CI vs Deaf

This is a hot debate in the deaf community. There is a lot of controversy between the older generation and the younger about CI or cochlear implants. Many of the people in the younger generations get the cochlear implants and live life like a hearing person. This can cause problems in the Deaf Community. The older people in the Deaf Community do not generally like the idea of the cochlear implants.

The newer generation of people who are deaf generally like the idea of the cochlear implant. It is a very helpful tool for them to communicate with other people that do not know sign language. It also can help them “fit in” better with kids in their school, if they are mainstreamed into an all hearing school. There is also more of a chance for them to make friends at a younger age. Kids are very judgmental and can shun other kids or cast them off as weird for the stupidest things. They have many good arguments for why they should get them, but a lot of the time that does not matter to the older generation of deaf people.

The older generation generally fears the cochlear implants. The people that don’t want them have a good reason. They fear their culture will be ruined. The center of every culture is a language, without the language the culture begins to fade away. A lot of the deaf culture is based around sign language, like with storytelling, art, and even their own music. It is thought of as very beautiful by many people, and the older generation fears of losing that beauty. Deaf people also tend to be very close knit in their groups.

A lot of parents that are hearing who have deaf kids tend to want them to get cochlear implants at a young age. This could be what the child wants, but also might not be. That is a very large debate going on in the Deaf Community also. They can get the procedure done with the child at about one year of age in the United States. It varies in other countries and from doctor to doctor. But this is a huge deal because they cannot tell you whether they don’t want one or do want one. The parents tend to want the child to get one for reasons similar to the new generation. The other reason is that they want to be able to talk to their child and generally don’t have an accurate perception of what it means to be deaf.

I don’t think this debate will ever be solved, mainly because it is completely based on a personal opinion. You cannot tell someone that they cannot get a new technology if they want to and are an adult. You also cannot tell someone how to raise their child. It is all a matter of opinion. Everyone has a stance on the issues if they are deaf because it is such a hot topic, but there will never be a right or wrong answer.

Are Worms and Baths the Key?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/worms-hot-baths-secret-to-treating-autism/

Gallaudet Football

Gallaudet University is doing great in its football program this year. They have finally figured out how to work together and become a team. No team can function with cliques especially as strong as the previous ones Gallaudet had in its football locker room. They learned how to respect each other’s differences and make it work to their advantage. Being a deaf and hard of hearing football team has its pros and cons, but as they have shown this year it can be very effective.

Gallaudet used to be ranked two hundred thirty four out of two hundred thirty eight when they first started. They struggle to find deaf and hard of hearing football players. It really limits who can play and the ability of the players when they come in to the team. That will probably always be something they will struggle with, but their skill level can improve if more coaches learn sign language for their player. This year they turned everything around and ended up winning the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. They have shown a lot of improvement over the past few years. A lot of their success is due to their new found bonding of their team.

Before this year Gallaudet’s football team was very separated by people who are hard of hearing and people who are deaf. They stayed in their little social groups and were not acting like a team should. This year they really stepped it up and changed all of that. They are acting more like a team and have mixed up the groups a little more, so it is not divided by who can hear and who cannot. That has shown to be very effective for them.

On the field they use sign language to communicate what play will be going on. This does not need to be done in a huddle so it is not visible by the other team because they are not deaf or hard of hearing so they do not know sign language. I think it is both very effective, and hilarious. One of the players in the video I watched actually suggests that football players learn sign language because they will eventually run out of made up gestures to use on the field.

Being deaf or hard of hearing can be moderately difficult because you cannot really hear a whistle blow to know a play is beginning or over, and most coaches do not know sign language so it would be difficult to find a coach and a team. They are not very many players which is sad because a lot of little boys want to grow up to be a football player, if there were more players who were deaf and it was more talked about maybe little boys that were deaf would realize that they could have that dream and accomplish it too. Being deaf also has its advantages as well. If you are deaf you can sign your plays, your vision improves, and you are more aware of your surroundings. There is also less of a distraction of fans yelling, which is a great bonus. There are a lot of pros and cons but one thing is for sure, players at Gallaudet prove that it can be done, and done well.

TOTAL FAKE!!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/12/nelson-mandela-sign-language-interpreter-error-south-africa-government

This is an insane thing to have happened at such a large event held by the government. I cannot believe that this happened at Nelson Mandela’s funeral of all places. I feel very bad for the deaf people that attended and had no idea what was being said because of him. His services were requested specifically for the deaf community in South Africa to be able to understand the funeral of this important figure. He was also hired by the government, which means they have some explaining to do. A lot of people in the deaf community have complained about him signing before at other important events he has been hired for and signed nonsense at.

He claims he has schizophrenia, which I don’t believe because I have dealt with many people with it and they are not anywhere near that calm when having an episode. In the newspaper he said “Anyone who doesn't understand this illness will think that I'm just making this up" This is completely untrue both people who do know the illness and who don’t will know it is a lie.

If he really does have schizophrenia my question is why would he be allowed to perform at such an important service with such important people there? That disease is not controlled very well in most people and in high pressure situations, like interoperating your country’s most important figure’s funeral, they could get violent quickly. If they are violent and are so close to all of those important figures they could harm them before security could stop them. They also have very little warning before they get violent. This could create a very bad situation for people. So the way I look at it if he has schizophrenia or not he still should not have been up there and the government still has to come up with a good reason why he was hired.

