By Ava Schwab | Reporter
A stack of printed worksheets sat on tabletops Tuesday evening at the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center — a subtle reminder that safety, especially in disability contexts, often begins in ordinary spaces.
Students, parents and young adults gathered for “Safety Starts at Home,” a hands-on safety workshop centered on disability awareness. Hosted by the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the event offered dinner and guided participants through real-world tools they could use to make their homes safer and more accessible.
According to the event description, the workshop focused on creating safer home environments. It also informed how families will work together to identify household dangers and develop personalized home safety plans.
Jocelyn Arstead, a student in Baylor’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, created all the materials for this event as part of her capstone project.
“I put this event on to help educate families on how to stay safe,” Arstead said. “Basic safety procedures and ideas get them thinking about next steps they can take at home to make it safer and more accessible.”
Rather than a lecture-style format, the workshop relied on group problem-solving, question-and-answer-style dialogue and scenario-based prompts that participants could apply to their daily lives.
While the event was open to all, several organizers emphasized that safety can look very different for individuals with disabilities.
“Everybody’s unique; everybody has different skill sets and strengths and needs,” Arstead said. “We were really trying to focus on that individual person and ask, how can we build everyone up?”
Participants learned how disabilities influence home safety planning, when and how to call 9-1-1, individualized safety assessment tools and strategies for communication and support at home — all skills that are often assumed rather than practiced.
Some attendants offered quiet assistance to families during activities, helping write responses or voice concerns if participants didn’t feel comfortable sharing in front of the group.
Fort Wayne, Ind. and first-year Ph.D. student in educational psychology Dylan Kirkwood said she came to support young adults with disabilities and help them build skills that support independence.
“I love supporting individuals and young adults with disabilities and allowing them a space to gain skills that keep them safe or allow them greater access to the community,” Kirkwood said. “Sometimes they don’t get to ask questions in other settings — this event gives them that chance to have their voices be heard.”
Kirkwood said she assisted families as needed during the event, sometimes writing responses and even just listening.
“If they don’t want to speak to the whole group, I just help them write things down, giving them the chance to have their voices be heard,” Kirkwood said.
