Metropolitan Center for Independent Living

Welcome to MCIL's Online Transition Summit!

Today we're going to focus on disability awareness; think about your disability and what you think about it.

Did you think about it differently when you were younger?

How does it affect what you do in your life, your work, & school?

Feel free to let your thoughts flow :arrow: There's no such thing as a wrong answer when we are talking about experiences. :wink:

A point to build some discussion around is the fact that many students do not understand, or accept, their disability and more importantly, how it can impact them. How do we help students become more comfortable and informed about their disability? How do we help them understand their disability?

Obviously, many students are afraid of the stigma of having a disability and do not want to be seen as "different". Let's be honest, growing up is tough and some kids don't make it easier on others. To many students, being in "special ed" can make them a target for harassment or even bullying. This creates a sense of fear and anxiety for students. How do we help create environments were students feel safe and comfortable?

I'm going to see if I can get my son to come and participate. If not, I would be more than glad to bring my input on the subject.

~Duv

Commenting from the State Interagency Commitee:

Many programs in transition have a commonality that all individuals in that program have a disability. For some, this can be a comfort. They can identify with those other individuals, a peer group if you will.

Now more than ever there is a feeling that all people have disabilities.

To combat the isolation that some feel, teachers in this meeting say that they have tried to be seen in other areas within the school. Being involved in afterschool activities, clubs etc. This brings their influence to those areas and possibly student participation too. :!:

I'm going to see if I can get my son to come and participate. If not, I would be more than glad to bring my input on the subject.

~Duv

Participation from both of you would be great! The more we talk and share, the more we learn and progress.

I think that it's really helpful for students to have some framework for understanding disability in the systems of our world.

So many of the systems (school, government, economy, etc.) work together to make certain body/mind/emotional experiences "disabled."
We all have things that we are better at and other tasks we struggle with. But our society is set up in a way that makes certain differences much more difficult in navigating the world. In effect, society "disables" certain differences, which may or may not be limiting in themselves.

It's so easy to think of disability as a personal problem that needs to be fixed by the person, rather than a systemic problem of predjudice and marginalization.

For students, what possibilities there are and what feels like real possibilities is taught by parents, teachers, transition counselors, but also by TV, the radio, news, and society as a whole. When we tell youth that they can go to college or that they can pick their career, it's awefully difficult to believe it when they don't see anyone with their disability on TV or in professions, when all they hear from peers is being ignored or ridiculed, and when they've read the books that say they can't do it.

Then, the question broadens from "How do students feel about their disabilities," which is important to ask, but also, "How does society think about students with disabilities, and what can we do about that?"