M.A., Amy Bachtel, B.S., and Caleb Berkemeier, A.B.D. Participants will learn about and engage with students' perspectives about the disability studies paradigm.

To learn more about disAbility Awareness Month at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/sas/disability-awareness-month.

To learn more about Kent State's Student Accessibility Services, visit www.kent.edu/sas.