Two Decades of Awareness

In 2004, I gave a disability awareness talk to second-graders at my local Christian grade school. I had seen a few months earlier that their course on disabilities consisted of watching a 30-minute video. I hoped I could improve the course by being a live person the students could interact with and who was local. This year marks two decades since my first school, and I still enjoy it.

Like every endeavor, it takes time to learn and see what works and what doesn't. Sitting in-front of 20+ eight-year-olds requires practice in patience as well as staying active. My very first class was a learning curve, but I have hopefully improved over the years.

Trying to teach kids about paralysis and other disabilities is a challenge. Since my first class, I always have the class write with their mouth, just like me. After 2020, in anticipation of mask requirements, I added in foot writing as well. These two activities show how I write and how someone without arms may write. No matter the method, the same activity gets done. God uses all different abilities to serve Him.

Now that I have been to schools several years in a row, it's fun getting recognized by older students. Recently, I left a third-grade classroom after my presentation and rolled directly into the fourth-graders during library time. I was quickly the focal point and was pelted with questions about the visit I just had and heard several, "I remember..." It has now been long enough that I could start getting a second generation of kids, but I don't think it has happened, yet.

My regular presentation is well embedded in my memory, but I still feel a bit rusty with my first group every year. I also change a few things depending on time and how interactive the class is. This year, I focused more on how someone with visual impairments may read, and some years it's how hearing impaired may use a phone. Even with that, my speaking memory issues came up in my last class.

This school likes me to include a favorite Bible verse as part of my talk. I remembered halfway through, but couldn't recall the reference or half the verse. While going home, Jeremiah 29:11 came to me easily again, but long after I left the students.

I love working with kids and am thankful for this opportunity God has given me. I don't know how long I'll be able to continue, but I plan to while I'm able to get out and remember what God has allowed me to speak.