Does a Bacteria Cause Autism?

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/12/08/probiotic.therapy.alleviates.autism.behaviors.mice

 

If they can give Autism to someone then, in theory, they should be able to cure it. If you know what causes something you should be able to prevent it or find a way to prevent it. If they found out that this bacteria caused Autism then they would be able to find a prevention for it or a cure for it. This could mean a big step towards finding a cure for it. It also brings researchers closer to finding out why and how it happens.

I do not personally think that the bacteria is what causes autism because there are so many different forms of it. I think that they can use the bacteria to come up with different ways to help cope with the disorder. It might cause some forms of it, but Autism is a broad term for something that we do not fully understand, so there is a possibility that there are other things that could cause it.

This is still a huge discovery to me because it can help us develop drugs to help with the symptoms and side effects from the disorder.

Helpful Holiday Tips

Having all of your family together can be a very stressful time for anyone, especially if you have autism or any other disabilities. Some family members are very open to it and welcoming, while others might not be. There are a lot of extra stimuli around during this time and extra people, making it very hard to find a place to calm down.

During the holidays everything in a person’s environment changes both inside the home and outside it. There are added lights, decorations, sometimes smells, if there are candles, and the weather is changing around this time. Someone with autism would be very on edge with all of these changes.

There are some things you can do to help prevent a bad situation. You could help by making it more routine. Make Christmas day seem like a normal day by creating a loose schedule of events so the child does not get upset. Try to stick to as much of a normal routine as you can.

Putting the decorations little by little would also help, so that everything in their environment does not change all at once.

Autism Speaks has some great tips on how to minimize issues during the holiday. They had some I would not have ever thought of. Some I agree with and actually used, while others I would not suggest. One of the main ones I could see causing problems is having them open presents early or practicing opening presents as they put it. I could see a child wondering why they could not open all of their presents then or expecting more on days it was not a holiday.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/news/news-item/holiday-tips

Celebrate the Holidays

Silent Santa is a great way to help kids with autism be more like kids without the disability. It offers a quiet place with less stimulating things, so they will not be as likely to get upset. The kids can go see Santa like any other child would and have just as good of an experience. They try to limit the noise, waiting time, and other things that could cause overstimulation. It can create great memories for the whole family.

They are starting to do things similar to Silent Santa in multiple towns, in different states, all around the United Sates. Some different malls hold different special events especially for this, while others are held in churches, schools, or activity centers.

Activities like this are relatively easy to plan. If someone wanted to they could organize a Silent Santa in their town. All they would have to do is rent out a place, have someone dress up as Santa, get a backdrop, and a photographer. They could charge however much the mall does per picture to get the money back and do whatever they want with the rest they earn.

There are other ways to keep a child feeling normal during the holidays. A parent or relative or friend can plan activities to do with them. There are many different holiday activities that you can do with a person with disabilities. It also depends on how severely their disability affects them. There are light shows for adults or teenagers with disabilities.

 http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/quiet-santa-events-coup-kids-autism/story?id=21075139

Diagnosing Autism Earlier In Life

This could be a significant help to people with autism! If they can diagnose someone with autism before age 1 year they will have so much time in their early developmental stage to help them. People with autism not making eye contact with other people is one of the biggest things associated with autism so I can see where that would be a helpful tool in diagnosing it. In the first trial almost half of the test patients that did not make much eye contact developed autism. That is a very large number for the very first trial, it must mean something.

In the first few years of life a person learn the most. It is shown they take up the largest amount of information in their first five years of life. Most children now are diagnosed anywhere from age two to five, taking up almost all of their curtail developmental time in their life. This can be a very good reason children are not developing as well as they could. If they were diagnosed earlier then they could have the proper treatment, or learning catered towards their needs so they can develop to be all that they can be.

People with autism generally do not like to make eye contact. I have found out by reading books from people who have autism that it is over stimulating. Carly said something like her brain takes a lot of “pictures” of people’s faces, especially when they make eye contact. This could definitely be a sign that someone having autism. I see this as more of a first hint to go get them checked for a test and keep an eye out for further signs, rather than a test in itself.

In the trial they did the researchers noticed that about half of the babies and children that avoid eye contact got diagnosed with autism later in life. That is a pretty significant number for such a small sample and first test. I think they are on to something. The study also showed that it probably is not a good idea to base it off genetics. Only one of the siblings developed autism where half of the subjects developed it that were not making eye contact.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/11/06/autism-sign-may-appear-in-first-months-of-life

Theater For People With Social Disabilities

I think this theater for people with social disabilities like autism is a great new opportunity for both people with disabilities, their families, and researchers. This is a completely new idea and I am glad people wanted to try this. If it helps with their social interactions, then I am all for that. This could be a fun new opportunity for them to learn how to interact that does not seem like learning. Unfortunately this was for research, not just to help them as a fun idea, but at least there is some proof that the theater is helping.

I like that the theater is helping people with disabilities, their families, and their communities. This theater not only helps the people with the disability learn to communicate better, but also helps their families be able to communicate with them better. This also helps the community because they can communicate better so they will be able to interact in the community more and be a better member of the community. It will also help them with making friends in the community. This mainly benefits them though because it is geared towards helping them with their social skills which is one of the most important to have in this world.

