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10 Lawmakers Accept Teen's 'Eye-Opening' Challenge to Spend a Day in His Wheelchair

10 Lawmakers Accept Teen's 'Eye-Opening' Challenge to Spend a Day in His Wheelchair
Almost a dozen bipartisan Tennessee legislators came together to raise awareness for disabilities at the request of a 14-year-old middle school student.

 

An eighth grade student managed to convince a team of legislators to participate in a day-long lesson which they will remember for the rest of their life.

14-year-old Alex Johnson has been using a wheelchair since he was in second grade due to a form of skeletal dysplasia-a condition which affects the growth of his bones and cartilage.

Since the teen from Lebanon, Tennessee has now been using a wheelchair for most of his life, he has been issuing a simple challenge to his peers and classmates: spend a day in a wheelchair so they can understand what it's like to be disabled.

Not only has the youngster gotten dozens of students to participate in his "Spend a Day in My Wheels" challenge, he recently got ten state lawmakers from across the aisle to participate in the challenge as well.

With Alex's help, Tennessee Rep. Clark Boyd, R-Lebanon hosted the bipartisan event last month-and the challenge was definitely an eye-opening experience for the legislators.

"Even in a building that is handicap accessible, still you bump into doors," Boyd told WSMV. "You bump into walls. Some of the doors become very heavy for someone in a wheelchair. Opening a refrigerator door, doors seem to be a pretty big challenge."

Alex now hopes that the experience will help lawmakers to understand the difficulties of the disabled so they can pass more handicap-friendly legislation.

"Our whole community is very supportive of Alex and proud of the effort he's made to create greater understanding about what it's like to live with a disability," Boyd added in a statement. "He's an amazing young man who has found a way to use his disability as an ability to educate others."

(WATCH the news coverage below or you can watch the interview on WSMV)

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