Palsy Party 2016 Day Seven :General Education Physical Education

 

     I am a big believer in  inclusive  education, I am a die hard inclusion fan for life, This will never change.


         In  Academic classes  I can pretty much keep up. I can go to class  sit down and learn. I can write papers and take tests without modifications.  I have never need modifications  throughout my school  life .  My  IEP  gave me accommodations and speech therapy.

 Art Class 2010

 When it came time for  recreational classes  art and  PE, things looked a lot different.  In high school  I took a ceramics class.  I needed a lot of  help  because of my fine motor difficulties.  I enjoyed  painting  my pieces and still have a bunch of my   work from that class.

   Now  I am a college senior. When  I went to a consular they  told me  I needed two more units of PE.  Ok  no problem.  I am a big sports fan and my CP  is very mild,  I  walk without  any adapted equipment.   I took  Yoga  last  semester  and  Judo, from a  Jujutsu perspective
  this  past quarter. My last class was last night.

Yoga 2015 

  Now  Yoga was really hard for me.  My CP  though mild is hard has affected my  balance.    I would pose and then fall. I spent a lot of time  laying down in  the pose.  My teacher was nice  but  she couldn't help me one on one because of a big class.   At the  beginning of the semester,   I was  seen as a behavior problem because  I  fell into other students.   In the end I did Yoga in the corner  using a  big gym mat.

  Now  judo this semester was much mo.  The teacher went very fast but was willing to  teach me deferent paces.   A big thing  that made a whole lot of difference was another student.  He works as a PT  aide in a hospital  and knows all about CP.   He was able to break stuff down  and allowed me to learn the moves.   He gave me balance  activities   to do.   I loved working with him.    I wouldn't have been successful without him and am truly sad that  class is over because I do not know when  we will meet up.   We were paired up for the final and  he was able to talk me through the moves.   I got a lot out of that class  because   he was there.  I think  the class would have been more frustrating  if he was not in the class.   He has made all the difference.

Cerebral Palsy Day Six. mini me

 Me as a  newborn

Cerebral Palsy Party Day Five:When we are not there you miss out

 So yesterday I  talked about my friend  KB,  KB  is my good friend from my private school;however, it is lucky that we are still friends,but more on that  later.

   These past  month , I have heard troubling news  from   three  mothers . One parent had  pulled her child out of school, another  was told despite progress ,he  had to switch schools. Another  school ,of faith mind you , rejected  her  child.

    These three children  resides in the United States. These three children are missing  out on a good education. Why?   Because these three children have Down Syndrome.

    When schools deny   students with disabilities  they undoubtedly miss out on inclusive education;however , they aren't the only ones who miss out.



 GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS 

Inclusion  makes Everyone happy. The women
on the left was my 9th grade PE Teacher.  Picture is from
Senior year  Winter 2010. My mother had to advocate
 for me when I was in this class freshman year;however
by senior year I was able to be  ball manager  for the
  Laddies Varsity team.  Took her three years before I was
able to show her the power of inclusion.   More on PE
later this month.    

  General Education teachers miss out on an opportunity to know and  teach a student with disabilities.
They miss out on  learning new ways  of  reaching all learners.  They miss out  on becoming better teachers  and  celebrating   those little moments that to general education students don't realize;however, when   student with  significant  disabilities  does them they  realize  Just how big  these little moments are.   They miss out on sharing there knowledge with  kids.    They miss out  of approaching  things in a new way.   They miss out on all of this because   the district , or administrator

 GENERAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

 Me and a friend from  high school playing golf  spring 2015 For more
on this Click Here 

   Students without disabilities   miss out on  knowing a person with a disability.   These guys  miss out  at knowing at a formative age that  disability is a part of diversity.   These kids miss out on learning about an unique person.  So often   Biology text books talk about Down Syndrome or  other disabilities, however,  how cool would it be if instead of learning about  this abstract concept  they learned  from  hands on experience of  talking,  playing,   dancing with  a  person with Down Syndrome.  How empowering would it be  if  working with  students with disabilities  taught them the  abilities that we do posses,  yes  we do have them.   If these kids grow up and  become adults that have  children and they  receive the news that  their baby or toddler, depending on the diagnosis, has a significant disability  perhaps  they will   not  be so fearful and chose life.  Perhaps these students become doctors  and  will be able to treat new parents and  patients with disabilities with respect.


So  about  KB.  Well  when I was kicked out two times   at school. I saw him and all my friends from the private school less  often.   He admitted to me that it was hard to hang out  because  he was busy with school.   As bad as the private school was  I am  thankful that I went because I made some lifelong friends.   But we all missed out because  I was not included.

