Disability history and awareness instruction.

(1) Each district school board may provide disability history and awareness instruction in all K-12 public schools in the district during the first 2 weeks in October each year. The district school board shall designate these 2 weeks as “Disability History and Awareness Weeks.”

(2)(a) During this 2-week period, students may be provided intensive instruction to expand their knowledge, understanding, and awareness of individuals with disabilities, the history of disability, and the disability rights movement. Disability history may include the events and timelines of the development and evolution of services to, and the civil rights of, individuals with disabilities. Disability history may also include the contributions of specific individuals with disabilities, including the contributions of acknowledged national leaders. The instruction must include the following material:

1. For kindergarten through grade 3:

a. Conversations on bullying. Such conversations may address what students should do if they are being bullied; what they should do if they see someone being bullied; why bullying is not the victim’s fault; what different types of bullying look like; the possibility that a friend could be a bully; or the school’s antibullying policy.

b. Activities to teach about physical disabilities.

2. For grades 4 through 6, information about autism spectrum disorder.

3. For grades 7 through 9, information about hearing impairments.

4. For grades 10 through 12, information on different types of learning and intellectual disabilities.

The Department of Education may consult with the Evin B. Hartsell Foundation to further develop the material required under subparagraphs 1.-4.

(b) The instruction may be integrated into the existing school curriculum in ways including, but not limited to, supplementing lesson plans, holding school assemblies, or providing other school-related activities. The instruction may be delivered by qualified school personnel or by knowledgeable guest speakers, with a particular focus on including individuals with disabilities.

(3) The goals of disability history and awareness instruction include:

(a) Better treatment for individuals with disabilities, especially for youth in school, and increased attention to preventing the bullying or harassment of students with disabilities.

(b) Encouragement to individuals with disabilities to develop increased self-esteem, resulting in more individuals with disabilities gaining pride in being an individual with a disability, obtaining postsecondary education, entering the workforce, and contributing to their communities.

(c) Reaffirmation of the local, state, and federal commitment to the full inclusion in society of, and the equal opportunity for, all individuals with disabilities.