IDAA: Illuminating Differently Abled Awareness
Disability Awareness Classroom Discussions
Spring 2014 Semester End Report
Michael Iadevaia ‘16
2
Introduction and Analysis of Project Goals
The Illuminating Differently Abled Awareness (IDAA) project began in December 2012
with the initial application to the Faculty Fellows in Engaged Learning + Engaged Learning
Program. The objective of the initial proposal was to teach students in the Ithaca School District
about the richness and opportunities of the differently abled through the creation, implementation,
and assessment of a short curriculum of three modules across three class periods. The goals of
this project were for teachers, administration, and students to display awareness, respect,
curiosity, and empathy around issues and individuals of different ability.
Since the initial proposal Kathy Berggren took on three student assistants to help with the
development and implementation of the curriculum. Over the course of the semester the original
curriculum and project was modified, culminating in a pilot launch of the lesson plans in four
eighth grade classes over two weeks at the end of the semester.
The curriculum was originally developed to provide Ithaca educators with a tool to teach
students about disability issues and raise awareness of how attitudes and language affect
perceptions of disability. The curriculum has since been made available online for public access
in order to have a further reach and is intended as a tool for educators, leaders and facilitators in
school systems, camps, scout troops, or any groups dealing with children and young adults. The
website can be accessed at idda.aem.cornell.edu.
Since the original proposal the goal has been modified and improved. The ultimate goal
of this curriculum is to spark conversations about disability and inclusion among students with
their peers, teachers, and parents. The hope is to shift negative perceptions of disability towards
acceptance and respect by providing students with educational tools to increase their knowledge
about specific disabilities, address disability stereotypes, and create a more inclusive and
respectful learning environment. The project is intended to become sustainable so that disability
awareness becomes an ongoing and open discussion.
After researching other disability awareness curriculums the IDAA program’s modules
have also been modified from the initial proposal, which included three modules. The three main
goals of diversity, disability awareness, and disability advocacy have remained the same. The
lesson plans were also extended to include four days so as to provide an additional day for
students to work together to plan their project, which is presented on the last day. Educators can
also modify the lesson plans to fit their individual needs.
Analysis of Lesson Plans
The goal of the first day’s lesson plan is to spark thinking and reflection around issues of
difference. This involves an interactive activity where students have twenty questions to guess
the specific celebrity another student is taking the role of. The celebrities chosen each have
different disabilities that most people do not know about. The purpose of this is for students to
associate the celebrity with his/her work and accomplishments rather than the disability. The
lesson plan culminates in a reflection of student reactions and perceptions of people in the media
that have disabilities.
In the pilot run of this curriculum in the eighth grade class students responded well to the
celebrity exercise and were surprised by some of the celebrities and their situations. The students
saw that a disassociation could be made between a person and their disability by looking at their
achievements rather than the disability. An interesting outcome of this activity was that some
students who tended to be quiet in class and students who had disabilities spoke out about their
reactions, engaging themselves in the discussion.
3
In assessment of this activity we identified a few improvements to modify the lesson in
the future. Most of the celebrities used for the activity were males and therefore we wanted to
include more females to balance the representation of celebrities. We found it difficult, however,
to find many female celebrities with a disability that students would know. Additionally, we
identified a need for a more structured discussion which we improved upon by including specific
questions for the educator to address and pose to students.
The second lesson plan involves an activity to develop empathy. The goal of this lesson
plan is for students to empathize and understand what it may feel like to have a disability. The
‘Would you rather’ activity presents students with questions where both choices are not exactly
favorable. The purpose is for students to understand the daily choices faced by those living with
disabilities. Throughout the lesson plan as well as after all the questions have been presented the
educator fosters a discussion among students to examine changes in perceptions and reflect on
discomfort felt from having to make difficult choices.
This activity stimulated a rich dialogue among students as the questions are geared to
make the students think hard about the choice they make. In particular, we found that the
question “Would you rather be the best student in a Special Education class or the worst student
in a regular class?” to be particularly striking in that almost all of the students chose they would
prefer to be the best in a special education course. Overall we felt that students did develop
empathy through this activity, but we also noted a few improvements that could be made to
understand the goals of the activity. We streamlined some of the questions to eliminate some that
were too unrelated to disabilities and kept the number of questions down so as to allow time for a
more stimulated discussion. We also developed more discussion questions to further drive the
lesson plan’s message across to students.
