To See What Others Don't...

Ruthie Brown--Week 2, Ch. 1 & 2

Creative Connector:

Language of Disability (Connor & Valle, 2011, p. 24)—In coaching middle-school girls the woman that I coach with and I are very careful of the language that we allow during practice and on the courts.  While we are not able to catch everything we try to catch most things and help foster a respectful environment.  I have a very vivid memory of escorting two of my elementary students with disabilities back to their classroom and running into several of my players.  In the effort to encourage social interactions I had my students with disabilities introduce themselves to my volleyball players.  I fielded quite a few questions that afternoon about the boys I was with, but I believe it became clear to the girls why we ask them to edit themselves and certain vocabulary.  I need to trust that the language and respect that we demand from our girls towards one another sank a little bit deeper that day.  

Six F’s—Connor & Valle site that individuals with disabilities typically participate in the workplace in 6 different areas: food, flowers, folding, filth, fetching, & filing (2011, p. 34). They do not state whether they believe this to be a good thing or a bad thing but do list some disadvantages to these types of positions.  That being said, I know as someone who has had the opportunity to work with and educate high schoolers with disabilities ranging from minimal to severe that going out into the workplace, regardless of the kind of job, is huge honor.  They live for the hours in the day when they get to go and work to earn a paycheck of their very own.

“I remember few children with disabilities.” (Valle & Connor, 2011, p. 17)—From the time I was very little I remember socializing and being educated with adults as well as classmates that had disabilities.  The church that I attended with my family growing up had a very good relationship with some of the adult group homes in the area.  The members of these group homes attended church with us and actively participated in coffee hour.  Also, one of my best friends in elementary school was a classmate of mine named Todd.  Todd wore large heavy metal braces on both of his legs that fit up around his hips.  These are both very vivid memories of mine that are only some of many.

Vocabulary Vitalizer:

“Context”:    

I am very thankful that Valle & Conner bluntly and forth-rightly discuss that one of the things that new teachers struggle with the most is the context in which they find themselves—they must negotiate the politics and practices of this new school world they find themselves in. There is a great deal of truth in what they have to say.  As teachers we are prepared in every way an institution can before we are thrust forth into the workforce. Even as practicum and substitute teachers there is nothing quite like the real thing. (Valle & Conner, 2011, p. 3)

 “Conceptualization”:

To conceptualize is defined as, “to arrive at a concept or generalization as a result of things seen, experienced, or believed”.  The way that this word is used in our text refers to the manner in which two different teachers look at the same student with special needs.  Each of their views and beliefs color how they view this student—one wants nothing to do with him or her and believes that this is not a student suitable for their classroom while the other works with the student’s strengths to educate in the best way that they can.  We need to be careful that our personal feelings and thoughts don’t keep us from helping a student.  (Valle & Conner, 2011, p. 17)

“Ableism”:

Ableism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities”.  According to Valle & Connor ‘ableism’ entails believing that individuals without disabilities are somehow better than or are more capable than those with disabilities.  This is a concept that can sometimes be overlooked by young students towards their peers but is unfortunately sometimes perpetuated by teachers themselves.

Idea Illustrator:

Chapter 2 addresses some of the aspects of our culture that do not necessarily represent the percentage of our population that have disabilities in television, movies, or books.  This is a clip from the movie “The Ringer”.  As a Special Educator I was originally very wary of this movie when I saw the first previews—The entire premises was someone who feigns having a disability to win the Special Olympics.  It openly showcases individuals with disabilities in situation very similar at times to those you would see in a group home.  I was uncomfortable with the idea at first.  However, after finding out that the Special Olympics committee was backing the movie along with the producers choosing to star actors with disabilities including but not limited too Edward Barbanell and John Taylor, I decided to give it a shot.  It includes humor that only Johnny Knoxville can bring but was a film that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Below is a comedic scene starring some of the actors in the dorm as they are meeting each other for the first time to prepare for their Olympic training. 

 The image below depicts the University of Alabama’s Basketball team and I have only one question as I look into the faces of this intimidating bunch who dominate on the court. Ableism? I think not.

