Classroom Activities to Teach Your Students About Disabilities

Teaching children about disabilities is often a difficult task for many reasons. 1. there are so many disabilities that you don't want to overload the children; especially if they are quite small. 2. There are many different levels, even within one disability. 3. it is usually a taboo subject for children to discuss with adults. And 4. it is an overwhelming task to simultaneously teach children about disabilities and try to help them unlearn specific attitudes that might hinder this process. So, how can we teach them about people with disabilities and at the same time help them to unlearn the stereotypes of adults who are setting a bad example? It certainly is an immense task to teach students about disabilities in a way that debunks myths and stereotypes, portrays the people in a positive light and has long lasting effects.

First, it is important to have a discussion about those with disabilities. Talk about what makes them different and how they might be quite similar to your students. Examine stereotypes that surround disabled people. Allow them the freedom to be honest about their own stereotypes. Make it a friendly environment for your students to share and help them to think logically about their opinions.

It is always a good idea to have firsthand knowledge of a disabled person. The only way that children are going to learn about the disability is to see disabled people in their own community doing normal activities and living normal lives. Of course, "normal" is subjective, however, being exposed to disabled people on a regular basis is the best form of teaching.

As a teacher, you can also set a good example. Interact, yourself, with people who have disabilities. Children watch the way that you interact with disabled people. If you are condescending, they will learn to be condescending, also. When they see you interacting in a positive manner, they are more likely to immolate your actions.

There are many activities that you can do that will help your students understand about both the similarities and limitations of those who have a disability. It is important to emphasize that while there are some limitations, disabled people have many of the same experiences as their able-bodied peers. Most younger children have a desire for their parents' approval, want to be liked by their peers and misbehave which probably leads to punishment. Most teens want to be noticed, date, obtain more freedom than their parents will allow them to have, want to experiment with life's decisions and think that they are invincible. The lack of any of these characteristics and/or experiences has nothing to do with their disability and more to do with their specific personality.

Reading is always an important step. There are many books available to teach children of all ages about those with disabilities. Instead of reading one book for discussion, you could hand out the list and have your children read one or two books from the list. They could present a book report and in that way: be both the student and the teacher.

March is disability awareness month. Some groups hold awareness activities. You could arrange a field trip to attend some of the awareness activities. Some activities simulate what it is like to have a particular disability. While these activities lack the depth and breadth of experience, they do give the students an idea of what it might be like to have the disability. It could also lead to a discussion on empathy and how there are many different degrees of each disability. Just because two people have the same disability, it does not mean that they have the same abilities. The limitations within the spectrum of one disability are quite static.

Teachers could plan activities which will incorporate both disabled students and able-bodied students. Students could be paired up with peers from the other set of students. Activities that work best are those with a goal. Make sure that all students can participate in achieving the goal. The best activities are ones that have roles for all of the students. Some activities include: posters for spirit day, a treasure hunt, going to the children's museum or completing a specific project.

Another activity is to pair a disabled student with an able-bodied student for the day. Allow the disabled student to introduce the able-bodied student to his/her life. Then, allow the disabled student the opportunity to experience the able-bodied student's daily activities. If parents assist in this activity, it can be an eye-opening experience for both. Some students feel that 24hours is not enough and there have been some projects that have started on Friday morning and did not end until the following Monday.

A wonderful idea is to make your own book of known disabled people. Challenge your students to contact and get to know the disabled people in your community. They probably know at least one person who is disabled, only, they had not thought about it much within their daily lives. If they are Junior high or High school students, they could find a disabled person who is in the field that they are interested in going into after school. Students could also find a disabled person who shares some of the same interests that they have. You could divide the children up into groups of two or three and each could interview a different disabled person. If the disabled person and the interviewing student already have something in common such as their love for animals, their enjoyment of sports or their desire to be a nurse, they will have much more to discuss. If activities have been planned with disabled students, then you could put those pictures in the book, also. Let the students make their own book to display and take home at the end of the year.

While it is an admirable idea to involve your students in charitable projects that will serve the disabled, this should be under the auspice of "serving the community," and not "learning about disabilities." Too many times teachers and other staff get too focused on the disable's limitation and the students' desire to "fix" them, instead of realizing that the disabled people are people with fulfilling lives. There is so much emphasis put on the disability and consequential limitations, that students only learn to respond to the disabled with pity and a desire to free them from their substandard existence.

While teaching children about disabilities and the people that have them is a challenge, it is certainly worth the effort. They learn lots about people and maybe gain a new prospective on acceptance and confidence. In some cases, this introduction might lead to a lifelong friendship. I hope that I have given you enough activities to make this topic enjoyable to both teach and learn. Understanding and relating to people is a skill that will always serve students well.

Books for preschoolers:
http://pages.towson.edu/cholmes/similarities/child.htmhttp://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_0060.shtml
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/learning-disabilities/reading/5316.html