Disability Awareness Week Events Planned

Fairmont State University's Office of Disability Services has planned two events in celebration of Disability Awareness Week, March 24-27.

From 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday, March 24, Central West Virginia Community Action will present a puppet show with The Kids on the Block Incorporated. The event will take place in Multi-media Room B of the Ruth Ann Musick Library. The show will be appropriate for all ages. Admission is free and open to the public.

According to the organization's web site, The Kids on the Block, Inc. originated in 1977 in direct response to US Public Law 94-142, which required that children with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment. For many children, this meant being included in a classroom with their non-disabled peers.

Mark Riley, who represents a child with cerebral palsy, was the first puppet character created to fill the need of children with disabilities to have their non-disabled peers understand and accept them. Through Mark Riley, the children learned about cerebral palsy and began asking questions directly to Mark. The Kids on the Block, Inc. was launched because of this enthusiastic response from the children. The Kids on the Block, now internationally acclaimed, has continued to grow over the years and offers programs on disabilities such as spina bifida and visual impairment, medical differences such as leukemia and AIDS; educational differences including learning disabilities and ADHD, and social concerns including sexual abuse prevention, and alternatives to violence. For more information on The Kids on the Block, Inc., visit http://www.kotb.com/.

From 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, Deaf author Raymond Luczak will give a talk focusing on issues of the Deaf GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender). The event will take place in Multi-media Room A of the Ruth Ann Musick Library. Admission is free and open to the public.

Raymond Luczak is perhaps best known for books such as "Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader," a double Lambda Literary Award-nominated anthology he edited for Alyson, and "St. Michael's Fall," a book of poems about growing up Deaf and Catholic, published by Deaf Life Press. In the summer of 2002 he had two new books published by The Tactile Mind Press at the same time: "Silence is a Four-Letter Word: On Art & Deafness" and "This Way to the Acorns: Poems." The Tactile Mind Press brought out his fifth book, "Snooty: A Comedy," in February 2004; and Gallaudet University Press brought out his sixth book, "When I am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden' in April 2007. Handtype Press published his much-anticipated anthology "Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader" in October 2007. Suspect Thoughts Press published his award-winning novel "Men with Their Hands" in January 2008. For more information on Luczak, visit http://www.raymondluczak.com/.

The Office of Disability Services will have an information table and activities set up on the second floor Main Street area of the Falcon Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 24-27.