Classroom Activities
Disability Simulations
During the “immerse” stage of the inquiry process, students will gain a greater awareness of disability and a deeper understanding of the experiences of individuals with disabilities. One of the most powerful tools for building empathy is simulation. Simulation gives students the opportunity to experience what it might be like to have a particular disability.
Drinking Straw Challenge
This activity involves the simulation of blindness, speech impairment, and immobile limbs and fingers. It is designed to emphasize the interactions between those with and without disabilities while working towards a common goal. The class will be divided into groups of five. Each group member will be assigned a different disability.
- Student #1: no use of thumbs (tape the student’s thumbs to their hands using masking tape)
- Student #2: no use of dominant hand and arm (place arm behind back)
- Student #3: unable to talk
- Student #4: unable to see (blindfolded)
- Student #5: able-bodied (does not have a disability)
Each group will be given 40 drinking straws (we will use eco-friendly paper straws) and a roll of Scotch tape. I will then explain that each group is competing to create the tallest possible freestanding structure using only drinking straws and Scotch tape. They will have 20 minutes to build their structures. The structure may not be anchored to the table, the floor or any other structure. I will monitor the groups throughout the building process, observing the students’ interactions. After the 20 minutes is up, we will come back together as a group to discuss the experience. I will ask questions to guide the discussion.
- What did the blind person in your group do?
- Did anyone assume that the people with disabilities couldn’t be active members of the group?
- Did anyone ask the people with disabilities what they felt they could do to contribute?
- If you had a disability in real life, how would you want people to treat you when doing something like this?
Sock Hands
This activity simulates the challenges experienced when someone has a muscular mobility disorder such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis. The teacher will place students in pairs, making sure that at least one person in each pair is wearing shoes that have laces. Each pair of students will be given two pairs of thick socks. One student in each group will place two socks on each hand. That student will then attempt to tie their shoes using their sock-covered hands. The other student will observe their partner’s attempt to tie their shoes. After a minute or so, the students will switch roles, so that all students have the opportunity to experience the challenge of limited muscular mobility.
- How did it feel to try to tie your shoes with socks on your hands?
- What was the most difficult part?
- How did it feel to watch your partner struggle?
- What could you do to help someone who has these challenges?
- What are some other tasks that would be difficult for you to do on a daily basis?
Blindfold Challenge
In this role-playing activity, the teacher will place students in pairs or allow them to choose their partners. One student will be the person with blindness and the other student will be the guide. One student will wear a blindfold (be sure that it’s secured tightly) and the guide will help the student make their way from one side of the classroom to the other and find a chair to sit down in. The teacher will instruct some groups to go out into the hallway so that the person with blindness can get a drink at the water fountain. The teacher will then have the partners change roles. After all students have experienced both roles, blindfolds will be removed and students will return to their tables for a whole class discussion.
- How did it feel to be blindfolded?
- How did it feel to be the guide?
- What was helpful?
- What was difficult?
- What are some suggestions you have for guiding and helping a person with a vision disability?
Cat, Dog, Fish
This activity helps students understand what it might feel like to have an intellectual disability. A person with an intellectual disability may process information at a slower rate than their peers. People with intellectual disabilities often need complex instructions broken down into explicit steps, and may need repeated practice to retain information. In this activity, students will stand facing me. I will model three different positions: hands in air, hands on waist, and hands on thighs. Each position will be assigned an animal name that is completely unrelated to the position.
- Hands in air = CAT
- Hands on waist = DOG
- Hands on thighs = FISH
I will lead the students as they practice each position a few times. I will then begin giving a string of commands while modeling the movements.
- Hands on FISH
- Right hand on FISH
- Left hand on DOG
- Right hand on CAT
- Left hand on DOG
I will give them commands again, this time without doing them myself. I may increase the complexity by telling students to widen their stance or bend at the knees. We will discuss the experience as a class.
- How did it feel?
- What was challenging?
- What helped you succeed?
Dyslexia Simulation
Victor Widell, a Swedish web developer, created an online simulation that gives viewers the opportunity to experience what it might be like to have dyslexia. While the experience of having dyslexia varies widely from person to person, many people with dyslexia have noted the similarities between Widell’s simulation and their own experiences. The simulation can be located by conducting a Google search for “Victor Widell” and clicking on the top search result, which is Widell’s blog. Here Widell has posted the text from the Wikipedia page on dyslexia, and has used his knowledge of JavaScript programing to manipulate the letters so they jump around on the page. I will use our classroom projector to show this simulation to my students. We will discuss how it made them feel.
- Were you able to read it?
- What was difficult about it?
- How did it make you feel?
- What could we do to help a person who has dyslexia?
Sensory Sensitivity Simulation
This activity will allow students to experience what it’s like to have sensory sensitivity. People with autism are often hypersensitive to noise, movement and touch and can become overwhelmed in sensory-rich environments. People with ADHD can also experience sensory sensitivity. A stiff clothing tag on the back of the neck or the sound of a distant faucet dripping can make it very difficult for a person with ADHD or autism to concentrate on anything else. For this activity, I will divide the class into groups of 5. I will tell students that they will each have a job to do. I will go over their jobs and tell them to wait for the signal to start. One student in each group will play the part of someone with autism. The other 4 people each have different jobs:
- Student #1: You are a person with autism. You will listen to what Student #5 is reading so you can take a test on the material. Try to ignore everything else.
- Student #2: Stand behind the Student #1. Rub the edge of an index card against the back their neck. You do not need to rub hard, but keep doing it over and over.
- Student #3: Grab a book, lean close to Student #1 and read in a loud voice the entire time.
- Student #4: Pat Student #1 on the shoulder the entire time.
- Student #5: Using a normal voice, read a paragraph to Student #1 then ask them questions about what you read. Do not try to drown out the other noises.
After all students have had the chance to be Student #1, we will discuss the experience.
- How did it feel to have so much commotion going on?
- Did it make you want to scream or run away?
- Were you able to concentrate on the paragraph being read? What might have helped?
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