Cerebral Palsy Party 2016 : Friendship

  Hi  guys,

 Today I am  going to talk about friends,  I have mentioned earlier but it is fine time to post an update.  A lot  of things have changed since I last blogged about this.


   You may remember that  I used to go to a school that wasn't inclusive.  It was a private university.   What you may not have known is that I made great friendships there.  One of them was a  biology student.  In fact one of the two reasons , the other being my mother, why I went back in the fall  of 2015, was to be around   this guy.   He is that awesome.  He wants to be a doctor and I think he will be the best doctor in the world, he is smart caring and does not judge .    He graduated last year, and will be applying to medical school next year.    But in the meantime he will be spending some time helping  disabled kids and endangered animals in  South America for a few  months .   He leaves  tonight.   On the  last day  before  he heads to the airport, he  spent some time with me.  So  yes   he truly is a friend.
                     I think the key to a friendships is that we are   equal.  He  helps me  if  I need help, but  I do my part to help him as well.   For example ,  he  may drive me to a restaurant, but I  pay for the  meal.   He listened  to me when  I was having difficulty at my school, and I listen to him as  he has problems.   I am so  glad that I have a friend in him.  I will miss him and eagerly await his  return in May.

http://www.informationnine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/237.jpg

Cerebral Palsy Party Day Five Becoming Bullet Proof.

  So  I just finished watching an amazing documentary and film.   Bulletproof   is about a bar tender  who  is under threat by a gambler  who wants to take over the  bar to make an hotel.    Sounds like an ordinary movie   right.     It is but it isn't as the cast is comprised of people with and without disabilities.    All the main characters  have  a disability  whether its  Cerebral Palsy  Williams Syndrome or Down Syndrome.


     Since its Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.   I am  going to talk about AJ.  AJ is man that has CP.   He is in a wheelchair and tends to be trapped  at his home a lot with his mom and sisters. AJ acted in many  plays when he was younger  so when he heard about the program,  which  shoots in  the  LA  area, he  begs and begs for a chance to go to camp ,  I tend to  do this a lot too.  The Film  Becoming Bulletproof  follows his journey to make   Bulletproof.


         I  really liked this movie.  As a disabled  advocate I have always been all for inclusion  of people with disabilities both  among disabled people, physical  and intellectual,  along with people without disabilities. This movie does both which is refreshing to see.  One of the things that  was hard to hear as a person with CP was when AJ says that he feels like he doesn't have a chance to give back. As a young person with CP  I totally understand where he is coming from.  I feel fortune that I am able to give back  but it is hard because some people are unwilling to accept the help.


 This is a great movie that comes highly recommend.

  Here are some links

 the Trailer





  The movie  Bulletproof

Bulletproof RECUT FINAL 720 MED from Zeno Mountain Farm on Vimeo.


  A link to   the organization  Zeno   Mountain  Farm 

Cerebral Palsy Party Day Three: Inventions that increase independence

   Long time readers may remember that  I used to have a baby sitter, T,  T  stayed with us from the time  I was in  Kindergarten til  I graduated from high school.

  T and AZ   at  AZ's High School Graduation  2010

 One of the things  that T did for us kids was laundry which meant after  she left I  had to do my own  washing. This  posed some challenges for me  due to find motor and forgetfulness.  When it came to soap  I could never  navigate the soap.  I would load the clothes in the washing machine  then  have someone help me pour the soap into the right compartment.



  When my family discovered pods, pictured below,  they totally allowed me to be independent in my laundry.  Pods are soap packs that you put into the main compartment with the clothes.    It makes it easy to  wash. These can be found at many stores and are not  too  expensive.  These help me  be independent.          

  You  put the thing on the right  in the wash.

 Tide  DID NOT SPONSOR  THIS POST .  THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HERE ARE MY OWN

Palsy Party Day Two : Never a good word

 Today is Spread the Word to  End the word.

 The word is Retarded.  It is not a nice word.

 In a US  History class at my private college.  Which  was not inclusive.   My professor used this  word.  My  stomach  dropped.    He said  something about  the fact that   Cotton gin  was not  invented  retarded   the  growth  of cotton.


 Now  you  may be wondering  why this upset me, it still does  because  my reaction to it  was a reason why I was not permitted  to attend  the next year.  First off  the professor  yelled at me  saying it was a fine word to use in that case. Second  the administration  defended him, including the  disability person.

   I am sorry but when is that word ever okey. Why is it that a term that is considered hurtful to  people, children and adults,  ever be okey to use.    If   a student with an intellectual disability  was in the class they may not understand that you were not talking about them.  That is why it is never a  good word to use.

  Please go sign the pledge  and eliminate this dreadful word from your vocabulary.