Showcase

I would love for everyone in the school and the community to understand the other people in the community that have and intellectual or developmental disability. I think having a play or something that would let people with disabilities showcase their talents would help them become more accepted and appreciated.

There are some plays that star only people who have some sort of disability. I think this is great. The only ones I have known of star only adults though. I want to change that. I want to have a play in the Cedar Rapids community that would star kids, and teenagers. I think this would help with the community accepting the people who have disabilities more. It would also give them an opportunity to show off some of their talent. It might help us find someone with talent that could end up being another big time actor, like Lauren Potter, or Jim Parsons.

If those actors were not given a chance to show off their talent, they would have never developed it and pursued their dreams. I think it is so great we have those two actors breaking stereotypes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. If someone had not given them a chance, they might have never been discovered and two very popular TV shows might not be on, or as good. I think everyone around here know who Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory is. Most people, however, do not know that he has Asperger’s. I do not think people will ever look at him differently because of it, because of what a huge star he is now, but before then I think everyone would have.

Some other way to let someone with a disability showcase their talent is with letting them have a talent show and inviting the whole community. I think this would benefit everyone. It could raise money for those who create it, by charging admission. Having a talent show can also showcase the talents of the people with disabilities. This can help also help the people in community, by providing entertainment, and showing them you do not have to be disability free to have a talent.

Having a local sports team for people with disabilities can also help showcase their talent. If everyone with a disability had something they could do and wanted to do, it would create a much better community for them to live in. I think that more people would go to see this if it was a sports team for the city. I think if more cities did this people could go watch them and enjoy it. I think everyone deserves a chance to show off their talent.

BB Activities

There are a lot of different Best Buddies activities you can do in the spring. There are different things for holidays that are coming up and just activities in general. This will hopefully give you some ideas on what to do for some Best Buddies spring activities. By the end of the year it can be challenging to come up with more activities.

You can do something for Easter. There can be an Easter party, similar to a Christmas party. You can have all sorts of activities for this. They can range from dying Easter eggs to making drawings. For dying Easter eggs you need to make sure there is something covering tables to ensure there will be less of a mess. Another Easter activity is an egg scavenger hunt. This can be done indoors, or outside. It is always fun and people love getting candy.

Dying t-shirts is also something fun to do in the spring time, when it is nice out. You always need a backup plan in case it rains. For the backup plan you need table covers and gloves. Tie dying is always messy. To me it seems like you almost always get dye on everything, no matter how much you try not to. Every year when we do this inside we get dye all over the tables. It is always nice to have something that can take off the dye that has dried. I feel like it is inevitable, something will get covered in dye or stained by it. You can reuse the bottles you use to tie dye the shirts. Just make sure they are cleaned completely.

Another idea is having talent show. I like to have this at the end of the year in the spring, because people know their buddies better than they did at the beginning of the year. I think they could either help their buddy or preform with them. It would provide bonding time and make the talent show a success. I really hope ours goes well this year. I want every buddy pair to be successful, and have a great time preforming. I would also like the whole school here to see it. I want everyone to get applause and feel extremely special. Student without disabilities have more opportunities to show off talents, but this would be their one special night where they get to show everyone how talented they are, and what they can do.

State vs State

State for People not in Special Olympics is celebrated a lot. It is a major victory for the whole school. People get all excited, miss school to see it, and have a huge party or send off. I do not see why it is not the same for the students who make it to state in the Special Olympics.

If you make it to Sate in Special Olympics it is just as big of a deal. It takes a lot of hard work on the student’s part and is not easy to do. They, like the people not in Special Olympics, should get praise for all of their hard work. It takes a lot of work to be a qualifier for the State Special Olympics. It is a huge deal and I wish more people would realize it.

I wish there would be more attendance at the Special Olympics games. The students work really hard, and they do not get praised enough for it. I think schools should make it so that students care about the Special Olympics, and do not just dismiss the fact it is happening. When other sports make it to state there is a lot of praise, a lot of celebration, and a huge crowd watching. It is mainly only parents at the Special Olympics games. There are also some family members, but mainly just parents. At the state competition for other students there are parents, family members, friends and other students there cheering for the athletes participating in it. Having other students there makes participating in the games more special and fun.

This year I hope to show my school that students in the Special Olympics are very talented and deserve to be recognized for it. We are doing a huge State send off for people in that made it to State in the Special Olympics. None of the athletes know yet. I got the administrators to agree to do it and we got an okay from the teacher. I think this year having the sendoff for state will make the students more appreciative of the Special Education students.

Special Olympics

Special Olympics is a sports competition for people who have disabilities. There are all kinds of different sports that are included in the Olympics. There is a Special Olympics home page that tells you what someone can compete in. They get a lot of different awards and a lot of praise for their hard work. It is a great thing to have.

There are both summer and winter sports which have different Olympics. These events are held in different cities, then after the different events are held in the different cities, the first place winners in each event go to state. State is much more competitive and really great to watch. The winners from that can go on to nationals and compete.

I think this boosts the self-esteem of many students who have disabilities. This can create a better community, like unified sports does. It helps the people who have disabilities get more acceptance in their community. This program lets people have some activity in sports so they can feel just like everyone else. This is very important to have everywhere, so people with disabilities can have more opportunities.

I think every country should have these. I think it is becoming increasingly imperative because the number of people who have disabilities are rising considerably. If there are more people with disabilities, then there are more people that can get some benefit of these sports.

This is a wonderful opportunity that we are lucky to have here. There are many different states who participate in these games, it really connects people with disabilities around the United States. I think this helps our whole nation grow because the more we come to treat people who have disabilities as other people, the more we will all grow as people. It will benefit both people with disabilities, and those without. 

