Re: Pittsburg Post Gazette Trying on Another's Shoes.................

[Guest guest]

Wow that is something I think all schools should have their students participate

in !! You can't get them to be any more aware of the difficulties than

thrusting them into it.

Pittsburg Post Gazette Trying on Another's

Shoes.................

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04364/433792.stm

Trying on another's shoes: Mt. Lebanon pupils learn difficulties

disabled pals face

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

By Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Spencer Verrilla, 11, pushed his wheelchair as close as he could to

a drinking fountain on the second floor of Mellon Middle School in

Mt. Lebanon, but he could barely get his tongue to touch the arc of

water that spurted out.

He first tried placing the wheelchair directly in front of the

fountain and then angling it to the side and leaning over his

shoulder to reach. By the time his attempt at getting a drink was

over, the top of his shirt as well as his chin and cheeks were

splattered with more water than went into his mouth.

" It was pretty hard, " Spencer said of the exercise he participated

in as part of the barrier awareness component of the seventh-grade

science curriculum.

Spencer doesn't have a disability that requires the use of a

wheelchair, but he and his classmates were asked to simulate

situations in which they could experience disabilities in an effort

to understand the barriers that disabled people face on a daily

basis.

The program is taught through the genetics unit of science classes

at both Mellon and Jefferson middle schools. It was instituted seven

years ago as a way to make pupils more aware of and sensitive to

disabilities, said Janet Niedzwicki, Mt. Lebanon School District

inclusion specialist.

The goal of the program is to change pupils' attitudes about people

with disabilities and to prompt them to think of ways to remove

barriers.

In addition to using wheelchairs, pupils were blindfolded and asked

to put on and button a dress shirt, to use sign language to

communicate with each other and to write with the hand they don't

normally use.

" I can't imagine not being able to see anything my whole life, " said

Rose Schrott, 11, after she completed the blindfold exercise. " That

was just a few seconds and it makes me really grateful for what I

have. "

Lenny Lies, 12, said he thought he might be able to handle being

blind, or having difficulty writing, " but not having the ability to

speak would be really hard. It would be the worst. "

As part of the disabilities simulation exercise, pupils were

required to write down reflections on the experience and offer

suggestions on ways to use technology and tools to help people with

disabilities.

, a science teacher at Mellon, said she made a point

of discussing the exercise with pupils and pointing out that they

are experiencing the disabilities for just a short period of time.

" They are not even going through a full day, let alone a lifetime,

with these issues, " she said.

During the four-day unit, pupils study diseases and conditions that

cause a variety of disabilities. said they also talked

about how accidents can create disabilities in previously able-

bodied people.

As part of the unit, the pupils heard from Dare, who was born

with cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and does barrier awareness

presentations on behalf of the Three Rivers Center for Independent

Living. She encouraged the pupils to " see the world as a place that

should include everyone. "

She told pupils how, as a preschooler, she was sent to live in an

institution because doctors told her parents they wouldn't be able

to care for her. But she later returned home and even played goalie

on a soccer team made up of disabled and able-bodied children.

The pupils identified a number of physical barriers to people with

handicaps, things such as steps and narrow doorways and

nonaccessible restrooms. But Dare told them the biggest barrier she

had faced was the attitude of other people.

" There are people who think I can't do things because of my

disability, " Dare said.

She suggested that pupils think of people with physical and mental

handicaps as " differently abled, " not disabled, and she encouraged

them to always offer help to a disabled person who may be having

trouble with a task such as reaching a high shelf in a grocery store

or opening a door.

Dare asked the pupils to think about their peers who have

disabilities and why they might not get included in friendship

circles and activities at school. Some pupils said they avoided

reaching out to handicapped pupils out of fear and because of peer

pressure to conform to their social groups, which don't often allow

for differences.

During a similar session last year, Niedzwicki said a pupil with

autism raised his hand and told the class that he felt left out

every day at school. " I am left out of everything. No one asks me to

eat lunch with them. I have no one to go to the movies with, "

Niedzwicki said of the boy's testimonial.

She said the boy's classmates told him they didn't realize he felt

that way and then went out of their way to reach out to him. In the

end, some pupils found they liked the boy, while others didn't and

that's OK, Niedzwicki said.

" You don't have to be nice to someone because of their disabilities,

but give them the same opportunity, " Dare said.

Niedzwicki said each year she has several parents of disabled pupils

who call her and thank her for the program.

Carrigan, a pediatric audiologist at Children's Hospital

who works with hearing impaired children and who has children

attending Mt. Lebanon schools, said she was impressed with the

district's barrier awareness program.

" I think that bringing up the awareness level is critical to

acceptance and it really helps [disabled children] to fit in, "

Carrigan said. It's particularly important to stress it in the

middle school years, where differences are magnified by adolescents'

desire to fit in.

" What I've seen is that children in their teens do not want to wear

their hearing aids because they are not accepted at school, " she

said.

Though the barrier awareness program is part of the seventh-grade

curriculum, Niedzwicki said inclusion practices were focused on in

every grade. Each building has an inclusion team that meets three

times a year to discuss ways to promote inclusion practices.

