{"id":24658,"date":"2018-05-04T08:42:32","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T12:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=24658"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:55:05","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:55:05","slug":"maze-day-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=24658","title":{"rendered":"Computer science department provides an \u2018empowering\u2019 day for visually impaired students"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Maze
Maze Day invites K-12 students with visual impairments, along with their parents\/guardians and teachers, to the computer science department to experience a wide variety of educational games and tools created just for them. (photo by Emilie Poplett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carolina students invited K-12 students with visual impairments to campus to experience a variety of educational games and tools created just for them.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Nobody, Carolina first-year Graham Trogdon said, should be excluded from a college campus just because of a disability.<\/p>\n

That was the message he wanted to send to the nearly 150 blind and visually impaired children who visited the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on May 2 for the 14th<\/sup> annual Maze Day.<\/p>\n

Started in 2005 by computer science professor Gary Bishop and Carolina students in his enabling technology class, Maze Day invites K-12 students to demo a variety of educational games and tools that Bishop\u2019s class created just for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a day just for you, you can feel like you\u2019re just as involved as everybody else,\u201d said Trogdon, a computer science and linguistics major. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students, along with their parents and teachers, came from across the state to participate in Maze Day. About half of the attendees came from the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh.<\/p>\n

Wali Salahuddin, a teaching assistant at the school, said Maze Day is his students\u2019 favorite day of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as the kids come back to school in September, all we hear about is Maze Day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The other attendees came from various elementary, middle and high schools where they often are the only visually impaired students at their schools \u2014 sometimes the only ones in their district.<\/p>\n

At Apex High School, Mikayla Gebhart is the only blind student. For her, Maze Day is an opportunity to have fun and relax by being around people who have considered her needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels really good not having to wonder what\u2019s going to happen or how I\u2019m going to access something,\u201d said Gebhart, who will attend the Colorado Center for the Blind next year before enrolling at Wake Technical Community College. \u201cIt\u2019s nice being with people who get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being with people who could relate to what he was going through provided great outlets for Trogdon when he came to Maze Day himself as an elementary school student.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving all of these programs geared toward visually impaired students filled me with awe at the time,\u201d Trogdon said about his visits in elementary school. \u201cIt helps you connect those experiences you have that might be isolating. It helps you better understand them from other people\u2019s perspective who have gone through them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gebhart said she appreciated the opportunity to provide feedback to the Carolina students on their games, helping the students craft their demos to fit the needs of the people who will use them.<\/p>\n

The feedback from the visually impaired students, Bishop said, provides helpful research knowledge to the faculty members and students, providing a practical learning experience for the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just turning it in,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maze Day had it all \u2014 fun and inclusion for the visually impaired children, practical projects for Carolina students and valuable research insights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a triple win,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n

Story by Will Rimer, photo by Emilie Poplett, UNC Communications<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maze Day invites K-12 students with visual impairments, along with their parents\/guardians and teachers, to the computer science department to experience a wide variety of educational games and tools created just for 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