Spring Quarter 2015

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  Back in November    my philosophy  teacher told me about these trees.  He  said that  they are the same tree planted at the
same time but  one is different then the others.   I am like a red  tree .  I still want to graduate  asap  though :)

   The year is winding down.  I am  almost done as I begin  writing this  I  have finished  two out of three classes at   my new university.  I  decided in   late November to  apply  to another school a public university  about an  half hour from my house.  I got in there.  Ironically I  got into this school way back when I  graduated from high school.   I would not trade those times at my Second home for anything though.

 First day of Spring Quarter 

            These first six months of 2015 have been rocky but  my life has always been a series of ups and  down.    January and February were filled with  depression as    I   was not able to go  to school because my private school kicked me out.   In  late March  I  decided to  try something new.  I had  a great philosophy teacher,  B,  who encouraged me to drop his class and try  the school I got into .


B  gave  me an incentive for me to finish my  BA.    B  also  helped me  by  telling me about a program called  Open  University. This  is a program at Cal  State schools where  anyone can pay a fee to  take classes. This  is what I am  doing so I can  gain credits that count towards my  major  before the fall term.   Anyone  can  enroll in   Open University  there is a form you  fill out but there is no need for transcripts or  grades.   I am  so happy that B  recommended  this program.  The only  downside is that the units cost more.

 I had to go  karting for a class project. I made a video  which got  100 percent 

     I  was able to  take  three  classes.   Thats right  THREE classes  or  12  units which means that I went  full time.  Something  I had  earn at my private school.    Two  online classes and one in person class.    My  behavior in those classes has been  great    and    I have learned a ton.   I  felt a part of the classes  instead of  an outsider.    I  do not  feel  like a trained  seal when i do well  on assignments;therefore, I have excelled.  The only downside  is  I had to take a leave from work.  I  may  be able to work  again  next week though.


  What has changed in ten weeks

 Confidence  and a new found  belief in myself that I can   finish my  BA.

 Units  After  I  pass  all my classes  I will double the upper   division   units  that I took  at the private school.

 I  made a  worksheet  for a class  project.

     Me  yesterday  after finishing finals

I do my own laundry

 I do my own Landry at home 

 So  for those of you that do not know  what is happening  read here.   Then come back, then read here.



                                                                           HOW 
                                       IS 

  THIS 

OK?

  HOW  IS OKEY FOR ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE   TO BECOME SERVANTS TO THE OTHER?

      ITS NOT 

   WHAT MESSAGE  DOES IT SEND TO THE OTHER  STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL.

  THEY ARE SEPARATE, THEY ARE SPECIAL THEY DO NOT BELONG.

     THIS IS  TOOO IMPORTANT.    WHEN PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE GIVEN   THE DIRTY  JOBS   AT  11 OR 12 , WHAT MESSAGE  DOES THAT SEND TO THEM.  WHERE IS THE  PRESUMPTION OF COMPETENCE?   its not there.    WHERE ARE  THE BOOKS, MATH BLOCKS,   EGYPTIAN TUMS  WITH MUMMIES,   WHERE ARE THE  SCINCE EXPERIMENTS.    

  THOSE THINGS MATTER.  Reading matters because information is  in these  books. Stories   of our past.  Explores   Dragons    Shakespeare they matter .

  Writing  to be  able to connect  with people over social media  is important.   Sharing our own stories  so that future generations  will know us.

 History   the stories of the past  are a light to  understanding our future.

Science   to discover  how the world works,   It is also fun,  

 So in short  why are you wasting precious learning time  doing laundry in middle school when  most kids don't. 

   There was a  time in American history where one  group  of people  did the dirty  work in America.   They  did the laundry.  They   cleaned up the house, They   worked  the  fields  and picked cotton too,    They were slaves in America.  We now  look down on this  as a  society . Although this isn't slavery. Its  still dehumanizing.

Blogging against disablism day 2015 : My ideal classroom

           


 This quarter  I am venturing into  my field of choice,  special education,  my  goal: to become a special education teacher  who provides  inclusive services to high school students with intellectual disabilities .

 image of and empty classroom. The classroom has desks  a flag and Television

      My  program would  have  kids with intellectual disabilities included for English, History, and Science and  elective with modifications and  support.  They would  be doing work that  is connected to what the other  students in class are doing  modified to their  level.

