Communicating with people with disabilities

December 9th, 2008

I recently came accrossed a web page that struck my interest: http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/comucate.htm

It talks about the difficulties we sometimes have when communicating with people with disabilities.  It goes on to say, however; that we (as Americans) have made large strides in portraying people with disabilities via media, etc.  But it also says that when it comes to communication we sometimes do not know what to say, so, “Sometimes we say nothing at all.”  And I believe this to be true because I have often done the same.  Sometimes I do not know what to say and begin to get nervous and sometimes “cut it short” and find something else to do.  This is not the answer at all and I always feel bad/ashamed of my actions.  But reading this site helped me, as it would other viewers, learn how to overcome the anxiety and communicate very fluently with people with disabilities.  There is a long list on the web site that is easy to read and will be useful for those of you who are experiencing the same difficulties. 

As I was reading the site, I came across “people who are deaf,” and since I am currently taking an American Sign Language (ASL) class, I read about the “do’s and don’ts” of communicating with a person who is deaf.  I have read about these cultural differences in my ASL class, but the site “hit home” and made me realize that when communicating and/or speaking of anyone with any disability, it is important to know what and what not to say, and also how you present it. 

This site is extremely useful and important if you, someone you know, or someone who has never worked with people with disabilities and is going to do so.  Check it out! Be prepared; you’ll be glad you did!

My Experience in a Wheelchair for a Day

December 1st, 2008

Wow! What can I say; just one day in wheelchair really changed my perspective on them.  I always figured it would be hard for someone to be in a wheelchair, but one day made me respect those who are in them even more!  My day in a wheelchair started off at about 8:30 in the morning through 2:30 that day, so it wasn’t even a full day!  I first difficult aspect I noticed about being in a wheelchair was trying to maneuver and turn into places; it’s a lot harder than it looks! My next objective was taking the elevator; the first time I used it, I rode it straight in, so I was staring at the wall and had to turn it around in a limited area (it was not easy).  So the next time I took the elevator, I backed it in.  Well that wasn’t easy either; I took too long and the doors began to shut on me!  As I was going down to my class on the floor below, I noticed how everyone stares at you with a smile as though they “pity” you.  I did not like that feeling at all; and of course there are a million questions like, “Why are you in a wheel chair? What happened?”  But it was the people I passed on campus that I didn’t know that stared.  While switching between classes, I really noticed my arms getting extremely tired; the amount of muscle that one would build up being in a wheelchair all his/her life would be amazing.  It takes great effort just to do little things let alone long distances.  That day we had rain and snow mix, so my hands would be cold and soaked from pushing the wheels, but I had to do it to get places.  However, I will say one thing, when approaching a door to either exit or enter; most of the people were polite enough to open the door for me.  Looking back, I was really thankful I decided to rent a wheelchair for a day because it showed me how appreciative I am to have full use of my legs.  I am extremely grateful that I am still able to use them because they are a part of everyday life for me; I never realized or thought about what it would be like to not use your legs.  I believe that if I ever needed to be in a wheelchair for a long period of time, I would have an electric one! However, I am glad Dr. Mandlebaum was able to provide such an experience for me, and I encourage those who haven’t done so to try it for one day; you’ll be glad you did! It’s an experience you will always look back on.        

My Reflection of Katie’s Blog

November 20th, 2008

After recently reading Katie’s blogs, I couldn’t help but reevaluate my life as well.  You never know how easy you have it until you read about others lives.  However, the uplifting side of Katie’s blogs came from the fact that she lives everyday of her life to the fullest and enjoys life very much. True, everyone has those “bad” days such as she had, but there aren’t too many of us that have to deal with four disabilities, a dad who isn’t around, a step sister who doesn’t agree with her life style and a close friend dying, and someone she is in love with (Maria) and can’t see; all on top of everyday ordinary problems we have in our lives.  Most of us don’t have to deal with all this, so that is why her stories were so inspiring and insightful to me.  Even though her entries were difficult to read; I found it a little easier to read them faster than to try and make out every word.  After doing that, I found myself following right along with what she had to say.  There are many life lessons and messages that Katie wants us to take away from her stories.  I think this more so than her just telling us her stories.  In a way it’s like she wants us to learn from her experiences to become better people.  I think one of her strongest messages is to never give up, no matter what life throws at you, you are never alone.  She makes that perfectly clear with all the people she has in her life and who mean the most to her.  She knows she is not alone and has people who love her very much.  At times it seems she is mad at her family, but she loves them very much even though they don’t support her and Maria loving each other.  Before Maria, she was in love with Daniel and it seemed Julie (on and off).  However, the more I read in her recent posts, the less I read about Julie.  Then Daniel died and left her life, but says she will always love him and remember him.  Kia, who is her best friend, and more so like a sister, is always there for Katie in her darkest hours and cares very much for her.  She is always helping Katie deal with the distance and problems that she is having with Maria being gone, but never gives up hope on them; for she knows that they will someday be together no matter what her family has to say about it.  And very recently, another important person came into her life, Linda.  Linda is there to help her through her darkest hours as well and has recently helped her accept herself for who she is and let her know that her dad leaving her was not her fault.  Linda has also encouraged Katie to keep writing and telling her stories because she is a very talented writer and it helps her cope with the difficult times she is going through.  She has also helped Katie look past her disabilities and being in a wheel chair; and the most recent, experiencing Autism.  Katie is a very special person and was given a talent; writing.  Through her writing, she can help others overcome their own differences and encourage them to make their own decisions in life; such as she did.  Katie knows what she wants out of life and doesn’t like anyone making her own decisions. She has experienced people coming in and out of her life, but knows the ones who really care about her and love her for who she is.  I know it may be hard for her to see, but she has touched many people in many different ways and has helped them become better people because of it.  I encourage everyone to read her stories and then take a step back and look at their own lives.  Take her messages and apply them to some of your own life experiences; I guarantee you’ll learn something and you never know…it might change your life!  

