Learn some understanding for those with disabilities.
It is hard teaching children about disabilities. Children often stare at those with obvious disabilities. You can teach your students to be more understanding of those with disabilities and help them to realize that disabled people are no different. They want to play and have friends, too and may need a little help from time to time. Some games are fun and can open the door for discussion about what it is like to have a disability.
Walking Blind
This activity is good to use with a variety of ages from elementary to middle school. Hide an object somewhere in the room, but in plain sight. Send one child to look for it and take note of how easily he found it. Have another student come to the front of the room and put a blindfold on him. Re-hide the object and have him look for it. No one can say anything or give him any clues as to where it might be. After a while, allow one of the other students to give some directions from his seat. He cannot physically touch or guide him.
Discuss with the student who was blindfolded what it was like when he had no help. Then discuss what it was like when he had even a little bit of help. Encourage the students to be helpful whenever they see someone who is blind.
Writing Exercise
Use this activity with middle schoolers and up. Have the students to write a story for this assignment. Give them a word length requirement as well as one more element. The story must include one character with a disability. Encourage them to do some research on the disability to learn more about it and to incorporate some of those elements into the story. The student should show some understanding of the disability by the time she finishes writing the story. Have the students read their stories out loud to the class and tell what they learned about the disability and how they feel about it now that they understand it a little more. Each student should give some suggestions on how she can help someone with that particular disability.
Missing Limbs
Complete this activity with a variety of ages of students from elementary to high school, just make the activities a little more difficult for high school age students. Put a sling on one arm of a student volunteer. Choose another student from the class. Give them each a project to do. The student with the sling cannot use the arm in the sling. Make sure the job is something that is easier to do with two hands. Also think of a classroom activity for two other students to do where one leg is unusable. For example, have them go around the room and pick things up off the floor. After both of these activities, have a discussion panel with the two "disabled" students at the front of the room. Ask them how they felt about performing simple tasks with the use of only one limb. Tell them to describe their feelings to the class. Take suggestions from the students about things they can do to help people who have this disability. Give some suggestions of your own as well.
Tags: those with, what like, activity with, another student, from elementary, front room, give some
