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.