In K-2, artist Wendy Elliot-Vandivier has created a coloring book entitled “A Day of Questions”. Wendy is a wheelchair user and has a service animal. In the book different students ask Wendy how she goes about daily activities and tasks in her life. Through her drawings and text Wendy shows the student how she does the activities and tasks.

Wendy uses pencil and pen and ink to complete her work. She has created pictures of herself in activities for the students to color.

{Image description: A female wheelchair user Wendy, with red hair and dress, with a tan service animal on a leash. On both sides are a diverse set of three children with question marks looking at Wendy}

Image by Wendy Elliott-Vandivier

In grades 6-8, artist Jade Ramos has created several works that include graphics and sentences that show disability inclusion entitled “Disability Looks Like You and Me”. Jade uses bright colors layers on top of one another and words with different kinds of spacings to create disability inclusion and empowerment messages. In Jade’s video they discuss their disability of being legally blind and their process to make art with their disability. Jade's work can easily be used for the other grades as well. This body of work works well in the PA standards for arts and humanities and also in Language arts.

{Image description: Multicolored neon graphic background with large black words around edges, Everyone Matters Even You. In center is a person with long golden hair in black tee with words and short skirt. She has a left arm limb difference and left leg prosthetic}

Image by Jade Ramos

In Grades 9-12, artist Mali Fenning, has created three paintings that reflect her experience with her disability. Mali is diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and neurodivergent as a young adult.

Mali uses bright colors, layers of paint and different forms in her paintings. In her video she discusses how she navigates life with her disability and goes through each of her paintings and what the forms and layers represent.

{Image description: Painting in dark blues, greens, yellows, and whites. Images of boxes falling down right side and faces on left hidden and masked}

Images by Mali Fenning

For grades 9-12, artist Ian Fey created a series of five Golden Shovel poems in a workbook for students. Ian has autism and he uses a form of poetry called Golden shovels created by poet Terrance Hayes. The lines that he uses in his poems come from the Autism Speaks' AD called “I am Autism”.

He explains in his video why he uses those lines in his video. Ian does a reading of his five poems in the video.

Disability and Disability Arts - Invisible Disabilities /Autism/Poetry/Golden Shovels Poetic Form Lesson Plan

{Image description: White background with black graphics of words and images that reflect Ian and the things he loves. In gold words, Golden Shovels by Ian C. Fay in large letters across image}

Image by Natalie Hope McDonald