Walk inMy Shoes: How a Disability Changes Your Life

An ExtensionExercise for "The Miracle Worker"

Cindy Vanderkin & David Hintz (used with permission)
 

 

Introduction

Imagine that you had a bad car accident and can’t walk anymore. Or, suppose you love to draw but just lost your eyesight. Maybe you’ve been an athlete and just found out that you have heart problems and can’t play anymore. Perhaps you got a disease and now you can’t talk. As of this moment, you have become disabled. What was easy for you before, is now a great challenge. You cannot learn the way you used to. Other parts of your life are affected, too. How does your life change?

First, find out what famous people have or had disabilities. Visit this site: http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/general/famous.html. Then take this celebrity quiz:

http://www.ldonline.org/kidzone/inter_act/celebrity_quiz.html. In your journal, write down what you learned and what may have surprised you.

Your Quest

  • What it is like to have specific type of disability and how would it affect your life?

    • Your group will choose or be given a disability. Your quest is to walk in the shoes of someone with that disability. Find out how a disability affects someone’s life. A disability can affect how someone is involved in hobbies such as drawing, recreation, sports, eating, going shopping, and getting and education through special education (education for people with disabilities). Compare special education today to what Helen Keller had in the late 1800’s. Use resource materials in your school, LMC and on the Internet to learn about people with your group’s disability. Explain how your lives would change and your reaction to these changes. Evaluate the benefits of special education at your school. Your group will answer this research question and share what you learned.

    1. What it is like to have specific type of disability and how has it changed your opinions or feelings about this disability?
    2. What do people with that disability have to say?
    3. How does your school help people with this disability?
    4. How is life with a disability today different from when Helen Keller grew up?
    5. What have you learned?

    Your final product will include a written product and a presentation to the class.
     

    The Task


    You will learn about people with disabilities during the next two weeks. You and three other people will join to research a specific disability, read what real people have to say about having a disability, develop a written product (letter, five paragraph essay, or school newspaper article), and prepare a presentation for the class describing what you have learned. The presentation may be with photos, pictures, role-playing, a speech or a computer presentation such as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

    Each group member must use their journal to answer questions, take notes, and write down other questions you need answered. Group members will take a role: Internet Researcher, Interviewer, Editor, or Producer.
     

    Role Task
    Internet Researcher 1. Research the disability on the internet.
    • Take notes on the disability.
    • Write down any questions you have.

    2. Role-play a person with a disability for a day.

    • Write an article for the school newspaper describing the problems and solutions to challenges you had as a person with this disability.
    • Your English teacher will help you get the permission you need.
    • Sites to visit:

    Disability Awareness: Articles by High School Students: http://www.cqc.state.ny.us/disawhs.htm 

    This site has copies of articles on disabilities awareness written by high school students. It has also been distributed as a separate piece to high schools and students throughout New York State.

    Interviewer 1. Research the disability at school.
    • You can interview special education teachers at your school. Your English teacher will give you teachers’ names and room numbers.You can ‘shadow’ a teacher or student in a class. Your English teacher will help you get the permission you need.

    2. Interview a person with a disability.

    • Write an article for the school newspaper that describes and evaluates how that person’s life is different from your own. Your English teacher will help you get the permission you need.
    Editor

     

    		 1. Write a letter to the principal. Tell the principal why you support education and equal rights for people with disabilities. Be sure to give him facts and examples. 

    2. Write an article for the school newspaper. Describe how students with disabilities in our school deserve to be treated with respect and given equal opportunities for learning.

    • Remember to use the Six-Trait Writing Rubric. 
    • Provide a unique, imaginative title. 
    Producer 1. Prepare your presentation using pictures, clipart, etc.
    1. Prepare a photo display. 
    • Get permission forms from your teacher.
    • Check out a digital camera from the LMC.Take pictures.
    • Download the pictures onto the computer. See the Library Specialist for help.
    1. Develop a computer presentation, such as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
    • See the Library Specialist or your teacher for help.
    • Remember to use the Student Multimedia Project Rubric and/or the Presentation Rubric.

    Process


    On this journey, every group member needs to learn about your disability. Get some background information by visiting the sites below. Remember to take notes in your journal.

    Phase 1 – Background: All Group Members

    Before writing your essay, you must understand the history of education for people with disabilities. We have provided you with appropriate links several general sources of information.

    1. To read about the major historical movements about disabilities in the U.S., visit this site: http://www.npr.org/programs/disability/ba_shows.dir/index_sh.html
    1. Read about federal legislation, current school programs, and trends in special education. Click on this link: Educating Exceptional Children. At the end of this report, trends for the future in special education are discussed. In your journal, answer these questions:
    1. Do you agree with the statement, "Today it is recognized that valuable contributions may be made even by people with severe handicaps."
    2. Have you seen a valuable contribution made by someone with a severe disability?
    3. What was it?
    1. Take a close look at the excerpt from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in Including Students with Disabilities in General Education Classrooms. Halfway through the article is a part called "MAKING IT WORK: A SAMPLE SCENARIO". It tells about activities and support systems to help students with disabilities succeed in regular classes.
    1. Have you seen this at your high school?
    2. Describe what you have seen.
    3. How can you help make inclusion work better at your high school?