The third lesson plan was a two-part module involving the planning and presentation of a
group project. The goal of the first day of this project was to research and discover knowledge to
promote an environment of empathy and advocacy. Students were given an entire class period to
work in groups to research one type of disability and develop their presentation. The second day
groups took on the role of a parent, teacher, best friend, or acquaintance of an imaginary student
with a disability. Students had to talk to the class about how they would like the student with a
disability to be treated by members of the class. The goal was for students to identify difference,
reflect on feelings, act in an appropriate advocacy role, and feel comfortable addressing
disabilities. The students were then assessed based on their presentations and their feedback in a
student questionnaire.
In assessment of this portion of the curriculum we felt that there were several ways to
improve both the project itself as well as the student questionnaire. The questions for the project
were too broad and the student’s didn’t necessarily understand what was being asked of them. In
order to improve upon this, the explanation for the project can be more detailed and the questions
posed for the students can be more specific and geared toward each role. In addition, we also
developed an idea for an alternate project for students. In a modified version of the project
students could research an actual story in the news of a person with a disability who was bullied.
With this modification students may be able to better identify with the situation since it would be
an event that actually happened.
After the presentation students filled out a questionnaire that presented scenarios of
students with disabilities. The feedback from this questionnaire was mostly generic and did not
stimulate the type of answers we had hoped. To improve upon this we decided to change the
assessment questionnaire completely so that it was shorter and also asked multiple choice
4
questions rather than open-ended questions. Our hope is that the questions will be more focused
and directly related to our project goals so that students can see how their opinions have changed
throughout the curriculum.
Analysis of Website
In order to facilitate the dissemination of the curriculum, in Fall 2013, we developed a
website, as mentioned above, located at www.idaa.aem.cornell.edu. The goal of the website is to
showcase the curriculum we developed in an easy-to-access, simple manner. The website is
targeted to educators, of all varieties, who wish to teach students about disability issues and raise
awareness through the curriculum we developed, in alignment with our learning outcomes.
To ensure that the website was well received by educators, we decided to implement a
very simple, easy-to-navigate website design. Based on our options for website development, we
opted to utilize a blog-like layout for the website. Additionally, we reached out to other
organizations, such as the Cornell Promotion Design Team to produce our logo. Our goal for the
logo was for it to be symbolic of inclusion and understanding of people with disabilities. The
choice we made, we felt, was in alignment with these goals for the logo, and we were very
pleased with the outcome.
With the assistance of John Udall, we were able to reformat the website to also include
mobile access. As such, the website should be operational from mobile devices ranging from
phones to tablets. The mobile access portion of the website is imperative, considering the everevolving technology scene, today. To be able to access the website from any platform (including
mobile) would undoubtedly help facilitate the dissemination process of our curriculum.
To monitor the effectiveness of the website, we implemented a “Commenting” system
where visitors can post feedback. This is an important tool in that it will help us understand if our
website is being used (which helps us determine if our marketing strategy is effective), and if we
need to make adjustments to our curriculum, based on the feedback of other educators.
“Marketing” – Presentations and Conferences
Beginning in Spring 2014, the next step in our project was to market the curriculum to
encourage educators and different groups to consider implementing it. We drafted a standard email to send to various educators to ask if they would be able to implement the curriculum in
their respective setting, or if they would be able to provide any feedback (see Appendix C).
Additionally, in line with one of our initial goals in the project, we wished to utilize conferences
as part of our marketing strategy. We felt that using conferences, as part of our marketing
strategy would allow us to reach out to a greater, boarder audience that we couldn’t achieve the
same way through just contacting agencies, teachers, etc. Moreover, since the educators could
actually experience the curriculum, they may be more inclined to implement it.
Thus far, we presented at the 2014 On-Course National Conference in Costa Mesa, CA
and plan to present at the 2014 Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day Conference. These
conferences undoubtedly supplemented our marketing strategy, giving us a clear path to getting
out curriculum into the hands of educators.