I have always loved this painting by Norman Rockwell.  This painting, “Shiner”, appeared as a cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1953.  This was 10 years prior to Samuel Kirk’s insightful anouncment about “Learning Disabilities”(Valle & Connor, 2011, p. 9).  I can only wonder what lables this young lady was given when she broke the stereo-types of how a girl was supposed to be acting and learning in the 50’s. 

Powerful Perceptions

Andrea Koppen:  Week 2:  Blog 2:  Chapter 1 and 2:  

Literary Luminator:  Powerful Perceptions

1).  Valle and Connor state, "More people watch films than read books; therefore, our culture largely receives messages about disability through cinematic representations.... Accurate portrayals of ordinary people with disabilities and their ability to function in an often inhospitable world are rarely witnessed in mainstream cinema" ( p.  20).  These two quotes spoke of the power of media and the negative influence it can have on our culture and on our perceptions of people living with a disability.  The screen films presented in  Chapter 1 were all popular films that probably received awards for wonderful actors/actresses playing the characters of people with disabilities.  Even though the disability is acknowledged, it is usually  "... overwhelmingly portrayed in inaccurate and damaging ways, upholding long standing stereotypes and circulating misinformation" (Valle & Connor, 2011  p.  20). 
     Valle and Connor have spoken about how books, cinema, television, humor and language have affected our perceptions of people living with a disability (p.  20-26).  Our culture has made significant changes to the way we communicate with each other.  As stated in my first quote, people are not reading and their routes of communication have changed significantly.  We are moving toward texting, emailing and not interacting with each other face to face.  Our culture embraces technology, such as facebook, youtube, cinema films and twitter with eagerness to know more and connect with other people.  These innovative technologies do lend  more avenues to "learn" from other cultures, however, how accurate is the information?  It is our responsibility to power our perceptions with knowledge supported by documentaries and first person narratives, such as ones listed in this book, "to examine issues of disability from the  point of view of people with disabilities."(Valle & Connor, 2011, p 21, 25).

2).   Another phrase that I found to be significant was, " ...public education has been and continues to be shaped by patterns of human activity and social structures that embody it's history, beliefs, attitudes, practices and values. (Valle &Connor, 2011, p.  4).  I believe this statement encircles the core beliefs of our system including cultural diversity.  We must guide our perceptions as we embrace cultural differences and similarities through differentiated instruction.  Knowledge of histories, beliefs and social influences within other cultures will educate our teachers enabling them to provide appropriate education for all students.(Valle & Connor, 2011, p.  4)


3).  Lastly,  Valle & Connor (2011) state the law "P.L. 94-142, a free and appropriate public education is guaranteed for all children" including the extension of the Least Restrictive Environment. (p.  10).   I believe reading about the history and where we have come from shows significant growth for students with disabilities.  We must stay current with our knowledge of where our educational system is today and how we can challenge it to grow in the future.



Essence Extractor: 
     (This was probably the most difficult to do in 10 words or less).

Positive perceptions of  "disability culture" can be visible through education.



