Empowering students and educators to foster inclusive classrooms through disability awareness.
We aim to foster disability awareness by teaching students about common disabilities and empowering educators to support inclusive classrooms.
We are a fiscally sponsored 501(c)(3) nonprofit aiming to raise disability awareness in our community by educating students and supporting educators at our school. We aim to teach students about the most prevalent disabilities among teens in the U.S. and the key laws that protect disability rights, before they enter high school. For teachers, our goal is to help ensure they have the tools and understanding needed to effectively support students receiving learning accommodations at Ridgewood High School in NJ.
We believe spreading disability awareness to students and faculty is important to becoming an inclusive society. By setting up in-person activities regarding different disabilities, middle school students can develop empathy and better understand people who have disabilities—not to pity them, but to understand their challenges and how to support them.
Middle school is a crucial time to teach disability awareness as students are preparing for high school. Early education helps prevent unintentional discrimination and fosters a more inclusive environment.
For teachers, they set the tone for the whole class. As we understand what teachers need to support students with learning accommodations, we can then provide them with those materials. Without awareness, teachers and students may create ableist microaggressions. Assuming that a student is lazy when they are actually struggling with an undiagnosed disability is a result of not being educated on learning accommodations. When we can recognize and support disabled students and their rights, we are creating an inclusive school community.