 My students  would have math and life skills  in a special education class that I would teach.  I say math because some of my students might need  life skill math.     The math would be temporary   I would reach out to general education  math  teacher with the hope  of  having students with intellectual disabilities included. I would  try to offer life skills for general education students because  all kids need to learn life skills,   Life skills would be one period.

  A lunch time sandwich shop  which  students with and without disabilities would get work  experience,

   Office Aids  and on campus jobs for  my students.

  A chance to participate in sports and  plays or anything else that students are interested in.

  Homework every night  to reinforce learning concepts.

   Special Olympics  practices that would be healed  AFTER SCHOOL  once a week and compete in the community program.

  Independence jars where  students  can do things both at school and in the community and then  get  tokens  to earn  for their jars.

     Presumed  Competence

    Fun club  which would take place monthly. Students  with and without disabilities would be invited  to do fun things in the community.  Events would include   activities in their communities.   This would be done after school.

  Lofty  goals  and high expectations.

   My  main goal for my  students would be to learn and have fun. (in that order)



  Who  knows  as I go through my  teaching maybe  I will  add more things to this list. One thing that will not change in my mind is  inclusion in core subjects.   I am a die hard inclusion fan for life.

 My high school  graduation photo. 

The best word in a human development textbook

 my textbook 

     So  Monday night  was  spent  reading   a  textbook about Child Cognitive Development.  It was a long   chapter. Forty pages about the  brain development.   The chapter was very fascinating  , especially about  the brain. The best part though  came with a little word. It was not very long only  one vowel and three consistences.  Th word was
Most.  The sentience talked about the fact that most babies  who are over two walk.  This was music to my ears, literally  I read out loud to increase my comprehension.

       The  reason why  most is such a great word it that it leaves room for people who are different.  I had to read  a text book  that was so exclusive  and ablest  it was hard to read.  That  text book   said that all children learn language without ever being taught. This cut like a knife because learning to speak clearly is something I  struggled with at 22  and continue to   try to learn at 23.   I am not  delusional, I know that many people speak clearly without thought and do not have to think about walking or use their hands, but to deny  the experiences of those of us who struggle to do these things is not fair.  By including most it  allows for the diversity of the human experience.  It is allowing for  the disabled  to be included   as people.    One small word goes a long word in telling all people that  there experience is  valid.   They are still people  and  they matter.  

Cerebral Palsy Party Day 18 : National Cerebral Palsy Day 2015 - Please don't blow the candle out - A Ceep view on curing disabilities

         

  Happy   National  Cerebral Palsy   Day  everyone and the last day of  theCerebral Palsy  Party.   I hope  you are all  wearing green  today.
   Today is the  national day for Cerebral  Palsy Awareness. The history behind this is  Reaching for the stars.  These  guys are  trying to eventually find a cure for CP.

             Hay  guys  I want to let  you in on a secret. We don't  need a cure,  Now  at this point you may be thinking that this   person is  crazy and  doesn't make sense.   So on this day  I want to  share my feelings with you about why   as a person with Cerebral Palsy. The idea of a cure is treating to me.   I hope that there will not be a  cure  for CP or any other disability we are meant to be here.  

Keep the  candle  burning  people with CP are not  mistakes

        Now  there are two ways to look at disability.  One  way is to  say that disability is mistake,  a  mutation, damaged  broken. Disability is seen as a flaw.  This view  makes it easier to  separate  people with disabilities because  after all they are broken people who need to be fixed. This is known as the medical modal.   This is the dominate view  of disabilities that is  deeply imbedded into society. 

   Some  people with disabilities   see that   the world has it wrong.  Instead of believing that  people with disabilities are flawed   the society is at fault for denying us  rights.    I mean  the ADA  is  only 25    this  year .     Low expectations rule supreme  and segregation is still  practiced  under the name special.  That is far more disabling then  the disability.  I have  a personal experience with this.

   I come  from  a big sport family.    Both my parents played sports in their youth.   My brother played baseball for a number of years  and I spent saturdays at baseball games supporting him.  When  the fine motor challenges of playing with dolls  became too much for me I  turned to sports  where I was   able to join community team and recess.  I was a  true tom boy.  Did CP make it hard for me to play you  bet  but  I  really liked playing.

 In  eighth grade  I came to the realization that I probably  would not  continue to play  on inclusive teams.   IT WAS THEN THAT I LONGED TO BE NORMAL.   It was not  that I couldn't  talk clearly,  or   use my hands.  IT  WAS THAT I WAS NOT  GOING TO BE ABLE TO BE INCLUDED ON  A SPORT TEAM. 

