Diversity in heArts: Disabilities Ch.4

NOTES FROM LORD SANDER THEODORSEN

I have both good and bad experiences with dyslexia. I started school as an incredibly positive boy; I looked forward to school every day. However, it did not take long before I was behind the rest of the class. Gradually, schoolwork became too much for me. Every afternoon I would fight with my mother because I did not want to do my homework. I simply would not do homework at all. This started in second grade and it continued all through my school years.

These years, dyslexia was pure hell to me. Every day was a struggle. I was far behind everyone else in reading and writing, and because of this, my classmates started to bully me. After a few years, I was completely down and could not get up.

It was not until I was completely on the bottom that I managed to see the light and started working towards the top again.Climbing an endless mountain wall is

difficult when all your thoughts are negative. Nevertheless, I changed my mindset, I managed to find positive things around me, and it slowly made me feel more positive. That was when the diagnosis went from being my weakest side to my strongest side. Now I know how creative, smart and solution driven I am!

It can be difficult to know how to help others who have an additional challenge, but not as difficult you think.

For me, with Dyslexia, everything I need is just a bit extra time, or getting something explained in a different way.

Often, switching from a theoretical explanation to a practical one, makes me understand. We all learn new things in different ways, and there is not one method that works for everyone. To avoid unnecessary stress and pressure is always a good advice!

– Lord Sander Theodorsen

AARON MEJIA – CISV HONDURAS

DID YOU KNOW? 1

Using the hashtag #InvisiblyDisabledLooksLike, Twitter users across the world with hidden disabilities have been sharing pictures and stories to challenge society’s perceptions” [1]

5

Since 1992, the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) has been celebrated annually on 3 December around the world. [5]

2

Epilepsy is not as rare as you might think; is the fourth most common neurological disorder. Seizures start for the first time in people over age 65 almost as often as it does in children. [2]

6

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder of the sleep-wake cycle that affects about affects approximately 3 million people worldwide.[6]

3

Did you know that some of the biggest stars that we all love and admire have invisible disabilities? Nick Jonas was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2007, Demi Lovato has bipolar disorder, Lil Wayne has epilepsy, and Morgan Freeman has a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia.[3]

7

Doctor-diagnosed arthritis is more common in women (26 percent) than in men (18 percent). The number of people expected to have it by the year 2040 in USA is more than 78 million.[7]

8

Diabetes is caused by having too much sugar – also called glucose - in your bloodstream that can lead to some serious health conditions.Type 1 diabetes can and does occur at any age, but is more commonly diagnosed in young people and It is less common than type 2 diabetes.[8]

4

Invisible disabilities are the most common type of disability among college students. For example, students with learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and/or psychiatric disabilities may request accommodations even though they do not appear to have a disability.[4]

[3] [1]

BBC News. (2017). Thousands share their invisible disabilities on Twitter.

Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-41733769

[2]

Shafe, P. (2014). Facts about Seizures and Epilepsy. Epilepsy Foundation retrieved from https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/about-epilepsy-basics/facts-about- seizures-and- epilepsy

[4] [5]

House with No Steps. (2017). 5 things about invisible disabilities you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.hwns.com.au/Blog/5-things-about-invisible- disabilities-you- need-to- know Disabled World Towards Tomorrow. (2017). Invisible Disability (Hidden Disability, Invisible Illness). Retrieved from https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/types/invisible/ UNESCO. (2017). International Day of Person with Disabilities 2017. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/ict-pwd- 2017

[6] [7] [8]

Narcolepsy Network. (2013). Narcolepsy Fast Facts. Retrieved from https://narcolepsynetwork.org/about-narcolepsy/narcolepsy- fast-facts/ Arthritis Foundation. (2018). Arthritis By The Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.arthritis.org/Documents/Sections/About-Arthritis/arthritisfacts-stats- figures.pdf. myD. (2016). What is Diabetes? Retrieved from http://myd.ndss.com.au/en/What-is- diabetes/

“DISABILITIES ACTIVITY”

Time, Group size & Age: (20 participants, 2 hours, 14/15-year- olds.)

MATERIALS: Big papers, Markers, Situations, Internet.

DO: The idea of this activity is to work with the challenges society poses for people with different invisible disabilities. Divide group in 4 smaller groups.

Give every group a situation (see examples under) and ask them to brainstorm solutions or ways to help out in this situation. They should also spend some minutes doing research the condition presented.

The participants are in groups going to present the situation for the other groups. They cannot use words, but can paint, act or present in any other way.

