Hitting the Snow with New Courses on Accessibility and Disability Justice

Education | UW and Community | Videos

February 2, 2023

During the ski season, cold sunny days will delight outdoor enthusiasts. Snoqualmie Pass, east of Seattle, is a popular destination, but ski areas usually have stairs, are crowded, and are built for a skier or snowboarder to run on his two feet on his own. It has been.

Observing this winter’s activities through the lens of accessibility and disability justice is the point of a new class developed by Associate Professor UW Bothell Jason Naranjo. His course “Disability and Society” — Focused on Community and the Outdoors,” pairs UW students with upcoming skiers. outdoor for allis an organization that provides adaptive outdoor activities for people who are cognitively or physically unable to put on skis and go to the slopes.

UW Bothell Associate Professor Jason Naranjo

While working as a volunteer ski instructor, UW students get to know the program participants and their individual strengths and weaknesses. — They adjust bindings, give tips and encouragement, and discuss support strategies with families. — downhill or cross country — Students learn from being part of the ski experience.

Naranjo has taught disability justice, inclusion and access for many years, primarily in classrooms. A community-based learning model, this new course was a natural next step for students asking how their education could be used to make a difference.

“What’s happening here is applied learning. I think so,” said Naranjo. “For me, that’s where the rubber meets the road.”

Lifelong skier and UW student Zoe Null does underage disability research and volunteering as part of her course.

“Being able to take all this theory we learned in class and apply it in practice gave me something concrete to hold onto,” she said.

“This is a real hill someone has to go down. How can we make it adaptable?”

This winter, 17 students from UW’s Bothell and Seattle campuses and various majors Volunteer courses every weekend at Stephens or Snoqualmie Pass. The service learning component of the class makes up 70% of the course. Naranjo and his students also meet once a week on Zoom.

“When they graduate from UW and become citizens of our world, they can make a difference,” Naranjo said. “They can advocate for someone and with someone.”