Blog 18, Week 5

Sapna you are correct that teachers must show students that being different is ok. It is a travesty that disability awareness is not taught just as sexual ed is taught. It's not the old days where a student may not ever be in contact with a disable person, so by not informing students correctly a great disservice is done. It is wrong that I had to take special classes (Intro. to the Exceptional Learning and American Sign Language) to learn more information about disabilities. Since disability awareness is yet to materialize it is important, like you say, to teach students about disabilities ourselves. Every educational subject has famous people who deal lived with disabilities (i.e., Steve Nash (math)- Schizophrenia and Edgar Allen Poe (English)- alcoholism among other things). It may be difficult to incorporate this teaching into already full curriculum; however, highlighting these type of individuals can go a long way in helping students learn about different disabilities.

Blog 17, Week 5

After reading this weeks reading assignment I took issue with a statements that the book stated. It was contained in the Deafness or Hearing Impairment section on p. 88. The statement that I took issue with said, "Children who are deaf cannot hear or understand speech" (p. 88). Saying that deaf children cannot understand speech it totally incorrect. I've been taking American Sign Language for 3 semesters and I've learned that deaf/Deaf (there is a difference pertaining to how involved the individual is with the Deaf community) can understand speech even though they cannot hear it. The deaf/Deaf live in a hearing world, so many individuals have learned to function in it by learning to lip read. The Deaf community has a saying that says, "The only thing that we can't do is hear", therefore saying that they cannot understand speech is both incorrect and an insult. Speech is not solely verbal since a portion is also visual, so deaf/Deaf individuals are fully capable of participating in speech, if they so choose.

Blog #17

I found the part about severe and multiple disabilities interesting. I took SPE 311 so it was a basic review. When reading over about the different disabilities I started thinking again how I would handle and conduct my class if I had a student with each of these. Children with these disabilities need a really intense and specialized education program fit for thier personal learning capability. I think that as a dance teacher I would have the least difficult opportunity to help these children learn. In dance they learn social skills, motor skills, coordination, and agility. All of these are key missing factors in children with disabilites. I think thatchildren with physical disabilities would get the most benefit out of a dance class because they get to work thier body differently then they could ever. I danced with a girl who walked completely inverted and could barely stand up staright. AFter years of dance and PT she not only walked fine but was one of the best dancers in the group.

Blog #18 week 5

In response to KristineR. I will also be a general education teacher and agree with you that we must meet the needs of all our students. We must also know as teachers that, we do not want to make a student with a learning disorder feel different from his classmates. So was should not make huge changes in the curriculum or what is expected of the students. I agree that it is very imparative that teachers be informed about the various learning disorders and how to meet the needs of these students. That is why it is great that ASU makes us take the classes on teaching special education students. The first class I took on that subject was extremely beneficial and I learned many things that I will use in my future classroom.

Blog #17 week 5

The first learning disorder I would like to first touch on is ADHD. I have done a lot of studying on this one disorder since I have been an education Major. ADHD also known as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, affects 7% of students. This disorder is characterized by a lack of concentration or easily distracted. I have seen ADHD from a first hand perspective. A close member of my family was diagnosed with ADHD. I can remember him always fidgeting and bouncing his leg. For a while his mother did not think much of it, but then as he got into junior high his grades began slipping. His teachers saw his high levels of energy and how easily he got distracted, so they recommended him to see a doctor.
As a future educator it is important that we learn how we can help students with learning disabilities. I have already taken the class SPE 222 which focuses on teaching students that have some kind of learning disorder. We covered many different disorders and how we can go about helping these students. We must remember that no matter what child is present it our classroom it is our job to meet their educational needs.

Blog 17

The section in chapter 2 on pgs 75-90 on exceptional children was very important information for me as a general education teacher. Although, I will not be in the field of special education I will still have children with varying needs and maybe even a learning disability and IEP in my general education classroom. As a general education teacher I believe it is so important to be inclusive to all children and differentiate instruction for all independent learners to be successful. This chapter is a great resource to me as a teacher because it covers every learning disability and the misconceptions and needs of a specific learning disability. A favorite quote from this section is "A learning disability is not due to lack of intelligence." (pg. 76) This quote is so important because often people and even educators associate a disability with lack of intelligence and this is not good. Teachers especially should see the child or student first and see an exceptional child as one more child that needs individual attention to be successful in the classroom. My favorite section was the section on ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which is over diagnosed and misdiagnosed all the time. So many times I have heard teachers in my internships whisper oh that kid can't hold his attention, that kid bounces off the wall, that kid must be ADHD! The table on 2.6 was wonderful because it has the misconceptions and facts about the disability and is full of information for parents and teachers about ADHD. I think it is so important as an educator to be informed about exceptional children and accommodations and modifications that can be made for all children. This chapter is awesome and definitely a resource for all educators special education and general education.