If we get to participate in sports, have our Olympics, and have amazing athletes, I think it is only fair that students with intellectual or developmental disabilities should get the same opportunity. These games level the playing field, because they get to compete with other athletes struggling with the same things they are, and it is equally matched.

There sadly isn’t this opportunity everywhere, though. We are lucky enough to have it in Iowa, but not every other state or country is the same. I think all countries around the world should have these games, so everyone gets their chance to be a star.

Unified Sports

Unified sports can be done at any school. This is a team of both special education students and general education students pairing up to make a whole unified team. These can be members with both high functioning and low functioning disabilities. These are very helpful for all students including the general education students. I personally feel that the students in the general education classes get more from it. There is no feeling better than the feeling that you just helped someone and made a difference in their life.

This creates a more unified community and a more unified school. These are great because a more unified school or more unified community creates more acceptance in both. A lot of people are good about accepting others, but not hanging out with them and fully accepting them, so this would help. These kinds of sports would better even the most accepting communities.

Schools can create these or someone can in the community. They can be any range of sports, and if they are good at it they can compete in the Special Olympics. There can be anything from cheerleading teams to bocce ball teams. You could even create your own sport to compete in. If you do that though, you cannot compete in the Special Olympics, and you will not have teams to compete against.

This will help with Best Buddies as well. You can use these sports as bonding with your buddy, or go watch some competition they are in. This creates stronger friendships and longer lasting ones. I know I feel closer to teammates and they become your friends or even are sometimes referred to as a sports family. 

I want to start a unified sports team at my school. I think it will help promote inclusion and help make others more knowledgeable about students with disabilities. I want to show everyone the other students can be just like us. They can participate in sports, and do anything we can. I think it will help because they will get to celebrate wins just like we do and get celebrated in the school. They can also get awards and have fun. I think it is a win for everyone.

Stereotypes

 Are kids with disabilities being stereotyped? The plane answer is yes. A lot of students get stereotyped both at school, and in the media. There are many different stereotypes that go along with having a disability.

In movies people who have disabilities are stereotypically adults, with a child’s mind. This is not true for a lot of the students I work with. They are not as mature, but do not like everything an elementary student would. There are some that are like that, but it is usually brain damage at a younger age that leads to that. Their brain just sort of cannot grow much past the age they suffered damage to it, depending on how severe the injury was.

They are also stereotypically put in more severe disabilities than they have. There is a huge range of disabilities that occur. Some are so slight you would not even know they are there. The most famous one is Jim Parsons, who plays Dr. Sheldon Cooper on the TV show The Big Bang Theory. He has mild Asperger’s, and is still a huge celebrity and famous actor. Almost nobody knows he has the disability, because he seems so normal. This is true of a lot of people with disabilities. Sometimes you can’t tell if a person has a disability or not.

How does this affect them? I will use Jim Parsons for an example again, he was ashamed of it and kept it a secret from everyone. He didn't want to be treated differently, and he was ashamed of the disability, because of all the negative thoughts and stereotypes that go along with it. I also get students who have the disabilities coming up to me and asking me why they have them, or why they are treated a certain way. It always breaks my heart when I get those questions.

How can it be prevented? The media can help stop this. They can quit portraying the people with disabilities as these extremely severe cases. They can help make it so they become more accepted and welcomed into the community. If they used actual actors who have disabilities to play their roles it would help a lot.

Sadly stereotypes in former schools have led to bullying, name calling, and other horrible things. I remember in elementary school other peers would pretend to be autistic and flap their arms. They would also say things like, “Don’t touch the railing, the autistic kids wipe boogers on them.” It is little things like this that lead to worse stereotypes and people not accepting others. Thankfully they usually grow out of saying things like this.

What Can I Do To Help

This question can be asked by both parents, siblings, and family members. It can also be asked by family friends and other people in communities with special needs kids. There can be a lot of people helped if this question was answered.

If parents want to help they can put the students with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities in sports. There are great things they can do. If they are deaf they could be in football and possibly play at Gallaudet. Their football team is doing great! There are also other Special Olympic sports they can participate in if they have other disabilities. I am going to write a section on that for next week and will link it after I get it on.

There are other things parents can do to help like putting their kids in clubs or other activities. It does not have to be sports. There are so many things a child with a disability can do now. I am personally going to help put on a play that all the actors are high school aged children with disabilities soon. That will be a lot of fun.

Siblings can help by babysitting or doing a number of things. They can babysit their younger siblings, like most other siblings do. They can help drive them around or be there when they get picked up or dropped off. They can also help by doing simple chores around the house. It is already stressful having a child with a disability, but having a messy house to clean every night does not help.

Family members and friends can help by doing things similar to siblings. They can help watch the kids, provide help for parents, and even drive the other kids to activities. These are all things other parents do for each other. They can also provide a huge service to the parents and be moral support. This is a big deal to a lot of parents, because they do not get a lot of time to themselves and they sometimes just need to relax. They moral support can go a long way as well. Just knowing someone is there for you and you can talk to them makes life easier.

Others in the community can help by volunteering. This does not help parents, but helps the child. This helps get them friends and makes them feel more welcome in the community. It also is rewarding for yourself because there is nothing better than the feeling of helping someone.

Now I've Got a Child With IDD

A lot of people do not know what to do once their child is diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability. I want to let you know this is not the end of the world. There are people that can help you. It might take a while for everyone to come to accept the child in the family, but they eventually will.

If you are worried about the people in your family accepting your child, you should not. They will accept them eventually. I say eventually, because just like you they had the shock, and have to process their emotions. Everyone is different and will approach this differently. Let them process it and have their reactions. Try not to get defensive if they say something rude, or are shocked at first. Not everyone will be as receptive to it at first.

