It’s National Disability Awareness Month, and a local school started an initiative to help make an impact.
Wattsability is a new program at May Watts Elementary focused on raising disability awareness.
The program was created by Fourth Grade Teacher Chris Cook, who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at a young age.
To kick things off, he made a video about disability awareness, which was shown to students during class.
“Let’s think about it through a different lens. Think about it not being able to do something, just doing it differently,” Cook said in his video.
Students were encouraged to submit questions about disabilities to discuss at the Wattsability assembly.
“What my disability entails and what I have to do in daily function is kind of like a Taboo topic, most adults won’t even touch it. So we’re trying to break down that barrier here at a very young age,” said Cook.
After the assembly, students signed a pledge to be supportive towards others who have disabilities.
Watts Elementary plans on making Wattsability an annual assembly.
Naperville News 17’s Dimitri Villanueva reports.