Encouraging diversity awareness is crucial for the successful integration of vulnerable populations into the society. A recent on-campus event provided by the university administration allowed exploring the issue, at the same time contributing significantly to building the link between vulnerable groups and the rest of the students and teachers (Vaz et al., 2015). The event was aimed at promoting an in-depth understanding of the needs of students with disabilities (Taylor, Parker, Keefer, Kloosterman, & Summerfeldt, 2015). Because of the vast opportunities for vulnerable groups to share their experiences and create a bond with the rest of the learners in a non-threatening environment, significant progress in encouraging disability awareness and the promotion of the welfare of the target demographic was made.
The event included meeting learners with disabilities who have been studying at the college. Particularly, the participants were invited to engage in a variety of activities from cooking food to creating artworks and interviewing people. The specified activities implied interactions with the students and the university staff that have some form of disability. Due to the lack of a rigid schedule, as well as the fact that the guests were provided with a chance to choose between the types of activities in which they were willing to participate, the event had a distinct atmosphere of ease and spontaneity. Students made new friends very easily, communicating in groups and in pairs. In addition, the peaceful environment combined with a certain amount of control from teachers led to a complete absence of conflicts during the event. The specified phenomenon can be explained by the fact that all parties involved were provided with extensive support and the chance to acquire any information needed to communicate with each other successfully. Particularly, teachers managed to coordinate the communication to avoid the situations in which students with disabilities were made to feel insecure. Thus, the friendly environment in which the event took place was especially favorable for building a bond between learners with disabilities and the rest of the students.
In addition, the event gave all members there of a chance to gain access to the required information and other resources. Particularly, students with disabilities learned about the assistance that they could receive from the rest of the community members. In addition, learners with disabilities found out about the myriad of resources that the college has to offer to them in order to support them in both academic endeavors and social life. As far as the rest of the students are concerned, they acquired crucial information required for communicating with students with disabilities (Fakolade, Adeniyi, & Tella, 2017). The fact that learners with impairments refuse to view themselves as disabled and, instead, prefer to focus on the number of opportunities that they can explore is, perhaps, the most important concept that the event allowed learning.
Due to the focus on communication and the active promotion of unity among students, the event aimed at raising awareness about the needs of learners with disabilities turned out to be very successful. The event was very informative, which was especially helpful for promoting the active acquisition of knowledge about the needs of learners with disabilities. In addition, the fact that the event encouraged the communication between the specified demographic and other students deserves to be mentioned as its key strength. To create the environment in which the well-being of students with disabilities can be promoted, one must focus on the enhancement of the dialogue between the vulnerable population and the rest of the community, which is exactly what the event described above offers.
References
Fakolade, O. A., Adeniyi, S. O., & Tella, A. (2017). Attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of special needs children in general education classroom: The case of teachers in some selected schools in Nigeria. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 1(3), 155-169.
Taylor, R. N., Parker, J. D., Keefer, K. V., Kloosterman, P. H., & Summerfeldt, L. J. (2015). Gambling related cognitive distortions in adolescence: Relationships with gambling problems in typically developing and special needs students. Journal of Gambling Studies, 31(4), 1417-1429.
Vaz, S., Wilson, N., Falkmer, M., Sim, A., Scott, M., Cordier, R., & Falkmer, T. (2015). Factors associated with primary school teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of students with disabilities. PloS One, 10(8), e0137002.