Buddy Walk

Every year my friends and family participate in a city wide fundraiser called the Buddy Walk. This is a program set up by the National Downs Syndrome Society. I have two amazing kids in my church that have downs syndrome so my entire community goes and walks to show their support for the families. This year the walk was in October but I was not able to go because I was at school. I was very upset.

The walk is only one mile long. You can visit the website to find a walk coming up in your area. Anyone is welcome to join a walk, age doesn't matter! Also you do not have to know someone with downs syndrome to show your support. If you aren't able to walk, you can join the cheering section or even walk half of the time. If you want to really get involved, you can create your own walk by visiting the website and following the links.

Positive Inclusion Experience

Since I have been doing a lot of writing about inclusion and mainstreaming of special needs students into regular education classroom. There can be two different outcomes from an inclusion experience. To have a positive experience here are a few things you have to do:

• The general education teacher must believe the special-needs student can succeed
• The school must be committed to accepting responsibility for the learning outcomes of special education students
• Parents must be informed and supportive
• Services and physical accommodations must be adequate for the student's needs
• The principal must understand the needs of special education students
• Enough teacher and staff hours must be devoted to the child's care
• Continuing staff development and technical assistance must be provided
• Evaluation procedures must be clear
• Special education teachers must be part of the entire planning process
• A team approach is used by teachers and other specialists
• A variety of instructional arrangements must be available (team teaching, ability grouping, peer tutoring)

I got this information from http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/600/Special-Education.html and was very informed from the other information so check it out! :)

A Glance Into Reality

Over the summer I was a nannie for two little girls. One of the little girls had a disability and since I spent so much time with them I saw the effect of her disability on her sister. Kate was a normal nine year old tom boy; Kara was the normal girly thirteen year old with a disability - lets just say they butted heads a lot. Since Kara had a disability she was slower with a lot of things and Kate always got frustrated with her. Kate also hated that her sister was disabled becuse she stuck out sometimes and just wanted to be a normal girl. When I spent time with them I really tried to encourage Kate that her sister's disability was something that made her special but she still had a hard time dealing with it.

When we look at someone with a disability we think about how it effects them but in reality it effects so many others as well. I honestly did not notice the effects of a situation like this until I spent time with these amazing girls.

Its the Little Things.

Every Tuesday I go bowling with the Special Olympics bowling team. I always have so much fun watching them bowl and getting to talk to them. This Tuesday I was really stressed out and had a ton of homework to do. I was debating on just going to get my paper signed for class and leaving but Betty has been asking for a picture for three weeks and I kept forgetting. So I felt awful that I was just leaving without giving her a picture. After a lot of debating I stayed and really had a great time! Betty ended up being worried about me and was really glad I was there. Hanging out with them really helped me lose all of my stress and just relax for a little while. That is what I really needed. It made me realize that it really is the little times in life that get you through it.

Sepcial Needs Cheerleading

I saw this video and though it was the cutest thing. You can do anything as long as you set your mind to it and these children did just that.

More Participation in Inclusion

Martha Thurlow wrote “NCLB and the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in the Accountability and Assessment Systems” This article is about how the past few years the participation and success rate of students with special needs on the assessment tests has gone up greatly. In Massachusetts from 2000 to 2003 the rates on the reading part of the tests has gone up 26%. Also, because a student has a disability it does not mean they cant learn and be successful in every aspect of their life. Since teachers and parents have low expectations, pushing their child or student could seem pointless. Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act school districts are paying more attention to all the students and their scores on the achievement tests. The addition of the subgroup for students with disabilities on the act has been one of the best things for the special education world.

The Difference Between Elementary and Secondary Schools

Jay Matthews wrote the article “Mainstreaming Special-Ed Students: a Question of Time” This article explains the varying differences of the mainstreaming process in elementary schools and secondary schools. In elementary schools it is easier to incorporate the special education student into the class but harder when it comes to high school and the classes are more specialized. Also student with special needs are hindered by not having the one-to-one help with a teacher when they are in a regular education room.

Doing analysis on the school districts to see what works best for the students and also the teachers should be done if mainstreaming is being considered. This article’s purpose is to point out the differences between elementary and secondary education mainstreaming. I like this article because it really shows the importance and time involved in making mainstreaming work for everyone.

