Warm-up Activity
Children/students with disabilities are constructed in different ways depending on who is defining them and for what purpose. Two common portrayals of disability in our society are the hero, who is “overcoming” disability, and the “victim” who is an object of pity both of which are used to generate public sympathy. These images of disability that are all around us convey messages about disability that intersect with other cultural constructions. Our understanding of disability becomes entangled with other messages about class, socio-economic status, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, geographic location, family size, etc. Children/students have a right to be valued, for who they are not only who they will become. But, ultimately, some children/students will grow up to identify as disabled adults, and how we treat them as children/students will affect how they see themselves now and as they develop.
Create small groups of 3-4 people and ask students to discuss the photos on the following websites.
- SRSG Santos Pais adds her voice to the Campaign to #ENDviolence against children with disabilities
- How a young girl whose arm was bitten off by a shark surfs again
- Sick Kids Foundation
- Capes for Kids
- Holland Bloorview launches Dear Everybody campaign to end stigma for young Canadians with disabilities
- Easter Seals
Discussion Questions
- How is disability identity being constructed in these images of disability?
- Do anti-stigma campaigns conflict with or enhance construction of positive disability identity?
- Do images of childhood disability include a positive disability pride, disability arts, or perspectives of disability as a valued difference?
- How does disability identity intersect with other aspects of identity in the images of childhood?
- What are we teaching about racialization, poverty, and other social characteristics when we show disability?
- Are children/students portrayed as having a range of different characteristics? How do you as an educator contribute to the discourse of children’s/students’ identities?