Student Independence

This week we have talked/learned a lot about what we as teachers can do to help our students to become independent as they transition to college. Today in class, we had Emily Bowe present to us. She is 15 and has been blind since birth. From her experiences and the things that she shared with the class, I could see that because her mom and teachers had given her freedom and helped her develop the necessary skills, she was independent and able to do a lot of the same things we can do. She doesn't let her disability define her or inhibit her from herself and enjoying life.

Some things that really impressed me about her today was her joy and love for being blind. To me, it frightens me to ever have to live blind and not being able to see anything. It is all she has ever known, but it is something that she loves about herself. She doesn't let her stop her from living and enjoying life either. She still loves to do all the same things that we love to do. After class I was thinking about all my fears that keep me from living and enjoying life. There are a lot of things that I let hinder my chance to develop my talents and create new experiences.

It is great to think that even when students have disabilities, they are still so capable. They shouldn't be treated any differently, but given the correct accommodations and modifications to assist them. That is why it is so important to help students to develop the skills to be independent and succeed on their own because it is possible.

Wheelchair Simulation

Last week I did the wheelchair simulation and actually really enjoyed it. I was definitely pretty nervous at first, unsure of how people would treat me, how I would complete all of the tasks, and how I would go down the hills without flying and crashing.

When I first got the wheelchair and got myself outside of the Hinckley, I started feeling really excited because it was kind of fun! So I went a little farther and attempted to go down the hill. I didn't realize there were brakes though so I started going pretty fast, trying to stop myself by pull the wheels with my hands. That hurt like crazy. I ended up with some burns on my hands. Just then I heard a girl call from behind me, "Can I help you?!" I was like UM YES of course! She asked me where I was going and willingly pushed me there. She ended up actually being in the class and had already done this simulation, so she was compassionate towards me. I eventually made it to where I was going to meet up with my roommate.

While during the rest of the time, I was able to complete all of the tasks. The hardest one was going to the restroom. I found a restroom that was pretty open an easy to navigate. I did notice throughout the school though that some of the handicap buttons for the doors were not working, the door frames are extremely narrow and not wheelchair friendly, and there are some places that are just inaccessible with a wheelchair.

One of the funniest things to me was when I would run into people that I knew and they were extremely concerned and confused. But then I noticed how other people looked at me and treated me. Many people on campus are very kind and would open the door and hold it open for me every time I needed to go through. Some people would look at me and stare, a bit confused. And a lot of them looked and acted the way that I would have, just unsure of what to do. It is hard seeing someone in a wheelchair not knowing if they need help or not.

Overall it was a really neat learning experience. I really enjoyed being in that situation and having to accomplish tasks that are easy for me, but difficult for someone who is orthopedically  impaired. I also remembered that a lot of people in wheelchairs have additional disabilities as well that may make it even harder. I appreciated getting the opportunity to feel how they feel. It made me also realize that just because someone is in a wheelchair, doesn't mean they can't do a lot of things. Because they can. I was determined to open the door by myself and get myself through the door, or get up a hill, or use the restroom. It was a great experience and I learned a lot.

Visual Impairment Simulation

Today I completed the visual impairment simulation. I wasn't too nervous but I knew it was going to be hard, and it was! Within the first 30 minutes I had a headache. However as hard as this experience was, it was also extremely humbling. I, myself, have pretty bad eyesight and I have to wear contacts. Even with contacts and glasses, at times it is hard for me to see things far away. My eyesight has been progressively getting worse since I was in elementary school and I first got glasses. However, after doing this simulation, I am so grateful that I don't have any of those visual impairments. I felt for those who have a hard time seeing, and it made me even more excited to be able to one day help students in my classroom, to make their education experience a little easier.

The first mask that I wore was the peripheral vision one, with the middle of the eye slots blocked. I did this first one while I was mostly in SPED class. So it wasn't too bad. This one was the easiest because my eyes weren't going cross-eyed or anything. I just had to move my eyes to see out of the corners. It was funny walking out of the building though heading to the library. People gave me such funny looks. Mostly because I was wearing this huge weird looking black mask on my face. But I am sure that students with visual impairments get funny looks from others because they are not able to walk normally, or look at things normally. This one was probably the easiest, but it was so frustrating to not be able to just look straight.

The second mask that I wore was the mask with little hole openings. This one gave me such a huge headache and was extremely frustrating. I had to complete an assignment before my class at 10:15. I was reading a talk on my phone with that mask on, and it was hard. I couldn't hardly see anything. I then had to have my roommate lead me to our class or else I would have run into everything and everyone. I had to squint a lot and close one eye at a time because it hurt to look out of the mask with both eyes open.

The third mask I wore was the mask with one eye open and one eye closed. This one wasn't too difficult. However, if I wanted to look to the right, I had to turn my entire head to be able to see out of my open left eye. I found that when I removed that mask and put the last one on, my right eye still had a hard time adjusting and I noticed I was only looking out of my left eye when I could have been looking out of both. The last mask was difficult and also gave me such a huge headache. Occasionally I had to close both my eyes or remove the mask just so that my eyes could adjust really quick before putting it back over my eyes. It was painful. My eyes were going cross eyed. It was hard to see where I was walking or what I was doing. I didn't enjoy this one at all.

Overall, it was such a difficult experience. However, I am grateful for the opportunity to have had that time to see what it is like for people who are actually visually impaired. It made me appreciate my sight and that I am not visually impaired. If they can go through that their entire lives, I can o through it for 4 hours. I look forward to working with students with visual impairments to be able to help accommodate them.

INCLUDE

All this week, the main point has been including students. All students have the right to be included. What does include really mean?

