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Reform to Equal Rights - Disability History Curriculum

The Reform to Equal Rights: K-12 Disability History Curriculum includes 250 primary sources in 23 lessons in seven units. Inclusive lessons feature Universal Design for Learning strategies and exemplary assessments. Lesson content facilitates integration into many regular K-12 topics. Skill and language development addresses C-3 History and Social Science frameworks as well as Educating for American Democracy Roadmap themes. Developed with Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant with additional support from Mass Humanities. 

Developing the Civic Engagement of Students with Disabilities: Inclusive Civic Action Projects

Published on Sun, 07/07/2024

Book cover: Creating an Inclusive Social Studies Classroom for Exceptional Learners - edited by Darren Minarik and Timothy Lintner

Leah M. Bueso, University of Illinois Springfield, and Rich Cairn, Emerging America published a groundbreaking foundation and guide to organizing student-led civic engagement projects that are fully accessible to and inclusive of students with disabilities and all learners.

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Disability in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Published on Tue, 06/11/2024

A man in a suit makes signs in American Sign Language.

By Rich Cairn, History, Civics & Social Studies Inclusion Specialist, CES

Teaching about Disability in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Slides from presentation by Rich Cairn at the virtual conference: A More Perfect Union: Exploring America's Story in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, June 17, 2024

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Framework for Inclusion: Physical, Pedagogical, and Narrative Accessibility

Published on Mon, 12/11/2023

A teacher and a high school student work together on an ipad. Both are white.

A Comprehensive Approach to Full Inclusion

Effective implementation for all learners, especially the 7.5 million Special Education students in the United States, requires careful consideration of accessibility. In particular, educators must pay attention to critical accessibility principles:

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Disability History Is Essential History - 2023 Report on the Teaching of Disability History

Published on Tue, 09/05/2023

Many veterans and widows, all dressed in heavy coats and hats press the lone uniformed officer standing outside the U.S. Pensions Office. His billy club is raised.

Emerging America 2023 Survey on the Teaching of Disability History

By Rich Cairn, Emerging America

At the end of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, Emerging America widely promoted an online survey of teachers to discover how much they teach disability history. Though the response has been small, the results offer intriguing insights.

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Disability Pride

Published on Fri, 08/11/2023

A young woman holds a sign that reads Disability Pride Month; she wears a t-shirt reading Easter Seals Thrive. And a photo of Judy Heumann includes the quotation: "Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to live our lives." There is also a Disability Pride flag, explained in the article. 

Celebrating A Natural and Beautiful Part of Human Diversity

Guest post by Stephanie Polito

July marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark legislation passed on July 26, 1990, that broke down barriers to inclusion in society. Disability Pride Month was first celebrated that same year, taking place in Boston, Massachusetts in the US. Celebrations follow, with the first parade taking place in Chicago in 2004.

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New Teaching Resource: Time Out – Spotlight Offensive Language in Primary Sources

Published on Thu, 04/27/2023

silhouetted hands make a T "time out" symbol above the words, "We need to hear and discuss offensive words that appear in primary sources."

Every unit of the Reform to Equal Rights: K-12 Disability History Curriculum includes an introduction to the topic of disability, including strategies to address disrespectful vocabulary. 

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Tools for Digital Literacy

Published on Thu, 01/12/2023

A young boy in a classroom holds his hands over his headphones.

Ensure that your digital education projects are fully accessible.

By Rich Cairn

When the Library of Congress launched the national “library service for blind patrons” (NLS) in 1931, it marked a key point in the history of intellectual, professional, and civic life for disabled Americans. The U.S. Government would henceforth take the leading role in ensuring that news, research, literature, and ideas are available nationwide for blind and visually impaired Americans.

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