Disability Awareness Resources
December 3rd is International Day of People with Disabilities. This is a day to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. Disability Awareness is one of our three main focuses for Joyful Learning this year, along with Environmental Stewardship and journeying toward Truth & Reconciliation. In this post you will find resources for kids as well as resources for parents and teachers who want to grow in their own knowledge and understanding of disability and inclusion.
As a person living with multiple invisible disabilities, this is an area of passion for me and one that I hope to develop more thoroughly over time. Throughout this school year, we will meet and learn from people living with a variety of disabilities beginning with our To Be Like Me event coming up on Thursday, December 2nd. When entering into topics like this, I always want to point out that I am not an expert. While I have a very solid understanding of my own disabilities and how they impact my life, I am not an expert in Disability Awareness or Inclusion Advocacy in general. I’m learning and sharing what I discover along the way.
The resources I have put together in this post are really just a cursory introduction to get students (and grown-ups) thinking about celebrating diversity through the lens of disability and are by no means intended to be seen as a comprehensive or complete package. As always, I welcome your feedback on our resources and appreciate any suggestions you may have. Feel free to comment on this post or send me a message directly.
~ Hayley Legassie
Lead Educator – Joyful Learning
Resources for Students
All About Disabilities
Virtual Classroom
This Virtual Classroom includes informational videos, read aloud books, directed drawings, and printable resources about disabilities, inclusion, and empathy. We recommend you preview all videos to ensure they are appropriate for your learners. To keep students safe, YouTube videos are linked through SafeShare which removes advertisements and suggested videos.
To Be Like Me Event
& Resource Package
To celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities, we are teaming up with the leaders from To Be Like Me to bring you a free virtual event all about disability awareness, inclusion, and empathy. During this event we will meet individuals living with a variety of disabilities including chromosomal differences, deaf & hard of hearing, and mobility differences. You can participate in this event live or through the event recording at a time that works best for you!
Resources for Grown Ups
As we begin to teach our students about celebrating diversity through the lens of disability awareness, it is important that we educate ourselves at the same time. I wish I had more time to expand this part of this post! Again, this is not a complete list of resources but rather a few items to get you thinking.
Let us know your thoughts!
We are hoping to update this resource over time. Please let us know if you have suggestions for ideas or helpful resources that we should share to help kids (and teachers) understand disabilities, inclusion, and accessibility.