It is also a fun way for them to learn the social skills. Most of the students that would be in the theater are school age, so they are learning this in school as well. This is a more fun opportunity for them to gain more skills. This is also a part of their school so it will help them in school as well.  This does not seem like it would be learning to them or anyone so it sort of tricks them into learning new skills because it is fun at the same time.

I do not like that this is a research project and it is not just a fun thing to help the students. It has its pros and cons. I wish that it was someone doing something nice for them not just to learn new information. It would be much better that way, I feel any way.

On a positive note there is research to back up that the theater is helping them improve so maybe more will be able to pop up and help more people. This could be a great thing to have in a community. It also means that there is more money for it so there are better teachers and people working with them. It is probably a better program with it being a research project, but it just sounds a tad wrong.

Deaf News

This is a really cool website for deaf people to watch about current events so they do not have to worry about closed captioning or reading English called Deaf Newspaper. It also has a place where people can see all the deaf events. If you know ASL you can help the website by signing for it. There are Pictures on the little drop down menu of the deaf events that he has gone to and reported about. There is also a cooking show on here.

What a lot of people do not know is that American Sign Language is not English in any way shape or form. It has its own grammar rules and writing style, called glossing. English is another language deaf people have to learn to “fit in,” because everything is written in English around them. Reading news in English is probably not the best or most sought after way to read the news. If I were deaf I would love to have a station with someone actually signing. This is sort of one, although it is online and not completely about the news.

I like how it has the deaf events listed on the sides so people can see what events are current and what they can go to all over the country to connect with other deaf people around the country. Deaf culture is a very unique culture and it is not spread very easily because they are a minority and are spread out over a lot of places around the world. It is developing differently in different parts of the country so that is why it is important for them to visit with and see people from all over. They can share signs and different aspects of their culture at these deaf events.  There are a lot of different deaf events within deaf communities as well and they are not all listed on this website. There are only events the person who runs the website is going to

There is also a cooking show on the website. There is a small little clip that introduces the cook and there are choices of different recopies to look at. I like it I think it is a cute little show it is not very important to see the signs for how to cook because they still have to be written down to follow them anyway. I like how they show this still.

Was surgery OK?

There is a lot of controversy over this article about this boy with autism and his parent’s decision to operate on him to stop a behavior. I think you have to look at it from all different perspectives to say what is acceptable because there is a fine line between right and wrong. Many people’s first instinct is to say this is not okay and be extremely mad about it, however in this particular case I think the surgery was okay on this boy. The family had tried every other option they could think of to help him. He would scream as loud as a lawn mower over one thousand times a day. The surgery was also reversible which is the main reason I’m okay with it. This is a big reason because if it did not help or made it worse then they could fix it.

 If there were no other options and there was no other way to stop this behavior it is considered acceptable to me. In the article they said they had looked for a trigger and had looked for other ways to get him to stop but nothing was helping. It might have made him upset to make that noise and drove him to make it even more.

 It would be a tremendous strain on the family to have that noise one thousand times a day every day for years on end. It also mentions that the twin brother was negatively affected by it. This could have been a huge hassle with them not being able to take him anywhere. It probably annoyed the neighbors and even the family.  This might have been the only way they could keep him in the house and him with the family.

 My main reason for accepting it is that it is a reversible procedure because if it harmed him more than helped him it can be fixed. If the surgery does not help it can be changed back to the way it was. If it ever had a negative consequence then it could be changed back to how it was before the surgery and they could try another option they might not have thought of.

I fear that in other cases where surgery might not be necessary procedures like this will be used. This is a very thin line people are walking on when dealing with people with disabilities. This is a very hot topic for parents who have kids with IDD. If you can do surgeries on them for behaviors in extreme cases now it could gradually become less and less severe to where they would operate. This could become a very bad thing if not monitored carefully. I am glad people are very careful and try all other options before they even consider surgery.

Safety

Safety is a huge issue for parents with children with disabilities. They want to be protective but still allow them some freedom and let them be normal teenagers, kids, or adults. Parents mainly worry about online safety and them on their own. Parents also worry about school and when they are with friends.

School can be worrisome for parents because let’s face it not every school is very accepting of people with IDD. They worry about their kids being bullied or not getting the education appropriate for them.  Schools are getting a lot better but not all are where they should be. I think ours is one of the best when it comes to not bullying but we still need to work on it. I don’t know that everyone will ever be accepted fully but everyone can take steps towards helping them fit in.

Parents worry about their kids being on their own a lot too. Some can be very independent and eventually live on their own with friends while others need a caretaker all the time. Their safety is important and letting them try to stay on their own for the first few times can be very nerve wracking. They are worried they will get hurt and I think every bad scenario goes through their heads of what could happen to them.

What I find interesting is that parents have told me they worry about their children being around their friends. They worry when they go hang out with people without IDD they actually worry that they are going to be left out. I think this is crazy that a parent would have to worry about their child hanging out with their friend.

Social media and the internet is a parent’s worst fear. Their kids can access any website, and anyone can see their child’s profile if they are not careful. It is better now that they can put blocks on it and make their profiles private. The one problem is that they cannot monitor who they accept as followers or friends for their social media and sometimes the blocks can be broken.

