Contact:
Libby Raiford
Creative Discovery Museum
423.648.6096
Seth Seymour
Siskin Children’s Institute
423.648.1709
Local educators learn how it feels to be a student with a disability
Program raises awareness about disability issues among teachers and administrators
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — More than 40 general and special education teachers from Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia are participating in an intensive 3-day session that is designed to raise awareness about disability issues.
The “Kids Like You, Kids Like Me” workshop includes lectures by local speakers, creative simulation activities and resources for teachers to use inside their own classrooms. Educators will leave with an increased understanding of disability-related issues, improved skills for engaging children with disabilities in the classroom, and tools for sharing their knowledge with both students and fellow faculty members.
The workshop is presented by Creative Discovery Museum and Siskin Children’s Institute. It is sponsored by Unum Group.
Schedule:
Tuesday, July 14
Event: Community Simulations
Time: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location: Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St.
Teachers will venture into the community to complete a list of assigned tasks while using wheelchairs, assistive technology devices and goggles simulating visual impairment. The simulation exercise requires them to complete activities such as ordering a drink from a restaurant without speaking and navigating busy city streets in a wheelchair.
Thursday, July 16
Event Disability Panel
Time: 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Siskin Children’s Institute, 1101 Carter St.
A group of adults with disabilities will share their personal experiences of living life with autism, a physical disability, a hearing impairment or a visual impairment.
Thursday, July 16
Event: Preventing Bullying – Building Friendship Skills in Children
Time: 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Siskin Children's Institute, 1101 Carter St.
This seminar will teach educators the skills to prevent bullying in their classrooms and schools. Led by the medical director of the Siskin Children’s Institute-T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital Center for Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, this event is a new component to the teacher workshop. Research shows a growing number of children with special needs are being bullied at school.
About Creative Discovery Museum
Creative Discovery Museum is recognized as one of the top children’s museums in the nation. It is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to educational enrichment for children ages 4-months to 12-years-old through interactive, hands-on experiences that foster creative and critical thinking. CDM focuses on a broad range of areas encompassed by Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Technology and the Sciences. In addition to its exhibits, CDM provides local residents and visitors with special events, educational programming, teacher resources for the classroom, field trips, after school programming, early childhood education classes, artist residencies, camps, art lessons, science demonstrations, and a branch of the local library. Creative Discovery Museum is a funded agency of Allied Arts and Tennessee Arts Commission. For more information, call (423) 756-2738.
About Siskin Children’s Institute
Siskin Children’s Institute makes life better for children with special needs and their families. Founded in 1950, the Institute achieves its mission locally and nationally through four initiatives: education, outreach, health care and research. The Institute provides early childhood education where children with and without disabilities learn together; family support and professional development programs; developmental behavioral pediatric health care; and innovative research in early childhood development and special education. For more information about Siskin Children’s Institute, visit www.siskin.org.
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