Simulated disability exercises and their impact on attitudes toward persons with disabilities

Two separate graduate rehabilitation counselling groups from a mid-south university either did or did not take part in a wheelchair sensitivity training pilot study designed to enhance their understanding as to what life might be like for persons who use a wheelchair. Twenty students were individually accompanied on a designated route across campus by a non-disabled graduate researcher. Eighteen other graduate students formed a control group and did not participate. Both groups completed a contextually different 14-item Likert type questionnaire designed to assess their perceptions of persons with physical disabilities based on either the sensitivity exercise or their experience in the rehabilitation programme. Results from this quasi-experimental study suggested that regardless of whether they participated in the sensitivity training, both groups perceived they would become better counsellors. t-Tests revealed significant differences in the two groups' responses to questions pertaining to daily frustrations experienced by persons with physical disabilities and a pre-occupation with how accessible places are. Other differences noted were that persons with physical disabilities must feel different from being stared at and must have a harder time in society. Implications of the utility and misuses of these one-time experiences are explored.