However, as the project evolved, we received an astounding response from various
groups on campus and in the community, wanting to learn more about the curriculum that we
built. In addition to the conferences we had planned for later in the semester, we were also able
to present our curriculum to an Epilepsy Support Group, Center of Engaged Learning Outreach
5
and Research Service Learning Showcase, Gannett Health Services Center and Residence
Assistants (RA’s) from Clara Dickson Hall.
Epilepsy Support Group
In March 2014, we presented to a community Epilepsy Support Group. The Epilepsy
Support Group was a fundamentally different presentation from the rest of our presentations in
that the audience was strictly people with disabilities, or people who were very close to disability.
Thus, many of our audience members were already very aware of the disability issues, through
their own personal experiences. Nevertheless, we presented our curriculum to gain valuable
feedback regarding any sensitivity the curriculum may instill and to understand if it could be
improved in anyway.
After presenting the curriculum to the group, we led a discussion to really understand
what the audience was thinking. Most of the audience agreed that the curriculum was extremely
effective, especially the “Day 2: Would You Rather” activity. However, while discussing the
curriculum, one of the audience members really started to allude to the deficit in disability
awareness curricula in both the workforce, and in schools. Based on his own personal
experiences, he found that many of the people he worked with or encountered just did not
understand disability issues or have any basic knowledge regarding them. Too often, disability
was viewed as a cripple and resulted in adverse treatment. This opinion was most striking to us
as it really validated the need for a curriculum like the one we built. Although we did not
particularly receive any feedback to really alter the curriculum, we thought that this feedback
was incredibly powerful and helpful.
Among our audience was also Professor Alicia Orta-Ramirez, who had expressed interest
in learning more about disability studies. Professor Orta-Ramirez, after watching our
presentation, was very interested in actually taking on a presentation. She was asked to present to
the Residential Hall Assistants (RA) of Clara Dickson Hall on North Campus and thought that
this was an extremely important issue for RA’s to be exposed to. We decided to join her in her
presentation.
Center for Engaged Learning and Research Service Learning Showcase
In early April 2014, our efforts were recognized and featured at the Center for Engaged
Learning and Research Service Learning Showcase. The showcase highlighted different projects
across campus that involved service learning and outreach. To our observations, very few of the
projects engaged in disability study research directly. This really spoke to the real need for more
engagement with disability issues on campus, and affirmed the importance of our project.
Clara Dickson Residential Hall
In April 2014, we, alongside Professor Alicia Orta-Ramirez, presented to the Residential
Hall Assistants in Clara Dickson Hall. The Residential Hall Assistants were, in essence, our
“target audience.” They were students who had relatively little to no background in disability
studies and came from relatively different backgrounds. Additionally, RAs have the potential to
work extremely close with disabled students. Often, disabled students may be included on their
floor. Since many students with disabilities will isolate themselves or never speak about their
disabilities, being aware of disability issues is imperative to helping break down social barriers
for students with disabilities and making sure that they have a positive college experience.
6
Since we knew that the audience did not have any disability background, we began by
polling the audience to see what experiences some of the students may have had with disability.
Often, many cited experiences in high school where they may have noticed someone with a
disability. In summary, most of the students had little to no experience interacting with people
with disabilities and therefore, did not know much about disability, inclusion, special education.
Upon carrying out the presentation, this became far more apparent. One of the most
alarming outcomes, to me, was during the “Would you rather” activity. The two questions,
“Would you rather be the top student in a special education class or the worst student in a regular,
mainstream class?” and “Would you rather win five medals in the Special Olympics or no gold
medals in the ‘Regular’ Olympics?” both yielded essentially the same results: each college
student voted that they would rather be “regular,” and “able-bodied” (so, be the worst in a
mainstream class and participate in the Regular Olympics, despite not winning any gold medals).
