The Students Out to Destroy Assumptions club celebrated Disability Awareness Month on Oct. 18 with a fair on the Quad featuring therapy dogs, free massages and a wheelchair obstacle course.

There were tables advertising their clubs, services and organizations.

One of the tables had  The Center for Independent Living.

“We provide independent learning services to people with disabilities in Anne Arundel and Howard County. [We cater to] any kind of disability, any age,” Audrey Sellers, one of the leaders, said.

Another table was a service for therapeutic laughter.

What we do is we basically meet in a group of people and we do light aerobics exercises, where we laugh the exercises are usually kind of silly and child-like,” Laura Baer a former AACC, student said. “It helps tap into that part of us that we’ve sort of forgotten. There’s a lot of unpleasant realities going on right now in our world, so it’s really important that we remember to laugh every day.”

S.O.D.A also had a display for students to write down their different disabilities, rather visible or invisible.

There was also a wheelchair obstacle course where students had the opportunity to go around campus. They went all over East Campus to see what it is like for ones in a wheelchair.

S.O.D.A. club’s goal is to increase awareness of visible and invisible disabilities, while encouraging acceptance for people with disabilities, mental or physical.

Photo by Brandon Hamilton