ADA Services presenting ‘Not-So-Scary Haunted House’ and Open House this week

Use Braille and American Sign Language to solve the ‘mystery’

By Troy Moon, Pensacola State College

Old photos of long-dead souls sit framed on a desk. There’s a puzzle of kittens, pieces scattered. There are locked boxes and old diaries with strange, eerie messages. There are flashlights, one emitting a purplish light that reveals hidden messages.

We probably gave too much away. Because the Pensacola State College Student Resource Center for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Services wants visitors to solve the tangled riddle of the “Not-So-Scary Haunted House” themselves.

Located in Building 2, Room 250, on the Pensacola campus, the “Not-So-Scary Haunted House” aims to give visitors a little taste of suspense and mystery, while forcing them to engage with Braille and American Sign Language to discover “who” or “what” is haunting the room.

The “Not-So-Scary Haunted House” is open Friday, Oct. 25. Groups of up to eight people can try to solve the mystery together.

Participants are given 30 minutes to deduce the mystery. There is no charge. Participants can sign up for a time slot or just show up to begin the adventure. The Student Resource Center for ADA also will host an Open House from 9 a.m.-noon Friday, Oct. 25, in Building 6, Room 603.

The purpose of the Haunted House, an “escape room” type of mystery, is to educate visitors and allow them “to become familiar with some of the most requested and used accommodations that our office provides,” said Kathyrn Coxwell, Student Resource Center for ADA Services coordinator. “If a student has a physical, mental, emotional ─ any kind of disability of any sort – then we provide accommodations to make the class and campus more accessible.”

That might include giving students more time for tests, or providing a standing desk for someone who might have a back injury.

“It could be copies of notes, because there’s an issue of taking notes or because a student can’t keep up,” Coxwell explained. “We get a lot of referrals from instructors and we get a lot of requests from instructors and for that we’ve very grateful.”

Coxwell said about 7 percent of Pensacola State students have some sort of disability that would qualify under ADA guidelines.
That number is higher during summer terms, she said.

“A large segment of our (ADA) population take a lighter load,” Coxwell said. “So they go during summer to catch back up.”

WANT TO GO?

The Pensacola State College Student Resource Center for ADA’s “Not-So-Scary Haunted House” will be open for visitors from 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25.

Call 850-454-1637 for an appointment, or just show up at Building 2, Room 250.

The Student Resource Center also will hold an Open House from 9 a.m.-noon Friday, Oct. 25 in Building 6, Room 603.