At various times throughout the 2021-22 school year, many RISD fourth-graders took a field trip to the Tolleson Family Activity Center to participate in “To Be Like Me.”
The program creates a learning opportunity that fosters empathy and compassion by helping students experience what it’s like to be a person who is blind, to be a person who uses a wheelchair, to be like me. During the two-hour experience, students cycle through different stations to learn about various disabilities such as autism, dyslexia, Down syndrome, and muscular dystrophy from Leaders in Education and Advocacy for Disabilities, or LEADers.
Hollis Owens, a mother of four RISD students, has created a program structured to accommodate as many students as possible, and she expects about 5,000 students from all over the metroplex to come through this year.
“There are just so many pieces to the empathy puzzle,” Owens said. “We have had teachers tell us that they see distinct improvements in classroom behavior after their students attend one of our sessions. It is important to have these programs because students gain an understanding of various disabilities directly from people living with those disabilities. This helps foster empathy and compassion at a very important age. These students are the future lawmakers, business owners, and community members.”
Owens said about 25 RISD elementary schools signed up this year to explore “To Be Like Me,” and she hopes to include more next year with a second location opening at the new Network of Community Ministries complex in Richardson.