Students and faculty members who want to understand more about those around them with disabilities will have their questions answered for them in a panel discussion.

The President’s Commission on Persons With Disabilities has scheduled a panel discussion, “Experiencing Disabilities,” concerning disability issues in the lives of NIU faculty, staff and students.

The panel discussion will take place on Oct. 26 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the southeast meeting room of the Neptune residence hall.

The discussion panel is sponsored by the NIU Affirmative Action Office.

“The President’s Commission came up with the concept as means of increasing educational awareness of the disabled,” said Rick Dearborn, assistant director for NIU Affirmative Action.

“The goal of the panel is to heighten awareness of the difficulties the disabled face to help change circumstances to promote the success of people with disabilities,” he said.

The panel will consist of five speakers from the NIU community.

Panelist Linn Sorge, the visually impaired co-coordinator of NIU’s Services for Students with Disabilities, said, “I hope that the panel will show that the disabled are people first, and they should be identified by their personality, not their disabilities.” She said she hopes the panel will dispel the common stereotypes pinned to all disabled people.

“The panel will help promote understanding, contribute to education of the experiences of the disabled and explain some of the myths about the disabled,” said panelist Latisha Houston, a visually impaired graduate student.

John Clogston, a NIU journalism professor with a physical disability, Steve Larew, a communicative disorders professor who is hearing impaired and Michael Marsden, a senior engineering student with a learning disability, will round out the panel.