Students will be introduced to long exposure and high speed sports photography techniques, along with learning the alternative printing process of Cyanotype printing. In learning these techniques, students will gain an understanding of photography fundamentals and discover how they can use these tools for future application into their own branding.In addition to learning photo based art techniques from the Wingspan visiting artist, students will gain a better understanding of disability arts activism and what ethical representation of the disabled experience in media looks like through case study exploration and discussion. This unit combines practical art-making with critical engagement in social justice issues, specifically addressing disability rights and combating ableism. 

In this lesson, Students will come to develop an understanding of the term ‘ableism’ and identify how this philosophy permeates our school and social community. 

This lesson plan aims to introduce students to the practical use of visual conceptualization tools while engaging them in meaningful analysis of social impact through visual campaigns.  Students will learn about photo-collage illustration and its application in visual campaigns and explore visual conceptualization tools: mood boards, composition sketches, and digital collage mock-ups with examples from the artist. Through analyzing a case study on visual campaigns that promote disability awareness and anti-ableism.

In this lesson, students will come to understand the challenges and benefits of inclusion and accessibility.

In this lesson Students will consider their ‘hidden talents’, with the intention of realizing the importance of building on your interests and passions.

Students will come to understand the concepts of inclusion, bullying and ableism and ways of promoting inclusivity and combatting bullying and ableism.

This is a list of journal articles that may be useful to teaching professionals who want to learn more about disabilities, ableism, inclusion and dis/arts. 

This lesson is part of the series, Picturing Accessibility: Art, Activism and Physical Disabilities, which provides students opportunities to discuss what they know and don't know about accessibility, ableism, and stereotypes regarding people with disabilities.

This annotated bibliography includes picture books published between 2020 and 2025 with the themes of disability that are intended for use with primary aged readers in grades K to 3.  The picture books are primarily about childfren with disabilities, featuring characters with disabilities or are about specific disabilities such as anxiety, autism, blindness, cerebral palsy, OCD, physical disabilities and others.   

This bibliography includes fiction, non-fiction and memoirs for adult readers giving consideration to individuals and circumstances for people with disabilities. The list is limited to current titles published between 2020 to 2025. 

Given the high prevalence of disability worldwide, the status of disabled people remains an area of concern for practitioners who seek to respectfully engage with a stigmatized and often oppressed population. The book encourages practitioners to draw on intersectionality theory, the critical cultural competence framework and anti-oppressive practice approaches to contend with the concerns facing disabled people today. These issues include parenting, mass incarceration, ableism, aging and employment, among others. This title acknowledges difference and multisystemic privilege and oppression while also drawing readers’ attention to the importance of solidarity and allyship when it comes to meaningful social work practice with and social change for disabled people.

The Wingspan Dis/Ability Arts, Culture and Public Pedagogy involves artists with disabilities working alongside teachers in K-12 classrooms in schools across Canada.   Professor Leslie G. Roman states “Artists and scholars with disabilities are creating authentic images and speaking directly from lived experiences, addressing ideas and subject matter that have never been presented to the public. In both content and form, we are taking risks which only we dare, taking a bite out of entrenched stereotypes of charity, pity, deviancy and criminality.”