Disability awareness and being sensitive to the needs of children and adults with disabilities is not something we’re all born with. Some of us have children, siblings, parents, friends or other loved ones with disabilities and our experience has taught us about acceptance of individuals with different abilities. Without these experiences, children, teens and young adults may have difficulty with understanding what it’s like to have a disability and why it’s important for everyone to be caring, understanding and accepting.
Every one of us have experienced a time or two or more of feeling left out, awkwardly different, and perhaps not welcomed. What if you felt this way every day? Teaching students to understand and be respectful of the differences in their classmates lead to acceptance and friendship. The hope is that this kind of training will help students to want to help others in need.
How do we teach students about disability and sensitivity awareness?
One of the most fantastic presentations best expressed is conducted by FDLRS (Florida Diagnostic Learning and Resource System). They have a “More Alike Than Different” presentation that has enlightened students of all ages on how important disability sensitivity is and why we need to accept everyone of all abilities. Of course, there are timeless examples that can be used across all grades and the presentation materials and styles used will have to be differentiated for all ages and levels of learning. It’s crucial to emphasize the importance of maintaining the integrity of individuals with disabilities and that students are mindful of and respectful for the disability community.
Learning about Physical Disabilities
There are many disabilities that impair a person’s mobility. Some examples include, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, paralysis, stroke, muscular dystrophy, arthritis and many others. In many of these cases, the use of a wheelchair, walker or cane may be needed. Asking students to think about how they would get around the school campus, their own home, neighborhood and other community events would be thought provoking and would certainly bring up a good discussion about the areas in their lives that would prohibit access and their participation.
Learning about Cognitive Disabilities
Students with cognitive disabilities are sadly mistaken as children who are unable to learn because of their struggle with communicating their thoughts and needs. There is a terrible stigma that undermines their intelligence, causing their strengths and abilities to be missed. The important message for all to learn is that a person’s inability to speak does not make them less intelligent or less at all. Give students the opportunity to understand communication struggles by asking them to pair in teams of two. Give each team a phrase that one student must try to convey to the other without talking, writing, or drawing. It will be interesting to see how they get their message across.
Learning about Hearing Impaired Disabilities
One of the most difficult things to illustrate or simulate is the struggles of not being able to hear. Ask students to imagine what it would be like to live in a world of complete silence. One exercise teachers could try would be to ask the class to be pair into teams, be very quiet and try to have a conversation with one another while wearing noise cancelling headphones and mouthing words and phrases to each other without sound. Auditory issues are not just about living in a world without sound. Sometimes sound is altered or distorted. Another good example would be to ask kids to wear headphones where only static can be heard. Trying to communicate or go throughout the day while listening to static would be challenging.
Learning about Visually Impaired Disabilities
Visual impairment is not just about being blind and living in world of darkness. It can also mean having poor depth perception, or not being able to see things clearly. Technology has afforded training teams vision simulators that can be used to give students an idea of what it means to be “legally blind.” Using low-tech strategies will help too. Divide your students into three groups. Ask group one to wear a blind-fold, group two to wear store bought thick goggle glasses, and group three to wear an eye patch. Ask students to conduct an everyday classroom activity and to describe their experiences and how they were able to adapt.
The Greatest Message and Takeaway of All
While these examples may give students an idea of what it might be like to have these challenges, it is not at all the same as living with them day to day. It’s important that students understand this message most of all. Ask students if this experience changed their desire to have friends? Did it change the fact that they love to laugh or have fun? One of the greatest and most important lesson in these activities is to convey that individuals with disabilities are not less intelligent, less capable, or helpless. Despite the challenges they may experience, they are resilient people who adapt to their different situations and live their lives just as we do. Children and adults with disabilities learn to live with these challenges and can go on to do amazing things. There are as many similarities as there are differences in all of us. We all want to have friends. We all want to be accepted. We all want to be included.
© 2018 Sensory Friends
© 2018 Sensory Friends
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