Disability Awareness

The character trait I highlight at my school in December is COMPASSION, and I typically focus my classrooms lessons on showing compassion even when people are different from us.  This year, I shifted my focus specifically to disabilities that can present differences among students or adults.

I have done lessons on disabilities in the past, but it has been several years so I started searching for activity ideas to supplement what I already knew I wanted to include.  I found two great PDF packets highlighting "Ability Awareness" activities.  One is from the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities found here and the other was written by Bev Adcock and Michael L. Remus and can be found here.

I presented the 45-50 minute lesson to all of my fourth grade classes and a couple of fifth grade classes.  However, I think it would also be successful with third graders towards the end of the school year and would be fantastic for middle school students.  My lessons were given during the students' lunch period plus 20 minutes, so I started out with a video clip as my "hook" after I introduced the idea of compassion with differences and disabilities. It was a great way to get the students' attention and also provided time for them to quickly eat before we started our "Ability Awareness" centers.  The video can be found at imtyler.org and viewed below.


 Pretty great, right?!! Following the video I asked the discussion questions below to address awkward or uncomfortable feelings the students had, especially if they have never been around students with cerebral palsy or other significant physical disabilities. I had several students in each class giggle nervously when the real Tyler started talking, and I found it helpful to bring this up instead of ignoring it. 

-  Was anyone surprised by this video? Why?
-  How did you feel when the real Tyler started talking?
-  How did you react when you had those feelings?
-  What could you do to show compassion towards Tyler or anyone with a disability? Is treating him like any other friend a way to show compassion?

We then began centers organized around the room. Each center had two or three activity choices and students were able to complete as many as possible in the 4 to 5 minutes they spent at the center. They had to complete the activity listed on their Center Activity Sheet (picture below) before moving on to additional activities. 

Center #1 --- Visual Disability
Students wrote their names in Braille on their summary sheets.  Then, they were able to work with a partner and guess the names of objects in the pumpkin pail while being blindfolded.

 Center #2 --- Physical Disability

Students had to put one hand behind their backs and pass out papers to their group members. They also had to attempt to tie their shoes using only one hand and answer a question on their center activity sheet about the experience.

 Center #3 --- Hearing Disability

Students had several choices of activities at this center. They could practice sign language with their name or other short words.  They also could practice lip reading with a partner using the questions provided.  Finally, I had a PBS movie playing with no sound, and they had to figure out what it was talking about.

 

Center #4 --- Language Differences
Students surveyed different languages spoken in schools/neighborhoods
at this center and discussed which ones they knew.  They also were
challenged to take a German test and asked to reflect how that felt on
their summary sheet.

Center #5 --- Learning Disability

Students deciphered backward sentences and also took
the Stroop Effect test at this center. This center was one
of my favorites because the impact of having to read more slowly and increase concentration to process words on the Stroop test was a powerful illustration of what it might be like if you had a reading disability.

Center #6 --- Disability Awareness in Pop Culture
The final center was created to help students be more aware of accomplished people, both past and present, who dealt with disabilities and overcame them.  Students had to match the person to the disability on the Smartboard.  The computer monitor view is below.  I used a variety of people such as Bethany Hamilton, Albert Einstein, Beethoven, Stevie Wonder, and Julia Roberts.

A focus on Disability Awareness could be incorporated with many character traits including RESPECT, FAIRNESS, or COURAGE.  Also, October seems to be Disability Awareness Month according to several websites...not that you have to wait until then!!!  As Tyler said in his video- you are probably in a position to make a difference in someone's life by practicing (and teaching) Ability Awareness.
Happy Counseling! ~ Angela