Education PhD student creates disability awareness program for elementary students, teachers

A program created by a Purdue University College of Education doctoral student helps teach young children how to better understand difference and diversity – specifically, fellow classmates with disabilities. The program also supports general education teachers and students by teaching ways of fostering acceptance of students with disabilities.

Jingyuan Zhang, founder and fifth-year PhD candidate in Special Education, launched the Disability Awareness Program (DAP) in 2021. For the past three semesters, the project received Community Service/Service Learning Grant Program funding from Purdue’s Office of Engagement. This grant funds projects and services that encourage students to become involved in community life to help solve problems or provide a service while using their education and expertise.

“This grant gave the DAP more resources and materials for instructors and students,” Zhang said. “The 2023 spring project is a continuation and elevation of our previous work spanning five semesters, and expanding to include West Lafayette Elementary School as well as other camp programs like the Purdue CDF Freedom School® Program.”

Zhang and fellow Special Education graduate students designed activities and applied for funding, then volunteered and administered the program. In past semesters Sungwoo Kang, fifth-year PhD candidate; David Ray Miranda, third-year PhD student; and Amanda Borosh, fourth-year PhD candidate, contributed to the DAP.

This past spring semester, three undergraduate students with and without disabilities joined the DAP, and led and supported sessions. These included Sarah Vaught, College of Science, Department of Health and Disease; Anneliese Hope Williams, College of Health and Human Sciences, Department of Public Health; and Mica Hunter Lovell, College of Education, Department of Educational Studies, Special Education.

“The [volunteers with disabilities] provided great role models for students with and without disabilities,” Zhang said. “We organized age-appropriate activities in general education classrooms to enhance children’s understanding of disability, inclusion, respect, and equity.” 

Zhang’s advisor, Yan Ping Xin, professor of Special Education, sponsored the program. “From the outset, I have been strongly supporting and actively engaging in this program through co-authoring the grant proposals and article publications as well as partaking in the DAP at local school sites,” Xin said.

How was Zhang inspired to create the program?

“[It] originated from my reflections on a graduate course project that focused on inclusive practices within a local school,” Zhang said. “The project revealed a need for additional support for general education teachers and students in fostering inclusive education.” 

In response, Zhang created a program that included both learning materials and hands-on activities for students to utilize in their learning. The DAP was implemented in two schools in its first semester: Klondike Elementary School (KES) and the Ben & Maxine Miller Child Development Laboratory School. 

This year, the DAP engaged KES and West Lafayette Elementary School (WLES). According to Zhang, the DAP expands to more grades in KES each year, while this was WLES’s first time hosting the program.

This past summer, the DAP also participated in Purdue’s CDF Freedom Schools® for the first time, invited by Breanya Hogue, director of the Purdue CDF program and assistant professor of Literacy and Language Education.

Zhang believes that disability awareness is one of the most crucial  education components that young students should be exposed to. Both teachers and students find the DAP useful in helping them understand themselves and others.

“My students and I really appreciate the DAP,” said a first-grade school teacher. “It is a very important concept that young people need to know.”

“Having the visiting students and professors from Purdue has a greater impact than if the classroom teacher shared the same information,” said another participating teacher.

What are Zhang’s next steps with the DAP? 

Zhang and her team are collecting data for a qualitative study examining the DAP, systematically reviewing the existing disability awareness program in the field, and evaluating the current research and developing intervention studies.

“This study aims to consolidate perspectives from various stakeholders to inform the design of an effective disabilities awareness program,” she explained.

This fall semester, Zhang is planning to launch a disability awareness intervention program for pre-service teachers. The initiative will assist future educators in developing the necessary skills and empathy to better receive students with disabilities. Xin and Scott Opsahl, lecturer in Special Education, and student volunteer Vaught will help Zhang administer the initiative. 

“With the increased prevalence of inclusive education, disability awareness and intervention programs play a critical role in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Xin said. “I am absolutely thrilled to observe Jingyuan’s initiation of this program and her growth in the profession.”

“My role as a researcher encompasses a broader objective of developing a comprehensive protocol that can be utilized by schoolteachers, parents of students with disabilities, and advocates to teach students of different ages and grade levels about disabilities,” Zhang said.

Volunteers interested in the Fall 2023 disability awareness intervention program initiative may contact Zhang.

Sources: Yan Ping Xin, yxin@purdue.edu; Jingyuan Zhang, zhan3598@purdue.edu

Writer: Rebekah DeMoss, rdemoss@purdue.edu