 Now  if  there was a inclusion basketball team  I would not  have  yearned to be normal because  I  still would have been included on  a  sport team like I always  wanted to do.  If there were  the same opportunities offered to me  as my parents and siblings and to all  citizens  then    there  wouldn't need to be a cure because we  would be able to contribute to society.   

    Its like this, think of    life as a movie theater, now imagined   instead of seeing the movie  in two d  and  3d   You  saw it  through color lens.     These lenses  tint what  you see and how you  view    them.   A lot of factors go through  these color lenses including  race, gender,  economic status  ,family , political  ideation,and  disability.  In short the thing that you  are trying to cure has shaped how  I see the world around me.   I have lived with it my  entire life and will continue to live with it til  I  die.   If  disabilities were not suppose to exist   then they  would not  exist.  They have always been around .   It is  a part of diversity. One that I hope will always  be  included in every aspect of life.

  Happy  Cerebral Palsy   Awareness   Day.





    I am  disabled  and  proud

    There are no  new post   tomorrow but be sure  to   check out my other  post from CP month.

Cerebral Palsy Party Day 17 : Gifts

 

 What is  a birthday  party  without  gifts.

 Today's  post will be a guest post.   I  asked people with CP in a facebook group that I am in to    tell me what   are some  gifts  that have been   given  to you because of CP.

This is what  other people  said.



"A more open mind to race gender sexual orientation social and economic inequality."

"A better understanding of social issues, I suppose."

"a sense of humor. 

"All of the above"

"Empathy"

Creative problem-solving skills.

It's hard for me to pick out specific gifts because cp has impacted so much in my life mostly in a positive way. Nothing about me would be the same without cp, that includes my gifts. I guess the greatest gifts I have because of my cp is the ability to use my experiences as a disabled person to help others with disabilities, especially children with disabilities.

  

Please  be sure to wear  green tomorrow for   CP  Day .    Here is a video that I was a part of.

 See you tomarrow and do not forget to go green,

Cerebral Palsy Party Day 16: Thank you Cerebral Palsy

   So   Last week  was a   really fun  week with videos   this week  will be back  to  blogging

   What party is  complete without Thank you cards .     They Show    appreciation  for the gifts   you  got.   I  have been  really  bad with  thank you cards so  I am  going to  do  it early.

  Today I want to  share with you my thank you letter  to my CP.    Think that CP  Doesn't  have  anything to thank me for guess again.
   
*****************This is my  Opinion.  Everyone is entitled to  one.  This one  just is mine.   I am only speaking for myself. ******






Dear  Cerebral  Palsy,
               To  many outsiders  you are nothing but a burden.  Damaged  broken  something that lessons my  quality of life, yet to me you  are the best surprise  that my  parents ever   got.      While many   people are not sure  what they  want  to do professionally.  You  have  made it so easy  for me to decide what I want to do  with my life...  Go  into the field of  disability and special  education because  of you   the choice is simple.  I have  known  since  third  grade.

You  force  me  to see  the world from a unique perspective.   Where as  walking  talking  using  your hands with ease can sometimes be  taken for granted our mussels  are  tight ( pun  intended ) .  When  I am  able to say  a new sound,  cut  with  a fork or knife,  or  write  neatly  it is a celebration thank you  CP for giving me   more to celebrate.

 

 Last year 's   basketball tournament 

Thank you  CP  for allowing me to be able to easily  see  the  competence of  people with  disabilities.  I  see in  in  LM  and all  my special  olympics   team mates .  I  do not put on the   disabled glasses that see people  with disabilities  as  broken  or   for ever children.  I see them as  fully  human beings capable of  both  good and bad.      I am  able to see  past the ablest attitudes   that are so prevalent within our society and  want to fight them.  I am  a big  supporter of inclusion because    I  have  had to cope with a society that routinely tells me that  I am  separate  because  I am not "normal".


  In short  thank-you Cerebral  Palsy for  shaping  me into the person I am  today.   I  do not  view you  as   accident.  We were meant   to be together on this journey  called  life.


   Your best friend

  AZ  Chapman

 PS  Thank you  for allowing me to feel an instant connection  to other Ceeps.   And for  giving me a key into  the best  online community of  disabled people.