I don't know any parent or teacher of young children that doesn't believe in
benefits of reading to kids. Virtually all of them include "story time" in their daily routine. Books have power to capture a child's imagination & take them on wonderful journeys. They also have power to help them understand new things & to send positive messages. All of these qualities make books an ideal choice when adults are searching for ways to help non-disabled children understand world of a child with special needs. If you are a parent or teacher interested in doing some simple disability awareness training, then I would offer these tips:1. Start with right story.
Select a story that your reading audience can relate too, but also select a special needs character that will be relevant to their life. Do you currently have a special needs child in your class? Do they have friends or neighbors with a disability? Do you know someone who could come & talk to class as a friend or guest about their own disabilities? Use your chosen story to help everyone relax. Young kids relate well to characters in stories. If you use a story with a positive message it will help set a great "tone" for what you'll be saying later.
2. Don't stop with just story.
After story, be sure you take advantage of "teachable moment". Talk about things that can be more difficult for a child with special needs. Young children are naturally empathetic. They feel pain of book character that gets hurt & worry about fate of their favorite TV character when he's in trouble. Don't be melodramatic about things; just be "real" about what tasks would be harder for a child with disability you are discussing.
3. Include a child or adult with special needs.
This can be accomplished by inviting an adult with disabilities to your classroom as a guest, including a current or former special needs student as "star" of your discussion or as parents just taking opportunity to introduce your child to individuals with disabilities that are friends or acquaintances. This step is important because it reminds kids that this is real life, not JUST a story. If you are worried about making discussion awkward, then schedule visit for a day or 2 after your story. This will allow visitor to have center stage & give kids a couple of days to think about story & your follow up discussion.
4. Tell them how they can help!
If you are doing awareness training to support a current class member, then do some pre-planning with other adult involved (the child's parent if you are teacher or vice versa). Decide together what support roles classmates can play. Will there be a transition buddy to help child find areas away from regular classroom. Will anyone besides teacher be pushing child's wheelchair? Is it important for someone to sit next to them who can help them find activity supplies? Kids are natural helpers & this is a wonderful time to ask for volunteers who like to help out. Just remember to talk about exactly what they will need to do & when they should do (i.e. only when teacher reminds you, every day after recess, etc.). For a more general discussion, it may be enough just to talk about issues like not teasing, ways to offer help respectfully, & different ways to communicate with each other.