My Neighbor

November 17th, 2008

We live out in the country on a farm and are neighbors with my grandparents.  Right down the road are some friends of the family and they have a daughter who is severely handicapped.  I do not know what she has, nor do my parents, but she is 45 years old but has the mentality of a twelve year old.  Her parents are very supportive of her, but she can not do anything on her own, so she goes to a place called Thomas Edison; alot like Woodlane here in Bowling Green.  She works there through the day like a normal school day, then a school bus picks and dops her off.  She has always wanted to drive a car, so her grandpa took her out one day, but she ended up driving straight into a ditch.  She loves my grandma and mom and rides her bike down to our house daily to visit them.  She has always liked me, and to this day she still tells people that we are “boyfriend/girlfriend.”  And you can’t tell her otherwise, so I just go along with it.  We all enjoy talking and visiting with her, but there are days where we just cant understand what she is trying to say, so she carries around a hand-held technical device that she can type into and it repeats it to us.  She never seems to get frustrated, but I know if I were her I would be so frustrated when I couldn’t communicate with people.  She also has wanted desperately to have a baby, so she carries around a doll baby.  Alot of times we will drive by their place and she will be sitting out on her front porch rocking her baby.  She also likes to joke and kid around with us, so we are constantly making her laugh; we have alot of fun with her.  Most of the people who drive down our road know that she likes to ride her bike, so are very cautious of her when they see her out because she has had numerous close calls with accidents.  I tried riding my bike with her to show her that you always stay on one side of the road, )or the left if there is alot of traffic) and not all over.  She has gotten better, but we still take caution when driving.  We love having her as a neighbor though and will always remain close friends to her!

My reflections on “The Tic Code” and my experiences with people with tourettes syndrome

November 12th, 2008

Let me start off by saying that, “The Tic Code” is a very enjoyable movie, sad at times, but it is a true eye opener.  It would be so hard growing up/living with any type of disability, but it does not mean that child or adult can not be successful in what he/she does. And I believe that “The Tic Code” did a great job at portraying this.  While I was watching the movie in class, I began thinking about how difficult it would be to live with any disability and how many people try to take their own lives over it.  I’m sure it would be aweful growing up with some disabilities, but I would like to think I would try to be optimistic about it and live my life to the fullest.  I personally like the scene where Tyrone stuck up for Miles and told the child who was bullying Miles that they have a special code from the CIA. 

I know a student who is two years younger than I, and back in high school during my senior year, he was on the basketball team.  He had tourettes, but had a really bad tic (almost dangerous).  He would jolt his neck/head from side to side so hard that you could hear his neck cracking.  This happened alot on the basketball floor and you could feel the vibrations in the floor.  He did it so much that it eventually messed up his vision and couldn’t see straight.  Many people made fun of him, but I will say this for my school; we all treated him kindly and he made friends with everyone.  However, during games, many of the students from other schools made fun of him.  It was sad to see, but at least he knew he had good friends from his home school who cared for him and respected him.

Communication Disorders

October 27th, 2008

When I first began school here at BGSU, I was majoring in middle childhood education.  While in my field placement, I was tutoring a fourth grade student with his reading and language skills, but I also noticed that he had a communication disorder.  The disorder was actually a speech disorder because he was substituting a /w/ for his /r/.  I did not know this at the time, but this is called substitution.  I really enjoyed the one on one tutoring experience and helping this student, so I looked into communication disorders; however, I wasn’t entirely sure so I shadowed a speech language pathologist for a day to see what a normal day was like.  She spent half a day at one local school, then commuted to another school for the other half of the day.  She mainly worked with younger elementary students, whom most had a speech disorder.  However, there were a few students who also had a language disorder and an expressive language disorder.  These children were so fun to work with! There was one child in particular who had trouble classifying objects.  For example, he would automatically assume anything that was round was a ball and that anything red was an apple.  As I watched the SLP work with this child, she would go through flash cards with him and he would need to say what each one was.  She would then lay out the cards and also lay out cards she made that said the word of each object.  Then she would have him match the word with the correct object.  Watching this made me change my mind about teaching and change my major to communication disorders.  Every now and then, when I have time, the SLP takes me with her to shaddow some more.  Last summer I shaddowed her while she went into nursing homes and hospitals helping stroke victims.  She does this when there is no school in session, but says she enjoys working with children more.  There is no doubt in my mind I made the right decision; I enjoy working and helping children, and in a way, I’m still “teaching”; but only one student at a time.  It will also give me a chance to get to know each student/patient on a different level; but perhaps the most rewarding aspect of all will be watching each individual make progress and to someday overcome their disorder and/or learn to accept it and still lead a happy and productive life!

