Unit 1: Introducing Disability

Grades

• 6-8
• 9-10
• 11-12

Subjects

• Literature
• Social Studies
• Sociology

Overview of Lesson Plan

• Students will be exposed to different definitions of disability, the stigma and stereotypes associated with disability, and the personal experiences of a person who lived in an institution.

Standards

• 1. Explain and apply ideas, theories, and modes of inquiry drawn from anthropology and sociology in the examination of persistent issues and social problems.
  2. Develop critical sensitivities such as empathy and skepticism regarding attitudes, values, and behaviors of people in different historical contexts.
  3. Describe how people create places that reflect cultural values and ideals as they design and build specialized buildings.
  4. Identify and describe the influence of perception, attitudes, values, and beliefs on personal identity.
  5. Identify and interpret examples of stereotyping, conformity, and altruism.

Objectives

• 1. Recognize and understand the different ways of defining disability.
  2. Understand the parallels between people with disabilities and other historically discriminated against groups.
  3. Understand the stereotypes and stigma that can be associated with disability.
  

Questions to Consider

• 1. What are some of the different ways of defining people with disabilities?
• 2. What are the implications of different definitions of disability?
• 3. Should people have the right to decide what they should be called?

Resources and Materials

• NOTE: Some of these links may lead to external web sites.
  1. Reassigning Meaning - Excerpt from Simi Linton's Claiming Disability.
  2. An Insider's View - Excerpt from "The Judged, Not the Judges" (Ed Murphy's life history).
  3. "What is a Disability?" - Steve Taylor.
  4. "Communication Barriers Between the Worlds of ‘Able-bodiedness' and ‘Disability'" by Irv Zola.
  5. Excerpt from Wolfensberger's "Origin and Nature of Our Institutional Models" (paragraphs 8-121).

Activities and Procedures

• 1. Students write an essay (9-12) or have small group discussions on the various definitions of disability.  Read Linton and Taylor.  Questions: What are the various ways to define disability?  Is disability an objective condition?  What is the difference between a medical and social definition of disability?
• 2. Students examine the stereotypes and stigmas associated with disability (essays or group discussions). Read Wolfensberger and Zola. Questions: What are the historical roles and stereotypes of people with disabilities? What are the implications of different roles and stereotypes? Do people with disabilities represent a minority group? In what ways are people with disabilities similar to or different from other minority groups? If you had a disability, would you try to hide it?  
• 3. Read Ed Murphy's account of his life in an institution and write a brief essay on it (Grades 6-8, 9-10, 11-12). What does Ed think about labeling?  Why did Ed end up at the state school? What opportunities did Ed miss by being at a state school? What does Ed's story tell you about mental retardation? Characterize Ed's "voice." Does he sound resentful or bitter?

Eras

• 1961-1980
• 1980-Present

Disability

• Developmental Disabilities
• Intellectual Disabilities
• Mental Retardation
• Physical Disabilities

Topics

• Language

Copyright

• ©Syracuse University, 2004. All rights reserved.

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