You also should not worry about them making friends. There are great opportunities for them to make friends now. There are schools with great programs that promote inclusion of the special education programs and the students in them, like best buddies. These things are huge steps for our society becoming more open and caring towards those with disabilities. It is a great thing.

I think that they also do a great job of making the students with disabilities become more connected to each other. There are great programs for that as well. There are things they can do both during the school year, and while school is out during summer vacation. If you look you can find a lot of different opportunities for the students to have to make new connections and stronger ones.

The summer day camps are great. A lot of the special needs students I help go to a lot of different camps during the summer. It keeps them busy and makes them feel more normal. I think these opportunities are great for them and are great for everyone involved. It helps promote more inclusion from other students that help at these programs.

I would also strongly recommend asking other parents what they can do around that area. It is very helpful if they can make friends in the areas near their house. This prevents long drives to other places and they get to see their friends more. The parents also know what is good to do and what is bad. A lot of more experienced parents will know where to go and what to do. They are awesome resources. They are better than the internet.

Where can I find help?

There are a lot of different ways to find help and places to find it. There are speech therapists, job coaches, and any specialized person you can imagine to help with your child's disability. There are a lot of people out there to help you and it can be a lot easier if you let them.

There are "Paras" in the classrooms of the special education rooms that help children with disabilities. There are also special one on ones people can get if they are not always in a special education classroom or do not need to be in one. One of my friends is blind and has a one on one to help him with many things, like taking notes, when he is in the general education classrooms. He needs his one on one so he does not miss anything important and so that he can learn like anyone else. Having a one on one educator is very helpful for him. Because he has one he now can learn just like everyone else.

There are also people that help work on people’s speech. This can be hard for someone with autism. Part of the disability often comes with slurred speech as a result. This can be helped through speech therapy though. There are also word and picture cards that can be used instead of speech that the speech therapists can help with, if your child is nonverbal.

There are also different people that help with social skills. These people work with children with a wide range of abilities. They can just help with little, minor social ticks and awkward interactions. They can also help with more severe help on social interactions. It is all need based. If your child needs help with something, there is probably someone that can help.

There are also special babysitters for children with autism. Some children need help with seizures and normal babysitters are not equipped to handle that. Some are aggressive and might hurt a babysitter, but there are people that are trained for these situations and can babysit. A lot of the time parents need a date night away which is allowed.

The last thing I will talk about is there are interpreters for the deaf. I know this might sound a bit obvious to some people, but others might not know about them, and they can be very helpful. If you are hearing and your spouse or child or both are deaf, they might need an interpreter if you cannot make it there, or just cannot interpret all of what everyone is saying, like in a hospital situation. Like I said above, use all the resources you can to your advantage, they are there to help you.

How do I Cope?

A lot of parents that find out their child has autism want to know how they cope with this. This might sound harsh to people who have not experienced this, but when you have a child you picture their wedding, prom, and who they are going to be, then with one sentence, it all changes. You have to re-imagine everything you thought you would see for this child. Have to figure out what you are supposed to do with a child with autism. This can be a huge task for someone with no experience dealing with people with special needs.

There are a lot of parent support groups out there for parents with autism. A lot of new parents go to these. There are also a lot of parents who have experience who can give advice at these. They can tell you some success stories and will give honest responses to questions any parents might have. Some are held as small gatherings, while others are a little larger. If parents know another parent is getting stressed they might invite them to one.

Other parents are the best resource for parents to seek. They will be able to give you advice on anything you need. Odds are they have been through something similar, or are going through the same thing. This is very helpful to a lot of parents both for stress reasons, and parenting reasons. It helps the parents have less stress because they know they are not the only one going through this. It also helps parenting because they can get advice on how they handled the situation or how they are going to handle it.

Therapists can also help with this. It might seem unnecessary to some people to go all the way as to go to a therapists, but it really can be helpful. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who is not going to judge you and will help you. A lot of people find going to therapists to be relaxing and a stress reliever. Therapists are there to listen to your problems and help offer some insight on how you can deal with the problem better.

There are a number of things a person can do to help cope with this, but you have to find what works best. Everyone is different and feels comfortable doing different things. There are many different places you can go for help, the most important thing is to not bottle up all the stress and fear. Let others help you cope.

Does Autism Begin During Pregnancy

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/brain-study-suggests-autism-starts-birth-n62681


The information could lead to more prepared parents. Parents often get blindsided that their child has autism. A lot of parents have to wait until their child is over the age of two to find out their child has autism. This can be a devastation to a lot of parents. This would also catch a lot of parents off guard. Parents do not always know the signs and symptoms of early stage autism. This discovery could lead to parents being prepared for it. They could have the house ready, the doctors they need ready, and get their child the right help they need to be the best functioning they can be.

Another more sad view is it might lead to more abortions. People right away get scared that they have a child with autism. If they found out their child has it and it is in the womb they can get an abortion. This might lead to an increase in this because there will probably be a test available to see if the child has autism. Some parents might get scared and not want the child with autism because they do not have that emotional attachment. At least when parents find out later in life their child has autism they cannot just stop loving them and get rid of them. This time they could and it could be a very bad thing, unless it leads to the discovery of how it is formed.

It could lead to the discovery of how and why children get autism. If in fact it happens at some time during the pregnancy, the child might have a chance of not getting it. There could be more research done to create some preventions. They could find the cause of this. If this can be done they can possibly prevent autism from happening. This could be a great thing for all people with autism and could lead to much better treatments and preventions.