These alarming results, in my opinion, could be attributed to the fact that the students thought of
Special Education and the Special Olympics as easier and less challenging. In fact, when we
asked the students why they made those decisions, they cited the disability as a contributing
factor. In other words, since being in special education/the Special Olympics suggests that means
the person has a disability, makes those options particularly unattractive. Additionally, for the
“Special Education” question, the students suggested that being in “Special Education” meant a
lack of academic rigor. This again alludes to the real deficit of any sort of program to educate
students about disability and confirms the need for something this sort of curriculum. All in all,
though, the students found this to be a very informative presentation and found that these
disability issues were extremely fascinating and important. Some of them might implement the
curriculum on their floors for all of their students, as well.
On-Course Conference
Later in April, we were given the opportunity to present in Costa Mesa, CA at the OnCourse Conference. The On-Course Conference is a conference geared to professors and
colleges to adapt best learning strategies to improve college retention rates and student success.
Diversity, specifically disability awareness, is an important topic that often educators are not able
to effectively integrate into their classes. Therefore, our goal for our presentation at this
conference was to encourage the educators to adapt our curriculum to their educational settings.
Our strategy was to present our curriculum and go through the different exercises to show them
the promise of the curriculum, and then, lead a discussion to understand how the educators plan
on adapting the curriculum (if at all).
Once everyone arrived to our presentation, we first asked everyone to introduce
themselves and why they chose this workshop to get a better feel for how everyone’s background
and get an idea as to how the attendees may implement our curriculum. After listening to each
attendee, it was evident that there was a myriad of different backgrounds. Some of the attendees
included people from a prison rehabilitation center, some professors who had interest in learning
more about disability studies but did not have prior disability knowledge, etc. The range of
backgrounds definitely provided for some insightful discussion at the end.
During the presentation, the attendees were very active and engaged in the activities we
were presenting. However, strikingly, we saw some similarities to our other presentations. For
example, when asked “Would you rather be the best in a Special Education class or the worst in
a regular class?” most of the attendees responded similarly to the college RA’s, in that, they
chose the worst in a regular class. As a student, this was particularly striking to me because it
7
really highlighted the lack of knowledge for disability studies in educators. To me, I felt that
educators should have somewhat more of a background, particularly with Special Education, that
would make the obvious choice to be the best in a Special Education class. As such, we saw
many unexpected parallels between the educators’ perspectives and the College RAs’
perspectives.
Overall and after assessing our feedback, we felt the presentation was very successful.
Most of the attendees enjoyed the presentation and even more importantly, almost all of them
suggested that they would be interested in implementing our curriculum. Over the course of the
next semester, we intend on trying to stay in touch with some of the people who intended to
implement it for their impressions and feedback.
Conclusion
Since the initial proposal, the IDAA project has certainly progressed farther than we
could have ever imagined when we began working on it. The goals we set out to achieve last
Spring, when we initially began the project, have undoubtedly been achieved, and we hope that
they continue to be achieved by other educators in their own classrooms in the future. This
experience has been eye opening in every sense of the phrase; we have learned so much about
disability and the importance and need for disability awareness. Likewise, the astounding support,
and overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received from various groups across campus, the
state and even the nation truly speaks to the success of our project.
The remarkable progress we made on this project every semester certainly inspires us to
continue. Disability does not mean incompetence, or inability. Rather, it means difference. This
difference needs to be acknowledged, rather than diminished, by people becoming advocates for
this awareness. We hope that our project provides a useful and meaningful toolkit for educators,
in the future, to take part in breaking down the social barriers surrounding disability that exist,
create advocacy for people with disabilities and ultimately, bring awareness to the differently
abled.
8
Appendix A: Handouts distributed during our presentation. These handouts essentially
contained our curriculum and helped explain to our audience the goals and evolution of our
project.
Proposal:
We developed this curriculum to provide Ithaca educators with a tool to teach students about
disability issues and raise awareness of how attitudes and language affect perceptions of
disability. The goal of this curriculum is to spark conversations about disability and inclusion
among students with their peers, teachers, and parents. We hope to shift negative perceptions of
disability towards acceptance and respect by providing students with educational tools to
increase their knowledge about specific disabilities, address disability stereotypes, and create a
more inclusive and respectful learning environments.
Our goal is for this to become sustainable not only by promoting disability awareness and
sensitivity as a curriculum, but also for this awareness to continue into an ongoing and open
discussion.
