Disability and impairment
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe some of the barriers for people with disabilities.
Key learning points
- Impairment and disability are not the same thing.
- We can make life fairer for people with disabilities by changing how we act and design places.
- The social model of disability says people are disabled by barriers in the world around them.
- People can be held back if others don’t make adjustments for their needs.
Keywords
Impairment - a characteristic or feature that might impact the way that a person’s body or mind functions, their physical appearance, or cause them pain
Disabilities - the barriers experienced by a person with impairments in a world that is not designed for their needs
Barrier - anything that stops or prevents something from happening or being achieved
Common misconception
People with disabilities could solve their problems if they just tried harder.
It's a harmful myth that people with disabilities face issues because of a lack of effort. The lives of people with disabilities can be improved by adapting the environment, removing barriers to their inclusion, participation and ability to thrive.
Teacher tip
Consider how you are applying the social model of disability to your classroom environment. Without pointing out individuals, discuss how the buildings and lessons at school have been adapted to include people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A is a group of people brought together by shared attitudes, interests, beliefs or location.
Q2.Which of the following statements are true?
Q3.Having a community means that we can represent a range of voices and experiences.
Q4.Being part of a responsible community means:
Q5.How could communities raise awareness or campaign for change? They could ...
Q6.Which of these statements are false?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the words to the correct definitions.
a characteristic that may impact how a person's body or mind functions
barriers experienced by a person with impairments
anything that stops or prevents something from happening
Q2.Which of the following statements are true?
Q3.The of disability suggests that it is barriers in society that cause a person's disability, not the impairment itself.
Q4.Match the type of barrier to the example.
physical
communication
attitudinal
Q5.Which of these adjustments could help improve accessibility for someone who is hearing impaired?
Q6.People with disabilities could overcome barriers if ...
To help you plan your 7 RSHE (PSHE) lesson on: Disability and impairment, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 RSHE (PSHE) lesson on: Disability and impairment, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 RSHE (PSHE) lessons from the Communities: How can we better understand and respect people with disabilities? unit, dive into the full secondary RSHE (PSHE) curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.