Staying Connected

There are a lot of ways to stay connected to friends that have IDD that you were best buddies with. You could call, send letters, text, email, hang out or volunteer or work where they go to camps. If you are moving away, going to a different school, or its just summer vacation it is good to stay in touch.

Working over summer at a camp for a friend is a great. You get to spend a lot of time with them and meet more of their friends and make even more friends of your own.  I know it helped me get to know a lot of the people that were going to be in best buddies in the other schools around my area. It is very helpful to know their names and personalities before they get to school or when your friend is talking about them.

Texting and calling them can be a great way to stay in touch. It is a great quick and easy way to keep up on what they are doing. If they have their own phone this is the best way to go if you moved a long way away.  This is a nice way to not spend a long time to try to communicate with them.

Emailing is becoming more outdated but a lot of people with IDD can use it because their parents will allow it more than having a phone. This is a very effective method of communication with them because they can use it and it is relatively easy to use.

Hanging out with your friend with IDD is a great way to stay connected over summer or if you change schools and stay in the same area. If you move it becomes a lot more difficult but it can be done over breaks and when you come back to visit home.  You can do any activities you do with your other friends or invite them to come with you and your other friends to do things.

Sending letters is very outdated but believe it or not it brightens up their day. It is great to get a letter from someone just because. It shows that they are willing to put time and effort into trying to talk to you. It is also nice because they don’t get much mail of their own. It would make them feel special.

Art Project Ideas

There are many different things you can do with a person with IDD for an art project. If they like doing art you can incorporate many things they like and that are popular. There are different things based on the holiday or season that is near or just based on different movies they like.

One of the easiest art projects is painting. This can be done on any different surface or object. For example you can paint on pumpkins for October or on a canvas or paper. There are different things you can paint on the paper or canvas for the different seasons. You can also paint or draw any of their favorite characters from movies or TV shoes.

There is also crayon melting as a fun art project to do. You can make their names in the wax so it looks like there is a rainbow of drips around their name. You can also put pictures or other words on the paper to have the wax melt around it. To make this you hot glue crayons along the top or side of a paper or cardboard. Then you cut out the letter or shape you want and glue it on. After the glue is dry you tilt the card board so the crayons are pointing down and run a hair dryer over the crayons to melt it. This will create a dripped wax look and the shape or letters will still be visible.

You can make friendship bracelets or any type of jewelry. Friendship bracelets are the best things to make. This shows them you are their friends and it does make them super excited that you get to wear matching bracelets with you. All you need are beads and strings to make bracelets.

There are pots or statues you can paint and decorate as another art project that people tend to like to do. There are places like Potter’s Obsession where you can go to paint different pre made statues. They have all different kinds of statues and pots to choose from. There is also every different colors of paint to choose from. They put it in the kiln to make it shiny after you paint it and you can go back and pick it up.

Keeping Calm

There are many different ways to calm down people with Autism. The most common one is pressure. There are a lot of different ways to give this. One of the students I help has a swing that gives him a large amount of pressure when he is in it. It is almost the width of a hammock but is attached like a tire swing and looks like a cloth swing. He can go forwards, backwards, sideways, and in circles. There is also basic pressure where they get people pushing on their head or chin. This for whatever reason helps keep them calm and makes them not as aggressive.

Another way to keep them calm is take them to a Chiropractor. This releases tension and keeps them happy. They tend to be less aggressive and be in a generally better mood after visiting the chiropractor. If they keep going on a regular basis they become less aggressive overall.

Some people like to have something to chew on. This could range from anything from gum to a chewy. The chewy is designed specifically for people to be able to chew on them so they do not hurt their teeth or anyone else. If they are at a lower functioning level and cannot have gum then they are generally using this. If they are higher functioning they can have gum which is not always a better alternative because it can be swallowed and is bad for their teeth. I would recommend a chewy for anyone who has a child who bites a lot or has Pica. They are a very tough material and it is not easy to chew through and bite off so they cannot swallow it as easily.

Another thing to help keep them calm is keep them active. In some cases the more active they are the less they want to be aggressive and use force when they are not working out. Some people swim, lift weights, walk, run or play sports for their workouts. Any of these can keep the person very active and tire them out. A lot of people actually like it and look forward to it if done correctly. If you pick an activity for them they enjoy and they are around people they like then they will look forward to working out. If it becomes part of a routine then it will be very easy for them to transition to.

Breaking Steriotypes (Being blind)

Blind people cannot see anything at all is a common misconception. There are different levels of blindness. Some cannot see far away while others cannot see close up. There is also some where people cannot see out of their peripheral vision and some cannot see out of their direct line of sight. There is also night blindness. All of these things can make people be considered legally blind but they can still see a lot of things. There are other types where they can see motion or shapes but not anything else.

Blind people cannot use a computer is another common misconception. Blind people use computers a lot. It might not be the easiest thing to use all the time for blind people, depending on the level of things they can see, but it can be done. There are little bumps on the keyboard to help them type and keep centered on the keyboard. There is also speaking text where they can have the written text be spoken to them. If they are not completely blind then they are able to use the computer either close to them or far away from them which ever they need.

Another common misconception people have is that blind people cannot use a cell phone.  One of my blind friends has an IPhone and is on it all the time. He loves the freedom it gives him. He is now able to communicate with all his friends and parents so he can go out and do whatever he wants. There are a lot of adaptive technologies like speak to text and you can talk to make apps work that help blind people to be able to use phones.

