Holland, MI — Hope College will kick off Disability Awareness Week on Monday, April 5, where students, faculty and the public will have the chance to explore what life might be like with a disability.

Events begin Monday with a wheelchair challenge, where participants can  undergo a mobility impairment simulation for six, 12 or 24 hours.

On Tuesday, participants can simulate other disabilities, including hearing and vision impairment and learning disabilities. The simulations run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the main floor lounge of the DeWitt Center, 141 E. 12th St.

At 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, the DeWitt Center Kletz will host a descriptive video version of the film “Shrek,” designated for audiences with visual impairment. The film will include audio descriptions of the on-screen action.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Lisa Bartoszek of Lory’s Place will present College Grief 101 in the DeWitt Center Herrick Room, focusing on strategies for handling the loss of a loved one.

The week’s keynote address will be given Thursday by Jane E. Jarrow, president of Disability Access Information and Support. Jarrow is a speech and language pathology professor at Ohio State University and her career spans 30 years in the study of disabilities in higher education.

Jarrow’s speech begins at 7 p.m. in the Fried-Hemenway Auditorium in the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication, 257 Columbia Ave.

Disability Awareness Week will close Friday with an ice cream social from 2 to 4 p.m. in the DeWitt Center Kletz.

All events are free and open to the public.