A local agency is training volunteers to educate fourth-grade students as part of the Learning About Handicaps program.

Each fall semester, the DeKalb County Family Service Agency recruits and trains volunteers to educate local fourth-grade students about handicaps and disabilities.

Volunteers have visited DeKalb schools during the months of January through May for the past eight years. They spend two days each month working with students.

Physical and mental handicaps, vision impairments, hearing disabilities and special topics such as epilepsy, asthma and diabetes are part of the program curriculum.

Non-handicapped students can learn how a person with a disability feels, said Student Education Coordinator Valerie Sawyer. Providing education, knowledge, hands-on experience and empathy is the program’s purpose.

The program was introduced to help children without disabilities develop a positive attitude toward people with handicaps, said Program Director Danielle Strickman. The progam uses films, literature, simulation activities, guest speakers and adaptive aids used by disabled people to acquaint students with handicapped lifestyles.

The program stresses what a person with a handicap can do and not what they can’t do, Sawyer said.

Volunteers begin each session with an introduction, movie or guest speaker. Then small groups are formed for discussion or simulation activities.

The fourth graders in the program enjoy the experience, and their younger brothers and sisters look forward to participating in the program, Sawyer said.

NIU students are the majority of volunteers, Sawyer said. Sophomore elementary education major Kara Nelson said she decided to volunteer because the program would be a good experience to learn about handicaps, as well as meet people in her area of study.