One Out of Five - Disability History in Washington State
The purpose of this lesson is to increase awareness of local and state disability history, including discrimination, advocacy, and grassroots movement. This is the fourth in a series of 5 lessons by Washington State’s One Out of Five Disability History and Pride Project.
Image Description: Groups of students sit and stand, talking in clusters. The profiles of the students of different ages, races, and abilities is on a colorful background of yellow, orange, and green. The dominant image is the silhouette of a male student in dark blue reading a book. The title is: One Out of Five: Disability History and Pride Project. “One” and “five” are spelled out in American Sign Language. At the bottom, Braille reads: “pride” and “history.”]
One Out of Five - Disability History in the United States
The purpose of this lesson is to teach the history of the disability rights movement in the United States, as well as diversity within that movement. This lesson includes important people, policies, and events in disability history in the United States. This is the third in a series of 5 lessons by Washington State’s One Out of Five Disability History and Pride Project.
Image Description: Groups of students sit and stand, talking in clusters. The profiles of the students of different ages, races, and abilities is on a colorful background of yellow, orange, and green. The dominant image is the silhouette of a male student in dark blue reading a book. The title is: One Out of Five: Disability History and Pride Project. “One” and “five” are spelled out in American Sign Language. At the bottom, Braille reads: “pride” and “history.”]
Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights
Teaching the story of the 504 occupation, the focus of the Patient No More exhibit, will undoubtedly leave students with a new perspective toward living with a disability. “Patient No More” offers a story about the creativity and strength that comes out of the disability community, an incredible example of how change can happen from the bottom up. It's also a story about how disability rights have changed the lives of all Americans in ways they might not realize.
Image Description: “Patient No More - People with disabilities securing civil rights” black and white photo of protestors with capitol building in the background, many in wheelchairs, one with a sign on the back of their wheelchair that says “We Shall Overcome”
Portrait of the Whole Person - Disability Rights Washington
Portrait of the Whole Person is a curriculum for elementary school students designed to teach students how disability rights fit into the broader civil rights movement, to perceive disability as a reflection of societal views of differences, and to treat people with disabilities with respect and dignity. It contains four distinct lesson plans comprised of three in-class instruction lesson plans and one lesson plan governing the research and writing of a biographical sketch and creation of a portrait of a notable person with a disability. It is also complete with a graphic organizer, rubrics, a power point, and a list of references students can use for research.
Image Description: Disability Rights Washington logo with “Portrait of a Whole Person Curriculum Overview” written below and drawings of 3 different people in colored pencil.
Posters with Disability Inclusive Content
Posters with disability representation. Most are free to download, though some can be purchased as well.
Image description: Corkboard wall with many signs of assorted size and colors.
The Right to be Disabled: Video Discussion Guide
For this lesson, students will watch a video titled “The Right to be Disabled” from the Broadreach Training and Resources webpage. This video details Norman Kunc’s journey from being somebody who wanted to hide his disability, to somebody who realized that he has the right to be disabled and that the world around makes him feel like he was not the way he should have been. This video explores important questions about disability, and civil rights movements in general. Students will watch the video and discuss these topics in think, pair, share series of activities.
Image description: Screenshot of the video “Conversations that Matter: The Right to be Disabled”
Scientific Racism and Scientific Bias Lesson
Students will learn about the history of how science has been used to enforce racism. Students will think critically about scientific bias.
Image Description: Sepia tone background. “Scientifc Racism and Scientific Bias” in white letters
The Social Model of Disability
This links to our Social Model of Disability resources page which contains videos and examples of how to introduce and teach the Social Model of Disability.
Image description: Illustration of a person seated in a wheelchair at the bottom of a set of stairs. There is a sign at the bottom of the stairs pointing to the stairs that says “WAY IN Everyone Welcome!”
Social Model and Accessibility Proposal
In this lesson students will survey their school environment, learn from a person(s) with a disability and research accessibility in schools. Students will have a chance to ask the speaker(s) questions and have a discussion with speaker(s) about the Social Model of Disability. They will use the information collected to design a brand-new school building with full accessibility for people with disabilities.
Image description: Illustration of a person seated in a wheelchair at the bottom of a set of stairs. There is a sign at the bottom of the stairs pointing to the stairs that says “WAY IN Everyone Welcome!”
Stella Young TED Talk Lesson Plan
Students will watch Stella Young’s TED Talk where she breaks down society's habit of turning disabled people into ‘inspiration porn’” and process why disabled people are often thought to be inspirational for achieving very ordinary things. This inspiration is actually pity in disguise and they’ll discuss the implications for that idea. Students will reflect on their own perceptions of disability and how it aligns with the thoughts shared in the TED video
Image description: Photo looking up at Stella Young
We Want to Go to School
Using the book "We Want to Go to School," students will learn about the segregation of students with disabilities in the school setting. They will learn about the barriers that prevented students from attending school and the progression and processes to challenge and remove those barriers.
Image Description: Cover of We Want to Go to School! The Fight for Disability Rights by Maryann Cocoa-Leffler & Janine Leffler. The cover artwork shows five children behind a table that has papers and a gavel on it.