A Learning Guide To Teach Disability to Children

Teaching Ability And Identity To Children: A Learning Guide Analyzing Disney Pedagogy

Rationale and Purpose

Animated Disney films have dominated children’s culture for decades, which places Disney in a powerful position to teach children “specific roles, values, and ideals” (Giroux 91). Disney’s products hold teaching authority in the eyes of many parents due to the company’s meticulously clean image (Giroux 92). Children viewing Disney films often gain a subconscious disapproval of people who are different, which becomes incorporated into their worldviews (Giroux 98). As a result, Disney films should be appropriately analyzed for younger viewers so that they understand the potentially insidious subliminal messaging at play (Giroux 125-132). In particular, younger viewers tend to struggle with ideas of ability and ableism due to their lack of representation in both Disney and mainstream media as a whole. When depicted, persons with disabilities (PWD) are often depicted as grotesque and frightening (Quasimoto in The Hunchback of Notre Dame), written off as old and ailing after a long life of service (Mulan’s father in Mulan), or treated as a short-lived spectacle that draws in awe but is ultimately overlooked (Ariel in The Little Mermaid). A child whose only experience with PWDs comes from these movies may misunderstand and look down upon or fear people who are differently abled. The purpose of this learning guide is to teach children ages 5-8 about the normed mind and body and to help them understand that these notions are harmful to everyone, especially to those who fall out of the typical. At this age children tend to struggle with understanding people who are different from themselves. Furthermore, this guide serves to teach them that individuals can be treated in much more affirming ways with respect to ability.

            Age-appropriate materials teaching ability and ableism are scarce. Such materials can be adapted from more academically rigorous sources such as Diversity in Disney Films and The Problem Body to help children comprehend disability. PWDs are often portrayed as people with bad luck or as people simply trapped by their circumstances and needing society’s help (Norden 164). Disability can be viewed as either arising from a medical condition or as arising from institutional barriers that privilege normed ability. Children should learn that disability is not just a condition but also falls under social perception as well.

            Being the parent or teacher of a child with a disability can be difficult. Upon learning about their child’s diagnosis, parents often react with dismay and perhaps even anger (“Learning To Live with Neuromuscular Disease”). Despite these negative perceptions of disability, which reflects society’s values as a whole, parents learn to love and accept their child. Reaching out and speaking to one’s child about the subject allows for acceptance of the disability and hope for a brighter future. When a child has a disability, he or she desperately wants acceptance from a society that tends to be suspicious of people who fall out of the norm. Accepting disability openly is important, especially when many disorders have a potential for early death. Teachers play an important role in the life of a student with a disability, especially considering the difficulty many students with disabilities face (“A Teacher’s Guide to Neuromuscular Disease”). Educators can help these students cope with their conditions and provide life-affirming support that overcomes the systematic oppression they may face. Though the roles of parent and teacher may seem separated, they both have the similar purpose of helping children with disabilities accept themselves instead of giving into negative messages from mainstream media. These children will likely face ridicule or exclusion from their peers, which makes this effort even more important.

Learning Guide Activities
            Children need more concrete examples and, given Disney’s preeminent status in American culture, showing them particular scenes from Disney animated films will help them comprehend issues surrounding ability better. The rest of this learning guide will focus on helping children understand disability. Showing scenes from Mulan and Frozen will facilitate their grappling with themes of ability. The learning activities described in this guide were based off those presented in Teaching Tolerance’s material on disability (“Disability Awareness: We’re In It Together”).

            The teacher should explain that disability is struggling to do something important to being alive that others would not struggle with, like walking or breathing. This definition should be supplemented by explaining that disability constitutes a wide range of lived experiences and should not be seen as restricted to, for example, people who are confined to an electric wheelchair. To contextualize this information, the scene from Mulan where Mulan’s father hands his cane to his wife and walks proudly, albeit with a pronounced limp, to receive his conscription notice should be shown. The teacher should point out that though her father is considered a respected member of society, he is required to act as fully able to fit into societal expectations. This scene is important because it subtly represents physical disability and showcases the wide range of disability. At the same time Mulan’s father is obligated to pretend to be able, indicating social prejudices.

            Following this scene and a quick breakdown of the presented themes, the teacher should initiate the “What falls out of the norm?” activity. In this activity, students will take turns wheeling themselves up a ramp in the school or using a makeshift ramp if there are no ramps. Wheelchairs can be loaned by a service provider or by families that have physically handicapped children. Each student should get a chance to participate. The purpose of this activity is to help children understand  that the norm does not encapsulate all experiences so that they can better relate to people unlike themselves. Specifically, the concreteness of the exercise will facilitate the children’s understanding of disability, though the experience is more central to physical disability. Children may struggle with going from physical disability to mental disability. The educator should explain that, though the children learned about the experiences of wheelchairs, many forms of disability exist. This information should be related to Mulan’s father struggling to stand without a cane and to invisible disabilities as a whole.

