D I SAB ILIT Y IS DIVE RSIT Y
Continued from page 15
Schools talk about teaching students about
diversity, but disability is usually overlooked
in those conversations, despite being the
world’s largest minority. Individuals with
disabilities account for an estimated 15% of
the world’s population and disability cross-
es all demographics, from race, ethnicity,
and religion to gender and socioeconomic
groups. Disability is the only minority that
one can be born into or become a part of at
any point in their lives, through an accident,
illness, or aging. Moreover, disability takes
many forms, from those we can discern at a
glance, to those that are undetectable with
a look.
“... many of us were reared
during a time when dis-
ability was a taboo subject,
broached in hushed tones of
pity and the stern, uncompro-
mising directive: ‘Don’t stare.’
This approach emphasizes
superficial observance and
avoidance instead of connec-
tion and awareness.”
In schools, students with disabilities are two
to three times more likely to be bullied than
their peers without disabilities. Open, hon-
est discussion is one of the most effective
antidotes to bullying, as well as exclusion,
isolation, and prejudice. But again, many of
Page 16 Summer 2020
us were reared during a time when disabil-
ity was a taboo subject, broached in hushed
tones of pity and the stern, uncompromis-
ing directive: “Don’t stare.” This approach em-
phasizes superficial observance and avoid-
ance instead of connection and awareness.
My experience with my third graders (and
many students since) showed me how
much young people need and want op-
portunities to have these kinds of conver-
sations, to ask straightforward questions
and make connections. So, in 2014, I left the
classroom to follow my passion with this
work and launch Changing Perspectives, an
educational nonprofit organization. Chang-
ing Perspective promotes disability aware-
ness in preK-12 schools through a combina-
tion of curriculum resources and educator
professional development around disability
and differences. Feedback from students
and educators in our partner schools con-
sistently reinforces what I learned that day
in the circle on the rug; as one educator
shared, “This program has sparked amaz-
ing conversations with my high school stu-
dents that they really, truly want to have but
hadn’t had the platform for before.”
Our credo at Changing Perspectives is
“promote awareness, inspire empathy.”
Awareness serves as the entry point to
knowledge, understanding, and empathy,
elemental skills for social-emotional com-
petence and academic, career, and life suc-
cess. The baseline is developing self-aware-
ness, a perpetual process initiated in early
childhood, because understanding one’s
own strengths and challenges is necessary
CSEE Connections