P e o p l e F i r s tAc t i v i t y

B o o kFo r Yo u n g C h i l d r e n

Dear Parents and Teachers,

We are delighted that you have chosenthe People First Activity Book for use in yourhome or classroom.

The activity book is designed for you andyour children to do together as an individualor classroom activity. We encourage you todiscuss each example with your child or classto help them better understand the conceptspresented.

If you would like more information onPeople First Language or other disabilityissues, or if you would like additional copiesof the activity book, please do not hesitate tocontact us.

WV Developmental Disabilities Council110 Stockton StreetCharleston, WV 25312304-558-0416www.wvddc.org

T h i s b o o k b e l o n g s t o :

The way we ta lk t o and about p e op l ewho have d i sab i l i t i e s i s v e ry

impor tant .

When we talk too much aboutsomeone’s disabil ity and don’t spendenough time talking to the person, we

might hurt their feel ings.

Dave, what do kids in wheelchairs do

for fun?

The truth is, people with disabilities enjoydoing the same things that people without

disabilities like to do.

Help Dave find hisfriends at the

park.

Start

Finish

People with disabilities are everywhere. Weshould all learn to be respectful to all members

of our communities.

People with disabilities are Moms.

They are Dads.

They are brothers and sisters.

They are friends.

Harriet TubmanAfrican American Abolitionist

They are civil rights leaders.

Vincent Van GoghPainter

They are famous artists.

They are Presidents.

Franklin D. RooseveltUS President

1933-1945

Many words that are used to talk about peoplewith disabilities are not very nice or cause peopleto be afraid of people with disabilities. We call

these words labels.

Write as many bad labels as you can thinkof in the jar and draw a lid on it so that you

remember not to use them.

Words Not To

Use

Retard

Dummy

Sped

When we use these labels, we might give otherpeople wrong and confusing ideas about peoplewith disabilities. These wrong ideas are called

stereotypes.

I guess kids like that are in Special Ed because

they will hurt us.

How come Jen isn't helping us carve

pumpkins?

She's in the sped class. They don't let kids like her do this

kind of stuff because they cause too many problems.

We may hear our friends use these labels injokes or as a way to say something is “bad” or

“stupid.” We may also hear them on Tv or in themovies.

Matt, get out of there, you look like a total

Retard!

We may think that it is OK to use these labelsbecause they aren’t being used to talk about a

person with a disability. But, it isn’t OKbecause it hurts people’s feelings.

Matt, get out of there, you look like a total

Retard!

Draw how you would feel if someone told youthat you were bad or stupid.

We should also never tell jokes about people withdisabilities. If someone wants to tell you a joke

that is mean, it is OK to tell them you don’twant to hear it.

Hey, what do you call a kid in a wheelchair with a rope around

him?

I don't want to know because it isn't nice

to make fun of people.

You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't

think about that.

When we talk to or about people with disabilities,we should always use People First Language.

Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of the United StatesHelped the U.S. recover from theGreat Depression

Many of you may not be aware that

President Roosevelt had a disability.

Disabled

Autistic

Normal Kid

Wheelchair Bound

Person with a disability

Typical Kidor

Kid without a disability

Person who uses a wheelchair

Person with autism

People FirstMatching Game

Match the labels on the left to thecorrect People First phrase on the

right.

We shouldn’t treat our friends with disabilitiesany differently than we treat our friends

without disabilities. If we do, we may hurt theirfeelings or make them angry.

Dude, I'm full. You guys think he wants this ice

cream cone? Hey! I can answer for myself! I'm not a baby!

It is always nice to help others, but we shouldn’tassume that people with disabilities can’t help

themselves. If we think that someone could useour help, it is polite to ask first, just to be sure.

Excuse me Sir, would you like me to help you with your keys?

Yes, thank you. That would be very helpful.

Which One?

Just hold your hands up and I will throw it right into them. You

don't even need to try.

My Dad is taking me fishing this weekend

and he said I can bring 2 friends. You guys wanna come?

