Disability Studies Is a Rich Discipline That Builds Empathy. How to Teach It (Opinion)

Growing up, both of my parents had disabilities. In college, I developed one, too. At the time, I was forced to turn to online learning to receive the accommodations that I needed. Cordoned from the campus that I once called home, it was hard to imagine feeling anything close to pride. Yet, in those nontraditional learning spaces, I met others with disabilities who were charting their own paths; beyond that, I learned about the persistence of the disability community writ large, the legacies of leaders whose work made my path possible.

This knowledge changed me and has the capacity to change the lives of many others.

More than 8 million U.S. students ages 3-21 have a disability that qualifies them for special education, but few educators are required to cover disability history in schools. Many teachers take just one course focused on special education during their training, the syllabus for which explores logistical accommodations like visual aids and increased test time. Disability culture, history, or legal protections related to accessibility rarely make the cut.

Disability studies is its own rich discipline, which spans art, history, science, and government. The disability-rights, -justice, and -pride movements have driven positive identity development, legislation, civil rights protections, and broader recognition of the intersecting nature of disability and other marginalized identities.

Research on integrated classrooms has demonstrated that exposure to peers with disabilities can enhance empathy and allyship in able-bodied students and reduce bullying. But exposure can also happen through curricula. When it does, it also affirms the identities and experiences of students with disabilities, which can reduce stereotype threat, improve academic performance, and support social-emotional well-being.

As with culturally responsive teaching, this approach is most effective if exposure happens consistently over time—not just during Disability Pride Month or on a specific day of awareness. Below, I note several cross-curricular implementation examples that demonstrate how to integrate disability studies into secondary classrooms, no matter what subject you teach.

Disability literature ranges from contemporary texts to young-adult literature to informative and explanatory writings. There are many standards-aligned mentor texts (see the above list, for example) to draw from when teaching reading and writing skills.

In conjunction with reading materials, teachers might introduce students to critical disability studies, which encourage analysis of the systems and structures that perpetuate discrimination and inaccessibility. Part of this analysis might expose learners to the notion of asset- vs. deficit-based portrayals of disability. A deficit-based lens diminishes people with disabilities, positioning them as worthy of sympathy, exclusion, or even institutionalization. An asset-based lens recognizes the personal and cultural knowledge derived from their unique experiences.

Lessons exploring these narratives might also discuss the concept of saviorism that pervades many popular portrayals by positioning people with disabilities as needing to be cured or saved from their bodies and minds. Probing the rhetorical techniques that cast disability in this light can lead to fruitful thinking around sociology, media literacy, marketing, psychology, government, policy, literature, and more.

In practice, teachers might engage students in analytical assignments to this end in which students compare and contrast portrayals of disability across texts or popular media, defining, critiquing, or defending the portrayals. Ask them to describe how the author could make the narrative more just and what techniques they might employ and why.

From U.S. to world history, civics, government, and law, disability movements add texture and diversity to existing social studies curricula. The histories of these movements often exemplify how coalition-building and participatory advocacy can lead to civic change.

Use thinking routines to invite students to critically analyze the historical narratives and artifacts that they encounter. Who is represented? Who is not? How do we know?

Consider introducing the performance arts collective Sins Invalid and the work of Patty Berne, who launched the disability-justice movement to highlight how ableism intersects with other forms of marginalization, like racism and sexism. You might further explore this concept by inviting students to create identity maps for themselves and/or the historical figures they are learning about.

People with disabilities have a fraught history with STEM. They have been targets of eugenics and institutionalization, ignored or harmed by scientific studies and drug trials, and barred from pursuing STEM careers. This history creates powerful teaching opportunities.

In statistics or when teaching the scientific method, introduce students to data bias—how women, people of color, and people with disabilities are underrepresented in studies across STEM fields. Discuss health inequities, the ways in which one’s socioeconomic status, race, and geography have direct impacts on health outcomes. (Two concrete examples are the water crisis in Flint, Mich., and the current placement of AI data centers in minoritized communities.)

Then, invite students to use this contextual knowledge to become educators themselves—creating informative and explanatory texts, podcasts, slideshows, pamphlets, games, or displays to teach younger students about these prescient topics.

These strategies and resources are merely starting points when building a wraparound approach to disability representation across the curriculum. Throughout, work to uplift the voices of youth with disabilities who are making change in their communities. Consider working directly with young people to create assignments and projects that reflect the concerns and interests of teenagers in your learning community, with regard to disability. And consider the principles of Universal Design for Learning to center accessibility in instructional delivery, not only curricular content.

This school year, let’s ensure that more students understand not only the history of disability and discrimination but the present and future possibility of creating a more inclusive world.