Journal #9- Final Reflection

I feel like my knowledge regarding a person with disabilities has definitely grown this semester. I have learned so much about all the different types of disabilities there are, the different laws that are implemented to help someone with a disability, how to accommodate a person with disabilities in the classroom and the necessary steps to form a successful IEP, and the different models of disability just to name a few. I also have been able to use a variety of different resources to help me grow and learn, including our textbook, different guest speakers, and group projects.

This class helped to confirm that I definitely want to go into Special Education for my career. This class also presented me with a variety of opportunities regarding that. If it were not for this class, I would have never learned about Virginia Camp Jaycee or had the opportunity to volunteer for their anniversary weekend. That weekend was probably my most favorite weekend in college this year because I realized that working with people with disabilities was something I truly wanted to do and had a passion for. 

I don’t think that my attitudes about a person with disabilities has changed per say, but they have definitely grown more positively as to how I use to view them or treat them. I of course never treated them negatively, or were mean to them, but I feel like before this class my natural instinct was to place them on a pedestal instead of treating them like any other person. I think that volunteering at the Virginia Camp Jaycee helped with that also. By interacting with these people, I realized that they were very similar to me regarding our likes and interests, and I was able to carry on a normal everyday conversation with them.

Regarding the outlook for the future of people with disabilities, I hope that society is able to become more appreciative and accepting of them. I want everyone to realize like I did, that someone with disabilities doesn’t need to be babied nor coddled, but given the same mutual respect you would give any other person. I hope that we are able to research and find out definite causes of some of the different disabilities where the majority of the causes are unknown or unidentified. My highest hopes for people with disabilities is that they feel like they are accepted by everyone, and that they can achieve just like anyone else can with the proper accommodations.

Journal #8- Dr. Susan White- Virginia Tech Autism Clinic

Questions for Dr. White:
1. What ages are permitted to be studied in Virginia Tech's ASD Clinic?
2. Why did you become interested in ASD?
3. What do you think is the biggest challenge a person with ASD faces?

Dr. Susan White is a researcher at the Virginia Tech Autism Clinic. She also works in the Psychosocial Interventions Lab and in the Department of Psychology here at Virginia Tech. In her powerpoint, she defined autism as a spectrum of disabilities, all of which are characterized by severe deficits in reciprocal social interaction skills. She stated that the 3 factors that contribute to the spectrum nature of autism are: children with autism may possess any level of intellectual ability, vary in the severity of their language problems, and how their behavior changes with age.

Dr. White explained how there are many learning challenges that a student with ASD can face. They can have problems with joint attention, difficulty relating to others, difficulty with traditional school curriculum, and unusual, stereotypical, or self-stimulatory behaviors. To help modify these challenges, there is something called Discrete Trial Training that teachers can implement. Discrete Trial Training presents a learning opportunity where the teacher reinforces a student's correct response. DTT involves both prompting and shaping of target behavior.

Other strategies teachers can use to help students with ASD is using a functional assessment, behavioral momentum, priming, structured learning environment, or visually based supports. Functional assessment is when a teacher would identify the things that produce problematic behavior, and replace those problem behaviors with a more functional behavior. Behavioral momentum is very helpful with noncompliance, and priming is also known as social stories where it helps to child to predict what will happen. A structured learning environment helps facilitate transitions for a student and is where there are specific areas designated for classroom activities and a schedule of when they will happen. Visually based supports are when a teacher uses picture schedules to help cue the child.

Journal #7- Guest Speaker Dr. Robyn Hudson- Services for Students with Disabilities

Pre-Questions for Dr. Hudson:
1. What is the most common disability your office works with?
2. How often is a student denied services for their disability?
3. Does Virginia Tech consider ESL to be a disbility?

 Dr. Robyn Hudson is the assistant director of the Services for Students with Disabilities Office. Dr. Hudson has been with our university for the past 10 years and previously worked at Radford in their student services office. In college, she studied mental health and went on to get her doctorate in education.

