Disability Basics

It is not uncommon for teachers to feel awkward when they first encounter a disabled student. Both good intentions and inexperience can sometimes lead to misunderstandings. These, in turn, can make it hard to get started on the right foot. Here are some suggestions that may help ease the awkwardness.

• Use a normal tone of voice when greeting and speaking with a disabled student. Don't raise your voice unless the student asks you to do so.
  
  
• Offer to shake hands when meeting a new student. Using your left hand is acceptable, especially if that is the hand the student offers.
  
  
• Look directly at the student when speaking with a disabled student, not at any aide or parent who may be accompanying the student.
  
  
• If the student uses an interpreter, converse with the student, not the interpreter, and maintain eye contact with the student.
  
  
• Consider a wheelchair to be part of a student's personal space. Do not lean on it or attempt to move it unless specifically asked to do so by the student.
  
  
• Ask before offering help. If the student wants assistance, ask how you can help, don't assume you know what is needed.
  
  
• If you have a student who is visually impaired, guide the student by allowing her to take your arm just above the elbow.

Remember that physical and intellectual abilities are not necessarily linked. There are brilliant minds with severe disabilities. However, disabled students may not be able to exhibit all the visual "I get it" cues that other students demonstrate. It may take sensitivity and experimenting to discover how much a disabled student is grasping.

E-Ready is funded by a grant from the NEC Foundation of America

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