Objectives:
For students to:
 Recognize the abilities of people with disabilities
 Feel comfortable addressing disability
 Use language that creates positive images of people with disabilities
 Develop empathy to know and understand what it may feel like to have a disability
 Develop positive images of people with disabilities
9
Learning Outcomes
Instructional Methods &
Service Activities
Assessment
Upon completion of this course students What instructional strategies What evidence or (in)direct
will be able to:
or service activities will foster measures do I plan to use to
this outcome:
assess the achievement of
this learning outcome?
1) Spark thinking and reflection around Discussion of celebrities with
Reflection of student
issues of difference
disabilities. Interactive activity reactions and perceptions of
where students associate the people in the media that have
celebrity with his/her work and
disabilities
accomplishments and not
disability
2) Empathize and understand what it may ‘Would you rather’ activity in Students will write and share
feel like to have a disability
which students are asked
reflective pieces and class
difficult questions and learn to discussion will be fostered to
understand the daily choices
examine changes in
faced by those living with
perceptions and reflect on
disabilities.
discomfort felt from having
to make difficult choices.
3) Research and discover knowledge to
Students will focus on and
Student preparations and
promote an environment of empathy and research one type of disability. development of project with
advocacy.
members of group.
4) Identify difference, reflect on feelings, Student groups will present and Presentations, feedback, and
act in an appropriate advocacy role, and
share final projects with the
discussion
feel comfortable addressing disabilities
class.
10
Lesson Plan:
Day 1:
1. Introduction
a. Ask students how they feel about disabilities. Do they know anyone with a
disability? Do they have positive or negative thoughts when thinking about
disabilities and why?
i. Write their thoughts on the board. Ask students what examples of
disabilities they can think of
b. Background –define disabilities, explain the different types and provide specific
examples
i. Provide facts about disabilities
ii. Discuss the importance of developing positive images of disabilities and
feeling comfortable addressing disabilities
iii. Respect
2. Activity
a. Celebrities with disabilities – role play
b. Purpose: To gauge student perceptions of people with disabilities and help
students to understand that a disability does not define the person.
c. Lesson Prompt and cue cards are attached
i. Define different disabilities as they are discussed during the activity
d. Reflection
i. Ask students what to discuss how this activity changed the way they look
at people with disabilities.
ii. The goal of this interactive activity is for students to learn to associate a
person with his/her work and accomplishments rather than a disability the
person may have.
Day 2:
1. Would you Rather Activity
a. The purpose of this activity is to develop empathy among students through
realizing the difficulties associated with having a disability.
b. Lesson plan and activity sheet are attached
c. Reflection
2. Introduction to the Project
a. Hand out prompt and provide students with an explanation
b. Divide students into groups and have them discuss plans with group members
i. Open up the group discussion to questions about the project i.e. regarding
clarification
Day 3:
1. This day is devoted to group work on the project. Students should divide into their groups
and develop their plans for presenting on Day 4.
2. Students should review all handouts and practice presenting with each other.
Day 4:
1. Group Presentations
11
Day 1 Lesson Plan: Famous People with Disabilities
Purpose: To gauge student perceptions of people with disabilities and help students to
understand that a disability does not define the person.
Activity: Role play activity in which students are selected to play the role of a celebrity who has
a disability and have the class guess who the celebrity is based on answers to questions.
1. The first role-play should be done by an IDAA member as an example for the class and
then students can be selected to do the role-playing.
2. Once a student volunteers to role-play, they will receive a prompt of which celebrity
role they are to take on. The prompt will give a brief bio of the celebrity so that the
student will be able to answer questions asked by the class.
3. The class then has the chance to ask the student questions to try and figure out who the
celebrity is, in the format of 20 Questions.
4. Once the class has figured out who the celebrity is, the celebrity’s disability will also
be revealed. Students will be asked to reflect on this and discuss whether they associate
the person with the disability or rather the accomplishments the person has achieved.
5. An explanation of the specific disability will be presented to teach the students what
the disability is and clarify any misconceptions.
