ECSE 340 RB 3

This week we talked about RBI's and home visits. One thing that I thought was interesting that we talked about was when we are meeting with the parents in their home about their child, it is so important that everything is about THEM. When asking the parents questions about their child's development and interventions plans (if they worked or didn't), the worst thing you could do was start talking about yourself. This is a time when we need to really pay attention to what they are saying and asking good, understanding questions to better help them rather than just relate stories about ourselves to them, because that is not the goal.

I think this is something I can really work on with my friends and my husband. I have caught myself a few times doing this and just wanting to relate a story from my own life to them instead of really listening and being there for them.

This will really help this semester as we plan to go into a strangers home to work with their infant. We want to develop a good, lasting relationship that is based on trust and friendship so that we can better help them and their infant in their development.

ECSE 421 Reflection Blog #3

This week's class periods and discussions were very powerful to me. After talking about the definitions of an impairment and disability and the medical/social model, I got thinking about my views of those with special needs and how I can have a positive impact on our world today that focuses on the negative and is far from where we need to be when it comes to special education. The day that we talked about how in Denmark and Iceland as well as the US are encouraging women to abort their babies that might have the "possibility" of having downs syndrome, I felt sick to my stomach that that was a thing and was happening in our world. Later that day, I came across a speech given by a man with downs syndrome about his right to live. I was deeply moved by this speech and shared it all over social media, trying to spread awareness of how special those with special needs are. They deserve to live 100% and are the most special people in the world. I wish that everyone could understand that we all have some type of disability and when we talk about equality we are talking about those with disabilities as well.

Weekly Quote:

"I completely understand that people pushing this particular final solution are saying that people like me should not exist. That view is deeply prejudiced by an outdated idea of life with down syndrome".-Frank Stevens Speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQJEoRhkapw

This quote really stuck out to me in this video because part of it comes from that fact that people just aren't educated about those with special needs. However, if we can educate them on the resources available and educate them on how keeping a child with down syndrome or any other disability is not child abuse and they still can have great, rich, fulfilling lives just like we do.

HWD:
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/581577_2
(Reichman, Corman, Noonan, Impact of Child Disability on the Family. 2008).

I found this article that briefly talks about the impact that a child with a disability can have on a family. There are positive impacts and negative impacts. The positive impacts include strengthening the family bonds, encourage community relationships and connections, a better awareness, etc. The negative impacts can be the financial costs and stress, other children feeling neglected, increased divorces, etc. As I continue to study this subject, I am curious to find what the best practices and approaches are for the parents to implement so that they can effectively balance both children.

ADA Reflection

The ADA assignment that I was assigned was, “You have ADD. While completing a reading assignment for school. You will need to get up and walk away from your reading every 5 minutes”. The first time that I attempted to complete this assignment, I was doing my reading for this class. I got up after 5 minutes and walked away. I came back to my reading and started reading some more. After about 5 minutes, my husband started to talk to me about something. After we got done talking, I got up to make dinner. After dinner, I remembered another assignment that I needed to complete and started working on that. After working on that for a little while, I remembered that I was in the process of doing my ADA assignment.

In another attempt to complete the assignment, I was working on my ecomap today with a partner. As I was asking questions about her family, we got very distracted because I would start saying a story I remembered that related and other topics not related to the assignment. I realized that I was doing this assignment without even trying.

As I was doing these things with this assignment in mind, I at times would get frustrated with myself because I couldn’t just complete one simple assignment. As hard as I tried to stay focused and complete one task, I would still get distracted. I do not have any diagnosed ADD, however through this assignment I got a little more of a taste of how they feel. I was frustrated as well because a homework assignment that should have taken 15-20 minutes was now taking hours to complete.

When I think about those with this disability, it is one that is not physically seen on the outside. You can’t look at someone with ADD and say “Oh, that person has ADD”. It is a mental disability that can impair someone’s ability to focus on tasks that they are trying to complete. This can cause many problems in the classroom because teachers may not know right away and may not know how to first accommodate them. This can also be frustrating because they are trying to complete their work just like their peers but are unable to or take much longer because of this disability.

I think it is extremely important as teachers and humans to be aware of these disabilities, and that disabilities are not always physical, but mental as well. This does not mean that these people are any less smart as their peer sitting next to them. This does not mean that they cannot learn or be successful in school and life. This means that we treat them the same way as everyone else, but provide them with the resources and services available to make sure they are getting the education they need in the way that they need it. For example, possibly giving them the same assignment as the other students but shortening it so that they can complete it within their attention span time frame.

ECSE 340 Reflection Blog #2

Some information that I learned from this weeks readings that I didn't know before was the push to have the parents be the interventionists rather than the SLP or early interventionist. I really liked what it said in the reading how the job of the interventionist is to coach and teach the parents rather than coach and teach the child. This is important because when I decided to change my major to ECSE, I was first interested in the opportunity that I could be an early interventionist. I then thought about how great it would be to actually coach the parents on how to deal with their children with disabilities. Now, that is the push. We want to coach the parents and make sure they are the ones heading the intervention because they are with them the most and know them the most.

For the future home visits in this class, I learned that we should make plans according to the parents wants and what they decide the outcome to be. Once we work with the parent to decide the outcome, we can think of strategies and interventions that they can do in their home when we are gone. That should be our goal.

I do not have any additional questions at this time.

"The primary role is to WORK WITH and SUPPORT family members and caregivers. We should be behind the child or next to the parent".

Reflection Blog #2

From the readings this week, I learned a lot about the ADA and the process to how it all came about. We have come a long way in the last 60-100 years when it comes to the rights that those with disabilities have. The videos we watched this week were so interesting, and I never realized that those with disabilities have gone through so much. It makes me so sad to think about the fact that those with disabilities were being treated so poorly. We still have a long way to go, but now they are provided with the necessary services in schools and are able to hold and get good jobs which allow them to provide for themselves.

I really liked the videos we were assigned to watch. I learn well from visuals and videos. The readings were good as well, but I read them quick to get the main points out of the reading. From what we learned this week, I am prepared and ready to make changes in the way we address and talk about those with disabilities. I am going to try and say handicapped less, and special needs or disabilities more.

"Do we need to disguise ourselves to get closer?" I want to remember this quote later on to remind me that we don't need to disguise ourselves. We need to remember that everyone is a child of God and deserves to be treated the same. We shouldn't have to disguise ourselves, anytime.

ECSE 421 Week 1 Reflection

This week we have talked about FERPA and HIPAA. I knew what these topics were before this class due to taking Assessments last semester. From this class, I also learned how to work with a family in assessing their child and writing a diagnostic report. Through writing reports, I learned how to make recommendations based on data collected to help students with special needs succeed in their education. This included recommendations for the parents, the school, and the professionals. Therefore, I learned a little bit about what each can specifically do for the child.

However, I would like to know more about the community and what the community can do, which I am assuming would include resources available and such. Some other questions I have and things I want to know are how families can deal with a child with a disability. I know that it can be hard to deal with, and I would like to know what families can do to make their home the best learning environment for their children with and without disabilities.