My arms and shoulders began to strain and ache as I leaned into pushing the wheels forward. "Use the railing," someone called as I slowly pushed forward another foot, then two. I was little more than halfway up an easy incline at Denver City Hall, experiencing getting around in a wheelchair firsthand on Oct. 3 during Disability Awareness Week.

That ramp wasn't the biggest challenge.

My instructions from Kevin Grimsinger of the Colorado commission on disability, who is confined to a wheelchair himself, was to get to the bathroom around the corner, get a paper towel and wet it, get back down the incline and then try my hand at getting up a small wooden ramp.

Once I got up the ramp (without using the railing) and turned, the bathroom door, was the biggest challenge. A flat surface confronted me, and though one guy on his way out offered to hold it open, I declined. The thing was heavier than I could imagine as I reached out from the chair seat and pushed, then tried to roll halfway in as it shut on me. There I was, nearly stuck, trying to find a way to grip and push on the outer wheels to get forward with them pinned by the self-closing door and the frame. I swore under my breath as I squeezed in little by little.

I have long arms, so it wasn't too hard to get the paper towel from the dispenser (good thing it wasn't installed any higher though) and roll to the sink and get it wet. The sink setback would mean a real stretch for washing hands for people who aren't full-size.

I got turned around, and again, because of my reach, could pull that door open, but I got pinned again trying to get out and it was even more difficult getting through, using the door frame to push myself out.

I got to the ramp and allowed myself to roll down, maintaining some tension on each wheel so as not to get going too fast and crash, but you have to keep equal pressure I discovered, to keep going straight.

Then I took on the wooden ramp,which didn't lookvery formidable at its 4-inch height with a short incline. I had seen a city employee try to maneuver off the high end by picking up the front wheels while balancing, and I knew I wasn't going to try that - but get up the incline? a cinch, I thought. You can probably guess, it wasn't.

Certainly not as easy for anyone with a disability of any kind was my conclusion, as I pushed the front wheels over the shallow edge and kept it straight enough to avoid tipping over the sideand pushed up about three feet. I had less trouble than I thought backing straight back down and getting turned around to get out of the chair, but my perspective had changed about wheelchair-bound people.

They can't just get out of the chair, after all, and face many more obstacles and challenges than I did - every hour of every day.

Not the least of those obstacles is the lack of awareness and concern by most of us to the challenges faced by the disabled in a world mostly designed for the able-bodied.

There were other information tableswith information about other disabilities, from impaired sight to hearing loss, and I didn't need to try to ear plugs, having some hearing loss already, but I hoped various people would try these experiences to find out how isolating hearing loss can be, for instance, and how impossible the world can be for someone with impaired sight.

And where were the television stations? A perfect visual story an no video cameras to be seen.

Mayor John Hickenlooper spoke of the efforts of his staff in working with the state commission on disability and other groups, in trying to achieve his goal of making Denver "the most disability-friendly city in America."

Melissa Burroughs, Ms. Wheelchair Colorado, was in attendance. A Greeley mom of two who was injured in a car crash 15 years ago, she said her family and her work with the disability commission as well as her job at the Connections for Independent Living Center in Greeley keep her strong. She is puzzled, she said, at people who are surprised to find her happy and with a smile on her face. She doesn't let a disability define her - or her life.

The least we ought to do is keep raising awareness of the issues that affect the lives of the disabled, and support all efforts to help them live lives without barriers.