At the outset, most students recognize a wheelchair. Some have heard of Braille or have learned a little American Sign Language. Most students aren't familiar with motor impairment, amputation, a reaching tool, or dyslexia. Many have not experienced a speech impediment, inability to walk, hearing loss or vision loss. Through the simulation, students experience all of these.
Students also benefit through increased sensitivity to disabled individuals particularly classmates.
Community members who are disabled report increased appropriate interactions with students in settings outside of school. There has been quite a bit of interest in this program demonstrated by other schools in my county. Evaluation to date has been informal, relying on student and teacher comment which has been positive and supportive. For more qualitative evaluation, I would provide a formal reaction activity for students to complete. I would briefly interview a representative number of students at each grade level.