From
The Tuscaloosa News in Alabama. In the picture, Occupational therapist Rohaun Smith encourages Charity Wise, 5, to walk to a stool at Easter Seals.
Broaching the subject of a physical or mental disability with a child may not be an easy task. But the Easter Seals organization recently released an online version of a successful program to change that.
Friends Who Care is a hands-on curriculum that helps children better understand what it means and how it feels to be a young person with a disability.
“Easter Seals developed this resource for teachers and parents to educate children about their peers with disabilities and foster greater inclusion in our classrooms and on our playgrounds,” said Patricia Wright, Easter Seals national director of autism services.
The program is available to elementary teachers and parents. Wright said the program gives students the opportunity to learn what is involved when someone has a disability and how kids with disabilities adapt, go to school, make friends and play.
The program encourages children to accept their peers with disabilities as people first, and to find ways to include everyone in school and after-school activities.
“When students gain a better appreciation of what it means to live with a disability, they are more accepting of their classmates with disabilities,” said Wright. “Our hope is that children quickly realize, ‘Hey, I want kids with disabilities to be my friends, too.’ ”
A variety of disabilities are covered by the program, which includes learning activities, hands-on exercises, guided discussions and guest guidelines.
The curriculum starts with an introduction to disabilities, and looks at vision, hearing and physical disabilities and then at learning disabilities with a section on autism, attention deficit disorder and intellectual disabilities.
Friends Who Care was originally developed with a grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities. Easter Seals has significantly updated the curriculum.
Wright said major funding for the revamped program came from the Friendly Ice Cream Corp. which has worked to support Easter Seals for more than 25 years through the annual Cones for Kids and Easter Seals Camp Friendly fund-raisers.
To date, the company has raised more than $25.2 million for Easter Seals.
Parents and teachers can access and download the Friends Who Care curriculum for free by going to www.easterseals.com/friendswhocare.
From The Tuscaloosa News in Alabama. In the picture, Occupational therapist Rohaun Smith encourages Charity Wise, 5, to walk to a stool at Easter Seals.
