We all learn differently and that's okay!
FROM DISABILITY TO POSSIBILITY
Summary of the Book Chapters
Diversity is Good
CHAPTER 1
In the first chapter I really could relate to how the author talked about some of the people he encountered. I noticed that the author is giving examples of people who have a disability and how they are unemployed because of that. What I realize is that there are a lot more people who are unemployed because they have a disability, this is an issue because employers do not want to “deal” with adjusting their place for someone else. This is sad in a way since people who have a disability just want to work it is not fair for them at all. Working is a great way to learn and grow, this is perfect for people with disabilities, especially if they have a hard time communicating, they can learn communication skills and how to work with others, which is beneficial for them to learn and grow. The author makes a point to say that people with disabilities were forced to live segregated lives. What he meant was that students or people with disabilities had to go somewhere else to learn which is not fair because there was no one who could help in the regular school system. That does not seem fair to the kiddos with disabilities because they are treated unfairly because they learn differently, this is what I am wanting to change. I am wanting to show kids with a disability or without a disability that anything is possible, we can all learn at different rates and that is okay. Another thing that the author makes a point to say is that people are afraid of people who have disabilities, which I could not agree more with that, since people with disabilities are just that people with a disability.
Special Education Services
CHAPTER 2
With chapter two this made me think a little bit differently in the sense of how a child should be treated in the education system. I liked how the Special Education teacher talked to the General Education teacher about Susan. This was a way of showing General Education teachers that they can teach students with disabilities. This made me think about when I become a Special Education teacher to make sure to take time and look at lessons ahead of time with the General Education teacher. Getting to talk it out with the teacher ahead of time and figure out how they can help their students who have the extra services of Special Education in the General Education classroom.
The first thing that we learn in Special Education is that we are here to help our students in a different way. The chapter also talks about the learning is equal but not the same. Students think that getting services through the Special Education system is bad and they can shut down. That’s what I used to do, although I never received Special Education services I was treated differently by my peers and teachers because I learned differently. My teachers taught us all the same way, but it was not equal for me. That is something I want to change with my future students I want them to know that it is okay to ask for help and to not feel ashamed of their learning differences like how I grew up. That is what this chapter meant to me just like the title says, “Special Education is a service, not a sentence.”
Double Standards and Expectations
CHAPTER 3
This chapter was very interesting in the sense that students were not given a double standard. Teachers see students with disabilities as “I am not dealing with the situation.” This can be hurtful for students with special needs. The reason why is because they are not being punished the same way a student who is not receiving the services. Students with special needs are put into a category of let them get away with things and are not held to the same standards as a student who is not receiving those services. A perfect example from the book was when the author talks about the student who ran into the girl’s bathroom, and how in elementary they did not punish him for doing that. This was an issue because by the teachers in elementary school ignoring the behavior it made the behavior worse. When the student got to middle school, they punished him for going into the girl’s bathroom and that issue was addressed. This is a great way to hold students accountable for their behavior, if we don’t address the behavior (even though they are receiving services) the behavior will not only continue it could get worse.
Another thought I had was about including all the students in the cafeteria setting. That struck me because we have all talked about as a class about how we noticed students with disabilities being put at different tables at lunch and being singled out basically. By doing that the author talks about how the students who are receiving services are not going to learn social behaviors with their peers if they are with the same people every day. By letting students with disabilities interact with their peers who are not receiving services can help the students learn and grow.
Special Education Services and Inclusion
CHAPTER 4 & 5
Chapter 4 was very difficult to read for me. It talked about multiple students not being able to get the help they need. The first student was acting out because their life was basically falling apart in their eyes. This is what happens to students and instead of us just pushing them to the side I feel like we need to be more understanding and adjust how we approach the child instead of just sending them to another school. Kids need to have normalcy in school when their life at home is being turned upside down. Another student was put in Special Education and the interventions that were used were not working. Instead of changing the intervention the school did nothing of keeping progress monitoring. Just like the author said that is very illegal for that to even happen. What I strive for is to always support the child and gain the progress of increasing their skills.
For chapter 5, it was all about inclusion and how to help a child that is in it. The chapter talks about how it is something that is different but at the same time it is another way of providing services to children. As I was reading the first part talks about the child who was in inclusion could not read out loud and with inclusion and Special Education services the child was able to read a full paragraph out loud. Which to us is nothing but to this child is was something major. That is what this service is all about showing a child that they can do something even if it seems minor to us it’s a big deal to them. The child at the end of the chapter where they talked about how he could not talk and needed an assistive technology to speak was not able to take a state exam. This was interesting to me since we are always told to challenge the child but giving them their supports that they need to succeed, so when the child was told “no” to not challenge himself because he could not communicate was very interesting.
