Community Outreach
In the Community
Understanding Our Differences is committed to fostering disability awareness and empowering and celebrating people of all abilities through engaging community-focused events.
Family book events
Understanding Our Differences brings well-known authors of middle grade children’s books, with a disability theme, to speak to parents and children, answer questions and sign their books.
Caregiver and educator webinars
Understanding Our Differences sponsors evening talks in an online webinar format on topics relating to common challenges children face.
Library programs
Understanding Our Differences partners with libraries to augment their programming with disability-themed materials and displays.
Film screenings
Understanding Our Differences partners with community theatres to present films with, and conversation about, disability themes.
Community fairs
Understanding Our Differences is an active nonprofit participant in community life and participates as an exhibitor at select community fairs.
With Youth Organizations
UOD works with youth-centered organizations to further understanding about inclusion through program best suited to the setting. In the past we have worked with:
Watch a Beyond Kindness Event at Newton North High School
- Aftercare programs – Less formal presentations centering on book discussions and interactive activities
- Aftercare teacher training programs – Helping to empower aftercare professionals to understand disabilities and foster more inclusion in their programs
- High school programming – Beyond Kindness events enable high school students with disabilities organize and participate in an event in which they can share their experiences and answer questions from their peers and other school community members.
For Parents and Teachers
- UOD facilitates presentations for caregivers/parents to address questions, including more in depth information about our school program presentations and how to support students’ learning at home
- UOD engages teachers in professional development sessions to encourage and support their goals of continuing conversations surrounding disabilities after the UOD program presentations open the dialogue.
Would you like to suggest a program for community outreach?
We welcome suggestions for new programming! Contact us and let us know your ideas.