Understanding Our Differences

I forgot to tell you about a great program I helped out with at school last week. "Understanding Our Differences" is an award-winning disability awareness program that teaches acceptance and respect to fourth-grade students in Newton. I was unable to participate when Steph was in fourth grade, so I was glad to have a chance for Pete.

The week that I volunteered was about blindness and visual impairment. First the kids got a brief overview of the topic, and then they were introduced to the guest speaker, Pam Fernandes, who lost her sight to disease when she was in college. She came in with her guide dog, Scooby-Doo (who immediately won the kids' hearts). Pam lives in Needham, where she teaches spin classes at a local gym. She had been a competitive bike racer when she lost her sight; now she is a gold medal winner on the tandem cyclist team at the Paralympics. She described her day-to-day life (what it's like to gradually lose your sight, to have a guide dog, to get around and cook and use a computer when you can't see, etc.) as well as the thrill of pedaling (in the back seat, of course) as fast as possible in a velodrome. She addressed the kids as naturally and un-self-consciously as any sighted speaker might, and the kids felt comfortable asking her questions and chatting with her.

Afterward, the kids watched a brief video about how to offer help to a blind person you might meet, and then they went back to their classrooms for more hands-on activities. In each classroom, there were three stations, and all the kids got to take part in each activity. One station featured a grab-bag of everyday objects (for instance, a deck of cards, a spice bottle, a dollar bill) that the kids had to try to identify with their eyes shut. They talked about using their other senses to figure out what things were, and then they got to see some adaptive objects, like a Braille deck of cards, a spice bottle with a Braille label, a dollar bill with one corner folded down to identify its denomination. A second station had a cane for the kids to try out, with kids taking turns being the "blind" person and the leader.

The station I was at was way cool. We had a bunch of Braillers—machines that look like old-fashioned typewriters. (I tried to find a photo online, but I couldn't find any that looked like the ones we had.) Instead of letter keys, there were 6 keys numbered 1–6, since each letter of the alphabet in Braille can be constructed out of 6 dots. Here's the card we each got for reference:

Each kid got a chance to type his/her name in Braille. The kids loved it—and so did I! This says "Karen" in Braille:

We also had some other Braille materials, including an entire Braille version of the George Foreman grill cookbook! And there was a small hand-operated tool for taking Braille notes on the fly. We were all fascinated.

This was an amazing program. Other disabilities included in the series are deafness, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and chronic medical conditions (like asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy). I hope to be able to participate in some of these programs, and am very grateful to live in a community that recognizes the need for this kind of educational curriculum.

Comments

[Tonya]

What an incredible program! And I love that the kids get the interactive experience — a perfect way to learn empathy and understanding. I've not heard of such programs here (probably no budget for it...). When I was in school, they were all lumped together as "The Special Kids" (in Special Ed.) And never any understanding of what that meant; it was just apparent at recess that they were "different." How sad.

[debbie]

What a great idea. I don't think we have anything like that here that we are doing but that is great.

[Susan]

Many years ago both my grandparents translated college textbooks to braille. They were both math professors. My grandfather loved figuring out how to make raised versions of the diagrams in math books.