Faced with the elimination of its funding, the Understanding Disabilities Program of the Reading Public Schools is fighting for its life.
The directors of the 25-year-old not-for-profit program, which opens up conversations about disabilities with elementary school age children in order to teach about tolerance and acceptance, learned this year that it will not be a line item in the 2010 school budget. The district had contributed $20,000 each year to pay for a part-time director and related costs, according to director Ruth Clogston.
The UD program was originally started by Judy LeBlanc, a visually-impaired Reading resident who learned about a similar program in Newton. With LeBlanc’s support, UD eventually became a part of the third and fourth grade curriculas.
The program has grown to offer 68 programs district-wide, providing education in such issues as food allergies, hearing impairment, and learning disabilities.
Clogston said that the program has been very popular with students and teachers, as well with the community at large, and that she hears from former students who still remember the second grade “guided walk” that teaches about blindness.
“When you do hands on learning, it really stays with the kids,” Clogston said. “It is an incredible life lesson that they learn. Our children may face disability in their own life, in a friend or co-worker. We want them to become people who work with the disabled, who hire the disabled.”
With no funding available for next year, the UD directors have had to begin fundraising for the first time in the program’s history, in a year when donations to other organizations, such as school PTOs, have been reduced due to the bad economy.
“We are still evaluating how much we can raise,” Clogston said. “We are new to this, and we have to raise a lot of money in a short period of time.”
The district has offered “in kind” services such as copying, Clogston said, and School Committee members and administrators have expressed moral support, even while they cannot offer the program financial support.
“We are hoping for the best,” Clogston said.
Contributions to Understanding Disabilities are tax deductible and can be sent to Understanding Disabilities, Inc, PO Box 465, Reading, MA 01867.
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