With April being Disability Awareness Month, SSU has been celebrating its disabled and neurodiverse students throughout the month with a variety of events. From panels on neurodiversity to workshops on how disabled students can utilize AI tools, there have been lots of bases covered.
However, sometimes students might want to take a break from their schoolwork and take some time to hang out with others who are also disabled. It’s this idea that inspired an event which took place last Friday: Lego Building – Where Creativity Clicks Into Place.
Hosted by the Disability Services for Students, the LEGO Building event was a safe space for students to come together and socialize while building animals, vehicles, and other small LEGO toys. In attendance was Accessibility Specialist Stephanie Graham, who described the event’s number one goal as being fun.

“My goal is always to have a fun event, not just the typical, like, panel discussions,” Graham said. “I just wanted it to be fun, something where students could come here, be interactive, and like I said, maybe make some friends while they build something.” That sense of connection and casual fun is exactly what Graham aims to foster through events like this.
“Talking to students, I’ve always asked, like, how should I treat you?” Graham said. “They’re just like, we just want to be treated normal. So for me, having an event like the Lego building is my way of giving everybody their sense of normal.”
While the event was relatively small, it was still a success, with attendees getting to socialize with other DSS students and build several Lego kits.

“I heard about the LEGO event from an email from DSS, and it made me happy by giving me an opportunity to build Legos,” wrote Milo, a freshman kinesiology major, who wrote to the STAR via email. “I go to DSS events when I think they sound fun or if I have time, and I would definitely recommend going to these events.”
Personal Statement from the Writer
For some disabled and neurodiverse students such as myself, it can be difficult to find a group with people like themselves that isn’t just logistics and focusing on the fact they are disabled. This is why social events such as this are so important – they allow us to just be people, regardless of whatever differences we might have from able-bodied or neurotypical people.