Reflection: Students should reflect upon their reactions and perceptions of famous people that
have disabilities. The goal of this interactive activity is for students to learn to associate a person
with his/her work and accomplishments rather than a disability the person may have.
Celebrities:
1. Tom Cruise; Dyslexia
2. Jim Carey; ADHD
3. Bethany Hamilton; Physical Disability
4. Stephen Hawking; ALS
5. David Beckham; OCD
6. Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Paralysis
7. Muhammad Ali; Parkinson’s Disease
8. Walt Disney; Dyslexia
9. Julius Caesar; Epilepsy
10. Robin Williams; ADHD
Day 2 Lesson Plan: Would you rather Activity
12
Purpose: To begin to empathize with the difficulty of having a disability.
Activity:
1. Inform the students you will be asking them a series of questions and they will have to sit
or stand depending on which option they choose, not telling them whether remaining
sitting or standing is the desired outcome.
2. Tell them that if they choose the first option they have to sit down and if they choose the
second option they can remain standing.
3. Also inform the class that they have only five seconds to make their choice before they
are disqualified from the activity.
4. Read each “would you rather questions” out loud to the class. You can also display each
question on a PowerPoint presentation for students to read as they make their decision.
5. For questions that get big reaction in the students or invoke a surprising response ask
students why they made the choice they did.
6. After the activity, explain to students how oftentimes people with disabilities often have
no “good” choices to choose from and are forced to make difficult decisions.
Note: Certain terms or concepts may need to be explained to the students during the activity,
such as what is a grand mal seizure or what does it mean to be hooked up to a ventilator.
Reflection:
Ask the students to write a short reflection on what it felt like be forced to choose an option that
was not desirable. Then ask the students to share their reflection in small groups. Can also
stimulate a whole classroom discussion if there is a time constraint.
Questions for group discussions:
1. What was the most difficult question they were faced with?
2. What made you choose a certain way?
3. What emotions did you feel when you were doing the activity?
4. What if you did not have the choice between either one of the options? How would that
make you feel?
5. What is an example of difficult choices that you have had to make?
6. What were some of the disabilities these questions touched upon?
Day 2 Activity Sheet
13
Would you rather…
1. Have two left feet or two left hands?
2. Be beautiful or smart?
3. Always have to say everything on your mind or never speak again?
4. Never see the faces of your loved ones or never hear your favorite music again?
5. Only be able to whisper or only be able to shout?
6. Publish your diary or make a movie on your most embarrassing moment?
7. Have to have surgery every month or have to take a shot every day?
8. Have to write down everything you want to say or not be able to read?
9. Have a grand mal seizure at school every month or have to use a wheelchair everyday?
10. Win no medals in the Olympics or win five gold medals at the Special Olympics?
11. Never be able to get your drivers license or never go without a chaperone?
12. Have to read a book that is written backwards or have to take a final exam in the middle
of a rock concert?
13. Not be able to swallow your own food or be permanently hooked to a ventilator?
14. Be 10 feet tall or 2 feet tall?
15. Have to read all your textbooks in Braille or only be able to talk with your friends using
sign language?
16. Be the best student in a special education class or the worst student in a mainstream
class?
Days 3-4
14
Group Project Assignment Sheet
People with disabilities often need an entire caring community for support. In this activity, you
will reflect on what it is like to be a part of a classroom community that includes a person with a
disability. The class will be split up into three groups, and each group will learn about and
research a person with blindness (Taylor), cerebral palsy (Devon), and epilepsy (Jordan). You
will also be asked to take on the role of a person who interacts with the student on a daily basis
and will be split into groups of 1 or 2 acting as the student’s parent, teacher, friend, or
acquaintance.
I am __________________________’s ____________________________.
(Devon’s)
(teacher)
1) Next class period you will research your group’s assigned using the provided fact sheet.
2) Reflect on what it would be like to be the student’s parent, teacher, friend, or
acquaintance based on which role you have chosen to take.
3) Discuss with your group to share your thoughts and prepare for your presentation.
4) On the final day you will present to the class taking on your chosen role. In your
presentation answer the following questions so that the class can better understand how
someone facing your assigned disability.
Questions for presentation:
1) As __________’s __________ what would you like the class to know about _________’s
disability?
