Parents and teachers now have a new, online teaching tool to help young people learn about children and adults with disabilities in the form of the Friends Who Care program. Developed by Easter Seals, a nonprofit provider of disability services, the free program is designed to help children better understand what it means—and how it feels—to be a young person with a disability.
Friends Who Care gives students the opportunity to learn how kids with disabilities live their lives. The program describes what having a disability can be like and encourages children to accept their peers with disabilities in and outside of school.
“When students gain a better appreciation of what it means to live with a disability, they are more accepting of their classmates with disabilities,” Patricia Wright, Easter Seals’ national director of autism services, said in a release to the media. “Our hope is that children quickly realize, ‘Hey, I want kids with disabilities to be my friends, too.’”
The program curriculum delves into a range of disabilities and includes learning activities, hands-on exercises, and discussion guidelines. It starts with an introduction to disabilities—looking specifically at vision, hearing, and physical disabilities—and then at learning disabilities, including autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, and more.
The free Friends Who Care curriculum is available online to view and download at easterseals.com/friendswhocare.
News Editor Amy Asman compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 6, 2009.