By Steve Staeger

Contributing Reporter

“Here, let me help.”

That is the most common phrase that junior Brian Wigman hears from strangers each day while traveling around Oakland University’s campus.

Most people would be flattered with these constant offers of assistance, but Wigman said that with him they are really hit or miss.

“Some days I love it when people offer to help,” said Wigman. “Other times I want to be able to do things on my own and it really embarrasses me.”

Wigman, a music education major, was born with cerebral palsy, a disorder that hinders physical development, making it difficult for him to walk.

To get around campus, Wigman rides a battery-powered scooter.

Though there are many offers of support, other responses to his presence are quite the opposite.

As he travels down the hallway of the Oakland Center, people stare and quickly look away if he makes eye contact with them.

Others walk down the hallway as if he wasn’t even there, cutting in front of him and completely avoiding eye contact.

One student, while frustrated at how slow Wigman was moving into the food court, whispered something to her friend then made a kicking motion in Wigman’s direction.

All of these responses, whether preferable or not, sum up Wigman’s theory of the biggest challenge facing disabled students at Oakland University.

Attitude.

“Everybody wants to fit in somewhere,” Wigman said. “But it’s hard to fit in when people stare at you or go out of their way to help you out.

“We don’t like to be treated differently, but we also rely on it very heavily because it gives us attention and help.”

And Wigman isn’t alone.

Laura White, a junior English major, has experienced both of the attitudes that Wigman faces. White is totally blind and has been her whole life.

During her freshman year, she wrote a restaurant review for an assignment in an English class. In her review, she used descriptive words to paint a picture of the restaurant.

The professor handed her back the assignment with a comment that will remain in her head for a long time.

“She wrote that … I didn’t write how a blind person should write,” White said. “She said that a blind person wouldn’t have a visual view of the world, which I do.”

Linda Sisson, the Director of Disability Support Services (DSS) at Oakland University, said that this attitudinal barrier is caused by a lack of education about people with disabilities.

“People don’t see the students, they see the wheelchairs,” said Sisson. “People don’t think about what [disabled people] can do, they think about what [disabled people] can’t do, and they don’t take the time to learn why.”  

Students like Wigman and White agree that the only way to stop the attitude problem is for people to take the time to learn about disability.

“People are uncomfortable with what they don’t understand,” said White. “They don’t take the time to learn it because it would mean that they would have to change their perspective.”

Wigman encourages people to ask him questions about his disability.

“In stores, I’ll hear kids asking their parents ‘What’s that wheelchair for?’ or ‘What’s wrong with him?'” said Wigman. “Their parents will shut them up like it will embarrass me or something.”

Wigman said that if he has the time, he’ll actually approach the kids and let them touch his chair while he explains why he uses it.  

While Wigman says it is the responcibility of others to ask questions and learn about disability in order to become more comfortable with it, he also said a lot of that responsibility lies with the disabled persons as well.

“If we want to be treated fairly and well, we have to put in some effort and not just say ‘I’m disabled, I don’t know better,'” Wigman said. “It’s the responsibility of people with disabilities to learn about themselves and communicate that to the world.”

That’s why this past October, he and White created a student organization called S.T.U.D. or Students Toward Understanding Disabilities.

Wigman, who is a co-president of the group with White, says a major reason for forming it was to come up with creative ways to educate others about disability.  

“The DSS office is around to help disabled students more with academics,” said Wigman.  “It’s not their job to make other students aware of disabilities. That’s where we come in.”