Disabilities

Lesson Aim:1. To see what it is like to have "different

abilities" than you have2. To experience why some people act

differently than other people3. To research various celebrities with

disabilities and see how their disabilities have not held them back

What are the similarities?

What are the differences?

What is an…

ability?

Unique?What is it to be…

What different abilities do we have in our classroom?

• Who can ride a bicycle? • Who can roller skate? • Who knows their division tables really well?• Who knows how to do long division? • Who has really, really, neat handwriting? • Who is good at video games? • Who is good at football?• Who can run fast?• Who knows how to knit? • Who can bake?

• Everyone has different abilities or qualities about themselves that make them unique!

• Who likes it when teachers/other students are understanding when you make a mistake when reading or when you miss the goal in football?

• Even though everyone has different abilities, talents and qualities, we are the same in one basic way:

We all want other people to understand us and that we each have different talents.

Some born with

What does the word ‘disability’ mean?

Some acquire it

Common part of our lives

To be differently abled (physical way, way they learn, way they think,

etc.)

Brainstorm

Disabilities we

know

People with Disabilities…• …have jobs, go to school, and are

moms, brothers, cousins and dads.

The Only Difference is…• they might need accommodations

or equipment such as:– Books using large-size print

– A voice-activated computer

– Space to use a wheelchair

Do you know anyone who has

a disability?

Drinking Straws Galore • Goal: to test out what blindness, speech

impairments (muteness), amputations (missing limbs and fingers), hearing impairments and reading impairments are like.

In groups of 6…• Each member will have a different

job in the activity:– One child is to be blindfolded– One child needs to tie a scarf around

their ears so their hearing is muffled– One child will have their thumbs taped

to their index finger– One child will not be allowed to use their

dominant arm– One child will not be allowed to speak– One child will act as a ‘Leader’

• Your group will have 20 minutes to create as tall a structure as possible using straws and tape, but first…

Read the instructions…

• .elbat ro riahc ,llaw a gnihcuot tuohtiw ,nwo sti no dnats ot elba eb ot sah noitcurtsnoc ehT .epat dna swarts ylno gnisu elbissop noitcurtsnoc tsellat eht etaerC

• (Hint: They are written backwards!)

Questions1. How did you find the activity?2. What did the blind person in your group do?

3. Did members of the group assume that since someone possessed a disability that they were not capable of being an active member of the group or they would only be able to do certain tasks?

4. Did any group ask their members with a disability what they felt they could do to contribute to the group activity?

5. If you had a disability in real life, how would you want people to treat you when doing something such as what you did here?

6. What could you do differently next time to improve the experience for the other group members?

Create a Celebrity Profile • Each group will be given a celebrity with a disability to

create a profile on. They will then share the information they have found with the class!

Daniel Radcliff

Christy Brown Emily Blunt Claude Monet Tom Cruise Beethoven

Christopher Reeves

Michael Phelps

Albert Einstein

Stephen Hawkins

Stevie Wonder