Inclusion in Sports for Studnets with Disabilities

In the article “Boosting Inclusion for Students with Disabilities” by Allison Fetter-Harrott in 2008 Allison took the inclusion program to another level: sports. This article is more about inclusion of students with special needs into extra circular activities rather than into the classroom. As students, there are laws stating your right to join extra circular activities. Many school districts can have a lawsuit on their hands for not allowing a student to participate in a sport due to the fact that the student might get hurt. Some students with disabilities are required to participate in extra circular activities because it is required in their IEP. An IEP is the students’ individualized education program. Taking six steps can help students with disabilities have a positive experience with after circular activities.

The Basics

The article “Mainstreaming: The Special Needs Child Goes to School” by Kristyn Crow really made me think about the basic line of mainstreaming. This article is about what mainstreaming is, how important it is, and things you can do to help the transition into mainstreaming be easy. Mainstreaming is the process of a child with special needs going to a regular education classroom with other regular education students rather than being in a separate room. Studies have shown that mainstreaming helps the students as they grow older and have a higher success rate. As a parent, there are things you can do to help your child. Keeping in contact with the teacher, making play dates with other students, and teaching your child how to identify bullying are three possibilities for a parent to help. The purpose of this article is to help parents understand more about mainstreaming and a few tips to help them be successful. This article is a few paragraphs long with numbers to show the ways to help your child. This paper will help my thesis by giving me information as to what the effect of mainstreaming is on students, as they get older.

Full Inclusion

I found this article by Sharon Cormwell called “Inclusion: Has It Gone Too Far?”. This article is about the varying needs of students with special needs in the inclusion process. Teachers and parents alike are worried about full inclusion. If a student is included full time in a regular classroom then they could get lost in the curriculum and overseen by the regular education teacher. Some school districts require full inclusion but the government has not made it a law yet. If any sort of inclusion is going to work it takes many provisions and positive attitudes. This article is about the negative effects of full inclusion and how much it takes to make any sort of inclusion possible. In the article they used many outside sources to confirm their views which helps show support to their argument. This article will help support my thesis because it is necessary to decided what is best for the student, not just to dump them into the regular education classroom.

Including Samuel

My friend and I are both education majors and are taking the same class with a different teacher. In her class they watched a movie called "Including Samuel". She loved the movie and said I had to watch it.

I was looking around on the internet for articles about inclusion and a pulled up an article about the movie by Pamela Cotant called “School Spotlight: Film Teaches Inclusion of Students with Disabilities”. It was published in the Wisconsin State Journal in 2009. Cotant’s purpose in this article is to educate people on the positive impact of inclusion of students with disabilities has on a classroom and maybe even an entire school. Dan Habib produced the movie. This movie documents the inclusion of his son in a regular education classroom even though his son has cerebral palsy. Habib visited schools and showed the movie to many middle schools and high schools and got a very positive outcome. Since Habib’s son is so successful in fourth grade, he believes that it is due to the friendships he has made in the regular education class.

This is the type of results that teachers, parents, and peers love to see. Inclusion is a very touchy topic and Samuel was fortunate enough to have a positive outcome of the experience.

More Mainstreaming

As I though more about mainstreaming special education students I wanted to learn more about it. I was looking around and found a blog by Kristen Miller and it was just an article about her personal experiences with the inclusion of special education students in the classroom. She talked about the negative effect it can have on the special education student and also the regular education students. One problem with putting special education students into regular education classes is that they are self conscious of their learning disability. This discourages them to ask questions in class and can cause them to fall behind. Second, students in special education classes have modifications and accommodations it draws attention to them in a negative way. When a student is allowed to use a book or note cards on a test, other students are offended of the special treatment. Also help from the teacher is harder when they are in a class with 35-40 other students.

As an education major, I can see how all of these problems could arise in a classroom. But as a teacher, it is your job to help as much as you can and solve problems in your classroom.

There is always a negative side.

When I was looking over articles about mainstreaming and inclusion of special needs students in regular education classrooms, I found this article by Liz Ford called “Report Backs Special Needs Integration”.

In this article they list a lot of negative feedback about the studies of special needs students in regular education classes. The research done was only with students that had physical, sensory, or communication problems, not students with emotional and behavioral difficulties, which tend to have more problems in a classroom environment. Also there are very few reports that focus on the impact of special needs students on regular education students. The past few years inclusion and mainstreaming has become more of a political issue since governments are encouraging it more. Teachers are still hesitant and want reassurance that it will benefit all students.

