Hearing Impairment Simulation
This activity will allow students to experience what it might be like to have a hearing impairment. The spectrum of hearing impairment ranges from not being able to hear certain sounds to being completely deaf. Typically, having a hearing impairment means that sounds are garbled, muffled or unclear. For this activity, I will give each student a pair of foam earplugs and demonstrate how to use them. Using a tablet or smart phone connected to a speaker, I will fill the room with white noise using a white noise app. I will read a long newspaper article or book passage. I will read rapidly, using a mumbling monotone voice, running words together and pausing in odd places. I will ask students five questions about the content of what I read. I will continue to talk in a soft, mumbling voice. I will turn off the white noise and instruct student to remove their earplugs. We will discuss the experience.
- Were you able to hear anything I was saying?
- How did the experience make you feel?
- How did it feel to be asked questions about a text you could hardly hear?
- What could I have done to help you understand the passage and answer the questions correctly?
Band-Aid Activity
In an inclusive classroom, students receive differentiated instruction based on their individual needs. It’s important for students in this setting to learn the concept of equity. The Band-Aid Activity helps students understand that fair doesn’t always mean equal. I began using this activity with my students after hearing about it from numerous educators. It’s a simple, yet effective way to teach equity to children of all ages. The teacher will start by telling students that they will be pretending to have an injury. The teacher gives an index card to each student. Each card is inscribed with an injury or ailment such as “headache,” “cut on leg” or “broken arm.” The teacher asks students to announce their injury to the class one at a time. After each student shares, the teacher gives them a Band-Aid, regardless of the injury. If anyone complains or questions the Band-Aid, the teacher will simply say that it wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t give everyone the same thing. Once each student has a Band-Aid, the class will engage in a guided discussion.
- Was it equal that everyone got a Band-Aid?
- Was it fair that everyone got a Band-Aid? Why or why not?
- What other things in the classroom are our “injuries” like? What else can the Band-Aids be compared to?
As a variation, the teacher could give all but the last student a Band-Aid, and during the discussion could ask that student how it felt to be the only one without a Band-Aid.
The key point to impart to students is that fairness does not mean that everyone gets the same thing. Fairness means that we all get what we need, and we all need different things. For older students, the teacher may introduce the word “equity,” explaining that equity means that everyone gets what they need. To further reinforce the concept, the teacher can show students visual representations of “equity vs. equality.” There are many wonderful visual representations available online. To find them, simply conduct a Google image search using the words “equity” and “equality,” along with either “bicycle,” “baseball” or “apple tree.”
Living Timeline of the History of Disability
After having gained empathy and understanding through simulation activities, students will be ready to learn about disability history and culture. We will explore the history of disability in the United States. We will work together to create a living timeline of key events and notable people, from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the disability rights movement of the middle 20th century to the present day. We will explore the disability history timeline published by the Institute for Educational Leadership and choose 10-15 key events and historical figures that we wish to learn more about. 9 Students will be divided into groups of 2-3 students. Each group will be assigned an event or person to research further. Students will use Internet resources and disability history textbooks to gather important information about their historical figure or event. They will then create a 2-3 minute verbal sketch that conveys their information in a creative way. They could write a monologue, song, rap or an informal conversation with the audience. The group will choose one student to be the “actor” who will perform the sketch. The group will create props and/or simple costume pieces such as hats to make their historical research come to life. They will be provided card stock, scissors, tape, and markers to create these pieces. Groups will have time to rehearse before performing the living timeline as a class. The actors will line up in chronological order in the front of the room, facing the audience. They will each “freeze” in a pose of their choosing. When it’s their turn to perform their sketch, they will unfreeze. When they are finished performing they will refreeze, signaling to the next actor that it’s their turn to unfreeze. The actors and audience will be reminded of the importance of showing respect and sensitivity during the performance, especially in light of the fact that many of the actors will be depicting people with disabilities.
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