Jade Blouin: A Career In Special Education

Special education programs and services are available in many school and are fast growing. In a high school, a principal named Debbie Young has been presented with a situation with the parents of a special education student. Mrs. Young has been a special education teacher and assistant principal in a progressive and affluent school district in the South. Mrs. Young was approached by the parents of Jonathan a severely disabled tenth grader whose parents want him to attend one of the schools in the district. He is profoundly mentally disabled, has spastic quadriplegia, and has a seizure disorder. Mrs. Young refuses his parent’s request because of the huge expenses and the school is not an appropriate place for Jonathan.

Ms. Diaz-Harrison has a daughter and she chose to put her in a charter school that specialized in the arts because that fit her daughter’s needs. For her son, who has autism she had no idea where she was going to put him at for school. Ms. Diaz-Harrison decided to open her on charter school in Phoenix. This school was named Arizona Autism Charter School. Her exact words when opening the school was, “we didn’t have a school like that-now we do!”

Joni had worked for over 25 years in the local school system as an Educational Tech II, otherwise known as a teacher’s aide. In this capacity, she got to know generations of teachers, students and their families. In addition, working with high needs students with challenging intellectual disabilities, she sought to identify opportunities for her students to gain practical knowledge in local organizations and life skills to ensure their dignity as adults. To create these connections she often interacted with numerous small businesses, non-profits, and community-based organizations.

After her time at the habilitation program, she moved to Colorado. Her first job in Colorado was at the Rise School of Denver, which “provides services to children with and without disabilities through an inclusive education model.” During her time at the Rise School, the executive director of Adams Camp reached out to her and provided a job description that immediately captured her interest. She rapidly transitioned into the Adams Camp environment and found her home. Jordan has the opportunity to serve 350 families every year in both Adventure Camp and other therapeutic programs that is offered by Adams Camp. But, it hasn’t all been an easy road for her at Adams Camp. She voiced, “With an aging population, we are tasked with creating age appropriate services for all. The other challenge is finding more empowering opportunities for our population.” Most people with developmental disabilities can live a long and fulfilled life, but their special needs vary by age. At the moment, Adams Camp prioritizes younger clients in order to prepare them properly for their futures. But because Jordan is so dedicated to improving the lives’ of others, she

Sirens play a big role in the epic poem of The Odyssey by Homer. These sirens try and lure in the sailors and capture their attention with their majestic voices. Odyssey gives his men beeswax to cover their ears while they row so that the voices of the sea nymphs wouldn't get to them. In the Odyssey Odysseus portrays the sirens as something he needs to try and avoid because if he doesn't something bad could happen to him and his men.

Having a child given a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a very stressful event for parents. It is imperative to understand that there is much that can be done for both parent and the child. From the current literature we know that parents of children diagnosed with autism worry about many things like lifetime dependency to family dissonance. We know that these parents are distressed and angry, the parents of children with more unusual behaviors feel a lot more stressed than the parents of children with fewer unusual behaviors. However, having a strategy to approach it correctly and to get the best possible help for your child is probably the most important step, one can take to relieve stress and to aid the child’s development.

I completed my field experience at Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Since I serve the role of building principal, I am exposed to many different special education situations on a daily basis. Through this leadership field experience, I have learned a few additional things. It has taught me to stop and listen to what is occurring in our special education classrooms. By completing classroom observations, I was able to focus on the students, instead of rushing through a classroom observation on a teacher.

According to Merriam Webster, being selfish is “to have or show concern for only yourself and not for the needs or feelings of other people.” In Khaled Hosseini’s book, The Kite Runner, the character Amir goes through numerous hardships throughout the story. To overcome those challenges, he performs acts that directly caused harm to the other characters in the book. Most of the time, the struggles that Amir passes are due to the sacrifices others have done for him. In scenarios such as running away from danger and pinning the blame on his best friend, Amir had only thought for himself. There are times when he knows that what he is doing is wrong, but unfortunately, he still goes through with it because the benefits for him outweigh the negatives. While Amir may have had justification for his actions, it does not change the fact that he is a selfish person who had betrayed others for his own benefit.

