Two Resources to Incorporate Disability Topics into Your Lessons

Welcome to the first summer installment of our tutor tips series on access and support for learners with disabilities! This month, we’re shifting gears a bit to share a couple of resources to help incorporate disability topics into your lessons and teaching materials. 

People with disabilities face segregation in education, housing and jobs; widespread stigma and stereotypes; and inaccurate, demeaning, and infantilizing representations in media. As educators, we can help combat the marginalization experienced by disabled people by making sure our teaching includes accurate representation of disabled people and disability history, determined by how people with disabilities themselves understand their lives and experiences.  

A great starting point to achieve this goal is the curriculum written to accompany Crip Camp, a film about the history of the disability rights movement. This curriculum is available in English and Spanish and has five units on topics ranging from media literacy to ableism, language and power. The lessons are aligned to Common Core English Language Arts standards for grades 11-12 and are appropriate for advanced readers of all ages; they also can serve as a model for treating these topics in lessons for all levels. 

Looking for additional suggestions or materials for lower levels? Contact Emily! And if you’re looking for images and graphics to use in lesson materials, check out the stock library Disabled And Here!

Some readers may notice that this newsletter shifts between person-first and identity-first language. I do this to acknowledge that self-identification varies and neither option is neutral. If you’re interested in exploring this topic further, I am Disabled: On Identity-First Versus People-First Language is a good place to start. 

Previous installments in the Access Project’s tutor tip series: 

• Supporting Learners with Disabilities with Expert Learning

• Supporting Learners with Disabilities with Multisensory Instruction

• Create a More Accessible Learning Environment with Digital Tools from SchoolVirtually

• The Got a Minute? Learning Series for Universal Design for Learning
• Backwards Design to Improve Lesson Access for All Learners with 5 Moore Minutes

Feedback or suggestions for this series? Contact Literacy Minnesota Access Coordinator, Emily Fox-Penner, at efoxpenner@literacymn.org.

Image credit:  This photo was taken by Chona Kasinger and is part of the Disabled and Here project:  Applying lip gloss | Disabled And Here stock collection (affecttheverb.com)