By Yela Burian/reporter

NW Campus celebrated Disability Awareness Month with a big bang Oct. 15 in an effort to promote an environment that encourages self-advocacy.     

NW student accessibility resources hosted Party with Big Bang, which included free pizza and popcorn, to raise awareness for those with disabilities. Students watched episodes from the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory to help them visualize the many faces of disabilities.

 “Students got to watch a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory where one of the main characters on the show has a disability,” student development associate Traci Schmedel said. 

Sheldon Cooper, the main character in the sitcom, has behaviors considered to be autistic.

SAR personnel posed questions during the four-and-a-half-hour workshop and encouraged students to respond to them and write inspiring messages that were posted anonymously along the walls. Other positive messages about disabilities were also left on the tables for students to grab.

“Just as long as students walk away with something, then I’ve done my job,” Schmedel said. “The whole purpose of the event was to inform students about different kinds of disabilities that they might not be aware of.”

“My cousin in El Salvador is mute,” NW student Tina Lemus said. “We communicate through Messenger, and he’s teaching me sign language.” 

SAR’s mission is to help students with disabilities improve their skills to achieve higher goals. 

“Students deserve equal rights and equal education no matter what their disabilities are,” NW student Nicole Ta said. “I hope students are getting the right help they need.”