The Services for Students with Disabilities Office has to accommodate a number of different types of disabilities here at Virginia Tech. The most common disability being ADHD, followed by learning disabilities. Other disabilities include psychiatric, medical, mobile, vision, deaf and hard of hearing, traumatic brain injuries, pervasive developmental disabilities, and temporary disabilities. Her office helps each student present with one of these disabilities and makes sure that the appropriate accommodations are set up for them.

To help explain the accommodations made for each student, Dr. Hudson gave us an analogy comparing something that was equal to something equitable. She said to imagine that people are competing in a race, but in order for it to be considered "equal" each person would be given size 5 tennis shoes. Although that was something that would make everyone equal, it was not something that could be seen as equitable because not every competitor wore a size 5 tennis shoe so that would be giving the ones who did an unfair advantage. Dr. Hudson explained how this analogy could be compared to a person with disabilities in a school setting, and how her office is there to help make sure everyone has an equitable learning experience here.

One thing that surprised me was that ESL was not considered a disability here at Virginia Tech. Dr. Hudson said that ESL students all had to pass a language/literacy test before becoming accepted here, and that it was the Cranwell International Office that would aide those students with "English as a Second Language" classes and help them assimilate into our school and American Culture.

Journal #6- 6 Hour Disability

For my disability, I acted as if I was wheelchair bound. I didn't physically have a wheelchair, but I made sure that I only used handicap accessible utilities. When I first woke up, this posed as a problem because my townhome is 2 stories. I had explained to my roommates what I had to do for this journal, so I got one of them to carry me down our stairs. Since my car is not handicap accessible, I also had them drive me to campus. When navigating through campus, I had to go all the way around the drillfield because the sidewalks did not have ramps. When I finally got to my work in Squires, I realized how hard it was for someone in a wheelchair to get around that building, especially in the ABP section because its so crowded. I had to take the elevator up to the 2nd floor to where my office was, but once in my office things weren't too difficult because all of the desks are handicap accessible. When I was finished with work, I took the elevator back downstairs and had to go all through Squires so I could reach the wheelchair ramp to get down to the sidewalk, and had to go around the drillfield again to get to my only class of the day in Williams. I had to go back behind Williams to get into the building since no ramp is located at the front, and had to take the elevator to the 2nd floor where my classroom was. Once in the classroom, I had to find a desk that was not connected to the chair so a person with a wheelchair would have been able to sit there. After class, I took the elevator back downstairs and had to go around the back of Williams again to exit and meet my roommate who was picking me up. Once I got home, I spent the remaining hour of my disability on my couch watching TV downstairs because I didn't want to ask my roommates to carry me back up the stairs.

I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to navigate around campus. I was surprised how many buildings have limited to no handicap accessible features. I also didn't realize how my 2 story townhome would pose such an issue, or how I wouldn't be able to drive since me car isn't made for someone in a wheelchair.

Journal #5- Medical/Social Models of Disability

How are the medical and social models reflected in the video?           
          They made a society where it was completely normal to have a disability and abnormal to not. They made it so that the people with a disability looked down upon a person who didn’t have one. There were certain things that an able bodied person wasn’t able to do, like do well in an interview because the information given to them was in brail, or they couldn’t ride the bus because it was handicapped accessible only.
To what extent do you believe these 2 models exist in the world?
            I believe that the medical model is definitely the predominant model of disability in our world today. The medical model is represented by so many different people and professions, like teachers, doctors, psychologists, therapists, and any type of person whose profession is to “fix you”. The social model of disability, a person with a disability is seen as someone who has to over come barriers, and how different parts of society need to change to make it more “equal” for everyone.
Did you learn anything about your "model" of thinking about disability? (Social Model)
            Yes, that in a fully developed society, there would be no disability, and that instead of focusing on the person with the disability, you instead focus on society itself.
Why is it important to study disability models?

To help you understand someone who is different from you, yet realize at the same time that although a person with disabilities is different, they are still very much a person and don’t always need to be “saved” or “helped”.

