Out of sight, out of mind. That’s the philosophy some educational administration applies to students who have disabilities. Assistant professor of education Dr. Heather Haynes Smith is working to rectify that situation, through teaching inclusion and universal design of learning, which allows students of all levels of ability to learn.
Smith teaches an array of classes regarding education for people with disabilities, including Understanding Learners with Exceptionalities, Learning Disabilities & Behavior Disorders, and Reading Difficulties with Diverse Populations. “Engaged citizenry is what I try to do," says Smith. "I want everybody just kind of weighing in, and being a part of this, and we’re all going to get to a place together."
This “place,” in her mind, is where individuals of varying abilities can reach their educational goals, despite different ways of learning. But to reach that goal, it is crucial for educators to understand how disabilities might affect learning.
One way to help her students obtain such an understanding is through simulations of various disabilities and service learning with organizations in the San Antonio. These activities allow students to interact with different types of people.
Senior Laura Harris has taken three classes with Smith and found such simulation an effective way of learning. “It’s those kinds of experiences that you never really think of day to day, like you never really think ‘I want to go do a learning simulation, I want to know what it’s like to have a learning difference,’ but she really encourages her students to really go out there and understand others in that regard.”
Recently, Smith organized a learning simulation event in collaboration with Trinity Diversity Connection. Participants included students, professors, and visitors. They visited different rooms, each designed to simulate a particular disability, such as dyslexia, hearing impairments, and visual impairments, allowing the participants to experience what it was like to study with these disabilities.
In the post-simulation debrief, it was clear that participants felt uncomfortable and irritated by the inability of the “instructors” to understand what they could and could not accomplish. Through such simulation, Smith effectively demonstrate the reality for millions of students with disabilities. “She helped me learn how I could specialize in Special Education and taught me all about universal design; why it’s important to teach to every student not just the class as a whole,” says senior education major Ellen Hart.
Smith's dedication to inclusion in education stems from her father’s work in the Texas governor’s office for people with disabilities, which exposed her to the realities of lack of equality. “Several experiences started to shape the way I looked at other things I was doing because I noticed these little things about accessibility, and thought ‘that’s not really fair.’” After she graduated from Trinity, she became the kind of “teacher who taught full inclusion before it was a thing.”
Despite various improvements in accessibility in education, Smith believes more can always be done to improve how teachers can accommodate learning. She, for one, is making the effort to educate people how they can contribute to equality for others in their daily lives.
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