Blog 18 response to Sapna Kanabar by Cathy Morgan

I think that you would make a great teacher for children with special needs, learning disabilities. As you talk about your experience “has provided me with useful information and a unique perspective on how these types of children learn, socialize, and develop. On pages 78-79 of our textbook, the Potential Signs of Learning Disabilities, which is an excellent resource for educators to use?” As you finish school and integrate into the school system try to always remember what you said about “It is important to remember that intervention and educational programs can be a good resource for parents and students to utilize in order to promote success”. If you never forget that the child comes before the learning disability or special needs you will have parents lining up at your classroom door to get their child in your class. Best of luck

Blog 17 Exceptional Development by Cathy Morgan

First I must say that I totally agree with the text on pg. 75 when it states that we need to remember to take into count the child first and the special needs second. I have heard and seen so many people label a child and then always refer to the label and not the child by name. As a few of you have already stated part of provided a good clarification of what a learning disability is NOT, I will add to that, not due to poor teaching, lack of intelligence, or to temporary causes.
I have experienced most children with a specific learning disability to be very smart and can learn in the right setting. The IDEA has their definition of a specific learning disability on pg. 76 in the text. This chapter talks about the difference between learning disabilities and special needs children. This subject is very dear to me as I write this I remember the hard time I had when my own son Christopher was in school in the late 80 early 90’s. Christopher is bipolar, ADHD and does not read well due to a premature birth, we did not know that Christopher could not hear until he was three, I took him to the doctor a lot from birth to three, when a doctor finally sent him to an ENT specialist. Later in school when he was in a class room where the teacher would read over the assignments to the whole class and then help Christopher by writing his answers he got A’s and B’s. In the classrooms where he had to do all the reading with no peer or teacher help he failed. As stated in the text on pg. 77 it is not that a child is not “intelligence , but fail in class because of inappropriate instruction, culture, or linguistic differences and the requirement to wait until the gap is wide enough to detect ( wait-to-fail-approach)”. Now all children with ADHD are overly active, some are very quite and are over looked because they are not disruptive to the classroom. I agree with the table on pg 82, however I also believe that if each school have one or two classrooms where the teaching style was all visual, and/or audio, and hands on activities more of these student would learn how to adjust for their individual learning disability, becoming better citizens in society. I can tell you that everything on pg. 85 is so true when it comes to children with ADHD in the schools. I have been to many schools many times for all of these “problems”. Christopher got through grades k – 7th by being the class clown, and after that he just quite, Christopher went to a community college to finish his high school diploma and he did it on his own. I am very proud of his, but now later in life he continues to have trouble getting by in society. A agree with the text about many children with ADHD do not outgrow their symptom and that “ Most important, it emphasizes the role of teacher, psychologists, counselors and other caring adults in the lives of these children. Supportive teachers and mentors at school can play an enabling role in children’s lives and help reduce the negative effects of childhood disabilities and disorders.”
Am a teacher and I work with infants and preschool children because, I did not know enough when I could have helped my own son. Now I am educated about learning disabilities and know what to look for so I can help other families.

Blog # 18

Exceptional Children.

"A learning disability is not due to lack of motivation or effort on child's part, although sometimes parents and teachers treat children with learning disabilities as if they are lazy or not trying hard enough.'' (Meece, 76) It is important for us as teacher to understand this because it may cause conflict and you may loose the desire to help the child. These children are intelligent individuals, they just need some encouragement and motivation to strive to their success. Based on some experiences i have noticed that some teachers leave the students academic and social development to the special education teacher. Including these students in your class can be beneficial to all your students.

Some of your children may have severe and multiple disabilities so you may need to work much harder. They may have learning disability, deafness or hearing, physical, low vision, traumic brain injury, deaf-blindness or autism. Lot of these disabilies can be a cause of biological risks such as smoking, premature birth or other complications. These disabilies can be very harmful to the childs emotional and developmental stages. Teachers and parents should try their best to make the students understand that it is okay to be different. Teachers should introduce these concepts at a very early age so they are comfortable with all their classmates. An important aspect to your classroom is to create a safe and comfortable environment for your students.

Blog post 15

Popularity and rejection are a huge part of being in school. Though we want children to come to school to learn, we are also working on their social development. The popular children are more likely to be the ones picked first for assignments and teams in physical education while the ones who are not popular and rejected will often be last to be picked or looking around or a partner to work with. As teachers, we have to look out for these situations because it can create problems for both groups of children. The popular kids might develop and ego thinking they are better than everyone else and that things should be given to them in life instead of worked for. The rejected students might slip through the cracks and not put forth their best work due to trying to fit in too much. I remember all throughout my school years; I was not popular or rejected. I was friends with all groups of people, but I longed so much to be popular. I mean sure people knew who I was, but I wanted everyone to know my name. I spent more time trying to put together cute outfits instead of studying. Just shows that we need to watch out for kids and their social circles as it effects their schooling.