Blog 17

I thought that this section about learning disabilities was really interesting. I knew that learning may be genetic and that some possible causes are: heredity, problems during pregnancy and birth, head injuries, nutrition, toxic substances, but I didn't really know that home and child rearing factors play a role in children and learning disabilities. I also found the check list to be interesting and helpful. I am a nanny for five children one of which the parents are concerned might have a learning disability and they found this checklist to be helpful because they can monitor her as she gets older, and now know some warning signs of a learning disability.

Blog post 17

ADHD is a very interesting topic to me. It seems like more and more now children everywhere are claiming to have ADHD and doctors are diagnosing everyone. How is it that so many years ago it was barley even known of and people survived in school but now everyone is labeled? My mom noticed when I was three that I was not like most 3 year olds. she took me to the doctor to undergo a lot of tests, and I was diagnosed with ADHD but she was worried about what medication would do to me, so did not put me on them until high school. Once I started taking them I noticed a huge difference. I normally talk very face so my speech slowed down, I was able to pay attention in class and not dose off, and was more motivated to do work. In my placement, I am usually very fast to ask the teacher if any of the students are medicated just because they are very hyper and do not get good grades. Most of them are not due to financial reasons, but there are so many environmental factors to ADHD as well that not every student that is hyper needs to be labeled. I am not the poster child for Ritalin or any other drug, but it works for some people and not for others.

Blog 17

I really enjoyed this lecture. It reminded me of when I took my special education class in my freshman year. It was so interesting to learn about all of the different exceptionalities and how they effect the classroom. I feel that it is extremely important as a teacher to learn about all of these issues and to be able to recognize the signs if they were to come along in one of your students. If you think about it, we almost spend more time as teachers with those kids than their parents do. I think if some indications were to come along that their child was special, the teacher would probably have a better chance of noticing it than the parents. I think it is our responsibility to keep an eye out. However, when I think about when i become a teacher and how I may notice something different about a particular student, I think it might be a little scary to be the one to address the issue. As a teacher I am not an expert and I have no right to diagnose a child with anything, however if I notice something, it needs to be addressed. I think this is where school and district staff come into play. I think they can really help as far as expert advise could go. After all, we have to go about telling the parents about their child's signs in a delicate way, or there could be many problems. I really like the tip on becoming familiar with the school psychologist right away. I really think that would help both me as the teacher and the family involved.

Blog #18

I also agree with your comment about how rewarding it can be to work with students who have disabilities. It is great to see them

Blog #17

I found chapter 2 to be very interesting and one of my favorite topics during this course. I really like learning about children with disabilities because I work with some that fall into this category at the preschool where I work. If I were to go back and choose a major again, I would chose to major in both elementary/special education. Since, working in the preschool I have been exposed to many different types of disabilities. It is also amazing to see how many of students with special needs are able to be in the general education classrooms. I have very good friend who is a speech pathologist and she works with a lot of children who communicate with using assisted technology. Many of these students are able to communicate and participate in the classroom due to this technology. Also, I have had the opportunity to work with students that has down syndrome and other genetic disorders. I feel that all teachers need to have more training on special education to help children with these disabilities. Some students with genetic disorders look healthy and it is important to know about their condition. Researching and educating one's self about their student's disabilities will help them to succeed in the classroom.

Blog #17

This particular lecture gave me a specific reaction that I think should be written about. While I wholly understand that after the Regular Education Initiative, the idea of blending children with special needs and children without them together became standard, I still think we're overlooking something important. The blending of the students benefitted the students with special needs academically and socially, but what I haven't read is whether it benefits the general education classroom. Truly, being exposed to others with different needs will certainly expand how the other children view the world (in that they'll know that children with special needs deserve the same respect they would give their peers), but I have a hard time believing it would develop them academically, and isn't that the real focus of education? Teachers need to know theirs and their students' weaknesses in education, and setting up a classroom so it only academically benefits one particular subset of student seems to be a weakness for the system.
That said. There are still students with very mild special needs that can, somewhat seamlessly, be blended into the classroom without really holding back the rest of the class(ADD/ADHD comes to mind immediately). It is with these students I don't see a need to separate them - but the others... well, I disagree with the current mindset.

Blog Post #17

I think this is an important topic and an area we teachers need to be stronger in. From what I have learned in my special ed classes I have found that education is going more toward combined education classrooms instead of separate teachers for students with disabilities and students without disabilities. Also an interesting thing I learned in special ed, that conflicts with our powerpoint, is there is a big controversy over how to label these individuals. The people with disabilities want to be called disabled persons because the disability is apart of who they are, on the other hand outsiders prefer to call them a student with a disability and put the student before the disability. It was interesting to see in the powerpoint the idea that people are people first with out the information on the opposing side. Also, its important that teachers are not supposed to label diagnose or treat students they think have disabilities; however, they are responsible for utilizing the referral process when necessary. I think there is a fine line here between personal labels and labels for the referral process. I have seen teachers crossover this line sometimes. In addition, I have also wondered if lately ADHD is being over diagnosed. I am not an expert but I think it is important to note that kids are kids and it is normal for them to be wiggly, in attentive, and hyperactive. It seems we are only too happy to put kids with these symptoms on meds and completely change who they are and how they act. I have seen personally my nephew be diagnosed with this and placed on medication. He has changed. He isn’t his normal happy talkative self. He is more reserved, quiet, and different. It is sad to see and experience on a personal level.

Blog # 17

This is one of those most interesting topics and the one that I feel I need to be as educated as possible. This is because in todays classrooms it is normal to have a student who has special needs and are being incorporated into the classroom. A few years ago I worked as an aide in an emotional disabled classroom and that was my first experience in working with students who had special needs. Those students taught me so much. I realized that they were not different from other students they just needed some resources to help them function in the classroom. One of the most beneficial things for them was being able to go into the regular classroom. They were able to socialize with other students as well as being exposed to how the classroom is run so that they are prepared for being in the regular classroom all day. In the lecture one line stuck out to me, "Teachers need to help students to be experts in their own learning strengths and weaknesses." All teachers need to take this into consideration for all their students.

Response to Chris Caseldine

Chris I have to agree with you on what you said in your post. To make a blanket statement such as that about an entire community is wrong. As you said many deaf people are able to lip read and most of them have adapted to living in a hearing world one way or another. Thank you for being so honest about your feelings and not being afraid to express yourself.

Blog Post #17

The information in this section of the text made me uncomfortable and nervous when it comes to teaching. These are not new feelings for me when it comes to thinking about teaching children with learning disabilities. While I want to teach and I love working with children (especially older ones) at this point the idea of working with children with learning differences puts knots in my stomach. While I am a compassionate person I do not consider myself a patient one by any means and the idea of dealing with things such as inattention or impulsivity is the part about teaching that makes me cringe. This section made me feel and think the same way that SPE222 did; it made me hope that ASU has as good of a teaching program as I have heard about. One that will really prepare me to deal with things such as this. I guess that I will find out once I start my professional program come the fall semester.