Students with Disabilities

• Breaking Down Stereotypes
• Diversity

The objective of this activity is to get students to gain an understanding of how it would be to have a disability. Students will also gain insight into how to work with students with disabilities.

• Small
• Medium
• Large

• 2 pairs of sunglasses
• Vaseline
• Needle
• Thread
• Station Handouts Copied
• A bag of Blow Pop Suckers
• Wheelchair/Crutches (If Possible)
• “Speech Disability” Handout (One per participant)
• “Vision Problem” Handout
• “Person First” Handout (One per participant)
• “Learning Disability” Handout (One per participant)
• Download all handouts

Set up the following stations before the students come to participate:

Vision Disability
Station 1:
This station should have a pair of sunglasses with Vaseline on the lenses and a needle and thread.

Station 2:
This station should have the “Vision Problem” handout along with the glasses.

Speech Disability
Station 3:
This station should have the bag of suckers and a copy of the “Speech Disability” Handout.

Mobility Disability
Station 4:
This station should have a wheelchair/crutches.

Learning Disability
Station 5:
This station should have the Learning disability handout.

The students should be divided up into five groups and rotate around through the stations. Each station should have a direction sheet, which is included in this lesson. The facilitator should have the students go to each station and read the directions and do the activity for 5 minutes and then rotate.

NOTE: If you are working with a large group you may create double stations, which would allow more students to participate.

Pull the group back together after everyone had done all the stations and ask some of the following questions:

1. "What did you think of the exercise?”
2. “What did you like about the exercise?”
3. “What did you dislike about the exercise?”
4. “What was the most challenging part of the exercise?”
5. “Did you learn anything from this exercise?”