Courses: Interpersonal Communication, Communication & Identity, Social Cognition/Influence, Diversity Studies, Rhetorical Theory and Criticism. Objectives: This activity examines children's books as a tool in the formation of social expectations, attitudes, and acceptance. It offers an opportunity to discuss effective ways to promote inclusion…

This activity is designed to help students recognize ableist assumptions in rhetoric and how we evaluate what constitutes a "good" speaker and their ethos. It will highlight how ableism is embedded in social norms, using classroom public-speaking rubrics to do so. Students learn how to identify these ableist assumptions better and…

This unit activity guides students through an interrogation of bias, normativity, and co-cultural experiences within the context of dis/ability and appearance. Specifically, students complete implicit bias tests related to ability and body size, read about historical displays of bodily difference in circuses and "freak shows," and then…

This timely and essential book provides a comprehensive guide for school leaders who desire to engage their school communities in transformative systemic change. Sharon I. Radd, Gretchen Givens Generett, Mark Anthony Gooden, and George Theoharis offer five practices to increase educational equity and eliminate marginalization based on race,…

Courses: Interpersonal Communication, Health Communication, Intercultural Communication. Objectives: After completing this semester-long activity students, should be able to (1) apply course concepts (i.e., stereotypes, identity, listening, language, and conflict) to diverse real-world scenarios; (2) explain the utility of intergroup contact…

The children's picture book and parent/teacher discussion guide present disabilities as among the many "differences" that make the world interesting. Acceptance of people with handicaps is stressed in the sample questions and answers in the discussion guide. Fifteen additional resources (print, audiovisual, and other) are recommended. (DB)

Notes that children's literature can help nonhandicapped children overcome fear and learn to accept their disabled peers. Lists sources of such literature and suggests ways teachers can use them. (FL)

Offers an overview of "people first language," language which aims to create a positive view of people with disabilities in place of insensitive portrayals that stereotype and discriminate. Presents results of a readability analysis of such language, and suggests ways such terminology can be integrated into middle and high schools. (SR)

The second of five volumes (and the first of the four curriculum guides) which make up Project Teach 'n' Reach, designed to help regular classroom teachers teach nondisabled children about disabilities, focuses on the affective domain. The volume presents goals, performance objectives, and activity ideas (along with information on materials and…

The document contains a compilation of materials recommended for use in Project CHANGE (Concepts of Handicaps and Attitudes Need Guidance and Education), a comprehensive curriculum designed to improve children's attitudes toward the disabled. The major portion of the document consists of forms describing required and supplemental student materials…

Five approaches to attitude change are discussed: classroom instructional models, role-playing, personal contact, media presentations, and social participation. How social studies teachers can use a combination of these approaches to improve student attitudes towards their peers who are handicapped is discussed. (RM)

Advocates teaching Braille to sighted children as a strategy for raising awareness and promoting a positive view of blindness. Explains what Braille is, and outlines a classroom lesson that can be used in the primary grades to teach about the use of Braille. Promotes the view that blindness is a characteristic rather than a handicap. (DR)

Presents a model for generating hypothetical examples of difficulties that handicapped students may encounter in mainstreamed settings. Additionally presents data to evaluate the effectiveness of hypothetical examples in promoting positive attitudes toward the handicapped. (RH)

Through activities, K-12 social studies teachers can make nondisabled students aware of their handicapist attitudes and help mainstreamed disabled students cope more adequately with handicapism. For example, students can discuss their responses to an attitude-toward-the-disabled questionnaire (provided), or disabled students can analyze their…

The author reviews research on the efficacy of programs designed to help teachers educate their pupils about the disabled children being mainstreamed. Suggestions are offered for creating a program about differences, which should result in producing positive attitudes toward the disabled. (SB)