     

    Phase 2 - Looking Deeper: by Group Role

    Instructions For The Internet Researcher

    Step 1. Use these links to get information on your disability. Remember to take notes and write down questions in your journal!

    http://www.rialto.k12.ca.us/frisbie/coyote/lan.arts/disabilities.links.html This site has links to resources by the kind of disability.

    Step 2. Click here to go to Mrs. Vanderkin’s Hotlist of Information on Disabilities.

     

    Instructions For The Interviewer

    Step 1. Develop your Teacher Interview Form.

    1. Why did you choose this job?
    2. Do you enjoy your job? Why?
    3. What do you do to help students with blindness learn?
    4. Are you ever afraid that one of your students will get hurt?
    5. What is the hardest thing for your students to learn?
    6. Do your students have friends?
    7. What do your students do for fun?
    8. Have you ever had a student die?
    9. What was your biggest success?

    Step 2. Develop your Student Interview Form.

    1. What is your disability?
    2. How does it affect you?
    3. What makes it hard to learn?
    4. Are you ever afraid that you will get hurt?
    5. How do you feel about your education at this school?
    6. Could anything be made better or easier for you?
    7. What was your biggest success?

     

    Instructions For The Editor
    1. Meet with your group.Hear their information.
    2. Gather the main points they have found.
    3. Decide on the king of paper to write (as a group).
    4. Draft the paper.
    5. Have each group member review and edit the paper.
    6. Make your final changes.

     

    Instructions For The Producer
    1. Meet with your group.
    2. Decide on the king of presentation to make (as a group).
    3. Draft the presentation.
    4. Have each group member review and edit the presentation.
    5. Make your final changes.
    6. Decide who will present each part.
    7. Practice the presentation.

     

    Phase 3 - Discussing and Reaching Consensus

    You have all written notes and questions about the disability you are researching.

    All Group Members:

    Step 1. Share this information with your group.

    Step 2. Then, by yourself, write your answers to these questions:

    1. What it is like to have specific type of disability and how has it changed your opinions or feelings about this disability?
    2. What do people with that disability have to say?
    3. How does your school help people with this disability?
    4. How is life with a disability today different from when Helen Keller grew up?
    5. What have you learned?

     

    Editor:

    Step 1. Write down the three most important points you want to make for questions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

    Step 2. Use these answers to summarize the answer to your research question.

     

    All Group Members:

    Step 1. Decide on the type of written product.

    Step 2. Decide on the type of presentation.

     

    Phase 4 – Final Products: All Group Members

    This is where you get to showcase all of your hard work! Read on to find out what each of you must do.

     

    Editor:

    Step 1. Write up your research results.

    Step 2. Have each team member read and edit your work. Use the Six-Trait Writing Rubric under Evaluation.

    Step 3. Make the final copy of your report.

     

    Producer:

    Step 1. Use the written report, photographs, or clip art to develop your presentation.

    Step 2. Have each team member review and edit your work. Use the Presentation Rubric and/or the Multimedia Presentation Rubric under Evaluation.

    Step 3. Make your final changes.

    Step 4. Decide who will present each part.

    Step 5. Make the final copy of the presentation.

    Step 6. Be sure your group practices the presentation.

     

    All Group Members:

    Step 1. Decide who will do each part of the presentation.

    Step 2. Practice the presentation. Use the rubric under Evaluation.

     

    Evaluation

    Use the rubrics on the following pages to help you do the best job possible. There are rubrics for the written product, group cooperation, the presentation, and the multi-media presentation if you choose to do one.

    Click on one of these links to find the evaluation rubric:

    Group Cooperation Rubric

    Presentation Rubric

    Six-Trait Writing Rubric

    Multimedia Presentation Rubric

     

    Conclusion

    After all that you have learned, we would like to welcome you back to the life that you have. Throughout this journey, we are sure that you encountered many things that may have disturbed you but above all, we hope that you have learned how important it is for you to learn firsthand what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes. We hope that you have more insights about people with disabilities, less fear, prejudice and misunderstanding, and that you will keep these new feelings and understandings with you. Never take for granted that you are an able-bodied person with a mind that works perfectly. Remember how things have improved since Helen Keller’s day and that you can help make the lives of people with disabilities even better with your new understanding.

    As you can see, many parts of a person’s life can be affected by a disability. Other people can help or hurt progress for someone who has a disability. Think about the world today. What are some changes that might happen by 2025? How would they affect people with disabilities? How might they affect you in the future?

    Can you find examples of discrimination today – such as barriers to people with disabilities? Today laws help protect the rights of all Americans but we must continue to work towards protecting those rights. What can you do to help?