A common misconception is that blind people are totally dependent on other people that can see for daily life. This is definitely not true. Blind people can get from place to place with their cane or service dogs for safety. It would be very easy to rely on someone else but there are always ways to overcome challenges. They might not be able to see but their ability to problem solve is great. It takes a lot to come up with ways you can live independently, safely, while blind. But it can be done and technology is making that much easier on them.

Blind people cannot raise children on their own is another very common misconception. I have seen that most people are shocked to find out I actually know two blind parents who raised a child on their own. They just had to come up with some creative ways to do it and keep their child safe, one of which included tying bells on their daughter’s shoes so they could tell where she was. If they fill their world with sounds then their child can be safe in the house. They just will live in a noisy house.

Breaking Steriotypes (Deafness)

There are common misconceptions about being deaf. They are they want to hear, they can’t hear anything at all, they can’t function in society, it’s a tragedy to have a deaf child and cochlear implants make you hear. These are common misconceptions and I know I used to think some of them were true. I will show you how they are untrue through examples.

They want to hear is a very common misconception. Marlee Matlin says she was born deaf and she doesn’t want to wake up one day and say Oh I can hear she likes how she is and she has made a great name for herself. She should be proud of herself and what she has acomplished.

They cannot hear anything at all is another misconception. There are different levels of deafness they can use hearing aids to amplify sounds so they can hear. They can hear different pitches sometimes or really loud things sometimes without the hearing aid. They don’t live in a silent world they just cannot hear like hearing people.

They cannot function in society is another stereotype. This is very untrue they can text and write notes to communicate with anyone they need to. They can also drive cars so they can get from place to place they need to. They can hold almost any job except being a pilot and firefighter. They are more than capable of having a family and friends and living just like anyone else who isn’t deaf would.

Another common misconception of having a deaf child is that it is a tragedy. This is very untrue you might need to learn sign language and add a couple adaptations to your house to make it safe and convenient for the deaf child but it is not a horrible thing. Signing makes life so much easier for the child and it lets them be able to communicate what they need to you. It is much more common and talked about now and there are deaf communities in the cities to help the child feel more normal and accepted.

The most common misconception is that a cochlear implant makes you hear. Although that would be ideal and it was what they are aiming for. They just tap into your brain and put electrical signals into it to make it into comprehensive language. This is close to hearing but you have to program frequencies into it for the frequencies to be recognized. It also sounds almost robotic and not like a voice in the least bit.

Breaking Steriotypes (Autism)

There are many stereotypes associated with people with autism or other intellectual disabilities. The most common ones are they are happy all the time, they want to be cured/fixed, they don’t understand when someone is making fun of them, and they have no emotion. These are all very untrue and I will give examples of how they are untrue with examples of real people.

The first stereotype is that all people with autism are happy all the time. This is not true in the least bit! They feel every emotion that we do I have seen my friends with autism or other disabilities have a lot of disabilities. They tend to have extreme emotions which are shown in most media as happy emotions. Most of the stereotypes stem from media showing the certain group a certain way which is why they tend to be thought of that way.

People also think that people with a disability want to be cured. This is another untrue common stereotype about people with disabilities. They are happy to be the way they are. If someone came up to you and said, “Do you want to be cured and be as smart as me?” you would probably get upset and offended. This is just the same with people with disabilities they think they are just fine the way they are. They do want to do some things they cannot do but would not give up who they are for that.

The other common stereotype is they do not understand that they are being made fun of. This is a ridiculous thing to think! They are not incapable of thinking and are definitely aware of the people around them. The biggest event we have for best buddies is the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. This campaign promotes people not using the R-word. They think it is hurtful for people to use the R-word because it offensive to them. It really hurts them to be called the R-word or be made fun of.

They don’t have emotion is the other common misconception of them. This is the most untrue stereotype I have heard about them. They are some of the most emotional people I know. Even the lower functioning friends I have are still emotional. They don’t express it as much if they are non-verbal because they can’t really say it but you can definitely see it in their eyes. I love that sparkle in their eyes when I come up to them and they see me and get excited.

Dr. Karen Gaffney

Dr. Karen Gaffney is an inspiration to me. She is a very strong willed person who does anything she sets her mind to. She is the first person with Down syndrome to ever get their honorary doctorate. She has also helped in a relay to swim across the English Channel. She has also ‘escaped’ from Alcatraz 16 going on 17, she hopes, times. Among those things she is also a great speaker. She is an Amazing woman who has accomplished a lot and breaks down stereotypes for people with Down syndrome.

Dr. Gaffney received her honorary doctorate from the University of Portland. She said she was very excited and studied very hard to get it. She is so proud of herself and I am sure that most of the world would be amazed to hear that someone with Down syndrome actually has a doctorate, even if it is an honorary one. It is very impressive to me that she put forth that much work and got herself accepted into a University. I am sure this makes a lot of parents hopeful that their child will be able to become whatever they put their mind to because if she can do it so can their child.

