In class today we had our first presentation, which was on camping. The group started out by having us participate in an ice breaker, similar to rock paper scissors but adapted it into an outdoors themed game. After that we were all given a a sheet of paper that contained disability that we were going to have during the days activities. My disability was a visual impairment. They then randomly grouped us into groups of four for the first activity, a scavenger hunt. Our group had it pretty rough considering two of us had visual impairments and the other two group members were non communicative. Since Kelly and I were blind we were basically jut along for the ride and let our other two group members lead us to different items. It was very confusing at times because I had no idea where we were and no one to tell me where we were. I was really tense at first and walked really slow but as time went I began to trust my group member to lead me in a safe manner. From this activity I learned that it is possible for anyone to participate in a scavenger hunt if you just make a few simple adaptions. I also learned that how you group people is really important because the activities can become very boring when you are in group that does not make it possible for you to understand what is going on. As a person with a visual impairment it would have been nice to have someone who could give me detailed descriptions of where we were and what we were going.
After that we did an activity that involved setting up a tent while maintaining our disabling condition while one group member acted as a CTRS. This seemed to be a little overwhelming for her but she handled it well. She did a great job of keeping everyone involved. It may have been easier and gone more smoothly if there had been two staff members.
In an attempt to achieve excellence during these activities I stayed completed commited to my disability and did not remove or peek through the blind fold at all. I also tried to remain trusting and patient when I did not know what was going. This group did a great job of giving us a taste of the obstacles we may face as CTRS's and how we can overcome them.