Remember to make it clear that they are not going to present the disability, but how we, as friends, family and society, adapt.

The remaining 3 groups have to guess what group 1 is presenting, and the first one to guess will get a point. Once a group has guessed it, the person presenting the helping option should read the situation and share a little bit about what they learned about the condition.

You can compliment the activity by watching our video < How can you help break disability barriers? >

Once the first round is over, give the small groups some new situations and repeat the guessing dynamic. You will play 3 rounds.

Situations:

- Learning difficulties/dyslexia: you have to send a message to a friend with dyslexia to meet up after school - Migraine: your mum is having a migraine attack and feels really bad. How can you help her?

- Anxiety: you and your friend are doing a school presentation together, and he/she is having a panic attack. What do you do?

- Hearing impairments: you have a new classmate who is deaf.

How do you connect with, and get to know this person?

- Speech impairment: you meet a handsome guy that you would like to get to know, but you cannot understand what he is saying. How do you get to know him?

- Diabetes: your sister has diabetes, and you’re going on a camping trip. How do you take care of her?

- Chronic fatigue: you keep inviting your friend to do stuff and hang out, but he/she keeps rejecting you, saying that he/she is too tired because he/she has chronic fatigue syndrome. What do you do?

- Peanut allergy: your brother has a serious peanut allergy and you are about to board a plane. What do you?

By the end, count the points and congratulate the winning group. If you have time, you could present this fun video (Disability Sensitivity Training Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1aDEFlXq8&amp;t=12s) about how to relate to people with disabilities and then proceed to the debrief.

Debrief: It is important to spend a lot of time on the debrief for this activity, as it touches upon sensitive topics (disabilities in general, and especially mental health). You may start with some basic facts about disabilities, for example, that people living with a disability is the world’s largest minority that does not discriminate people in any way (anyone can be part of the group at some point in their life).

o How do you feel about activity and the video? o Was it difficult to know how to relate to a situation? Why? o What kind of disabilities were showcased? Can you think of others?

Were any “invisible disabilities” showcased? Do you know any invisible disabilities (disability that is not immediately apparent and can be physical, mental or a combination, such as dyslexia, depression, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, PTDS, brain injuries, vision and hearing impairments, anxiety)?

o Do you feel like people’s disabilities make people threat them in a certain way? o Have you or your friends ever experienced being treated differently because of a disability? Can you relate to any of the situations? How did it feel? o What is it that defines a person’s disability? Him or her? (help: or society/workplace/school and how it adapts to people’s needs?) o What is “normal”? o Why do you think there is a lot of stigma related to invisible disabilities?

o What is a socially recognized disease/disability?

o How can we best act in a respectful and

helpful way when we meet people with visible and invisible disabilities?

o How can we show others that a disability does not necessarily define you as a person? o How can we contribute to making the everyday life of people with disabilities easier?

o How can we bring visibility to invisible disabilities? How do we talk about the invisible?

Tips for facilitators: o It is very important to emphasize the importance of not acting out the disabilities or conditions, only the solution. Since some participants won’t know much about some conditions, it would be good to let them use internet to research a little, if you can’t do this, maybe you can print some small info about them and hand them to the participants.

Ximena Carreño Fernandez de Cordoba – CISV Ecuador

DISABILITIES INTERACTION

Next to each statement, indicate if you believe that statement to be true or false.

1. You have a friend who has a speech impairment and

7. People with disabilities prefer to hang out with others

sometimes you’re not sure what he said. To make things

who have disabilities.

easier, you should pretend that you understand.

8. It’s okay to ask people with disabilities about their

2. It’s safe to assume that people with disabilities usually need help.

3. People with cerebral palsy usually have a cognitive disability too.

4. When you meet someone, who is blind or visually impaired, you should introduce yourself to that person.

5. People with disabilities want to be treated just like everyone else.

6. When you meet someone with a guide or companion

disabilities.

9. People with disabilities can’t live on their own when they grow up.

10. People with disabilities can participate in competitive sports.

11. People can become disabled at any point in their lives.

12. Many people with disabilities feel their real disability

dog, you should make friends with the dog first so that the

involves problems with the environment rather than

dog is comfortable with you being nearby.

problems with their bodies.

How did you do? How aware are you of disabilities?

Remember that a diagnosis is not a disability, it’s about the way that as society we relate to it.

Taken from: https://sdpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/DisabilityAwarenessQuiz.pdf