This question being answered can also help children with autism get diagnosed faster. If they found out what was actually going on in people with autism, then they can get diagnosed a lot earlier. Getting diagnosed earlier then leads to more help and better treatment, and ultimately better lives for the child. The timing of the diagnosis is key in a lot of situations. If it is diagnosed correctly and in a timely fashion the child can get the help they need to function to the best of their ability.

Is ASL a Foreign Language?

There are some schools now counting American Sign Language as a foreign language. There are also some high schools teaching this around the country. I know this does not meet the requirement for a lot of colleges. I want to know why.

If I went up to some random person and started signing to them I guarantee that they would not know what I was saying. This is why I consider sign language to be a foreign language. It might not come from a different country and is not spoken, but it is still not understood by most Americans. This is not taught in English classes, so it cannot be

American Sign Language also has its own writing system. They call it glossing. For example if I wanted to write the cat name is Tommy it would look like

  _____________________

“CAT NAME fs-TOMMY.” There are other marks that cannot be done on the computer that indicate facial expressions and question type. This is definitely not English. I do not see why people do not classify it as a foreign language if people who speak the native language of the land cannot read it and cannot understand when people “speak” it. To me it should be because I can gloss for people and they would not understand what the sentence means or might think it looks messed up based on what is being said. I can also sign to someone that speaks English and they do not know what I am saying. To me both of these things classify it as a foreign language.

There are some high schools in the United States that offer American Sign Language as an option for a foreign language. There are very few colleges, however, that recognize it as a foreign language. This can create a lot of issues for people who want to take American Sign Language in high school because they will want it to count for their foreign language. If they cannot count it they will not want to take it as much. I think this should be considered as a foreign language for all colleges and that it should be offered in more high schools. If it were more widely accepted in colleges, then high schools might offer it more. 

Am I Welcomed?

Am I welcomed? This is a question a lot of people with disabilities ask themselves every day. I wish they would get to know they would be accepted. This is so sad to me they ask this. I wish other schools were as accepting as mine is. I know there are some out there and I am thankful for that, but all the others who are not as accepting need to step it up.

A parent pulled me aside this year and goes, “I want you to tell me the truth is my son ***** actually accepted at this school, because I know how kids with disabilities were treated when I was in school and I would just like to know.” I was actually proud to tell him that he is accepted here. We have a wide acceptance for students with disabilities here. It warms my heart to see how much others accept each other at this school. This is such a great school for people who have disabilities to go to.

There are other schools who are not as accepting as our school. This is sad, but I hope they are getting better. There are great programs to help promote acceptance and inclusion in them and I hope they will get them. Both Best Buddies and Spread the Word to End the Word are great programs that can help promote the acceptance of the students who have special needs.

I think this needs to be taught to Elementary school students before they start to develop those prejudices that harm them and the others around them. I really wish there were programs for Elementary schools. I know I started one at my old Elementary school and it is still going to this day. I think that is why this school is so accepting because they got introduced to it so early and it just becomes more natural to them.

We have had a great run with people with disabilities getting accepted this far. Our Spread the Word to End the Word banner gets a lot of signatures and they also get a lot of appreciation at the school. Just this past Friday they got an award at the Pep Assembly and everyone in the school was on their feet cheering as loud as they could for them. This ended up bringing tears to a lot of people’s eyes. It was one of our schools most proud times in my eyes. Our level of acceptance was so great that day I don’t know any other high school that would match that.

How Do I Interact With People With IDD

How do I interact with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities? This is a question a lot of people without much experience with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities do not know the answer to. Some people need to be educated on this. I have seen too many times people getting scared when someone with an intellectual and developmental disability comes up to them for something. If they work in an area that someone with a disability might walk in and start talking to them they need to be educated how to act and interact.

I have seen almost every interaction imaginable when I go out to stores with my friends with disabilities. It ranges from the more extreme running away when they talk to them or just ignoring them or actually being extremely friendly and helpful. This would help people with disabilities feel much more comfortable going out into the community and interacting with other people. It helps when I am with them, because they know they are not dangerous, but that just shows how ignorant some people can be.

I wish there was more stress on interacting with people with disabilities when children are young and in elementary school. This would help public knowledge that they are not some sort of monster that you need to avoid, they are just friendly people in a lot of cases. If someone smiles at you and says, “Hello, how has your day been?” how harmful can it be to just smile back and say, “Great, how about yours?” Disability or not they are still people with feelings. If this question can be answered for everyone then these people will get to be happy interacting with others in the community and feel more comfortable in the community. I think it is important for everyone to feel welcome and comfortable in the community.

I really hope one day this question will never have to be asked again. I hope that it will just become second nature to everyone and they will get to live happily together with everyone. I hope nobody ever gets bullied because they have a disability in the future and that everyone knows how to interact appropriately with them.

Does Best Buddies Build Lasting Friendships?

Does Best Buddies helps build lasting friendships?  This is an important question for the people who run the Best Buddies International Organization. This will tell the people who run the company if their mission is being accomplished. They want people to build lasting friendships with the people they are buddies with through the program.

If this goal is not achieved then they will need to figure out what they can do to help get this goal achieved. This is such an important aspect of Best Buddies and I fear it is not happening. There are some people who do though. This is a good thing and they need to ask them how they did this.

They could possibly look at their matching process. The matching process is not as specific and down to the human level as I like it to be at my chapter. I understand it is the best they can do online, but they do not get down to the questions they need to ask to know who will be a good buddy. I personally like to interview everyone that will be in the program and decide who I think would be a good fit for who. I also get to know all of the buddies though out the year and match them based on their personalities. This helps a lot when it comes to finding a good match for them.

