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Disability History Week Curriculum Resources for Teachers

During the last legislative session, the Iowa legislature passed Senate Resolution 39 making the week of Oct. 15-19, 2007, Disability History Week in Iowa. In an effort to provide meaningful instructional materials, the AEAs have compiled the following list of resources available to teachers throughout the state for learning activities about individuals with disabilities.

Please note that only some of the information listed is available on-line, and that some titles may not be available at all AEA locations. Check with your AEA media center regarding materials and resources you can use to explore the diverse array of disabilities people may encounter. Key words you may wish to use for searches include specific individuals such as Helen Keller, Franklin Roosevelt and Stephen Hawking. Other key search words include: disability, blind, deaf, dyslexia, learning disability, paralysis, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spina bifida, quadriplegia, and autism. (This is only a partial list of possible search words you might use.)

Although the legislature designated only a single week for exploring the history of people with disabilities, we encourage you to share some of these inspiring life stories about individuals who have overcome disabilities in their lifetimes. Since the largest minority population in the state is actually individuals with disabilities, it is important for students to learn throughout the school year about various disabilities and people who live with (and in many cases, overcome) their disabilities.

Iowa Department of Education, Curriculum Resources - Disability History

Iowa Public TV programs
To see IPTV programs related to individuals with disabilities, please click on the following link, then scroll down to the week of October 15-19, 2007:
http://www3.iptv.org/iowa_database/cal-default.cfm?month=10-14-2007

Iowa Public Television Documentary - 2006 Special Olympics National Games, Ames, IA

Bibliography - Individuals with Disabilities [44 KB]