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July 2023 by Michelle Scott
A Touch of Understanding uses the Medical Model for explaining disabilities. While that doesn't sound bad in theory, it unfortunately is couched in language that helps to reinforce and perpetuate Ableism against the populations they seek to help.I have two children that participated in A Touch of Understanding's training at their public school. I was not told that they would be doing this, and I was not given any information prior to the experience.One of my children is autistic and has been bullied at school, so I was initally excited by the idea of teaching students what that means and how to be inclusive. And then I reviewed the materials. There is a whole flyer about how autistic people are deficient. An example from the flyer read: " Autistic people might be smart, but might not look it." What is that supposed to mean? How is that any different from any neurotypical you might meet? How does "smart" look? My daughter (who is ADHD) was distressed by how ADHD was touched on/discussed. If you are trying to teach inclusion, this is NOT appropriate. I did not watch the actual presentation, so I don't know what was shared; I only know the materials that were returned home and how my children reacted to the presentation. Unfortunately, their reaction leaves me wondering what perspective was shared about other "disabilities."We need to teach inclusion from an inclusive and strengths based standpoint, not from a deficiency perspective. In other words, from a nuerodivsity affirming standpoint.I did reach out to the company after my children completed the presentation, and they offered to let me watch a presentation via zoom. However, they must have recorded my email address wrong, because I never received a link or any of the promised information from them.Unfortunately, from my parental perspective, the only thing I felt like the presentation did was help adults feel like they did something to promote "inclusion."P.S. That bullying that I hoped it would help with? Yeah, NO. It did NOT help.
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March 2023 by jessie Harris
they used the r-slur in a presentation video made me and other disabled students uncomfortable didn't teach how disabilities actually affect people's daily life
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December 2020 by Saoirse Zuckerman
As a student with ADHD, I was deeply disappointed in the way they talked about “invisible disabilities”. Not only is it a tad offensive, the woman who was supposed to talk about that subject did not talk about ADHD, even though she was supposed to. Instead, she talked about Autism the entire time. She talked about Autism in a way that made it seem unusual and a disadvantage. She also never explained what ADHD meant. I would suggest not having these people go to your school.
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December 2020 by Stephanie Bader
I have had the pleasure of seeing ATOU in our local schools. The work your organization does to help our kids better understand and have compassion for people different then themselves is amazing. Thank you for your contribution to our youth.
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December 2019 by Sarah Phillips
The experience and education they imparted to the kids was transformative. As a kid, I experienced various disabilities due to my parents work, but the depth my son received in 1 day night have been greater than what I gleaned over years. Amazing program, my kid can’t wait til that come back to his school next year!!!
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December 2019 by dallas scott
Your intention seems well, but please consider that not everyone who faces challenges wants to be called disabled or considers themselves as such. I also ask please educate yourself on what dyslexia really is before teaching children it's a disability. Thank you.
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December 2017 by Douglas Newton
ATOU's disability awareness workshop changes the way that children think about themselves and one another, building an empathy for those with disabilities and others who may feel different for any reason. The ability to put kids through a hands-on workshop and effect such a powerful cultural shift in a school--powered by the hearts of the schoolchildren themselves--is unparalleled. All schools should get this workshop as a way to foster a sense of community belonging at school. The Spirit of Inclusion program for adults can also help to shift an organizations perspective so that diversity and acceptance are informed by a recognition of the commonality of our humanity.