This can also be asked at individual schools to find out whether they are being a successful chapter. This could result in a little bonus for the chapter and having some of their dues waved for the highest ranking lasting friendships. This could be a great incentive program for the chapters. On the flip side if they are not doing so well they can have surrounding chapters show them how to make it more successful.

They can also use this on a state level. The states with higher rankings can be praised in some way, while the states that are struggling can be helped. If there are some outstanding states I think they should definitely be praised. This would be a huge accomplishment. If there is a struggling state I also think they should get some help from the International Cooperation to make the program better for everyone involved. If they improve then there can be some praise for that. I think this would be a great question for Best Buddies International to ask itself and follow through on.

Are Autism and Asperger's the Same?

Are Autism and Asperger's Syndrome really the same? There is now a lot of debate about that with the more we learn about both disorders. They both have different characteristics and different treatments. There are even different class rooms for the children with these disabilities, yet somehow they are still the same disorder to some researchers. To me that would be the same as saying this grape is the same as this blueberry because they are close enough to the same. That makes no sense and neither does classifying Asperger’s as almost the same or the same as Autism.

Both Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome have similar traits. Most of the characteristics of both diseases are mainly social skill issues. They also have less ability to learn and less fine motor skills, and basic life skills. They differ in a lot of the traits they share though.

If this is found out this would help doctors and kids getting treatment for the diseases. They should be able to have an answer by now, but a lot of doctors still don't know.

Many of the traits stated above are common to both, but people with Asperger’s Syndrome have it to a much lesser extent than those with Autism. They can function in a work environment much more easily than someone with Autism, they have less trouble in general with fine motor skills and they have a little better developed set of social skills than someone with Autism would. The two disorders can be confused easily because they have so much in common, but if you are around them enough it is easy to tell which is which.

The social skills issue that someone with Autism would have would range from little to non-verbal, where the social skills issue of someone with Asperger’s is more saying inappropriate things at inappropriate times. There are nit picky things about the disorders that make them very different to me. I wish researchers would pay attention to the differences and come up with two different spectrums for the disorders. It shouldn't be that difficult to do and would help parents a lot more with the on finding a some things that help the disorders.

How do I Find a Good Group Home?

A good group home can be found very easily. There are many different ways that they can select a group home. I know a lot of group home workers in Iowa and they told me that parents can interview the workers in the home. Interviews can be helpful because you can get to know who you work with. You can also get to know what your child will be doing there and get a feel for how they will be treated.

Parents always hear those scary stories about how people get mistreated in group homes and how they are all run horribly. That is not true there are good ones out there, but there are some bad ones. That is why there are interviews done. They can help make the process a lot smoother and better.

Kids can also visit the group home before they actually live there every day. This is a nice thing for them to do to make the transition from the old home to the new one. You might even find out that the home is not what you thought and not have them go there anymore. This is a great safety net and way to check everything out.

There are a lot of bad stories, but parents need to get over the fear and know they will find a good group home. There are great ones all over run by compassionate caring people. The kids will get better care at the home than they would with their parents. Sometimes it is some give and take and also some heartache, before you find the right situation. Sometimes it is also trial and error. You might think a home is good until you realize it was not the best fit. You cannot get discouraged though, you will find the right one.

Parents of other kids who have intellectual and developmental disabilities are other good resources to ask. They know the homes and know who is good and bad.  They might also show their kids group home to you and show you how great it is. If you don’t like that one they are always good at telling you what kind of questions to ask.

If you try there are a lot of different group homes you can get into that actually have a good reputation and will be good and helpful for your child. This can be a very good thing if you ask the right questions and meet the right home. It might take a while, but it will be worth the wait.

Are CI's Helpful?

Do cochlear implants actually help? A lot of parents who have deaf kids or people who are deaf wonder this. Parents of deaf kids want the best for their kids and want them to "fit in". The cochlear implant can be thought of as helpful, but also not as helpful, because nothing can really replace hearing.

They are a great invention, but are they really helping people hear? People who are deaf wonder this. The answer is actually no. They send electrical signals to your brain, mimicking hearing, but not actually allowing the person to hear.

The cochlear implants also do not actually help with tone because the voice a person “hears” is a robotic voice without much tone. Deaf people will not be able to hear and talk exactly how hearing people do, even with the latest cochlear implants.

Older generations also think the cochlear implant is ruining their culture. They feel that the cochlear implants is making it so that the people who are getting them will not learn the ASL language. They feel that brings them together as a community and connects them.

They can be helpful in a sense, but I am not sure that everyone would agree. This would be very helpful to anyone who is deaf and thinking about getting a cochlear implant because they obviously want to know if it will help them or not.

On MTV’s show Made it showed that most people that get cochlear implants later in life end up taking them out all the time because a lot of the noise they were hearing was making them go crazy, what we think of as background noise they hear and pay attention to, so it is very annoying to them. That I would think would be very annoying, especially if I was used to complete silence.  The brain hears things and will see if it is threatening, if we hear it all the time, and it brings no danger to us, the brain does not hear it anymore. Deaf people who get cochlear implants do not have that luxury at first, their brain is bombarded with new sounds and signals which sends them into overload. This is why I am not sure if they are helpful or not.

What type of doctor should I see?

There are different types of doctors a person with a disability can see in the end it comes down to which a person thinks is best. There are doctors who specialize in the disabilities and caring for the people who have them. Some people choose to go see doctors who are not in that specialty though. 

If this question is answered then there will be less of a stressful decision for parents to make. Some parents find making all of these decisions very stressful and do not want to deal with all of that stress of choosing everything.  This could potentially be one less thing for them to choose. It would help make life a little less stressful. 

