Level 4 Teaching Assistant Owen Dickinson arranged a series of activities to mark Rare Disease Day on Monday 28th February.

"I wanted to raise awareness of Rare Disease Day because many of our learners have medical conditions, besides autism, whether rare or not," Owen explains. "Helping them realise they are not alone can increase their resilience when it comes to their personal medical health. 

"I also wanted to do it to teach about equality and diversity. Many of our learners understand that disability doesn't equal disadvantage, but I enjoy being able to support that idea with events like this."

To mark 2022's event, EURORDIS - the charity that runs rare disease day - created a story and released it as part of their resources. Staff and pupils at Aycliffe School read this book, or an amended copy for those who struggle to read, and then completed activities based on the story and this year's theme of light up for rare .

Pupils in our Sensory classrooms completed finger-painted posters for the day while those on our educational pathway created their version of the Rare Disease Day poster. They even created their own slogans.

Owen adds: "The fact that the pupils responded to it really well made me incredibly happy as some even explored the Rare Disease Day website to investigate the day further."