Karen is also an amazing swimmer who has participated in many relays, marathons, and other swimming events. She not only raises awareness for Down syndrome but sets a great example for people with Down syndrome of what they can do if they stay focused and try their best. Some of her greatest accomplishments are escaping from Alcatraz not only once but 16 times. This means that she has swam from the island to the shore of California 16 times. This is very impressive because according to her it is not a short trip and there are waves and sharks in the ocean around her. She has also swam for 9 hours to raise awareness for Down syndrome. That is a long amount of time and one of her longest continuous swims. She also helped in a relay of people to swim across the English Channel.

Dr. Karen Gaffney is one of the best speakers I have ever heard. She makes the audience listen to every word she has to say and want her to continue after an hour. She spoke at our Leadership Conference in Indiana this past summer and it was one of the most memorable parts for everyone. She makes such an impact on her audience because her story is so unique and she is great at telling it. I encourage everyone to go listen to her speak if you get an opportunity.

Music for the Deaf

Most people might think that people who are deaf cannot do any kind of music at all well there are three ways to get around that. The first one is the easiest when they get a cochlear implant. Second the music has no spoken words only instruments and sign language. Or third the person has someone sing in the background while they sign to it.

 The first way of getting a cochlear implant helps so they can sort of ‘hear’ what the instrument or the voice sounds like. They can then tune work on the music and associate the noises with a note or beat like a hearing person. When they are singing they can adjust their pitch also but would need extensive help from a coach because the cochlear implant does not actually let them actually hear or hear most of the noises hearing people hear. Sean Forbes is a deaf musician who uses a cochlear implant to help him with his music which is rapping and drumming. He has been very successful and created D-PAN (Deaf Professional Artists Network).

The second type of music is when deaf people sign to music without any spoken words and play instruments. They rely on the vibrations to tell them what note they play and if they are all in unison so they play extremely loud. Beethoven's Nightmare is a great example of this they are an all deaf band and play extremely well together. Even though they cannot hear any of the music they paly they can still make their own songs and make it sound really good. It also gives off great vibrations at the concerts for the deaf people to be able to feel it as well. They play really loud so they can feel it and play together but also for the other deaf people to experience it.

 The third type of music is when people who are deaf sign to music while someone sings to the music. This is shown in D-PAN’s “We’re Goingto Be Friends” by The White Stripes. All of the kids in the music video are deaf and they get the lyrics and translate them into sign language then sign them to the music. They can feel the music so they can feel where the lyrics should go to make the story. This is the most common and it looks really pretty and hearing people can understand the music as well too. This also means that the hearing people can sign to music like this as well. Lisa Smith does this as well. She is hearing but signs to music because she loves it and cannot sing because of her disabilities.

 Music can help not only the deaf have great experiences but hearing people as well. It shows the hearing people how beautiful sign language can be. It helps the deaf experience music and have another creative outlet. Music is a wonderful thing and unites people.

Twins With IDD

From my experience twins with disabilities vary from twins without disabilities. There is usually one twin that does a little better than one in something but it is usually shown more in those with disabilities. They also have more of a chance of developing disabilities if they are identical twins. There are also twins with one with a disability and one without.

One twin usually outshines another in a certain area this is the case in both twins with disabilities and ones without. They usually have certain strengths and certain things they can do better than the other. The differences are usually more noticeable in the twins that have disabilities. The differences are less noticeable in the other sets of twins. They are less susceptible to getting differences than twins with disabilities.

If there is a slight disability with both then they are very likely to develop differently. When dealing with individuals with disabilities it is easier to shape them and then disabilities can be altered with minor changes in how they are educated or treated. If there is any difference in how the twins are treated then they can easily turn out very differently. In twins without disabilities it isn’t as easy to shape how they will turn out because they aren’t as easily affected by the subtle changes. They are still going to be affected if there is a large amount of difference in how they are treated there will be differences. If there are only subtle differences then the changes will not be as noticeable.

There are some sets of twins where one has a disability and the other doesn’t. This can be due to a number of reasons. In some cases it is because of labor complications where something happens to one of the two healthy babies like one is born then the other gets a complication during birth where they suffer brain damage. Another is a pregnancy complication where one baby is damaged maybe by an accident or drinking or some medications. Another way is they are just genetically made that way.

Halloween Activity Ideas

I have found that the students I work with absolutely love to dress up and do things for Halloween. There are a lot of activities you can do to have fun with someone with disabilities around Halloween time. Doing fun activities based on holidays coming up is a great bonding and is very easy to plan activities around.

Most of the students I work with ages anywhere from 5-18 love to carve and decorate pumpkins. They are very helpful with drawing the design on the front for you to carve. They also like to paint faces on the front of the pumpkins. The pumpkins usually turn out very cute and there is nothing better than the smile on their face because they made something all by themselves. Before decorating them it is usually fun to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out the pumpkins they want to decorate.

There are all kinds of Halloween treats you can make with them. There are some simple treats like rice krispy treat pumpkins, witch hat cookies, or any kind of cupcakes or cookies that you can decorate with Halloween symbols. The rice krispy pumpkins are very easy to make. You make them like rice krispy treats using any generic recipe adding orange food coloring and shaping them into a ball then add a tootsie roll on the top for the stem. The witch hat cookies are also easy to make. Bake any kind of cookies you like, make some puppy chow, get some icing and ice cream cones. Put some puppy chow in the ice cream cones to fill it about ¾ of the way. Put the cones on the cookies and add some icing around the bottom of the cones and ice the cookies and the cones so they are one color. Then decorate them with whatever else to make them look cute. You can put cats, ghosts, pumpkins, or anything that reminds you of Halloween on the cupcakes or cookies. They will just have fun decorating and eating the treats.