The kids deserve the best treatment possible so if someone with a specialty in their disability will help them if they see them then it would be useful to know. A lot of parents do not even know people have offices where the do specialize in those disabilities and you can go to them. They are a bit harder to find, but it might not be if they are found out to be more helpful. 

It could also be helpful to doctors who are looking for a specialty. If they do not know this specialty exists they would not go into it also they might not know if it would be useful or beneficial. If this is proven to be true that they help more people might get more degrees in helping people with disabilities. This could potentially help a lot of people.

They also might be able to come up with a cure to the disease or something to help them live normal lives. This would be a great advancement. I think they should test this theory out to see whether the doctor makes a difference. I think it might, but I'm not sure.

How do I Help the Deaf Communicate?

How do I Help the Deaf Communicate? This is a question a lot of people who have no experience with deaf people have, especially after their first encounter. A lot of the time if a deaf person does not have a cochlear implant, they cannot communicate well with people in situations. They will struggle to get their point across and end up getting frustrated.

There is the old school pen and paper method. this seems to be the thing most deaf people rely on, but it is not always the  most effective if you can believe that. From my experience handwriting can be very difficult  to read. A lot of people have sloppy handwriting, especially in emergency situations. They feel rushed and their handwriting shows it. One thing you can do in this situation is make sure to stay calm and try to write neatly and as clearly as possible. This will help break down the communication barrier.

Another thing you can do is simply pull out a cell phone. Almost everyone has a cell phone now. The deaf person will be able to communicate well with you on that. They can see the screen, read the letters, because it is not someone’s handwriting, which can look like chicken scratch sometimes. There are also some speak to text apps on your phone you can get so you can hear what they type so you can respond to them more quickly, but any response is better than none.

One not so popular option is learn sign language. I will not say you have to learn the whole entire language and that all of their communication depends on it, but learn some basic signs. There is baby sign language, and if a baby can learn it, trust me it you can too. There are simple signs like paper, interpreter and help that would be useful, if you ever come in contact with a deaf person. They will feel more comfortable talking to someone that can sign obviously, but if you can help in any way they would appreciate it.

Does Homeschooling Help More Than Public Schools?

If homeschooling is better than public schooling someone with an intellectual or developmental disability then there can be changed made to the public schools. This can help individual schools and school districts as well to see how they perform in comparison to the other schools around them. They can get help from other schools in their area to improve the programs at their schools.

Kids with disabilities would have a greater chance of getting a better education. There are different things people with disabilities need when getting an education and it needs to be addressed. A lot of schools can not get the tools they need to ensure a better education for them, so they need to be evaluated.

Parents also want to know which they should do a lot of the time, especially if they are a first time parents. Answering this question would have a good impact on parents. Parents would be able to see what choice is best for their kids. They also might want to know which schools in the area are good around them. These questions would help answer that. They can ask other parents to see what they thought.

There would also be an impact on the teachers at public schools. They might be able to get a better education to help them educate the kids better if the students weren’t learning as well as they could at home. They might also get better equipment at schools to help the teachers out.

On the other hand, if it was found that it is better that kids with special needs or any disabilities go to public schools, parents might let them go to the public schools. The people who homeschool their kids with disabilities often do not trust that they will be treated well in public schools, so they have them at home and teach them there.

This question should get asked. I hope it does here, because a lot of teachers need to be asked whether their teaching style helps the students learn or not. I hope that there will be some interest in this soon, so people with disabilities can get the best education possible.

Spread the Word

Does spread the word to end the word actually help people stop using the R-word? This would be a great question for the people at Best Buddies International to ask themselves. I know here it has an impact, but does it at other schools or is our school community just better about accepting the special needs students and respecting them? The Spread the Word was a great idea, but a lot of the execution can be done better.

There can be some other activities during that week that might make more of a difference than the ones they do. They have a whole week dedicated to the program, but a designated day for people who do not want to use the entire week to do it. There are some better things that they can do like showing videos of inspirational people during this week, or even having people at the school say why they do not like the R-word.

If spread the word to end the word helps end use of the R-word then it should be promoted all over the country in all schools. The program makes a difference at our school. I know we are very in tune with the students at school and try our best to make the school community a better place for everyone. This is not the case for all schools though, some have more of an issue of it than others. They have widespread disrespect for the students in the special education classrooms. This needs to change in a lot of schools. They need to make sure that they do something to change this. If programs like this can make a difference, then they should be implemented everywhere.

If spread the word to end the word does not help end use of the R-word then they should try to do something to improve the program to make it work. There are new activities they could try, there are also different speakers they could have come talk to the schools. Some schools will not change, but others can and will with proper programs and incentives.

To find out if Spread the Word works an interview can be taken of kids at schools that participate in it. The interview can include whether they used the R-word before the program came to the school or after it did. Based on the answers of the students the program can be either altered or not.

Surveys could also be given instead to ensure that students have privacy so they will answer truthfully about the word, without fear of punishment. There are many different things that can be done to ensure all students are treated fairly this is one of them. I hope more schools will try this.

Valentines Day Activities

Could a Diuretic Drug Prevent Autism?

Making the Lab Accessible for the Blind

Help with Jobs

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20140131/a-challenge-at-work-might-ease-autism-symptoms-in-adults

Impact of Sports

http://www.app.com/article/20140202/NJSPORTS031004/302020073/Anthony-Starego-Brick-kicker-autism-gets-surprise-trip-Super-Bowl

Teachers

Just as teachers can make a great impact on general education students they also make a great impact, if not a more significant one on a student with a disability. A teacher impacts the entire mood of the classroom. They can affect how everyone feels in it and how everyone learns. They also impact how they are at home because it can make them want to go to school or not. It also affects their ability to learn. A teacher can make or break a student’s attitude towards learning and school in general. A good teacher can have the most positive impact on a student’s life out of anyone else in their life.