How do the disability models apply to the work of teachers?

            Teachers need to take into consideration the layout of their classroom and what activities they conduct while they teach if they have a student with disabilities in their classroom. They also need to make sure that they don’t over “help” a student with disabilities because they want to ensure that the student feels as normal as possible.

Journal #4- Abandoned to the Fate Video Questions

Historical Images Assignment

Video available online through vimeo.  Go to www.vimeo.com/27882860   

Abandoned to the Fate video

This video give a historical account of how person with disabilities have been treated in our society.  This video focuses on moral, economic and aesthetic issues.

A)      What did you learn in each of these areas regarding the treatment of persons with disabilities?

Failure asthetic: entertainment, inhuman, menacing

Failure morale- social dynamite, social junk

Failure economic

B)      What was shocking to you?

In the middle ages when they would take the people with disabilities and load them onto a boat in the middle of the night and take them down 2 or 3 ports and unload them in that port to get rid of their town’s “problem”

The “idiot cages” that was placed in the middle of the town center

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was based on a real person

The amount of circularity that was used to “diagnose” a person

The rock pile activity for people to experience the “luxury” of fatigue

C)      What statements can you make about the evolution of how we treat persons with disabilities in our society

It wasn’t until the late 20^th century that people with disabilities were seen as a real human.

D)      What progress was made?

People who have a disability are now able to hold a job and be considered successful

Inclusion

E)      What challenges remain for persons with disabilities in living independently in the community?

They are still labeled and segregated from certain aspects of society because they have a disability

Journal #3- CIDER Conference

1. Unpacking Transformational Pedagogy to Motivate and Retain Minority Students in STEM programs

Dr. Collins

Implications: we must build and improve capacity to retain and increase underrepresented, undergraduate STEM population

            Step 1: develop a culturally responsive pedagogy

            Step 2: Foster STEM identity and talent development

-without any judgmentà most important thing

sitting listening to Dr. Collin’s talk, a spectator started asking her questions. She was as Asian ethnicity and was starting to challenge Dr. Collin’s on her opinionà individualist vs. collectivist culture

Background:

The pedagogy involved in communicating the “official knowledge” will serve as a motivational tool

There are not enough young professionals to answer …

1.     how to be more self aware

2.     model that

3.     informal conversations among colleuges

Activating Strategy (Opening)

1.     make personal connections

2.     develop common ground for discussion

let students make personal connections, develop support

Instructional Strategy (Work Session)

1.     discover and engage new knowledge

2.     internalize new knowledge

3.     translating new knowledge

Summarizing Strategy (closing)

1.     foster a plan of action

2.     acknowledge external hindrances

2. Thinking out of the Box: Using International Service Learning to Facilitate Students’ Personal & Academic Growth and Development.

Eniabitobi Kuyinu

Service learning- deep immersion into a different culture

            Diversity, opportunity

Help develop leaders- how can I use what I have to better society, how can it go beyond just me

ISL expands the horizons of the students involved. Crossed cultural appreciation and skills are best learned by a combination of classroom study and direct  encounter with the people of another culture

ISL helps student realize that problems are global in character, and their solutions require a more complex type of processing it also helps balance the concept of “brain drain”

ISL more effective when it is passion centered, needs to be rigorous appropriate academic study

Theoretical underpinning

            U curve model

            W curve model

Program Design

Questions- what kind of communities do we want to work in? how is it going to impact the community? Is it mutually beneficial?