You are good at playing basketball -

you should go out for the team next season.

Jack, when you are done pushing him

around, do you want to go play arcade

games?

Circle and color the picture that isthe best example of how we should

treat our friends.

Some people with disabilities have animals whohelp them. These animals are called support

animals.

We should never pet a support animal withoutasking the person first. We might distract theanimal from doing its job. It’s always a good

idea to ask before petting any animal.

Hi, is it ok if I pet your dog?

Sure, he isn't working right now. His name is

Murray.

Circle all of the things you think could be aproblem for the woman if her support dog gotdistracted by someone paying attention to it

without her knowing about it.

You

gu

ys t

hin

k h

e w

ants

th

is ic

e cr

eam

co

ne?

I can

an

swer

for

mys

elf!

Co

me

her

e p

up

py!Pa

rdo

n m

e, w

ou

ld

you

like

me

to g

et

tho

se k

eys

for y

ou

?

Than

k yo

u fo

r ask

ing.

Th

at w

ou

ld b

e ve

ry

hel

pfu

l.

Wo

uld

yo

u li

ke to

jo

in u

s fo

r a

wee

ken

d c

amp

ing

tr

ip?

My

son

will

love

it.

May

be

we

can

go

w

hit

ewat

er

raft

ing

too.

Sho

w m

e h

ow

yo

u

sco

red

th

at g

oal

in

ou

r las

t g

ame!

It's

no

t h

ard,

I'll

thro

w it

rig

ht

in

you

r han

ds

.

I'm n

ot

a b

aby

and

I a

lrea

dy

told

yo

u, I

do

n't

wan

t to

pla

y b

all!

Plac

e a

chec

kmar

k in

th

e b

oxes

wh

ere

peo

ple

are

b

ein

g c

ou

rteo

us,

and

an

"X

" in

th

e b

oxes

wh

ere

peo

ple

are

no

t b

ein

g c

ou

rteo

us.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Help Heather join the rest of her teammates in time for the big game!

We'

re w

alki

ng

to

the

mal

l aft

er

sch

oo

l - w

ann

a g

o?

Sure

!M

an, I

hat

e m

ath

. I

do

n't

un

der

stan

d

anyt

hin

g th

at s

tup

id

teac

her

say

s!

Yeah

, me

too

! H

e is

a to

tal r

etar

d!

Hey

Su

e, t

he

Spri

ng

D

ance

is o

n S

atu

rday

- w

ou

ld y

ou

like

to g

o

wit

h m

e?O

h y

es, I

LO

VE

to d

ance

!

Hey

just

let

him

tak

e th

e sh

ot-

he'

s in

a

wh

eelc

hai

r

Dav

e, g

et o

ut o

f th

e b

ox, y

ou

loo

k lik

e a

sped

1.

5.

4.

3.

2.

Plac

e a

chec

kmar

k in

th

e b

oxes

wh

ich

sh

ow s

tud

ents

usi

ng

Peo

ple

Fir

st L

ang

aug

e an

d a

n X

in t

he

box

es

wh

ere

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den

ts a

re n

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sin

g P

eop

le F

irst

Lan

gau

ge ©20

03 -

WV

Dev

elo

pm

enta

l Dis

abili

ties

Co

un

cil

When we treat each other with kindness andrespect, we help to make our world a better place

to live.

�

Th

is c

erti

fica

te i

s a

wa

rded

to

for

outs

tan

din

g e

ffor

t to

in

crea

se d

isa

bil

ity

aw

are

nes

s b

y c

omp

leti

ng

th

e P

eop

le F

irst

Act

ivit

y B

ook

.

Pa

ren

t or

Tea

cher

Put

Stic

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Her

e

Created byThe West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council.

© 2005

We would like to thank the Kanawha County Schools - Parent Educator ResourceCenter, the Autism Society of WV, Margaret Arabia, and Jerri Stephens for their

valuable input on this project.