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THE PESA POST
The latest news, views and announcements from
Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action

October 21, 2021
TAKING THE DISS OUT OF DISABILITIES
Raising awareness of the disabled is the key to compassion and inclusion
If we think much at all about the disabled, terms like “pity” or “sympathy” might come to mind and, though we’d be ashamed to admit it publicly, maybe even fear-based words like “weird” and “strange.” But just as with people of any marginalized group, it’s precisely that lack of awareness and compassion that can lead to outright discrimination being perpetrated against the disabled when it comes to employment, public access and societal acceptance.

Which is why PESA has created an educational program addressing this very topic, and it was presented recently to Los Angeles Leadership Academy students in grades 9-12. Designed to raise awareness about people with disabilities and the issues they face, the program was presented to coincide with October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
 
Taught by PESA social work interns, students learn the definition of “disabled,” the at-times-shameful history of marginalizing disabled Americans, and the slow road to legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act aimed at curbing discrimination against them. 
One of the first steps in the presentation is simply to define what it means to be disabled, which goes well beyond sensory and mobility impairments to include cognitive issues, spectrum disorders and other “invisible” disabilities. “We hope to end the idea that, ‘if I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist,’” says Star Cuellar, a PESA social work intern and one of the presenters of the program. In fact, according to a United Nations study, when we consider the full range of disabilities, nearly 50% of the world’s elderly population experience some form of disability. “We want to motivate students to advocate and have empathy and understanding for those with disabilities,” says Cuellar, “to know that just because it doesn’t affect you today, it may well affect you down the road.”
 
Perhaps the most moving and compelling element of the presentation is a video clip of a Ted Talk given by disability-rights advocate Judith Huemann. Stricken by polio at the age of 18 months and wheelchair bound for most of her life, Huemann puts a very relatable face to the daily hurdles faced by the disabled. Given how profoundly this affected her early education, it’s a story that any young student can appreciate.
 
“I did not know the full scale of how little accommodations we have for the disabled,” wrote one Leadership Academy student after experiencing the PESA presentation. “They have to fight against discrimination every day,” wrote another. 
 
With awareness being the overarching goal of the educational program, one student’s takeaway speaks to its effectiveness: “I learned to better be aware of others, and to not judge people’s disability status based on how they look.” ■

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