Liz talked about so many important points dealing with the inclusion of special needs students. I think that knowing the negative side to an argument is just as important than knowing the positive side. Knowing the negatives and problems with a subject can only help you better it as a whole.

Inclusion of special needs students

In the article Schools Aim for Inclusion with Special Needs Students by Amy Crawford gave me the perfect idea for my topic for my paper for comp.

This article is an over view of how successful inclusion of special needs students in a regular education class. Inclusion of the special needs students helps them feel more excited about school and also helps them make friends. Since they are around their peers they want to do better and learn more in the classrooms. It stated that some critics are saying that mainstreaming special education students can be dangerous. Students with serious learning problems can be left to fend for themselves in a regular class. But with co-teaching, this problem can be eliminated. Having a regular education teacher and a special education teacher helps them pick out the students having more problems. Mainstreaming is now becoming more and more known in school districts and helps the students increase their confidence.

Learning Disabilities

I was looking around on the internet for articles about special needs and I found one by Richard D. Lavoie about controversial treatments for kids with LD (Learning disabilities).

This article is about different treatments to avoid if you’re a parent of a child with a learning disability. If your child has a learning disability it is easy to get drawn into the propaganda stating they will help your child. Watching out for name calling of other products, glittering generalities, guilt, and the bandwagon. The only thing that will help your child is hard work from the parents, the teachers, and the student.

Autism

Since we have the whole semester left to blog, I am going to pick a different disability each day for a blog topic. Today my topic is going to be about autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that effects the brain's normal development of the social and communication skills. You will know if someone has autism by the age of three. Normally parents notice something "different" about their child by the age of 18 months and seek help by the age of 2.

Honestly, no one really knows what causes autism. Some doctors say that it can be caused by genetic and environmental factors but the bottom line is there is no answer. This can cause many frustrations for people effected by autism.

Some symptoms of autism are

• child not responding to name when called
• has poor eye contact
• Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world"
• unaware of others' feelings
• Starts talking later than other children
• Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences
• Does not make eye contact when making requests
• Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping
• Develops specific routines or rituals
• Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals
• Moves constantly

"Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."

Since the Winter Olympics have taken place of the Biggest Loser (which I am not too happy about) I decided to do some research on the Special Olympics for 2010. This year they will take place in Lincoln, Nebraska. The games will start Sunday July 18. The Speical Olympics contain games that are in the Winter and Summer Olympics. They have golf, gymnastics, volleyball, track, bowling, and many many others. There are more than 3,000 athletes will compete in all the events.

If you want to read more about the Special Olympics 2010 go to http://www.specialolympics.org/

Just Stats

These are just a few interesting statistics I found when looking around.

• Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder.
• The median age of onset for mood disorders is 30 years.
• Autism and other ASDs develop in childhood and generally are diagnosed by age three.
• Autism is about four times more common in boys than girls. Girls with the disorder, however, tend to have more severe symptoms and greater cognitive impairment.
• Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults.
• The median age of onset for bipolar disorders is 25 years.
• Approximately 6 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 2.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have panic disorder.
• There are 6,500,000 retarded, of these only 200,000 must be taken care of in an institution - all others can do some kind of work
• There are over 200 causes of mental retardation. Retardation may result because of brain damage or birth defects; however social, environmental, medical and cultural deprivation account for the most retardation and these causes can be prevented.
• About 3% of America's population suffers from mental retardation. This figure is tantamount to about 7 million people.
• 40 to 50% of children with Down Syndrome have congenital heart defects in the US.
• 80% of Down syndrome cases occur in mothers under 35.
• The risk of having a Down syndrome child is 1 in 400 if the mother is 35-40 years old.
• The risk of having a Down syndrome child is 1 in 110 if the mother is over 40.

Doing the Unexpected

Susan Boyle is a very talented singer from the show "Britain's Got Talent". She has many albums out and has had a very successful tour in Europe. There is one catch, when Susan was being born, she was deprived of oxygen which caused some learning disabilities. In school she was known as "Slow Susan" and was bullied a lot because of her disabilities. She had been singing since she was 12 and has never been married. At the age of 49, Susan has become very successful in the past few years despite the difficulties she has had and what everyone has said.


Susan Boyle Britains Got Talent 2009
Uploaded by matrix1087. - Explore more music videos.

