The only recognized student organization of its kind at the University of Wyoming, Abilities aims to celebrate disability and promote disability awareness on the UW campus and community.
Numbers for membership are running low for the club and current members are looking for more people with disabilities and their allies to join and support people with disabilities by spreading awareness, acceptance and accessibility around campus and the community.
“Abilities aims to advocate for the rights and access of persons with disabilities, as well as foster acceptance and appreciation of all abilities and the diverse community of students at UW,” Abilities original member Shelby Kappler said.
Founded in 2013, Abilities has fulfilled a number of projects and roles, from raising awareness to consulting. They have worked closely with University administration to create a more inclusive campus environment, including appointing student members to the UW Accessibility Committee and working with Union events staff to ensure all campus events are accessible to all attendees, regardless of ability.
“We have participated in Safe Treat, held pizza party meet and greets, and presented film screenings,” Kappler said. “Twice, Abilities hosted ‘accessibility’ poker runs, in which participants were asked to use only accessible routes around campus to collect playing cards in the hopes of earning the highest poker hand.”
Since its debut, Abilities has won several awards in recognition of its members’ service. It won Best New RSO of the 2013 to 2014 school year, the Community Service RSO Award in 2014-15 and the Best Advisor RSO Award in 2015-16.
“The passion that we have as a group about advocacy comes from our personal experience with the inequality which people with disabilities face on a daily basis,” secretary Lynora Anderson said.
Anderson’s passion for advocating for equal access for people with disabilities came from her job as a direct support professional at the Ark Regional Services. She helps to enable people with disabilities to live full and enriched lives, but sometimes the group runs into problems with access, such as lack of elevators, too many stairs, icy sidewalks, small rooms and hallways, and many other limiting conditions for those with different mobilities.
“Every single time I have to tell one of my clients that we can’t go to a certain place or we can’t do a certain activity simply because that place or activity does not provide equal access for all people, it breaks my heart,” Anderson said. “Through Abilities, I feel like I actually have a voice to advocate for equal access.”
Abilities normally meets once every week but has met only a few times this semester informally due to low membership. They are currently looking to recruit committed members to fill officer roles and continue to work towards equal access and acceptance of diversity.
“I would just like to say that if you’re thinking about joining an RSO, but you don’t know what kind of a commitment it involves, go to a few meetings,” acting President Garrett Cruzan said. “Get some sense of what’s possible with a group of like-minded students.”
For more information about Abilities, how to join and the RSO’s meeting times, contact Lynora Anderson at lander63@uwyo.edu or abilities-rso@uwyo.edu, or visit Abilities’ Facebook page.
