Putting the Focus on What Students Can Do, Instead of What They Can't, at Abilities Day in East Quogue School

“See the ability, not the disability.”

That was the motto at East Quogue School last week, when faculty and staff hosted the inaugural Abilities Day at the kindergarten through sixth grade school on June 5.

A committee of roughly 20 staff members at the school worked together over several weeks to put together the action-packed day, which also included an evening event, after seeing the nearby Westhampton Beach School District put on a similar event last year. The Westhampton Beach School Elementary School has hosted what they call “Sensory Day” (with an accompanying evening program) for the past three years. The idea originally came from phys Ed teacher Connor Davis, who also teaches the adaptive and unified phys Ed classes in the district.

The East Quogue PTA also had a big role in the day, providing funding for all the necessary supplies.

The purpose of Abilities Day is simple but profound — to teach children to appreciate the different and unique abilities many people have, rather than focusing on their disabilities, and to also gain a greater awareness of and appreciation for the things they’re able to do every day that they likely take for granted.

“It’s really important to highlight the learning styles of all the kids, and for them to understand that just because someone might be learning something in a different way doesn’t mean it’s wrong,” school social worker Erin Brady said.

Kaleigh Locke, who is part of the team at Westhampton Beach, said the goal for Sensory Day has been similar.

“Our goal was to encourage our typically developing students to ‘see the able, not the label,’” she said.

Brady and the rest of the staff members who put together the itinerary for the day came up with three different “stations” for the students to visit, with a number of different hands-on activities.

There was a station focused on the different abilities and adaptations used by students with autism, ADHD and anxiety; one geared around different modes of mobility, with the presence of therapy and guide dogs from Canine Companions; and finally a communications station, which allowed students to test out different devices and technology that enable communication in a variety of ways.

At that station, many students were introduced to a communication device used by East Quogue School second-grader Hunter Gladding. Gladding was diagnosed with late infantile metachromatic leukodystrophy, a rare neurological degenerative disorder, when he was 18 months old. As a result of his condition, Hunter is nonverbal and is a quadriplegic, which does not allow him to communicate or express himself in a traditional way.

Instead, he uses a Tobii Dynavox eye gaze communication device, which allows him to pinpoint different objects on a screen with his gaze. Similar devices are used by nonverbal children and adults, but they are often using their hands on a screen in place of speaking. For those who are both nonverbal and do not have the use of their hands, the eye gaze communication is key.

Hunter’s schoolmates and peers had the opportunity to try that device for themselves on Abilities Day, realizing the skill it takes to effectively use a device like that.

“The kids were really into that,” Brady said. “They saw that as Hunter’s super power, after they realized how hard it was to do.”

The school community was invited back to the building in the evening, where they were treated to a presentation from Canine Companions. Three volunteers from that organization brought three dogs to the school to show everyone what they had been taught, explain what the program is all about and how the dogs help perform important tasks for the people they are paired with.

The big highlight of the evening was a presentation by Rohan Murphy.

Murphy, 41, was born on Long Island and had both of his legs amputated at a young age.

Despite not having legs, he became a talented wrestler, competing at East Islip High School and then going on to join the wrestling team at Penn State University before becoming a Paralympian. He’s had a second act in life as a motivational speaker, visiting schools and speaking to children about his determination to succeed and prove himself. He was also featured in a popular Nike commercial in 2008 and has made appearances on big national TV shows, like “Good Morning America.”

Murphy visited East Quogue School last year and was a big hit with the students, and agreed to return again for Abilities Day. He is the perfect ambassador for everything the day was about. He commanded the stage at the evening event, demonstrating, with a fifth grade volunteer, the moves he used on opponents when he was a wrestler, and sharing stories about how he achieved his goal of joining the wrestling team at Penn State, developing his now famous “no excuses” mantra.

He walked across the stage on his hands and also did a series of pushups and other mind-blowing physical feats that wowed the audience. During the day, Murphy engaged with the students at different stations, most notably working with them on the mobility station, teaching them how to use a wheelchair and do figure-eights, a skill that many students realized was a lot harder than it looks.

Another important aspect of Abilities Day was an inclusivity scavenger hunt put together by staff members. Students went around the school looking for signs of inclusivity, like braille on bathroom signs, hand railings and ramps, handicap parking spaces and more. Members of the Westhampton Beach School District’s Unified program — a group of both general ed and special ed students who do various activities together throughout the year — also came to the school for Abilities Day and helped out as volunteers at various stations.

School Board member Briana Gladding was one of the key organizers of Abilities Day. Her experience raising her son, Hunter, has made her an advocate for inclusivity and ability awareness. She praised the school district for its commitment to inclusivity, broadly speaking, and also pointed out that an event like Abilities Day benefits the entire student body.

“Hunter definitely inspires the awareness that we have for inclusion in our community because he so obviously needs to be actively included,” she said. “But it’s such a win-win to include him. He gets the socialization piece; the kids are so nice to him. I think the other positive is that they’re not afraid of him or his wheelchair. They include him, touch him, hug him.”

Staff in both the Westhampton Beach and East Quogue School Districts agreed that hosting these events has many benefits.

“The students and their families get a lot out of an event like this,” Locke said. “They leave Sensory Night/Day with a better understanding of some of the challenges that students with disabilities face on a day-to-day basis, a deep appreciation for what they are seemingly ‘easily’ able to do, and a more thorough understanding of how and why we use a lot of the tools, activities and equipment that we do with our students with disabilities. Another great takeaway from Sensory Day/Night, is that so many of the things that we incorporate into the evening are beneficial for all students, not just our students with disabilities.”

“Ever since getting my degree in Special Education, I’ve been encouraged to see and put the student before their disability,” Locke continued. “Our students with disabilities are capable of incredible things. Oftentimes, it’s easier to focus on what they can’t do, when in fact, we need to focus on not only what they can do but the many creative and unique things that allow them access to the things that we can do that we often take for granted.”