            Similarly, two scenes from Frozen should be shown together to illustrate more subtle themes of disability and the detriment caused by the normalization of mind and body. First, the initial scene containing the song “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” should be played to contextualize the movie’s depiction of the two main characters practicing conventional gender and ability roles. Then the scene from Frozen where Elsa is revealed to be the Ice Queen due to her loss of control should be shown to help them understand the harmful expectations placed upon Elsa. Her inability to control her ice powers while under pressure leads to her being marked as a monster, even though the slipup was completely unintentional. Here Elsa can be construed as representing mental disability, a topic often maligned in American culture. The educator should remark that Elsa’s fate here parallels that of many children with disabilities who are isolated as a result of situations beyond their control; in particular, the crushing isolation is clearly depicted.

            After a quick breakdown of the two Frozen scenes, the “detriment of the norm” activity should be started.  In this activity the children will receive a handout depicting a 5 year old in two different images side-by-side on a page with a blank backside. The first image will feature the child playing with Legos whereas the second image will feature the child at night wearing leg braces. Figure 1 depicts an example of these braces. Then the teacher should explain that this boy has a disability that seems invisible. The children should draw the boy on the backside of the worksheet as they see him and explain their perceptions of his emotions and life experiences.  They should then be directed to share their thoughts. The educator will summarize the class’s views and explain that holding everyone to the same standard can be harmful, especially to someone who noticeably stands out.

 

Figure 1. Depiction of a type of leg brace used to keep the ankle stretched overnight. Formally known as ankle orthoses. These particular braces do not fit into shoes.

             To drive home the importance of not judging based on ability, the scene where Elsa is chained in a dungeon room before subsequently breaking out should be displayed. This scene demonstrates again the harmfulness of the societal norm employed and the need for tolerance of all people with regards to identity – especially ability. At the same time, her breaking the chains presents an empowering message to people with disabilities. Following showing this scene, the teacher should elaborate on the themes presented. The children should then discuss what they notice, tie it to what they have learned, and offer this knowledge to the class. This informal activity gives the children additional opportunities to personally understand the material.

            Children will likely still have questions that need answering. At this point in the exercise the educator should field questions and give honest and straightforward answers. The themes and lessons learned should be summarized by the instructor to help bring the entire lesson together. In particular, the instructor should reiterate that disability comes in many forms, whether physical or mental, and conclude by dissecting the ability of media to change the perceptions of its viewers.
Assessing Effectiveness

            As a result of participating in this lesson, children should be able to dissect messages based on what they have previously seen. This step would take place if time remained after the lesson. Their comprehension of the material can be tested by simply asking them to answer the following questions: “What is the importance of the other characters in Mulan looking and acting so unlike her father during the scene shown during the lesson? What does it mean to you?” The goal is not a correct answer but rather a thoughtful answer that tries to look at the material from multiple perspectives. The children should comment on how harmful norms can become when they are continuously applied/ They may, for example, talk about how Mulan’s father clearly acts differently from the able-bodied norm he is still someone worthy of respect. Most importantly, the comment should reflect an understanding that individuals can be treated in affirming ways with respect to ability.  From this short questionnaire the effectiveness of the lesson can be qualitatively examined.

  

Works Cited

Frozen. Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Walt Disney Pictures, 2013. Film.

Giroux, Henry A. and Grace Pollock. The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence.       Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2010. Print.

Greenberg, Bill. “What’s a Parent to Do?” Quest Magazine. Muscular Dystrophy Association,

            1 Dec 2002. Web. Accessed 6 Dec 2014.

 “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory.”
            Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. NWSA 14.3(2002): 1-32. Print.
“Learning To Live With Neuromuscular Disease: A Message for Parents.”

            Muscular Dystrophy  Association. Muscular Dystrophy Association.
            Web. Accessed 6 December 2014.

Levinson, Lorie.  “Disability Awareness: We’re All In It Together.” Teaching Tolerance. 

            Southern Poverty Law Center. Web. Accessed 6 Dec 2014.
            http://www.tolerance.org/article/disability-awareness-were-it-together

Mulan. Dir. Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. Walt Disney Pictures, 1998. Film.

Norden, Martin F.

             “”You’re a Surprise from Every Angle”: Disability, Identity, and Otherness in   

            The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

 Diversity in Disney: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity,  Gender, Sexuality and     Disability. Ed.  Johnson Cheu. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers,  2013. Print.

Kriegsman, Kay Harris and Sara Palmer.

Just One of the Kids: Raising a Resilient Family When One of Your Children Has a  Physical Disability. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. Print.

The Problem Body: Projecting Disability on Film.
            Eds. Sally Chivers and Nicole Markotic.
            Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2010. Print.

“A Teacher’s Guide to Neuromuscular Disease.” Muscular Dystrophy Association.
            Muscular Dystrophy Association, 2005. Web. Accessed 6 December 2014.