On this episode of Speechless, JJ and Keneth get to spend the entire day together without mom or school,while the rest of the family gets to go to Paintballing and Ice Skating two things that with JJ are hard to do. Durin their day together JJ and Kenneth become the objects of pity and get special perks, for example. they get to get into a Dogger Game for free. At first,JJ is into to this, but by the end, he is not happy.
I have mild CP , so while I do not get inspiration a lot I still get it. When people call me inspiring, I do not like it. I mean I have not done anything that great. Yes I have a disability and have overcome a ton and I think I am strong and think I am amazing, but I do not like being called inspiring because it does one of two things.
One It shows me how limiting you think that disabilities are.
So one time in college I had something happen to me that I have called the Seal incident. In a Linguistics class at a private college. The teacher overly praised me for doing well on the first test of the quarter . She came to where I was sitting and wanted to shake my hand because I had gotten the second highest grade, she did not praise the highest student. I felt like a seal. I hated this in fact it discouraged me from doing well on future tests in that class. I later learned that she thought I was not going to do well. This made me mad. Let me tell you guys something. Just because you thought I wouldn't do well doesn't mean it's a miracle when we do well it just means that you had low expectations because we have disabilities. I am a disabled honor student and no that is not surprising.
Two It puts me on a pedestal
Inspiration puts me on a pedestal. Just because I have a disability does not mean that I am always good. I have made lots of mistakes, just like everyone else. I am just a human being trying to have a good life according to my family values.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area
Last Sunday was the annual Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk. I went because for the last few months I have been helping the Down Syndrome connection of the Bay Area bring Services to the Peninsula. I love helping them because they have really cute kids and I feel that having services to meet the needs of those with DS is a great thing. Here is a poster that I made on my own for the walk. I got lots of help from my facebook friends. I think the poster turned out well What do you think?
To learn more about the organization click here
To learn more about the organization click here
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Did you know
Of women with Developmental Disabilities are raped. We need to teach men to respect women. This needs to end. It is not acceptable. We must do better.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Stranger Danger
I have a story about a guy treating me badly. It happened in 2011, on a rainy day in March . I was running to try to catch the bus and missed it. This junky four passenger car comes up. Inside it was a white man. He offered me a ride. Stranger Danger kicked in and I said no and continued to walk and did not think anything of it. Until about two minutes later when he came back again. He asked me again if I wanted a ride, I declined. He then asked if I wanted money to have sex with him. I told him to leave me alone. That was really scary and I am glad that he did not try to get out of his car because I do have a physical disability so he would have been able to do what he wanted with me. It wasn't funny , and not something to joke about. It was just plain wrong, Men need to treat Women with respect.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
On being left out -- Speechless episode three
So today I am going to be talking about Speechless Episode three. Something I want to relate to is JJ being left out. In this episode, the students at JJ's high school have a homecoming bonfire at a place that in inaccessible which makes JJ feel left out . JJ's mom talks to the principal and has it cancelled.
I do not agree with Maya's decision because it is not realistic. For me in additon to Cerebral Palsy I have NVLD which is similar to Asperger's making dances and social things in middle school and high school really hard for me. In seventh grade, I didn't have the social skills or friends to navigate the middle school dances;however, my favorite general education teacher was working at the dances. I went and hung out with her. While this was not socially appropriate I at least got to experince a dance. I think it would be more embarissing to cancel dances because I did not know how to behave because that would bulid resentment towards me and be counterproductive. What could be done is have a fun night. What that means is during the dance, or bonfire, or other special event, have something fun that the kid gets to pick. Play a board game, have a movie night or something enjoyable.
Another option would be for schools to plan ahead for these social events with staff and parents. Maybe that could mean having a quiet room during the dance with a movie playing which would be open to all students-- Bookgirl's privite school did this and I thought it was a great idea. Schools should not promote activites for general education students that are inaccesable for disabled students. It is not right. This can be easily avoided and its up to adults to make sure that social events are held accessable venues.
For students that have problems making friends a good thing to have is a circle of friends. Circle of friends is a program where students with disabilities have a circle of able bodied peers that help them out. Their are plaining meetings that students parttake in to set the student up for social success. I really wish I would have had something like this. I wonder if it is to late to have one.
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