D I SAB ILIT Y IS DIVE RSIT Y
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is a safe way to introduce topics and
springboard into meaningful conversa-
tions that support the growth of aware-
ness of disabilities.
•
•
Invite perspective. Guest speakers
who share their personal stories about
living with a disability can help stu-
dents integrate classroom learning and
real-world understanding. They also of-
fer a forum for students to practice re-
spectful questioning. Moreover, for stu-
dents with disabilities, speakers model
ownership of one’s own narrative. Local
chapters of Special Olympics, adaptive
sports programs, and organizations
that train service animals are all good
places to start when seeking guest
speakers.
Create context for action learning.
Simulation activities can be excellent
for bringing learning home, but it is cru-
cial to create context first—especially
so students understand that the simu-
lation is not a game. Through discus-
sion, students develop an appropriate
vocabulary and the context to achieve
the purpose of the simulation: integrat-
ing learning and experience to gain a
deeper understanding of the daily life
experiences of people with disabilities.
The open-conversation process for devel-
oping awareness embodies the tenets of
universal design. Everybody has challenges.
Everybody has strengths. All students ben-
efit by making connections through these
Page 18 Summer 2020
“Everybody has challenges.
Everybody has strengths. All
students benefit by making
connections through these
discussions...”
discussions, and they all profit from having
opportunities to hone a slate of skills they
need to be successful collaborators in the
diverse teams most careers now demand.
Beyond the advantages for all students, the
rewards for students with disabilities are
even greater. Like all of us, students with
disabilities long to be understood and in-
cluded. Frank discussion about disability,
especially invisible disability, allows stu-
dents with disabilities to gauge how their
peers might react and talk about things.
This opens the opportunity to self-identify
without fear of being ostracized, which can
boost self-confidence, allow for a sense of
belonging, and inspire self-advocacy.
A middle-schooler in a Changing Perspec-
tives partner school articulated this very
outcome, writing: “It caught a lot of people’s
attention and changed their perspective of
my disability dramatically. No longer are
they looking at me like I am an idiot be-
cause I can’t read and write like them... They
also don’t think bad of me anymore that I
have to visit a writing teacher to help me.”
CSEE Connections