Fall Break Field Experience

October 21st, 2008

I recently had the privelige of observing a, “students with disabilities class” over my fall break.  My field experience took place at my high school back home.  It was good to see everyone again, however, I did not recognize many of the students because I have been out of school for three years now.  Many of the teachers there though were also teachers when I was still in school.  I thouroughly enjoyed observing the high school disabilities teacher and what she does throughout the day.  She teaches them more about responsibility than anything, such as: changing the sign out front once a week, doing the school recycling, and distributing the mail to the proper places throughout the school.  The teacher said, “I like teaching the students responsibility because most of them will graduate highschool and immediately enter the workforce.”  I totally agree with where she is coming from and the students seemed to enjoy these little tasks.  She also traveled around the school from class to class to learn the general education that her students recieve in each.  I thought this was a good aspect of her teaching because she could then monitor what they are learning and taking away from each class.  Most of her students had learning disabilities; however, there were a few students in wheel chairs who were severely handicapped.  So, she has a wide range of diversity in her class.  I went from class to class with her and towards the end of the day would help students in her classroom who had questions on their homework or tests’.  More of my field experience will be described in greater detail as I write my paper, but I just thought I would share a few of them with everyone else!

“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”

October 6th, 2008

I recently watched the movie, “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” and thouroughly enjoyed it.  Gilbert, the older brother, watches out and cares immensely about his family and especially his older brother Arnie who has difficulty staying out of trouble because of his disability.  Arnie loves his older brother; he cares for him alot and are always together.  Dr. Mandlebaum asked us before watching the movie, if we noticed any changes in the way Gilbert treats his mom from the beginning of the movie to the end.  I must say, in the beginning Gilbert did not respect his mom much and was disrespectful towards her. However; Gilbert loves his mom, but has alot of responsibility providing for the family, working, and taking care of his brother.  These are some of the things that a mom usually takes care of, but she is so obese she is unable to fulfill these responsibilities.  At the end of the movie, Gilbert gains the respect for his mom again, after she went into town and got Arnie out of jail.  He begins to show his mom the love and respect she deserves after losing her husband and the depression it caused her.  It’s almost as if the whole family is happy again and everything is going smoothely; something that they had not experienced since their dad passed away.   The most convincing aspect; however, was that Gilbert was not going to let his mom get lifted out of the house by a crane, after dying up stairs.  He knew his mom would not want that, so he lit the house on fire to avoid it.  This truely showed the love and respect that Gilbert had for his family and especially his mom.

IEP’s

September 29th, 2008

I recently read about IEP’s in chapter two of our text book, and thought it did a great job covering what they are and how they can benefit a child who is disabled and/or has a learning disability.  Because I am majoring in communication disorders, I will have to deal with many IEP’s and also learn how to identify a child’s disability and write an IEP that will help him/her progress in their general education.  My brother, who is now 17 and a senior in high school, has an individual education plan (IEP) and benefits him very well.  He does not have a disability, but has trouble paying attention in school and recieving good grades.  I have no doubt he will succeed in life, but college is not in his horizon.  He’s a great kid with alot of common sense and good work ethic, which, in my eyes, is all anyone needs to be successful in life.  My parents put him on an IEP when he was in third grade and it has helped him as well as my parents.  He gives it his best and recieves decent grades in school; which is a major relief for my parents.  They worried about his grades constantly, creating stress for them and in turn my brother.  I believe that if a child is in need of an IEP and has legitimate reasons to be on one, there is no better plan.  The child gets to enjoy school just as much as his peers and also graduate with his/her class and possibly move on to bigger and better things such as college or the work force.  Just because a child is on an IEP does not mean that he/she will not be successful in life; they will be!  I said it before and I’ll say it again, as long as the child has good work ethic, common sense, and the self determination, he/she will lead a good life and conquor their success.

Paralympics and the Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team

September 22nd, 2008

After reading Dr. Mandlebaum’s blog about the paralympics and visiting the site’s she provided for us, this struck my interest.  I went to the You Tube site and searched “womens sitting volleyball,” and I must say I have alot of respect for Denise Van De Wall and what she does.  What she does is nothing short of amazing! I had no idea there was anything like this, let alone a “paralympics?”  It made me happy to see that people with disabilities have a chance to compete in volleyball and other numerous games.  This just goes to show how determined and big hearted people can be; and not letting their disabilities get in their way of the love for their game.  As I was watching a game of the womens sitting volleyball, I just could not believe this was even possible! And more so, the respect I give Van De Wall for taking on this opportunity and coaching these girls.  It’s great to see someone from Bowling Green, Ohio taking the time and the awesome opportunity to coach this team; I have alot of respect for her and all the competitors in the Paralympics.  Good luck to Van De Wall and her girls as they compete at Beijing in the womens sitting volleyball competitions. Bring home the Gold!