            Well defined learning objectives    

            LANGUAGE

The longer and more in depth the service is the greater the impact

Types of international service learning:

            Teaching- literacy, numeracy skills, ESL

            Health care

            Community development- build houses, build roads, working at shelters

Models of ISL

            Groups or individual study model

Group study, group ervice- in this pattern students engage in the same set of studies and perform the same type of service

Group study, individual service- here students are engaged in the same set of studies but are performing different type of service

Individual study, group service- students may be engaged in the same service project but are using the experience

Individual study- the student and the teacher decide the learning goals and methods and the student performs the regulated service in an agency chosen by the college or by the student

            Alternating learning service-

The multidiscipline village- different students from different departments come together and put together a project

Pre-departure preparation

Pre-trip orientation- need to know basic info about country being visited (health care systems, health care beliefs/practices), immigration and customs process, living facilities, cultural definitions, food prep methodsà group presentation on this before they go, guest speakers

Reflection is a very critical part of the thought process

Partner selection- establish effective relationships

            Know your students, your resources, agencies and programs

Discussion starters

Steps to Successful Partnerships

Identify potential partners- schools , youth service orgs, non profit, businesses

Funding

Private foundations and trusts, personal fund raising, civic organization support, scholarships, university development office

Ethical Issues

Must be aware of different perspectives on informed consent in different cultures

            Continuity of care provided after the ISLP group departs

Students need to reflect before, during, and afterwardsà most important part

Journal #2- IRIS Module Assessment

Brennan Ahlin

EDCI 3144

1/28/14

  Why is it important for teachers to reflect on cultural and linguistic diversity?

 It is important to understand the student’s culture so that we can help them meet their needs to succeed with their education

  Explain the difference between BICS and CALP. Why is it necessary for teachers to understand the distinction between these two types of language proficiency?

Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills is the student’s ability to understand basic English, like conversation. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency is the student’s ability to use a more complex language and understand it, like what they would use in their academic work. Teachers need to be able to identify which category the student fits in to so they can help them with their needs.

  In the Challenge, Mr. Bennett wrote notes home to Maria’s family. Why might this have proved problematic? What other options might you recommend to Mr. Bennett for communicating with Maria’s parents?

Maria’s family might have not been able to understand what Mr. Bennett was saying in those letters, or did not know how to correctly reply to them. Mr. Bennett should try speaking to Maria confidentially to try and understand how the family communicates at home, and if there is an easier way to reach out to them. If there is an issue regarding communication between the two, Mr. Bennett could provide a translator to make communication easier.

  Mr. Stone, a teacher from a rural community where all the students share similar cultural backgrounds, relocates to a large city where the students come from a wide variety of cultural groups. He notices that many of his students are not performing well in class. Upon self-reflection, he realizes that because of cultural differences these students may not relate to his style of teaching or to the stories and examples he uses in class. What can Mr. Stone do to become more culturally responsive and meet the diverse needs of these students?

Mr. Stone could research the different cultures to try and better relate to them. He could try and incorporate examples from his research into his lessons for the students to better understand the material.

Journal #1- John Brasch Letter

1/27/14

EDCI 3144 Spring- Brennan Ahlin- Journal Entry #1- John Brasch Letter

I have never felt uncomfortable being around someone with an obvious disability, and can totally understand where Mr. Brasch is coming from in his letter. I’m almost positive that every person with a disability would agree with him and feel the same way. I believe that there is no person who is identical to another, making everyone different, and someone with a disability is just another kind of “different”.  Maybe they aren’t able to walk, or see, or hear, but are brilliant with math, can read a book a day, or extremely artistic. Where I can walk, see, and hear, but am terrible at math, take at least a week or two to get through a book, and can barely draw stick figures. I feel like everyone’s differences balance out when compared to one another.

I feel like there are some people in society who feel uncomfortable around a person with a disability because they feel as if they would have to walk on egg shells to make sure that they don’t make the other person feel uncomfortable or that they could possible offend them. It’s ironic because usually its when a person is trying to not make the other person feel uncomfortable or offend them, they usually do. Instead, they should treat that person like any other human being without a disability, because that is normally all they really want. If everyone worked to look past a person’s disability and treated them like you would anyone else, we would be able to resolve this issue. If society all made a mental note to treat everyone the exact same, then there wouldn’t be an issue of making either person feel uncomfortable. That, and if everyone was conscious about where they parked in the parking lot.