2) How can the class improve _________’s school experience?
Disabilities:
1. Blindness
2. Cerebral Palsy
3. Epilepsy
Disability Awareness Survey
15
Directions: This survey is intended provoke thinking about disabilities and your personal
reactions to people who are faced with disabilities. Answer each question based on your own
personal feelings. There is no wrong answer to these questions.
1. If you found out after school today that your best friend has a disability would you
(check all that apply)
a) stop hanging out with her
b) ask if she wants to talk about her disability with you
c) continue to be friends with her like nothing has changed
d) learn more about her disability and how it affects her
e) tell everyone in school about her disability
f) other:_________________________________________________________
2. If you knew a boy in your class has ADHD would you
a) ask him how he manages dealing with his disability
b) learn more about ADHD so that you could be supportive of him
c) tell everyone in the classroom about his disability even if he only confided in you
about having it
d) treat him differently than the other students in the classroom
e) talk with a teacher or parent about how to help him deal with ADHD outside of the
classroom
f) other: ____________________________________________________________
3. Your classmate got into a terrible car accident and lost his hearing. He can hear some sounds,
but has difficultly making out full sentences and has to take special classes since he needs to
learn sign language. Would you
a) laugh at him when you he doesn’t respond to someone talking to him
b) ask about what it’s like to learn sign language
c) refuse to eat lunch with him since he can’t even hear you
d) treat him the same as you always have treated him
e) learn more about his new disability to be supportive of him
f) other: ____________________________________________________________
4. How comfortable would you feel studying with or working with a person with a physical
disability? (Circle one and explain your choice below)
1
Very Uncomfortable
2
3
Neutral
4
5
Very Comfortable
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
16
5. How likely is it for a person to develop a disability (any type) over the course of their lifetime?
(Circle one and explain your choice below)
1
2
Very Unlikely
3
Neutral
4
5
Very Likely
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
6. How do you feel about the statement, “People with disabilities always need
help to accomplish everyday activities.” (Circle one and explain your choice below)
1
Strongly Disagree
2
3
Neutral
4
5
Strongly Agree
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________
Appendix B: Below is a list of some of the mentors we contacted to help disseminate our
curriculum.





Nigel Ganon, New York State 4-H Healthy Living Program Specialist, Bronfenbrenner
Center for Translational Research
Catherine Thrasher-Carroll, Mental Health Promotion Coordinator at Gannett Health
Services
Justin Carr, Health Teacher at DeWitt Middle School (Ithaca, NY)
Running to Places Theatre Group
New Roots Middle School
Appendix C: For each of our mentors, we sent them an email to encourage them to consider
using our curriculum and explain to them how it works.
Dear Mentors,
Cornell University’s Illuminating Differently Abled Awareness group has developed an
education curriculum on disability advocacy and awareness. The curriculum will give
participants exposure to a variety of activities to learn about the current misconceptions
surrounding people with disabilities and the difficulties they face. After each activity,
participants will have a brief discussion to reflect on the activity. The unit will culminate in a
group presentation where participants will research and better understand various disabilities. In
the end, we hope that participants will be able to identify difference, reflect on feelings, and act
in an appropriate advocacy role.
17
This past semester, we designed a website for educators, parents, supporters and leaders, like
yourself, to access our curriculum. Our vision is to see this curriculum implemented across
several different venues such as the following: classrooms, youth bureaus, after school programs,
scout groups, cooperative extension programs, and summer camps, to achieve our ultimate goal
of spreading ongoing awareness and inclusion.
The link to our website is: idaa.aem.cornell.edu. Attached is a hardcopy of our curriculum.
We would like to invite you to implement our curriculum in your venue. We hope that you will
find the curriculum to be meaningful and effective, and so, any feedback you can provide before,
during or after implementing it would be greatly appreciated.
Please contact Senior Lecturer Kathy Berggren at kld4@cornell.edu with any questions,
comments, concerns or clarifications. Thank you so much and we hope you find this to be
helpful.
Sincerely,
Kathy Berggren
Shane Dunau
Michael Iadevaia
Ryan Woolley