Dignity for all Students
CHAPTER 6 & 8
In chapter 6 it was very interesting me when the author talks about how we should always focus on the student’s independence and not holding them back. This was interesting to me since we always resort to giving the student extra care and making sure they are safe by letting them do what we already know they are capable of. That is something that is a great take away from the chapter is to let the student be themselves. Show them new things and how to make sure they stay safe. The example of Ben and Lynda was that the parents wanted them to independent, sure there was some issues with them when they had that independence, but the parents did not want to stop the students.
For chapter 8 what was interesting to me was that the students had gotten labeled by their disability, just like what the title said, however what the author did was very interesting to me. What he did was he took the students behavior and turned it around. Something that I took away from this chapter is that you take away the visual of their label and see them as a citizen of the community and teaching them how to become that citizen and to become that student who can be that astronaut, or a truck driver, or even a construction worker. That is something that we want them to know is that in order to get to what they want to be in life they must complete their schooling in order to get there, but that we will be there to help them. It is all about giving them that incentive and not punishing them for their disability.
Parent Collaboration
CHAPTER 7
In this chapter it was very interesting. At the end of the chapter the author talked about the situation with David and his situation with his family. This was interesting because family members are the support systems for a child with a disability. The issues with this family was that the mom was a single mother who works double shifts. The school did not realize this and wrote the mother off as not wanting to be a part of her child’s life and they assumed she did not care. Which was wrong because she had to work, she could not make the meetings the school had set to discuss her son’s education and how to help him because they always scheduled the time for when she cannot do it. Well the author realized this, and he adjusted the time to make it work for her and the family.
Taking the time to know what issues and obstacles a family has and adjusting to them is something that is important. We as educators adjust to the child and their needs why not adjusting to the child’s family? That was a question I had while reading this because we spend so much time adjusting to the child’s needs. It was shown that after the author had the meeting with David’s family, they were able to help David in the way he needs inside of school and outside of school.
Make Education Real
CHAPTER 9
In this chapter there was a lot of information I did not agree with, with the author. The tactic of the life skills and how the students can learn about money, time, and table manners through life experiences, and scaring the two students Justin and Ella through putting them through real life situations of their lives being in danger. These situations that the author talks about are situations that could have been approached differently.
With the life skills the author talks about how the students can learn to count money through life experiences. That is something that needs to be taught first before letting the students figure it out on their own. If we teach the child about the value of money first, and then take them to the cafeteria and show how to give the proper cash that would be helpful to the child. Another thing to further their understanding you can teach them about budgeting in a simpler context of teaching them that if they spend “x” amount on chips and they only have $10 they will have a certain amount left to spend. Another thing that I did not agree with when the author was talking about life skills is that the students can learn about time telling as they are in a social setting. That is something else that I do not agree with. It is like telling a student who is not receiving Special Education services that they must learn about reading time all by themselves. It is important that we teach everyone how to read time, for life skills it will be taught differently but this is something that should be taught in a classroom setting and then applied in the community. With the table manners the students can be given a social story to help them prepare themselves of how they should act at the table and then given the chance to apply that behavior that was taught, that is not something children can learn as they go like the author stated.
The last part that I did not agree with was the issues of scaring the students by giving them ‘tough love.’ For both Justin and Ella there could have been different tactics used rather than arresting or pretending they were going to get kidnapped. For Justin the parents and the author could have had the employer “fire” him from the job this would have showed Justin that if he stole from his job that he loved he would get fired which is what the employer warned about. It is all about following through with what they say as a warning. For Ella I know that there could have been another way of showing her that it is not okay to be talking to strangers. They could have given her a social story or even have someone standing next to her for a few weeks to help correct the behavior and show her that those are not okay statements to be making to people.
There was a lot of statements that the author made that were very interesting to me and made me rethink about what I would do differently in certain situations.
Disability is Normal
CHAPTER 10
As I was reading the last chapter of this book it all made sense to me. The issues that people have are not just for young students or high school students it is within everyone. With the story of Bob and how he never could get a job really stood out to me. Someone his age never being able to work because he is in a wheelchair is not okay and does not sit right with me. People only saw him as a man in the wheelchair, no one took the opportunity to get to know him as a person. Until, his boss took a chance and hired him for something anyone can do but the boss saw something in Bob and gave him that opportunity to earn money and contribute to society. This not only helped Bob in his emotional state, but the job helped him physically.
To me hiring people with disabilities should not be an issue. We all have our own challenges, but that does not stop us from getting a job that someone else who may need extra help can do. The author made a comment that Bob was so motivated to work, the difference between Bob and someone who does not have a disability is that he was motivated to just have a job. Bob did not care about the money he cared about making friends and doing something. Everyone takes for granted how good we have it sometimes and don’t realize what other people through to get to where you are.
This all leads back to being inclusive in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Students with a disability not only feel left out of things but they don’t feel like it’s fair they get treated differently because they may look different on the outside. Kids with disabilities are just as capable of doing something as much as a student who does not have a disability. It is our job to make sure they get there, sure it may be in a different way that the student gets to a certain goal, but it’s just the matter of getting them there and letting them say they have accomplished something on their own.