A lot of the students still love to dress up in costumes so doing makeup for the costume before they go trick or treating or to a Halloween party is a great and fun idea. If they are a girl it is a lot easier they can have pretty makeup on or have a cute face painted on to match their costume usually. If they are a boy it is still possible to do their makeup you can paint their face to match their costume or put fake blood or cuts on them.  

The Transition Center

The Transition Center is where people with disabilities go in Cedar Rapids after high school. They have a lot of learning opportunities there and help them get on to another place, whether it’s a group home or on their own. This is a program for people ages 18-21 with moderate disabilities.

They have some different levels of places where you can be taught based on skill level to do the specific job the individual is working for.  They work on things so they can function on their own or in whatever type of living situation they would be in. Some live on their own, some in a house with other people with disabilities on their own and others live with others and a few staff members.

This is not just in Cedar Rapids there are places like this all around the state of Iowa and in other states as well. These places are designed to help transition the individuals from school into life. These centers focus on things like daily life skills, work skills, and anything a person would need to use to survive on their own or in a group home.

These centers differ from school in that the individuals get to go into the community much more and learn what it is like out in the community. They also don’t learn much about math or science or other subjects not pertaining to the job they are going to be doing. They work more on developing social skills and doing what they are told and need to so they can get the job done. They also work on grocery shopping and picking out appropriate foods and cooking them.

Places like the Transition Center are what make it possible for individuals with disabilities to be very independent. These places are great places and very helpful for the parents. The individuals also tend to look forward to all the independence that comes along with the center.

Leadership Conference

The Leadership Conference is a three day conference where officer members of best buddies go to learn about how to be a president of the club and learn how to be a good leader in the club. There is also an option for students with disabilities to go to Leadership Conference.

 

There are classroom learning sessions. The participants got to pick what classes they were in before the classes. The participants will go to the selected classes on the first day and learn about leading the club, recruiting people, and fundraising. The second day the classes are broken up into states and taught selected materials for a portion of the day. The participants are taught about leading and how to set up their club’s events. The participants with disabilities go to special classes and are taught how to write speeches the first day. The second day is about how to deliver the speech they wrote and how to talk in front of people.

There is time to talk with people from all over the world about how they run their club and what works and what doesn’t work. They held what is called the World Café where people from all around the world got to talk to each other about their clubs and what they do.

The conference also has some extremely large parties every day including everyone. There is opening ceremonies where everyone gets to dance and the participants are introduced to the leaders when they first arrive. There is closing ceremonies at the end of it where all of the participants with disabilities got to give the speeches they worked on and again everyone danced. This is used to get everyone excited about the upcoming Best Buddies year and pumped up for the conference.
 
Both of the two nights there aren’t closing or opening ceremonies there are other options for bonding with the group members. The first night there is usually a pool party or karaoke party option. The second night there is an option for either a dance party or a movie.
 
There are also speakers that come in and talk to everybody at the conference. They come and talk to everyone to inspire them to be a great leader and get them excited about the conference. Some of the speakers came to show what people with disabilities can accomplish. Dr. Karen Gaffney and Lauren Potter were two of the speakers that showed they were able to accomplish a lot even with disabilities.

HandicapThis

HandicapThis is an excellent show. They are very funny and informative at the same time. I love how the two have such good chemistry together. Mike and Tim make it so easy to forget you are watching someone in a wheelchair with a developmental disability. They make it so funny and so descriptive that you focus more on what they are saying not what they looked like.

 

When Mike first began to talk I know a lot of people were having difficulty understanding him. A few minutes into the show Tim referred to Mike’s “accent”. Nobody knew what he was talking about at first. He was talking about Mike’s speech impediment because he has cerebral palsy and can not talk as clearly as someone without it. I like how he calls it an accent it makes him seem more normal. After listening to Mike talk for a few minutes it becomes gradually easier to understand him then after an hour you forget he is even talking any differently than anyone in the room.

 

My favorite part of the show is when Mike tells us about his high school life. He had to shout out that he knew the answer or something of that nature because he couldn’t raise his hand. Mike said most teachers got annoyed and told him to raise his hand like everyone else and wait to be called on. Well he is incapable of doing that and one teacher came up with a bright idea. He invented a switch to go on his wheelchair so when he knew the answer to  This shows that that teacher really cares about Mike, knew how smart he was and how much he could contribute to the rest of the class.

a question he could move his hand a tiny bit to hit the switch and a light would go off above his head.

One part of Mike and Tim’s story that stood out to me was when Tim ran from Disney World all the way to Chicago for Mike. This was so impressive to me that a person could care so much about another person to run such a long distance for them. In this case Tim ran to raise awareness about cerebral palsy. Tim ended up in multiple newspapers and on the news which got the word out to a lot of people. He did this in 2005 and in 2015 he plans to do another run from Disney World to Chicago. I hope this time the new social media will help generate more publicity of the run and more awareness.