If the teacher is in a great mood, then everyone in the room feeds off that. Likewise if the teacher is in a bad mood or doesn’t want to be there, the students pick up on that and react to that. The students with disabilities are very sensitive to people’s moods around them, so if there are negative moods in the room, they are more likely to misbehave and act out. This can be prevented easily by creating a happy, positive environment for them to learn in.

The attitude in the classroom affects how well they are able to learn.

The teacher can also affect how well they learn.

Tracking

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/nyregion/schumer-proposes-avontes-law-to-protect-children-with-autism.html?_r=0

Discrete so less teasing.
People are mainly opposed to what they think it could eventually be used for, not its initial intended purpose. Not a reason to shut it down.

If a parent has a child with autism they are able to track their location now. This can be done by either sewing the device inside their clothing or having them wear a watch with the tracking device in it. This of course has raised some controversy on whether this should be allowed. I personally think it is no different than a parent tracking a teenager using their cell phone and am okay with it. I think they came up with a good system to keep the child safe and the parent not as worried about them.

It would be very helpful for keeping them safe. People with severe autism tend to wander off and cannot always find their way back home or to a place where someone would know them. I know a student I worked with did this and ended up lost for about three hours, until some random stranger found him and thankfully brought him to the police station. His group home and parents had called the police and were looking for him so everything ended well this time, but if that person that picked him up was not good, it might have ended horribly. If he had one of those tracking devices on, he would have been found much quicker. The whole situation might have even been avoided if he was wearing one.

Some people who have Alzheimer’s already wear these. They also tend to wonder off, like some people with severe autism. The fact that it has already been used for people and is progressing is a promising thing it shows that there is a future for this. 

Most people who oppose this are people who are opposing what it could become. A lot of people think it could be used for bad things and that it is some sort of horrible new technology, when in fact it is just being used to help find missing kids and keep track of them. This is a good thing for the people with autism and Alzheimier's, it keeps them safe. It also helps prevent things like people getting taken from happening. This technology is a great thing for the people that need it.
Like I said earlier it is not much different from parents tracking cell phones this just happens to be a watch worn by the child instead of a phone that is constantly around them. This is only for their safety and protection.  They can't tell someone they are lost or where they live. This could be the only way they could get back home in some cases. I am all for this technology and hope it prevents further issues from happening and less children from getting lost or taken. 

Bullying

Changing Plans

What to Do With Your Child With IDD Over Break

There are numerous things to do with a child with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities over holiday break. You can throw a holiday or themed party for them, depending on the severity of disability, make things seem as normal as possible, or keep them busy with crafts and other fun things. There are also a lot of fun holiday movies to watch and enjoy together as a family.

If your child with a disability is in best buddies or some activities outside of school where they meet other people and have a lot of friends, you can throw a themed party. My friend actually threw an awesome holiday party based on the movie Elf. We had to do all sorts of fun little activities, and of cores dress up like an elf. We ate spaghetti covered in syrup, sang Christmas carols, had an Etch-a-Sketch competition, which I won, a candy tasting competition and more. Everyone had a ton of fun! There were people from his church there, from best buddies, and family friends. There were people with all sorts of ability levels there too. Some people that were invited had disabilities, while others didn’t or had very  mild ones, almost not noticeable.

 If you decide to throw a party make sure there are plenty of things to do there, so people will want to stay as long as they can. Also make sure your child is comfortable having all of those people over at the house, for many it would be the first party they will have been to and there are a lot of different people in the house that they aren’t used to in that setting. Make sure a lot of guests will come. This will make your child feel very special. Make sure your child has fun and doesn’t fade into the background.

Options Closing Its Doors?

http://thegazette.com/2013/11/30/options-of-linn-county-is-the-facility-for-intellectually-disabled-an-affordable-option/

Options is a lifeline for people with Disabilities. It is a jobsite where people with Intellectual Disabilities go to have a job if they otherwise could not. It provides them with a great opportunity they would not have if they lived anywhere else. It makes them more independent because they get a paycheck like everyone else and can pay for their own things.

Closing this great place would be disastrous for the people who depend on it so much. The people who work there love it there. There have been rumors of it closing for a long time, but this time it is a little more serious. The Gazette even wrote an article on them possibly closing their doors. I know it is a little expensive of a program to have, but it helps so many people.

It also helps in other ways you wouldn’t think of. It opens more basic level jobs that the people that work at Options would take.

Autism and Asperger's

Introductions

Introductions are a difficult thing to do a lot of the time. Depending on the severity of the individual introductions can be a stressful process. They can also be awkward for the other person involved if they know nothing about people with disabilities. Introductions have to be planned out to some extent and are mandatory before leaving them alone with the person for an extended period of time in most cases. Again all of this depends on the severity of the person affected with the disabilities.

Kind Stranger

There is an article on ABC News about a stranger’s kind interaction with a child with autism. This goes to show what a simple act of kindness can do for someone, especially someone with Autism. This man could have done a number of other things, or just ignored her, instead he played with her. 

This is not generally what a stranger would do in a situation like this one. They normally ignore the child which I find a tad rude, even though they feel uncomfortable, there is no need to make the child feel uncomfortable as well. The child is innocent, and the least you can do is give them some attention to make it seem like they are recognized. He went above and beyond though, and played with her the whole plane ride. 