Rigorous Researcher:  Family Cultural Conflict


      Since I felt so strongly about the media and it's influences, I decided to use my own advise and to watch one of the documentaries.  The subject I chose was the deaf community.
      I watched the documentary "The Sound and the Fury" by Aronson (2000), which was listed in the text (Valle & Connor, 2011, p. 22)  Before watching this film, I  had some background with hearing impaired children but I was not ready to experience the gift this documentary was to give to  me.  My education in Speech Pathology has taught me the technical aspects of deafness and hearing impairments using the medical model. I was not exposed to the deaf culture and its importance until years later.  Specifically in this film, the issue surrounded the need or want for cochlear implants, "an electronic device that is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear and contains a magnet that couples to a magnet in a sound transmitter that is worn externally"(Turnbull, Turnbull & Wehmeyer, 2010, p.  404).   I noticed that even in Turnbull, most of the information given about hearing impairments and deafness was medically displayed, (Turnbull, e.t. p.  396-414).  There was one small paragraph stating, "Learning about Deafness, the Deaf community, Deaf history and famous Deaf adults should be a part of the curriculum." (Turnbull, e.t., 2010, p.  415).  I was hoping that the cultural aspects would be displayed of higher importance.  Before watching the film, I had the impression that a cochlear implants were perceived as a positive measure for deafness.   Oh, how I was wrong.
     It is a story of one large extended family and their influences on each other pertaining to two deaf children and his and her possibility to hear with a cochlear implant. There was a deaf husband and wife with a deaf child and their struggle with giving their child, Heather, a cochlear implant.  It has been brought up because both grandparents are hearing as well as aunts and uncles.  The father was against it and the mother had interest in pursuing more information.   The deaf community is strictly against oral communication as well as the implant.  The struggle within the family is even greater as the husband's brother and sister in law, both hearing parents, have a deaf baby.  They want the cochlear implant so they may  communicate better with their baby.  The brother is extremely hurt as it seems that everyone wants to "change" the children's deafness as if it would make them better people.  At the end, the 6 year old girl did not receive the implant, however, the baby did.  The struggle does not end with this documentary.  They will live with this conflict and will need to move forward with their cultural differences.
     This documentary gave me a chance to view and change my perceptions through powerful and moving discussions using actual communication between the deaf and hearing communities.  The discussions were available in sign language as well as using subtitles.  I was overwhelmingly moved.  The struggle between the cultures was readily apparent and it was tearing the family apart.   We tend to think about cultures as being "theirs" or "mine". We rarely think about how cultures can be intertwined with each other and how they can affect each others lives.  I am excited to have found that  the media can be used in a positive way to learn more about our cultures with accuracy.

Links:  

http://video.tvguide.com/Sound+AND+Fury/Sound+AND+Fury/824034?autoplay=true&partnerid=OVG
Sound and Fury trailer

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/soundandfury/lesson.html
Lesson plans for children to learn about diversity and deaf community

 http://www.disabilityworld.org/01-02_01/children/diversity.htm
Ways for children to celebrate diversity

Life as I Know It

Before beginning this assessment, I knew that where I am now is very different from where I once was. Growing up in a rural neighborhood and with my immediate family lent the very early part of my life to be very mono-cultural. 

In spite of experiences at home, I have spent time overseas in different areas of the world.  Several of my summers since grade school were spent outside the US in countries.  This expanded my cultural experiences overseas but within the country, my experiences were still very white. 

My first full-time job was at Strong Hospital as a cardiac technician and phlebotomist.  I cared for people of all nationalities, backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life—the diversity of this job was one of my greatest joys and while there was a huge element of culture shock in the beginning, but my years there taught me more about different kinds of people than I had learned in a lifetime thus far.

In spite of growing up rather mono-culturally in terms of races and religious beliefs, I spent time working with individuals with disabilities as a high school and college student which help shaped the direction that I wanted to go with my career.  My love of working with individuals with disabilities is what originally led me to pursue a teaching position at BOCES. 

I can only hope that I will be able to continue to grow as the experiences and life-lessons I have amongst my peers continue to challenge me to be better person and teacher.

--Ruthie B.

Life Experience Assessment (Andrea K)

Andrea Koppen:  Blog 1:  Assessment

Before taking the assessment concerning my life experiences with diverse cultures and minority groups, I felt an uncertainty as to my outcome.  I began to immediately feel uncomfortable and wanting to do well on this so-called "test" of my life and it's contents concerning diversity.  I had this notion that if I was multicultural that I would be a better person but what if I was monocultural, what would that mean?

I have been working over 18 years with students with disabilities and felt that I must be considered as a person who is multicultural.  However, after reflecting on the specifics of the assessment, I fell in the category of monocultural.  At first, I wanted to argue with myself and my answers but then came to a realization that my experiences exposed me to other cultures later in my life.  I had more experiences about learning diverse cultures and minority groups as my friendships began in high school but as a child I had very limited exposure.

Currently,working as a Speech Therapist, I have learned so much about how communication in various cultures differ.  I have been challenged many times to learn more about one's culture to enhance their therapy.  I am constantly learning more each day about various cultural differences and similarities.  I believe it is important to use a child's background to enhance learning and to make the learning meaningful in their lives.  I will look forward to learning more about diversity in this class and in the book,"Rethinking Disability", in hopes that I may use it as a tool to be a responsive teacher in the classroom.