Disability Awareness Workshops
- Disability History 101
- Proud of Who We Are
- Changing Attitudes
- Special Is a Label
- Shaking Off Stereotypes
- Three Models of Disability
- Take Another Look: How Society Sees Disability and How People with Disabilities are Affected
- Disability History Exhibit
1. Disability History 101
Whether you liked your history classes in school or not, you are sure to like this session on the History of Disability. It's about us; where we have been and where we are going. Come to this session to gain an understanding about the lives of people with disabilities from ancient times to present. See how the values of society have shaped services and attitudes throughout history. Learn how the disability rights movement fits into the wider context of civil rights.
2. Proud of Who We Are
No pity, let's party! Disability is our reality – let's celebrate who we are and where we are going. In this fun workshop, we'll start by watching the bold, in-your-face documentary, Disability Culture Rap. Afterward, we'll have a lot to talk about: our own dreams, our own ideas of disability, the power of language, and the growing culture of resisting oppression. You are guaranteed to leave this workshop with a full dose of pride and power.
3. Changing Attitudes
Aren't you tired of the old attitudes about disability? Don't you hate when people with disabilities are treated as an eternal child, a menace to society, an object of pity, or a "patient" needing to be cured. Come to a workshop that turns these attitudes inside out!
We'll start with a video showing skits written and performed by people with and without disabilities. Then we'll talk about our own experiences with negative attitudes, and learn some new skills to speak out and change things for the better.
- Watch seven short vignettes from Interact Theatre Company that illustrate, educate, and entertain
- Learn to recognize old ways of thinking and challenge common stereotypes
This workshop draws on YOUR life experiences, thoughts, and dreams. Come ready to participate. Be part of the solution: recognize and challenge everyday misconceptions about disability.
4. Special Is a Label
If we want all people to be treated with dignity and respect, we need to confront the obstacles blocking the way. One of these obstacles is a stereotype that says people with disabilities are bad and evil. Another harmful stereotype says that people with disabilities are special. In this workshop, you will learn to recognize these stereotypes, understand their influence in today's world, and practice skills to confront them and maintain everyone's dignity. Please join us for a couple hours of self-determination and fun.
5. Shaking Off Stereotypes
Dealing with physical limitations is easy, compared to dealing with people's attitudes. It's hard to reach your full potential when everyone is telling you what you can't do. Come to this workshop and learn the skills of believing in yourself, casting aside all the negative stereotypes, and finding power by working together. After watching a video showing one woman's story, we'll take part in a range of hands-on exercises that promote self-advocacy skills.
6. Three Models of Disability
Societies have long sought to explain disability. Historically, the two most prevalent viewpoints—that disability is either a moral condition (either special or frightening) or a medical condition (a malady to be cured by experts)—have had a profound and mostly negative impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Only recently has a third view of disability emerged—that people with disabilities are regular people, a minority group with the same civil rights as others.
Advocating Change Together will facilitate a two-hour session to explore the history and continuing influence of three competing views of disability on our society:
- People with disabilities are seen as morally different from others, either especially good or especially evil.
- People with disabilities are stereotyped into being objects of study, patients, or clients.
- People with disabilities are understood to be a minority group, who need to work together to achieve civil and human rights.
This workshop will draw on your life experiences. We will think together about how to recognize the three competing views of disability in work situations. We will generate ideas for responding to limiting stereotypes and barriers that people with developmental disabilities face everyday. (See #14 for expanded training on this topic.)
7. Take Another Look: How Society Sees Disability and How People with Disabilities are Affected
(A three-part training series designed to advance disability rights, where participants learn to recognize and respond to the competing views of disability within society)
The self-advocacy movement has been sweeping the country since the early seventies. People with developmental disabilities are changing society, armed with a powerful new view of disability—that they are regular people, a minority group, with the same civil rights as everyone else. They are claiming the right to make decisions for themselves. And they are working together to gain these rights.
Unfortunately, the two older, oppressing views of disability are still around, and still very powerful. These are the ideas that people with disabilities are special, or innocent, or objects of pity, or objects of study, or sick, or patients, or recipients of charity, or sinful, or immoral, or "there but for the grace of God go I."
Advancing the self-advocacy movement requires the debunking the oppressing views of disability. With separate editions available for self-advocates, parents and professionals, the workshops in this series empower participants to recognize these three viewpoints, where they come from, and how to respond to them. (See #13 for a condensed training on this topic.)
8. Disability History Exhibit
The Disability History Exhibit is a 22-panel collage that traces 3000 years of seldom-told history for persons with developmental and other disabilities. From antiquity to the present, the exhibit brings viewers through an illustrated timeline that shows society's attitudes and how they affect the lives of people with disabilities.
Viewers experience powerful feelings as they notice similarities/connections between ancient practices and modern stereotypes. The exhibit is accessible at many levels, striking a balance between easily understandable information and a comprehensive history viewed from multiple angles.