Desperate Housewives

I was watching a rerun of one of my favorite shows (Desperate Housewives) and a mother was talking about how her son, that had mental disabilities, had killed a girl he liked. She was keeping him locked up in the basement so he wouldn't have to face the death penalty. This made me think about our assignment about something controversial.


In 2000, thirteen states had separate laws banning the death penalty for people with mental retardation. Is this right? I personally think people with severe mental disabilities should not be put to death. If they have the mental age of 2 in a 20 year-old's body, this can happen and they have no idea what they are doing. A person's mental age should over rule their physical age. Others that might oppose these laws could say that the person still killed someone and should have the same punishment as others. What do you think about the topic?

Speical Olympics

NYT article

This is a link to an article in New York Times about a few people using the wrong language in government and how offensive it was to those who heard it.

People First Language

When you look at a person with a disability do you see them as a person with a disability or do you see them as a disability that happens to be a person? Many people look at the disability first then the person second when in reality you should look at the person first then the disability. This is part of what is called People First Language. These are ways to help someone with disabilities feel more comfortable. In an article "How are your person first skills?" by Carol L. Russell there are many things you can do to be respectful.

"Refer to the person first then the disability.

Emphasize abilities not disabilities or limitations.

Use the term people with disabilities rather than label people as part of a disability group such as the disabled.

Do not patronize or give excessive praise or attention to a person with a disability.

Give people with a disability a choice and independence (e.g. having many options as appropriate including what to eat, wear, and do) and allow individuals to speak for themselves rather than have someone speak for them.

Be yourself. Treat a person with a disability as you would anyone who does not have a disability."

This is just a short part of the list but it hits some major points. When your out and about remember the People First Lanugage.

Kids being kids.

This video is about Camp Barnabas. Its kind of long but it really gets the point across about what Camp Barnabas does for children with disabilities. At this camp the kids are told that they can do anything they set their mind to and the staff go out of their way to make sure that every kid's wish is fulfilled. There are kids that only get to go swimming when they come to camp so they get to spend a majority of their time in the pool. There are some kids that have never gotten to go into a tree house or go onto a playground because they are in a wheel chair. At camp they have a tree house and playground equipment that is wheelchair accessible. Children with disabilities are able to live with no limitations for an entire week.

Don't Be a Debbie Downer

For one of our assignments for Comp, we are supposed to explain why we are interested in what we are blogging about. For me, I first became interested in people with special needs and disabilities when I was a sophomore in high school. At my church I have two kiddos with down syndrome, Katie and Daniel. They are two of my best friends and every summer we basically live at the pool. I also decided to volunteer with a few people from my youth group at a camp specifically made for kids and adults with disabilities. It is called Camp Barnabas. Through my experiences at camp I have grown more knowledgeable about many disabilities and how no disability can be limiting if you have the right heart about it.

Katie & Daniel 2009 ^

Both times I went to camp I got campers with severe disabilities. Jill was my first camper. She was 25 but only had the mental age of a 12 year old and had Down syndrome. She was physically able to do everything but was emotionally unstable. Getting to help her have fun at camp was a great time. The second summer I went I got a little boy named Mark. He was around 12 years old but was only 4 mentally. He was blind and had a prostatic eye (which he liked to pop out), had autism, cerebral paisley, mental retardation and many food allergies. We spent endless hours on the swings but overall it was a great week. Both weeks were rough and hot but I couldn't help but fall in love with both of my campers.

Cabin #4 Summer 2008

When you spend time with these special people it can be hard but at the same time very much enjoyable. People with disabilities help you focus on the great things you have in life rather than being a Debbie downer. Life is way to short to worry about the small things, enjoy it while you can.

Bethany and Mark Camp 2008

Starting Over

Since I am such an indecisive person, I am changing what my blog is going to be about this semester. It was going to be about food, but I saw that going no where. I do a lot of work with adults and children with special needs and it seemed to be like a better topic. There are a lot of different disabilities and developmental problems that affect our society and many people don't even know what is going on. Over the semester I will be going into detail about different disabilities and how they can effect people.

New Blog

For Comp 112 we are starting a blog and I have never done one. So this should be interesting. I chose to do my blog over food. I seem to eat a lot and I like trying new things so I will be "blogging" about new foods, food that is healthy and some that isn't. So here we go.