Cerebral Palsy part eleven Playing unified

 A great video.  Click  Here to watch

Cerebral Palsy Party day ten Skiing

I love skiing  I have not been  in a while but it isn't for lack of asking.  I love  going down the mountain.   Skiing  is one of those sports that can be made adaptable for all kids.  Click here to see     adapted Skiing in action.

 Skiing in Tahoe a few years ago 

Cerebral Palsy Party day nine : Ted Talk

  Hay guys  so  I  have a final  on Wednesday so   I am sharing videos.   Today's video  is a Ted Talk by Shelly More.  I met Shelly  in a  inclusive  fb page filled  with people with different diagnosis teachers and para educators.Click here to listen.

Cerebral Palsy Party day eight Great song

So last night I saw wicked  , we had front row tickets,  it was really good and had a lot of disability  themes. I really liked it  I will blog more about it next week.

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.