By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer

Making friends, doing projects, playing sports and learning are all parts of elementary school and students with special needs are no different.

To illustrate that point, the 11-member special education team at Redtail Ridge Elementary School organized Disability Awareness Week.

Chrissy Reynolds, a special education teacher, said the staff realized the need after seeing quizzical looks and experiencing unsure attitudes from other students.

“A lot of kids were asking about the stander,” a tool that kids sitting in wheelchairs all day can use to stretch their legs while being secured with straps, Reynolds explained. “Many would say: ‘Why are those people strapping them in there?’”

Principal Barb Yetzer said she was excited to designate the last week in October as Disability Awareness Week at the school because she thought everyone would benefit.

“I feel it is important to students to understand what disabilities are – some you can see and some you can’t see - and (teach) students about awareness so they know how to interact appropriately with those students and people who have disabilities,” she said.

She added that explaining disabilities to elementary-aged students was not only age appropriate, but also important. Disability Awareness Week: Third-graders
Shelby Niemann, of Savage, (left) and Mariyah
Blanchart of Prior Lake, experience what it’s like
to get around in wheelchairs.

“Teaching students about acceptance and understanding toward others with disabilities at a young age allows for all students to be included and teasing or bullying behaviors to decrease with awareness,” Yetzer said.

Third-grade teacher Beth Borchart said she was anxious to expose students to parts of a day for students with special needs.

“I think for my class it’s beneficial because throughout the day at Redtail Ridge we see and work and learn with kids who have disabilities; so I think the more aware that we are of the needs of all the students, the better we all understand and can be friends with them and help them when they need it,” she said.

Colleen Flamm, a parent volunteer, decided to be part of the activities because her child receives services from a special education team and she wanted to help other students understand what it’s like to be disabled.

“Just because they are a little different doesn’t mean they don’t want to have friends,” Flamm said. “You might have little quirks, but you still want to be part of a group.”

In Lisa Losure’s fifth-grade class, one student uses a wheelchair to get around, so she felt it was especially appropriate to have more discussion and awareness about disabilities.

“Fifth-graders are at an age where they are developing empathy,” she said. “But if they don’t have exposure to something it’s hard for them to understand.”

Learning stations

Each class took turns throughout the week seeing a presentation put together by the special education team. The team then set up stations in an unused classroom just for the Disability Awareness Week activities.

Students were first read a story about living with disabilities. Next, they traveled around to different stations that featured modified games, sensory helpers, school supplies and athletic activities.

For instance, students took turns taking a spin in a wheelchair, using a ramp to knock down bowling pins and using a pulley on a baseball bat to hit a ball. That station highlighted adaptations students with physical limitations use for their favorite activities.

“I think those are really good because everyone wants to play baseball and with this they can,” said Prior Lake third-grader Dillon Ziegler.

When students would sit in the wheelchairs and try to go around cones, many struggled with the task. The students would often try to put their feet on the ground to maneuver the chairs, saying “it’s too hard.” But teachers were patient and gave them pointers.

At another station, students sat on “wiggle cushions,” tried on weighted vests and kept their hands busy with “fidgets,” or textured or stress balls. The sensory station explained how some kids manage their need to move in order to concentrate. It also addressed some disabilities students have, but no one can see.

Hope Johnson, a third-grader from Savage, said she really liked the wiggle cushions. She has seen some classmates use them before and it helped her understand why.

Many questions were asked about how the extra weight of a heavy vest helped their peers. Reynolds explained to the curious that the added pressure calms and comforts students who have sensory issues.

Another station featured modified scissors, crayons, pencils, books and computer mice and keyboards.

Johnson and her classmates got easily frustrated with a device that had one movable side of a pair of scissors and the other half was secured in a small ramp. It’s used by students who aren’t able to put their fingers in a typical pair of scissors. Another pair would spring back to open the shears.

At that station Lisa Ford, a special education teacher, opened a book with all black pages and excitedly asked students if they liked all the colors on the pages. A closer look revealed Braille on the pages.

“This is how blind students see color,” Ford explained.

Ziegler said he liked the crayons at that station the best. The crayons looked like pointed witch hats with a large, circular base, which enabled students to grip around the big base to color or put their finger in the cone and color with their finger tips.

An auditory station had colorful game cards on an electronic spinning wheel so students could tap a button and spin if they couldn’t flick the game spinner. There were also large electronic charts that nonverbal students could use to answer questions. 

The electronic charts were familiar to some of the students as they had seen them atop the wheelchair trays of their schoolmates.

Taking turns using the charts, they marveled at the capabilities of the electronic device.

Taking cues

The idea of a Disability Awareness Week is not a new in the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District. For the past few years, similar activities were done at Grainwood Elementary School in Prior Lake.

Much of the special education team and students in special education programs from that school moved to Redtail when it opened this September.

“It was successful there,” Reynolds said. “Kids who did not have disabilities were more inclusive and made it a point to include kids with disabilities.”

Ford agreed. “We could see the benefits of having a warm and compassionate community in the school; we wanted to foster that attitude here,” she said.

Reynolds added that bringing the concept into Redtail is one way more students have opportunities to understand students with disabilities. The team would like to expand the program throughout the district.

“After three years of implementing this in one building, we’re looking to see how we can get this out to other district buildings,” Reynolds said. “It’s this pie-in-the sky goal, but we’re working on it.”

 Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.