e-mail this page
Printer Friendly Version

April 7, 2006

Disability Awareness Day to feature
physically challenged rock climber

Overcoming obstacles will be the focus of Disability Awareness Day on Tuesday, April 11, at Sacramento State. Paralympic athlete Mark Wellman will perform a climbing demonstration, and the High Tech Center will showcase its facilities for students with disabilities.

After a spinal chord injury from a rock climbing accident, Wellman became the first athlete with paraplegia to scale the 3,000-foot face of El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Wellman climbed 186 feet in 1996 to light the Paralympics torch and open the Paralympic Games in Atlanta. His demonstration is from 11 a.m. to noon in the Library Quad. Wellman will speak and lead a discussion from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the University Union Redwood Room.

The High Tech Center, a facility that provides adaptive technology training and support for students with disabilities, will have an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Academic Information Resource Center, Rooms 2010 and 2011. The staff will demonstrate a range of adaptive technologies such as screen readers, voice recognition, Braille embosser, real-time captioning and more.

The High Tech Center is a component of Services to Students with Disabilities and was previously located in the basement of the library. The center recently moved to the second floor of the Academic Information Resource Center to provide better services for students.

Individuals needing a sign language interpreter or real-time captioning services for this event can contact Laura Cain-Mooney at csusterp1@tmail.com.

For more information on the High Tech Center, visit www.csus.edu/sswd/services/htc.html or contact Services to Students with Disabilities at (916) 278-6955. For media assistance, contact the Public Affairs Office at (916) 278-6156.

####