This man was probably not used to children with special needs, but he was so kind to Kate. This was a great act of kindness from him. I think more people need to follow his example he set. This is not a case of some person who has children with special needs or works with them interacting with this child on the plane. This was just some stranger without connections into that world. 

The mother was also very nice and wrote a nice blog post explaining the interaction in more detail. This just shows how great he was to her. He entertained her the entire plane ride, which is hard for someone to do that isn’t used to being around someone with special needs. When her mini freak out happened and he tried to help it was also shows that he was attached to her. It is hard not to get a little attached, because they makes such a strong impression on you, especially when you sit and talk to them for a while.

In the video on the website it shows him getting emotional about the thank you he received from Kate’s mother.  This is also another sign of him being a slight bit attached to her. It also shows how touching her words were for him. He thought of it as a polite gesture, but to her it meant so much more. It was so sweet of him to do this I hope other people learn from this, take it as an example, and follow it.

Group Homes

Choosing whether to put your child in a group home can be a difficult decision for many parents who have children with severe disabilities. They can be criticized with whatever choice they make, but the critics don’t know anything until they go a day in their shoes. It can be a difficult living situation, or ever dangerous for some of the people living there. It mostly depends on the child but I always back up sending a child with disabilities to a group home. It may sound harsh at first but there are logical reasons for doing it.

If the child is a danger to themself or others they should probably be put into a group home. Most parents have jobs and it is hard to keep up with a child that could be threatening another child in the home. Sometimes the children get too big and strong and the parents just cannot physically keep them out of harm’s way. This is when it is time to move the child to a group home, where they can get the necessary care to live a happy and safe life.

Another reason is what happens if the parents were to get into some kind of accident? The child would lose any consistency they had prior to the accident and be forced into a group home, which would cause a lot of unnecessary stress. If they were already in a group home they would get just have one thing change in that instance, not everything at once.

Another benefit would be having happier time with them. It might not be more time but the visits can be full of fun and happiness instead of stress of trying to take care of them 24/7. That may sound bad but it can be very stressful and it takes a toll on the whole family. Visiting them would be much less stressful than having them at home. This creates a better environment for everyone in the family because everyone can be happy and everyone can have a peaceful place to live, getting the attention they need. They also have a lot less stress in the household.

All of this being said, it is still completely based on the child, and their age. Some are ready to move out earlier than others, while others need to move out before others would ever move out. This is all based on the need and readiness of the child, or adult in some cases.

CI ruining Deaf Culture?

Is the cochlear implant ruining the deaf culture? That is a very hot debate and argument in whether people should get the cochlear implant or not. A cochlear implant makes a deaf person have something similar to hearing, which would change the way they communicate from sign to speaking. I personally think that cochlear implants have good parts and bad parts to them, but do threaten to ruin deaf culture.

At the center of every culture there is a language. The language is the heart of the culture, without it, the culture fades away. If the language begins to go away then the culture itself will begin to diminish as well. This could happen with deaf culture. As sign language is used less and less because of the cochlear implants the culture is becoming less known with deaf people.  If more deaf people get the implant then there is less people to share the language with which will lead to the downfall of the culture.

Another issue is they become accustom to hearing culture more than the deaf culture. Kids are getting the implants starting at a very young age, they can even get it before they turn two years old! If they get them this early there is a good chance they will just get involved with hearing culture and not even worry about deaf culture.

Which School?

There are different options for deaf children to go to school ranging from going to a public school to going to an all deaf school. If they go to an all deaf school they have the choice of going to an orally taught school or one where ASL is used. I think the all deaf school with the ASL teaching is the best choice for a deaf child.

The ASL method has been successful for a long time, and will give them more options than going to one of the other schools. They do not need an interpreter at this school, like they would at a mainstream school. They are dependent on learning from an interpreter, rather than learning from the teacher. They have devices now to help, but they still don’t capture every word correctly and it takes the focus off the teacher and the lesson.

Anyone who is taught orally is at a slight disadvantage in some ways. It takes a lot longer to learn how to speak when you cannot hear, which impairs how long it would take for the student to learn the material and words. They learn a lot less when they have to focus on how to make sounds they can’t hear and read lips. The oral only method actually helped with the old “deaf and dumb” term that used to be used to describe deaf people. They just couldn’t learn as much because it takes a lot longer to be able to talk and read lips. After each new word learned the student would have to go back and try to imitate it, they cannot just simply learn the alphabet and sound out words. It has improved with technology, but is still difficult to do.

Another downfall to the oral method is that lip reading can be inaccurate and lead to misunderstanding or misinterpreting. Lip reading is also difficult, for both hearing and deaf people alike. Most of the time reading lips isn’t accurate then, there is a misunderstanding between the two that are talking to each other. They also won’t be provided an interpreter in some legal cases which can be hard. Some people don’t learn how to use ASL and if they happen to be in a legal situation and don’t know what someone is saying they have less of a way to understand them.

The schools that have all ASL learning is the best case scenario. Teachers teach the students without an interpreter needed. The students can focus on the lessons and ask questions easier than in mainstream schools. They can learn a large vocabulary with their signs, because it is not limited in voice coaching. They also learn writing to be able to communicate with people who don’t know ASL. With ASL there isn’t much room for misinterpretation, because each sign has its own meaning. They will always be provided an interpreter for any reason they would need one. I think another very important reason is they are surrounded by other students with the same impairment they are, so bullying for being deaf cannot occur.

For all of the reasons stated above, I think that if there is a deaf child and they are at the age where they need to start school they should be going to one where it is ASL based and taught. I think it would be in that person’s best interest to go to that type of school. There are other options the need is definitely based on the child, and differs from child to child. I still think the ASL schools offer the best opportunity for deaf students.