Identify classroom demands

Note student learning strengths and needs

Check for potential areas of student access

Look for potential problem areas

Use information to brainstorm ways to differentiate instruction

Differentiate instruction

Evaluate student progress

Why do we include students? We include students because we are all God's children and all children should feel loved and accepted. When children feel loved and accepted they are most likely to achieve and be successful in school and socially as well. I know in my own life growing up, when I did not feel that love and acceptance from parents or teachers, I didn't want to continue my homework or whatever I was doing. I would become angry or shameful and didn't have the desire to succeed. But when students know they are accepted for doing their best, they will keep trying.

Teamwork and Collaboration

From the readings this week and class, the main thing that stands out to me and that I learned the most was the importance of teamwork and working with others to develop the best possible plan and solutions for children with special needs in the classroom. I really enjoyed an activity that we did on Monday in class, the Mock MDT meeting. It was cool to pretend to be part of a team that was discussing the needs of Esther Ramirez. My part was the Special Education teacher. It was really cool to see the different roles and how each one of them all contributed to a similar cause, deciding whether Esther qualified for Special Education or not.

Collaboration is key. There are so many different factors that determine special education and all come together for each and every individual student with special needs. One person such as a general education teacher cannot provide the needs that a student needs alone. It is so essential for all the different people involved to actually be involved. Since I am an early childhood special education major and will be specializing in that, I will have to work with the general education teacher as well as the principal and any other professionals involved to provide the students with the services that they need.

I learned this principle a lot on my mission. Us as missionaries could not provide the people with what they needed alone. We most importantly had to collaborate with the Lord through prayer. But we also collaborated with the ward members, the bishopric, the ward mission leader, and other missionaries in the area. When we did this and sought council and advise, the people were able to progress much more because we were teaching them what they needed to know. It is an eternal principle.

The Rights of Special Education

These past two weeks have been full of so much information and experience about special education. From the reading, I have learned a lot about all the different people involved in a child with special needs' education. To begin, there are many resources and professionals available to help the student to receive the proper education that they need. According to IDEA, they have the right to FAPE (free and affordable public education), LRE (least restrictive environment), zero reject child find, due process, IEP, and non-discriminatory evaluation. With all of these, comes the resources of different teachers and professionals that are available to help the students receive the help that they need.

This week in our mock due process trial, I was the attorney of the family. There was a case that we had studied about a boy named Garrett who had been in a horrible motorcycle accident when he was 4 years old. He didn't have any damage to his brain and didn't have any intellectual problems. However, he was paralyzed and did not have any control over his body. Therefore, he was in need of assistance at school everyday. When he got to fourth grade, his parents desired the school to start paying for a full time nurse to be hired and be there with Garrett everyday at school. He did not need help with anything medical, just needed that extra physical care. The school argued that they did not need to provide a nurse and that the parents should pay for it if they really felt he needed it. The parents did not agree and decided to sue the school.

Because of due process, which is the right to be heard and appeal, the family appealed and it turned into a very lengthy court case. As the attorney of the family, my job was to argue why the school should be paying for the nurse. The main argument was that the needs Garrett was in need of were not medical because they were in need of a nurse, not a physician. Also, because of LRE, Garrett needed to be in the classroom with his fellow peers in order to fully receive the education that he needed and be able to learn the way he needed to. It would be completely ineffective for him to learn at home because the school would not pay for a nurse to help him during school hours. Also according to FAPE, he had the right to receive a free and affordable public education. The parents did not have the money to afford the services that he needed to get an education and be at school.

I enjoyed this practice because it helped me to understand and apply the different principles of IDEA and see how they work in real life cases. I also learned that usually special education teachers are working a lot with general education teachers coming up with strategies and ways to help provide the best education for the kids with special needs.

The Who's and Why's of Special Education

After reading Ch. 1, I have learned a lot about who is eligible to receive special education and why we have special education. But first, it is important for us to recognize the law and acts that have been passed to make all of this possible. For example, IDEA, Brown vs. BOE, No Child Left Behind Act, Section 504, and many more. All of these together have made it possible for kids with special needs to have the chance and ability to learn at and attend public schools just like all other children. It protects them from inequality when it comes to education. It allows them to be educated in general classroom settings with the other kids that do not have special needs.

I thought it was so interesting to read about who qualifies for special education. The list goes as follows:

• Learning Disability (LD): when there are difficulties in reading, writing, and computing. It is the most common disability and half of special needs students have LD.
• Speech of language impairment (SLI): difficulty producing the sounds of language or meaningfully using language to communicate.
• Intellectual Disability (ID): limitations in intellectual ability and adaptive behavior.
• Emotional Disturbance (ED): problems in the social-emotional area where learning is affected.
• Autism: a neurological disorder where the person cannot make social interactions and connections and have difficulty in social responsiveness. It may be mild or severe.
• Hearing Impairment (HI): partial or complete hearing loss.
• Vision Impairment (VI): partial or complete vision loss.
• Deaf-Blindness: where there is both significant hearing and vision loss.
• Orthopedic Impairment (OI): physical limitations that makes it difficult to move or complete motor activities.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): when learning, behavior, social skills, and language are affected due to a serious brain injury.
• Other Health Impairment (OHI): a health disorder that is so significant it affects learning. ex. cancer, sickle-cell anemia, and diabetes.
• Multiple Disabilities: where there are two or more disabilities simultaneously. Usually physical and intellectual. 
• Developmental Delay (DD): a category that can be used as an alternative to specific disability labels.

Because of the laws and acts that have been passed, these students are protected and reserve the rights to receive the same education in general education settings coupled with special education classes. It is then the educators responsibility to make modifications and accommodations to the students needs, as created by IDEA. I think its great that these students are receiving education in this way because it allows them to learn to make those social connections and grow rather than just be around other kids with special needs.