Money from 600,000 Americans builds center meant to help severely wounded troops rebuild lives

Some limped gingerly, some rode in wheelchairs as they made their way into the tent. They had missing arms and legs, faces with no ears or with rebuilt noses, bones rebuilt with steel, shrapnel still visible in places.
They are the faces of war and its cruel costs, the "wounded warriors" as they were called Monday, and they were the guests of honor at the dedication of a $40 million rehabilitation center built just for them.
One of those soldiers is Spc. Lucas Schmitz, a 22-year-old college student from rural Minnesota, whose right leg was blown off by a bomb in Iraq last July.
"The center will give me the opportunity to adapt," said Schmitz, a member of the Minnesota National Guard. "I'm never going to be the same, and I won't be able to do things exactly like I used to.

Empathy lesson puts students in shoes of disabled

It's hard to tie your shoes with your fingers taped together. It's even harder to use scissors with your elbows. Now try working a puzzle with double vision.
Students encountered such scenarios this week during "Come Walk in My Shoes" at Menlo Park Elementary in Northeast Portland in the David Douglas School District. The one-day event offered lessons in empathy for those with learning and physical disabilities, and language barriers.
In one exercise, students sat in wheelchairs and pushed themselves over thick carpet -- while carrying lunch trays on their laps. Most students dropped their lunches, and many couldn't help but use their legs. "My hands are already getting tired," one student said as she wheeled herself up a low ramp.
At a station simulating what it's like to have dyslexia, students were asked to read pages with improper word spacing and backward letters.

Duffy Keeps Promise, Travels in Wheelchair

(Rochester, N.Y.) -- People often complain about having to walk through the snow but what if you can't walk? Wednesday, Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy and his commissioner of environmental services maneuvered the tricky winter conditions from the perspective of people in wheelchairs. Duffy only made it about a block before he was tired and this was after thinking the sidewalks were reasonably clear. He admitted the snow, ice and bumps made navigation difficult, and said that with effort, the community could do a better job of clearing them.The mayor was fulfilling a campaign promise made to the Center for Disability Rights. They say people in wheelchairs are often stuck at home in winter weather.