Teaching About Disability Pride Month

Use this guide to teach the inspiring, true story of Jennifer Keelan, an activist whose participation in the Capitol Crawl protest for disability rights when she was just 8 years old encouraged Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This lesson plan and worksheet are a guide for how you can have a discussion with your students about the history of the ADA and, more specifically, the Capitol Crawl, which was a protest that was successful in urging Congress to vote on the ADA. The lessons focus on a nine-minute video that tells the story of the Capitol Crawl.

This lesson features Judy Heumann, who faced discrimination for using a wheelchair as a child and as an adult. When she was told her wheelchair posed a “fire hazard” when she tried to get a job as a teacher, Heumann sued the Board of Education for discrimination, and then became the first teacher in New York City to use a wheelchair. Throughout her life, Judy Heumann, referred to as “the mother of the disability rights movement,” fought for the rights of people with disabilities in the U.S. and around the world. This lesson offers ways to consider our schools and communities need to continue to address the rights and fair treatment of people with disabilities.

Nearly 1 in 5 (19 percent) of people in the U.S. are living with a disability. Ableism, which is bias or discrimination against people with disabilities, can take many forms, including: employment or housing discrimination; lack of accessibility on streets, buildings and public transportation; stereotyping and ableist language; lack of media portrayals or stereotyped depictions of people with disabilities; bullying; and more. Use this lesson to help students understand and reflect on examples of ableism in their own lives.

Have you ever read through a student’s individualized education program and felt unsure about what to focus on? Every general education teacher will have students with IEPs in class at some point. That’s why knowing how to read and understand an IEP is so important. Learn about the best practices for getting the most important information from an IEP and how they apply to your classroom.

This four-part lesson introduces the concept of ableism and emphasizes the importance of intersectionality to disability justice. Topics include having an agreement on use of language in discussions; defining ableism and connecting it with other forms of oppression and discrimination; exploring the difference between intention and impact; and ways communities can reclaim words that have been used in hurtful ways.

This five-star, for-credit webinar features concrete strategies for how education can be used to end the stigma of disability faced by our students, along with practical content and advice on how to discuss the topic of disability in your classroom regardless of the subject or age taught. Educators will also learn what can be done at a schoolwide administrative level to create inclusive and disability-informed schools.