Despite our efforts she was struggling to read, write, and focus. I knew something wasn't right, which prompted us to take her to Scottish Rite. As I sat across the table, the kind and empathetic director laid out the news about our daughter. We were dealing with dyslexia, a possible writing disability, and inattentive type ADHD. That moment thrusted me head first into "The Club". You know, the club of parents that in one meeting get their universe rocked because their ideas for their child no longer match their reality. In ways I'm grateful for that encounter. As a teacher, I can put myself in the shoes of the parents of my student's when their children are given a diagnoses. I know that fear, sadness, and insecurity as a parent. I know the pain of seeing my friend's kids make straight A's and win Merit Scholar Awards when we are just trying to survive nightly homework and pass the class. My fear may not look exactly like what my student's parents are experiencing but I can still relate to what it feels like to get the breath knocked out of you in one meeting. It sucks. It just

The Sierra Academy serves student with learning disabilities. They have variety of programs which include speech therapy, occupational therapy, small class sizes, counselling services, small group instruction/specialized programming. I was privileged to observe and interview Maria Gonzalez’s class for six hours. I had a good experience with the class and felt that I should share my story. Eighty percent of the class needs where mild to moderate. Although, I saw a couple of those who could function pretty well on their own with little or no supervision.

I would like to attend Health Careers High School because I would like to become a doctor when I grow older. Ever since I was little I watched my dad work as a pediatrician and saw how happy he was when he diagnosed his patients correctly and when they recovered from the illness. This inspired me to become a doctor so I can relieve people from pain and help them feel better. When my family and I moved to San Antonio in 2014, we found out about the best high school in the city, Health Careers. At that time I was only in 6th grade but I was already looking forward to go to a school dedicated for students that wanted to go into the medical field.

Every parent wants the best for their child, after all a child is a person’s most precious possession. For this very reason having a child with a learning disability becomes extremely stressful. Nathan V’s was a very outgoing child verbally articulate and a

Coming from a school where parents have a hard time valuing their child with a disability and comparing how supportive parents are in the Bryan-College Station area was truly a culture shock. From my experience, I believe that the parents of disabled children in the Bryan-College Station area have a better understanding and attitudes toward the goals that are set for their children and a belief that these goals are achievable, however I did not have the same positive experience in the school district from which I graduated. The philosophy that I witnessed growing up was that several parents would try to use their child’s disability as an excuse to get them further in

For my final project I interviewed my mother’s friend Tammy Carnes who’s son is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. During our interview we discussed what it is like we raise a child with a disability, and how the educational system aided in dealing with her child’s everyday needs. After completing this interview I feel a little more understanding of how the parent of said child may feel when dealing with the educational system meeting their child’s particular needs. A high point of the interview was Ms. Carnes’s surprise to the amount of dedication the educational system is making to ensure their teachers are well prepared for the different types of disabilities children may have. A part of the interview that surprised me was how truly patient

When I was asked to reflect on my experiences in EDSE 316 and the fieldwork, I had to think long and hard on how I would sum up four months of classes and fieldwork into four pages. I have learned so much about the various disabilities and how it has change the world of special education. I think a better term would be the “endless possibilities of education”. It wasn’t too long ago when children with disabilities would be stuck in a room in the back of school only to be seen in the beginning and end of the school day. They were the ones who rode the other buses and no one really talked about. This class has allowed me to speak of my own family and how special education impacted my life. I have a brother whose whole life was spent in the special education class, and my own sons with speech and learning disabilities who are now receiving special education services. It also allowed me to reflect on my own participation in the special education program in my early elementary years when I was struggling with my own speech disability. This class gave me the chance to see the timeline of special education, from its earliest beginnings to what it is now.