Mike and Tim are a great team and have been working together for a long time now. The do many shows together for schools or anywhere that needs more education on how intellectual and developmental disabilities aren’t really that much of a challenge to overcome. Mike is a great role model and shows that just because someone looks like they have a disability doesn’t mean they can’t be one of the funniest or smartest people you have met.

Best Buddies

Best Buddies is an organization where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are paired up with peer to make one on one friendships in various ways and at various ages. This is a very unique organization where people get matched to another person with similar interests and depending on what program they are in they talk to and hang out with their match.

The programs are in middle schools, high schools, colleges and now after college even. The different programs are all similar in how much it impacts both of the people in the match. These friendships made in Best Buddies can be life long friendships that are some of the best friendships a person ever has.

The middle school and high school programs are very similar both match peers up that are in the schools one in a general education class the other in a special education class. They do activities together planned by the leaders in the school and sometimes outside of the activities planned by the school. The buddies have a lot of fun at these activities and the leaders try to plan the activities so that everyone has a good time. The matches are done so that people have very similar interest and can get a long very well and do many activities together.

College and after college buddy matches are different because they are not in school together anymore so they can not go to the planned activities and see each other in the hallway. After high school they need to make time to go see their buddy and make time to go talk to them. They also get to have more of a real friendship because they get to communicate with them more freely, have a better bond because they get to actually decide what to do with them and they get to go out in the community more to do the activities to get the buddy even more friends.

There is another type of match called E-Buddies where they email back and forth. This way people do not have to live in the same area to be friends and if they do not have a Best Buddies program at their school they will still be able to make new friends.

Deaf Culture

I just recently watched a movie on deaf culture and some of the things that are considered normal in the deaf community are very different compared to mine. The deaf community is considered its own little community within the hearing world. They consider themselves different, have their own language and community events. They are a very close knit community and I feel like hearing people can learn a lot from how deaf people interact and treat one another.

The video my class watched talked about how the people in the deaf community tend to share a lot of information with each other in order to benefit the others in the community. They share why they were late, very personal information such as marital status, new diets, recent procedures they had done, and anything that would benefit the others in any way shape or form. Generally most deaf people also prefer to get very detailed directions to new places. Using GPS is probably not the easiest if you cannot hear where it is telling you to turn. In contrast most hearing people never give out detailed driving directions or receive them because they would just use MapQuest or GPS.

They hold deaf events in the deaf community all the time in order to keep in touch with one another. I think this is very cool because you don’t see many hearing communities coming together to hold events or to try to stay connected to one another. I like how they all come together and wish more hearing communities did that.

I learned that if they don’t answer the door it is okay to just walk right into someone’s house if the door is unlocked and they know you. Other options are looking in the window or if the door is locked leaving them a note or texting them to let them know you are there. The whole class thought that was a bit rude and strange as would most hearing people. But in the deaf community it is generally accepted. Michael even said his girlfriend, who is deaf, does that when he doesn’t answer the door right away or doesn’t hear it out of habit. Our teacher explained this is because they want to do anything to see the person they are trying to see and don’t want to miss them or think they just didn’t show up. I think it is kind of thoughtful but I don’t know if I want anyone just walking into my house.

The video also showed a polite way to interrupt a conversation as just walking quickly through the middle of it without even signing excuse me. This was something the whole class was surprised about. We thought this was extremely rude and was definitely not accepted in hearing culture. Our teacher explained that, “It would take much longer to sign excuse me and make sure everyone saw it and would create much more of a distraction than quickly walking through and getting on with life.” After she said that it made more sense it really isn’t that big of a deal. It seems like hearing people tend to get worked up over little things in comparison.

Deaf culture can be very different from hearing culture. Before going to any deaf events a person should learn about deaf culture so they are not doing something someone would consider rude. It is just like learning about the culture of a different country before visiting. Some things in the deaf culture can be a bit backwards to hearing people but it is just as backwards as the US compared to some other places in the world.

Carly's Voice

The book Carly’s Voice I read recently. It was a very good and informative book and the book was partially written by Carly, a girl who has autism. This has helped me a lot with the special education class rooms I help in. The students in the rooms show similar signs and other things she describes in the book that she does when something is happening. I use her descriptions to help the other students that aren’t able to communicate what is wrong like she is.

The book was published under her father’s name but I think it was mainly her writing in the end. The book tells her life story and gives a nice look into the normally silent world of autism. The last chapter in the book is actually completely her own writing where she wrote a short story.

Another part that was very cool was is when she is finally able to describe what is going on and what is happening with her body. This can be very helpful when trying to help someone showing similar motions when they cant communicate for themselves. I think it is more helpful to have someone to tell you what is wrong that is experiencing it than a doctor or someone who has never felt it. 

My favorite part of the book is when she is finally getting her voice for the first time. I can only imagine how great it must feel to be able to finally communicate to everyone what is going on. That would be such a hard thing to know something and not be able to tell anyone. I wish there was some way every person with Autism could find their way they could communicate what is going on inside their mind.

The most memorable part of the story for me was the part when Carly described why she hit her head on things. She said it felt like the equivalent of someone shaking up a pop can. She said when she hit her head that the pressure in her head started to go away and get somewhat released. This was particularly memorable for me because a lot of the students I help do this and I was never able to figure out why until I read this. I found out of you give them pressure they tend to stop wanting to hit their head so the pressure build up in their head must go away.