(no subject)

[rivka]

This week Alex's class has been learning about differences and similarities between people. Today I visited her classroom to talk about having a disability.

It was a challenge. I knew that it's much much harder to handle a group of preschoolers than it is to handle one preschooler, but I hadn't really figured out the effects of group size. Her class is about twice the size of the preschool RE classes I've taught, and it was at least twice as hard to keep them focused and with me.

I started off by having us all raise our hands as high as we could. I commented on how long and strong their arms looked, and asked them if there was anything different about my arms. "Your arms are longer," said a kid who, admittedly, was seated on my left. I agreed that my left arm is longer than theirs, then showed them just my right arm.

"My right arm is much smaller. I have one big arm and one little arm. Did anyone ever notice that before when I came in the classroom?" They all shook their heads.

I had one kid come over and try to bend my elbow. Then I asked another one to count the fingers on my right hand. (Everyone else in the class decided that they had to count their own fingers and report to me that they had five.)

"So, my arm is short, the elbow doesn't bend, and I have four fingers. That makes me different from everyone else in this room. When somebody's body is made differently or works differently from most people's, that's called being disabled." I explained that I was born this way and was this way when I was their age.

I asked them if they had ever seen anyone else whose body worked differently. One kid volunteered that her brother is bigger than she is, and I realized that I would have to be much more concrete. So I asked about people in wheelchairs (most of them had seen one) and people who can't see (most of them had also seen or heard of this). One kid volunteered that blind people can have dogs that lead them.

I had two points I wanted to make about disability. First I asked them if they thought that, when I was a little girl with one small arm, I could still play. They thought so. Then I asked them about a child who can't see and a child who can't walk - could they play? They were a little unsure, so we talked about things those kids could play.

"Sometimes, when kids see someone who is disabled, they think that person can't do anything. But if you watch, you'll see that disabled people have neat ways of doing things you might think they couldn't do. My arm is little, but see, I can use it to hold Colin. I can also type on the computer and play songs on the piano with my little hand. Alex's grandpa is blind. He can't see to read a book, but he can listen to stories on CD and he can even go hiking in the woods with special sticks to keep him on the trail. So when you see someone who is disabled, look out for their special ways of doing things."

At the end, I invited all the kids to come get a close look at my arm and hand. I told them that they could touch me if they wanted and that they could try to bend my elbow - that it wouldn't hurt me. About half the class took me up on it, including one of the teachers. The kids really liked putting their own hands up to mine and patting the smooth curve I have on the inside of my arm instead of an elbow crease.

I think it went well. It was kind of fun, too.

Comments

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I adore you.

I adored you long before reading this post, but everything about it reminded me of the concrete ways you're helping make the world a better place and how good you are at it.

[ckd]

All of this. rivka, you make this a better world.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

You are an extremely cool person.

[naomikritzer]

When somebody's body is made differently or works differently from most people's, that's called being disabled.

Except when it means they have SUPERPOWERS.

(FYI, Haddayr references her crutches in that post: she was in the class to talk about her son's disabilities, which are Tourette's and Asperger's. She herself has MS, and depending on the day uses a cane, crutches, or a wheelchair to get around.)

[redbird]

Nicely done. Including the bit where you adjusted and made the question more concrete and specific, because "my brother is bigger than me" might be a useful comparison in some other context but is far afield from what you were doing.

[ljgeoff.livejournal.com]

This sounds wonderful. Thank you for getting out there. I wish my son could have experienced your talk.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

It is SO cool you did that :) Awesome. I'm glad you had fun doing it, too :D

N.

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful way to address that topic with children, and how lovely of you to lend your own self to the task.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

That's so cool and so awesome. Yay.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Maybe four is exactly the right age for that first lesson - before they've internalized the "noticing is rude" thing. Imagine all the dinner-table conversations afterwards, too!

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I got tons of "don't look, don't ask, pretend you don't notice" when I was growing up. It made me really uncomfortable around people with visible disabilities for a very long time.

This is a much better way of introducing the topic.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I thought it was interesting that none of them had noticed before. I find that kids often first notice at age 5 or 6 and are comfortable asking... although their parents are usually mortified. I'm always glad when they come right out and ask, and we can have a cheerful and matter-of-fact conversation about it.

In many ways this feels to me very similar to the sex ed class I teach: legitimizing curiosity about a taboo!embarrassing! subject in a low-key, matter-of-fact, accepting context.

[laurarey.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful thing to do....letting them touch you makes all the difference. When I was around 4 or 5, I had to go to speech therapy because I was having such issues speaking. My therapist was African-American and I had never seen someone with such dark skin. I asked mom if the color would come off if I touched her. My mom, being wise, took me back in to the therapist's office, explained my curiosity, and the woman offered to let me touch her arm. I touched it, and then exclaimed, "She feels just like me."

Lesson learned. :)

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

That's excellent.

[ailbhe]

That's lovely.

[lizzibabe.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful, Rivka. Thank you for sharing!

[trope.livejournal.com]

UbD for the win!

Go, Rivka, go... sounds like a great discussion.