Last January I blogged about my reflections following reading: New Directions in Education: Eliminating Ableism in Policy and Practice by Thomas Hehir. The following thoughts stuck with me and guided my practice over the past year.

• Hehir defines ableism as ” deeply held negative attitudes toward disability that are analogous to racism”.

Then I looked up “racism” according to Merriam-Webster racism is:

• “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”.
  
  YIKES!! if we superimpose ableism onto racism that is frightening!!!!
  

• In his book Hehir encourages educators to carefully consider each student individually rather than as a group of people with similar traits and capacities.

• Hehir recommends that educators to consider all planning for students with disabilities through the lens of: minimizing the impact of the disability while maximizing the child’s ability to participate.

I have moved forward since with Hehir’s thoughts and Universal Design for Learning as a lens. So much has happened over the past year some of which you can read about in the other posts on my blog but one thing that has stuck out for me…

Someone told me that all the things I am currently researching and advocating (Universal Design for Learning, accessibility, inclusion……..) are just another swing of the educational pendulum (you know the one).

This comment always makes me stop to think…

I have come to the conclusion, however, that Universal Design for Learning cannot be a swing of the pendulum … a flash in the pan … Universal Design for learning is to education what Universal Design has been to architecture — the impetus behind constructing buildings that are physically accessible to all. Are we going to suddenly go back on that?

It may be a pendulum swing but it is not one that can swing back. Will we stop constructing sidewalks with curb cuts? Will we no longer provide closed captioning? Once we begin to redesign learning activities to accommodate the need of all students it will not be possible to reverse because it is about human rights.

At the Learning Assistance Teachers Association (LATA) conference in October of 2008 David Rose talked about the “moral imperative” to provide accessibility. Because we have the technology to provide accessibility it is incumbent on us as educators to provide it.

Ableism is about expecting all people to look, act, and be the same. Our strengths are in our diversity. My favorite video illustration of this is Animal School. Here is the you tube version:

(A clearer version of this video can be found at: http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/)

We all have our strengths – let’s celebrate them!!!

Thanks Diary of a Goldfish for the focus on combating Disablism – I am eager to read all the other bloggers’ posts!!

As promised, here are the weblinks that were shown in our presentation today – I hope I got them all. If I have missed anything either post a comment, or send me an email – there is a Contact Information tab above. I will update this post with any additions. Also, if you have some links you would like to share please post them in the comment section below or email them to me. Click on the site names below and the sites will open.

Nancy’s weblinks:

• Math PowerPoint Presentations: Nancy showed a PowerPoint presentation from this site about rounding numbers. There are many other concepts posted here illustrated by PowerPoint Presentations. (http://www.hcbe.net/itc/powerpoints/math.html) 
• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives: Today Nancy demonstrated the use of a Java program that demonstrated place value through interactive manipulatives.(http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vLibrary.html)
• The Expanded Notation activity she showed can be downloaded from the SMARTTech website. You need SMART Notebook software for this file.
• Math Zone: The team has found many userful math activities here. (http://www.mathszone.co.uk/)
• Math Playground: This site is full of exciting learning activities that our teachers are using in their classrooms. (http://www.mathplayground.com/)

Darryl’s weblinks:

• Sheppard Software: Darryl showed us an activity in which the kids determine if an animal is an herbivore, omnivore, or a carnivore. There is also one about the food chain and many others that the kids enjoy. (http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/)
• BBC Schools: I am currently drawing a blank on what he showed from this site but I know there is lots of cool stuff here. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/) 
• Jeopardy Template: Here is one of the sites where you can download Jeopardy templates (and a number of other game show templates). Playing the game is an excellent way to review facts in preparation for tests. It was really powerful also when the teachers began having the children build the games themselves by reading the chapter, coming up with questions, and then play the games as a class. They had to determine what were the important points and create the questions. Great activity. (http://www.murray.k12.ga.us/teacher/kara%20leonard/Mini%20T’s/March%20Mini%20T-Games/Games.htm)

Craig’s Weblinks:

• Kurzweil: If you are not already familiar with this software here is a link to more information. It can be purchased through PSAP for school use in BC. 
• Into the Book: This is a new one Craig found — the one about the pirate. Great tool for working with Adrien Gear’s Reading Power to help students become more able to attend to the imporant aspects of what they read. The reading ‘powers’ on this site are: visualizing, summarizing, synthesizing, making connections, prior knowledge, inferring, evaluating, questioning. (http://reading.ecb.org/)
• Brain Pop: We ran out of time for this. It is a site to which we purchased access. You can look at some of the clips free however. The teachers have been using this one as part of their instruction in a variety of subject areas. They are also using it to help motivate thier students to write during their ‘10 minute write’. (http://www.brainpop.com/)
• Iknowthat.com: Another great resource Craig found that he didn’t have time to show. (http://www.iknowthat.com/com)

Anita’s Weblinks:

• My Delicious Links: All of the above links and many many more are posted here.
• Do to Learn: This is a web site with a variety of excellent activities for early learners or students with special learning needs.

Thanks so much to all of you who attended our session. Please contact us if you have any questions.