LEAP: News: Beyond the Ramp

Beyond the Ramp
April 30, 2006
Lutheran West High School

Sponsored by Linking Employment, Abilities and Potential (LEAP), with support from Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, the Church in Society Committee of the Northeast Ohio Synod - ELCA, and the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council.

Presented by Jeanne and Emily Schmidlin
Assisted by Christian Borrero , Steve Smutak, and Tim Milkovich (volunteer youth and adults with disabilities)

The group consisted of approximately 58 people with the majority of those participants being youth in the 7^th , 8^th, and 9^th grades.  

Typically groups of 4 to 7 came with their youth leader or pastor, many using this experience as part of their confirmation classes. Youth were from in and around the Cleveland area. Both youth and adults activity participated in the 3 hour workshop.

 
Participants were asked to describe what they thought “Beyond the Ramp” meant before the workshop. At the conclusion, they were again asked the meaning of “Beyond the Ramp.” Here are some of their responses along with other comments about what they liked or disliked about the presentation.:

Before	After
"Beyond the Ramp is looking beyond the physical appearance of those that are disabled to see that we're really all the same, deep down	Do more than just put in a ramp
I thought "Beyond the Ramp" was how people with disabilities deal with everyday life	It means to see people first and their disabilities second, they want to be treated as normal people
"Beyond the Ramp" meant to me finding out that people with special needs also have a lot to give to us and to teach us.  Also, how to make things more available to them.  Being more inclusive.	"Beyond the Ramp" means looking at the person first and thinking about how to include them and asking them how to include them in activities
"Beyond the Ramp" to me means that you need to look beyond what people look like and see what their personality is	"Beyond the Ramp means to help people find what they're good at and how to help them
Breaking down the steroetypes about people with disabilitis, and celebrating differences and learning how we are the same	As in the first column but also how to address those stereotypes and make changes

Other comments included:
I enjoyed the program - the talks, the games, the information.  I hope I grew today in awareness; I liked the wide variety of people who participated - their personal stories were very important in shifting my perspective; It taught me much more than expected.

photos courtesy of W. P. Nebel

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