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.