Building Bridges: Understanding People with Different Abilities

Over the past two weeks, the Hackley Lower School students, teachers, and many parents participated in the Building Bridges program.

The program seeks to increase student awareness and understanding of people with different abilities; to provide first-person experiences in order to develop empathy and compassion; and to reinforce the belief that all people—no matter their differences in abilities—have the same social-emotional needs and feelings.

Each grade has a different focus: Kindergarteners receive an overview of vision impairment, hearing impairment and physical disabilities; first graders learn about blindness/vison impairment; second graders learn about deafness/hard-of-hearing; third graders learn about motor impairments with an emphasis on cerebral palsy; fourth graders learn about learning differences. The students participated in hands-on simulation activities in the classroom and attended an assembly to introduce them to speakers who provided personal, real-life perspectives.
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