" What we live by in Mt. Lebanon, " Niedzwicki said, " is that all kids

belong. "

--------------------------------------------------

Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of

our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including

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--------------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Wow this brings tears to my eyes!! I know exactly what these parents have gone

through, and thank God that they won yet another case for our kids in PA. This

is what I went through just last year to get Gavin put in a pre-school with

typical kids. Can you imagine having to go to federal court to put a child in

pre-school? I say hats off to we parents that use our voices to stand up and

make a better place for ALL our kids!! Thanks to all of you guys our kids will

have a much better education. (Does this mean we are big mouths? LOL)

Pittsburg Post Gazette Trying on Another's

Shoes.................

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04364/433792.stm

Trying on another's shoes: Mt. Lebanon pupils learn difficulties

disabled pals face

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

By Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Spencer Verrilla, 11, pushed his wheelchair as close as he could to

a drinking fountain on the second floor of Mellon Middle School in

Mt. Lebanon, but he could barely get his tongue to touch the arc of

water that spurted out.

He first tried placing the wheelchair directly in front of the

fountain and then angling it to the side and leaning over his

shoulder to reach. By the time his attempt at getting a drink was

over, the top of his shirt as well as his chin and cheeks were

splattered with more water than went into his mouth.

" It was pretty hard, " Spencer said of the exercise he participated

in as part of the barrier awareness component of the seventh-grade

science curriculum.

Spencer doesn't have a disability that requires the use of a

wheelchair, but he and his classmates were asked to simulate

situations in which they could experience disabilities in an effort

to understand the barriers that disabled people face on a daily

basis.

The program is taught through the genetics unit of science classes

at both Mellon and Jefferson middle schools. It was instituted seven

years ago as a way to make pupils more aware of and sensitive to

disabilities, said Janet Niedzwicki, Mt. Lebanon School District

inclusion specialist.

The goal of the program is to change pupils' attitudes about people

with disabilities and to prompt them to think of ways to remove

barriers.

In addition to using wheelchairs, pupils were blindfolded and asked

to put on and button a dress shirt, to use sign language to

communicate with each other and to write with the hand they don't

normally use.

" I can't imagine not being able to see anything my whole life, " said

Rose Schrott, 11, after she completed the blindfold exercise. " That

was just a few seconds and it makes me really grateful for what I

have. "

Lenny Lies, 12, said he thought he might be able to handle being

blind, or having difficulty writing, " but not having the ability to

speak would be really hard. It would be the worst. "

As part of the disabilities simulation exercise, pupils were

required to write down reflections on the experience and offer

suggestions on ways to use technology and tools to help people with

disabilities.

, a science teacher at Mellon, said she made a point

of discussing the exercise with pupils and pointing out that they

are experiencing the disabilities for just a short period of time.

" They are not even going through a full day, let alone a lifetime,

with these issues, " she said.

During the four-day unit, pupils study diseases and conditions that

cause a variety of disabilities. said they also talked

about how accidents can create disabilities in previously able-

bodied people.

As part of the unit, the pupils heard from Dare, who was born

with cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and does barrier awareness

presentations on behalf of the Three Rivers Center for Independent

Living. She encouraged the pupils to " see the world as a place that

should include everyone. "

She told pupils how, as a preschooler, she was sent to live in an

institution because doctors told her parents they wouldn't be able

to care for her. But she later returned home and even played goalie

on a soccer team made up of disabled and able-bodied children.

The pupils identified a number of physical barriers to people with

handicaps, things such as steps and narrow doorways and

nonaccessible restrooms. But Dare told them the biggest barrier she

had faced was the attitude of other people.

" There are people who think I can't do things because of my

disability, " Dare said.

She suggested that pupils think of people with physical and mental

handicaps as " differently abled, " not disabled, and she encouraged

them to always offer help to a disabled person who may be having

trouble with a task such as reaching a high shelf in a grocery store

or opening a door.

Dare asked the pupils to think about their peers who have

disabilities and why they might not get included in friendship

circles and activities at school. Some pupils said they avoided

reaching out to handicapped pupils out of fear and because of peer

pressure to conform to their social groups, which don't often allow

for differences.

During a similar session last year, Niedzwicki said a pupil with

autism raised his hand and told the class that he felt left out

every day at school. " I am left out of everything. No one asks me to

eat lunch with them. I have no one to go to the movies with, "

Niedzwicki said of the boy's testimonial.

She said the boy's classmates told him they didn't realize he felt

that way and then went out of their way to reach out to him. In the

end, some pupils found they liked the boy, while others didn't and

that's OK, Niedzwicki said.

" You don't have to be nice to someone because of their disabilities,

but give them the same opportunity, " Dare said.

Niedzwicki said each year she has several parents of disabled pupils

who call her and thank her for the program.

Carrigan, a pediatric audiologist at Children's Hospital

who works with hearing impaired children and who has children

attending Mt. Lebanon schools, said she was impressed with the

district's barrier awareness program.

" I think that bringing up the awareness level is critical to

acceptance and it really helps [disabled children] to fit in, "

Carrigan said. It's particularly important to stress it in the

middle school years, where differences are magnified by adolescents'

desire to fit in.

" What I've seen is that children in their teens do not want to wear

their hearing aids because they are not accepted at school, " she

said.

Though the barrier awareness program is part of the seventh-grade

curriculum, Niedzwicki said inclusion practices were focused on in

every grade. Each building has an inclusion team that meets three

times a year to discuss ways to promote inclusion practices.

" What we live by in Mt. Lebanon, " Niedzwicki said, " is that all kids

belong. "

--------------------------------------------------

Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of

our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including

them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our

list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/

--------------------------------------------