Favorites from this week

I have never really known all that much about the laws of special education but this week I was able to dive deeper into the laws and what they actual provide for the children. I think it is really comforting to know as a future educator and mother that there are laws out there that will protect children's education and give them a chance to be the most successful that they can be. One thing I really loved this week was learning more about the laws because I think it is really important to be aware of what has happened before us and how that changes things for the future. There are so many court cases and so much to memorize that comes with this but there are a few things that really stood out to me. There are 6 categories that fall under IDEA which is the main law for special education. It stands for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The 6 things are important to helping you understand more about this law, they are....

1. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). This is saying students can attend public education and receive the education services to help their needs. 

2. Least Restrictive Environments (LRE). Students must be educated in settings most like that without students with disabilities where they can be most successful.

3. Individualized Education. Tailoring the information to the needs of the student.

4. Nondiscriminatory evaluation. Being assessed with instruments that don't discriminate against race, culture or disabilities. 

5. Due Process. Solving disagreements concerning a student's disability education plan. 

6. Zero reject/child find. All students are entitled to receiving public education, regardless of disability.

One other thing I loved about this week was that we got to work as a group to study something I am very passionate about. Basically everyone who knows me, knows that I dream of being a speech and language pathologist. Although this dream is still a few years away it was so great to be able to research and learn more about speech and language problems. I never realized that the statistics for children who struggle with these problems are so high. It really made me excited for learning more and eventually making a difference in the lives of children. 

 

Importance of IEPs and Becoming Blind

This week for class I learned more in-depth about IEP's and what they are. This was really great for me because I haven't ever learned about how the meeting actually works and what they do until this class, but in my other classes it has been mentioned a lot. I love how IEP's are so child focused and I also love that the parents get to be involved, not just the teachers. I also thought it was really neat that in most cases doctors or nurses are included in this decision making process. After watching a video to show how one works I really think that IEp's are great for all children that might have a harder time learning and need some individualized help.
This week for class we also read a case study about a young boy who needed to get certain help at school but the school district wasn't allowing it anymore. We got to act out different parts of this case and I was the parents. As all the members of my group were voicing their legal sides about why or why not this is fair it was really interesting to watch and learn from. I learned a lot from my part as the pretend parent of this child though. I was able to express to them the concern I can imagine a parent must have for their child and their education and testify that these children go through enough stress in their life that our job really should be to help them out in any way possible. This experience really opened me up to the stress that many parents go through in fighting for their children.
The last experience I want to talk about this week is one of my simulation activities. We have a list of activities to do that are similar to a disability a child might have. This week, for example, I did the visual impairment simulation. This was really challenging as I felt completely useless and out of control. I was trying to eat and I kept missing my mouth, it was a struggle to even get food onto my fork. I also tried to do the dishes but it was so hard to focus on any objects. My husband was watching me and started feeling bad for me so he tried to get me to just sit down. This made me realize I can see how easy it is to get discouraged with a disability because it really is a lot of work trying to accommodate for it. I have trouble seeing in real life without my contacts or glasses and so I figured I would be pretty good at this one but it was completely different then what I thought it would be. I am really more thankful for my vision after doing this and I am definitely more sensitive to visual impairments in others.

Inclusion of Special Needs Students

This week was really eye opening for me as I read a lot about the different special needs that students have, along with the different programs that are available for them to get the help that they need. During this reading I couldn't help but reflect on the time I spent from the time I was in middle school all the way through high school that I had the chance to be a "peer tutor". This was a class at my school where we got to go into the special needs classroom and work with the children. I had the chance to go sit in other classes with them, teach them math, help them read, play games with them, go grocery shopping and even go swimming once a week. One thing that I loved about this program was that it gave those children a chance to get to know their peers better. This made for a better atmosphere when we would see each other at school because they felt like they already had a friend. I also liked that in my school system those children came to a lot of the same classes I did and then they went to work on their individual needs in a different class. I felt like this was a great solution to the issue of whether or not to let them be full-time in the regular education classes.

This week I learned a lot of what shaped the influences of special education. Some of the most prominent ones the court cases that I am sure most people involved in education have heard about such as; Brown vs. Board of Education. I think this case is so important in the history of education because it really changed the way of how we can view everyone as having a right to education, regardless of abilities or color.

I also learned a lot about the key themes of special education which was interesting for me to dive deeper into this content. The more I learn about this class the more I realize there is a lot to know and I still have a long ways to go but I am really enjoying what I am learning so far. Overall, for my reflection this week I would say it has been interesting to learn more of the terms and come to understand how those are actually used in the real education field. I look forward to learning a lot more. Have a great week and remember, spread kindness to everyone!

I'm back

Hello fellow blog readers, as you can see I am back. This is a blog I originally used for a class that focused on the family and it's importance but now I have a class that I am going to be blogging about. This class is actually a different type of class but it is one I am really excited for. It is called Exceptional Students. (You may remember from previous posts that I am a child development major on my home stretch here at BYUI and I am hopeful to one day become a Speech and Language Pathologist! So this class will help me achieve that goal and learn a lot along the way!)
For this blog I will be updating what I learn in class every week to reflect on the principles I have learned and how I will better apply them in my life experiences of working with some of our Heavenly Father's dearest children that have special needs.
So for this week we got to read some amazing talks given by apostles of our church and I loved reading them and relating them back to how I can apply the things they were teaching me when I am working with children. One of the biggest things that stuck out to me was in a talk called, "The Moving of the Water" by Boyd K. Packer. The main idea that stuck out to me was that we need to try ourselves to become angels that move the water for others in our lives. He also emphasized the importance of remembering the bigger picture in this life. This stood out to me as I thought about how important that is when working with special needs children, they are God's children and we need to help them realize this mortal life that they have this disability is only limited. He also said, "affliction comes to the innocent." This struck me very powerfully as I was reading because that is so true. Most of these children can't control their situation and why their disability happened to them so we must always remember they are innocent and never judge.
Overall this week I have learned that working with exceptional students will take a lot of practice to know what to do and how to do it but in the end it will be very rewarding. These are some of Heavenly Father's most beloved children and we are lucky to be trusted to help them along this earthly path. I look forward to this class and learning more to take with me in this semester! See you next week!

Parenting

I love this quote and I think it fits perfectly into what I am talking about on the blog this week. Parenting is a huge responsibility and today I would like to shed some insight I gained in class. Although I am sure it can be very overwhelming & difficult I am here to testify it is not impossible (trust me if my parents can handle dealing with myself as a rebellious teenager I think it is possible!)

What is the purpose of parenting? This is the question we started out our discussion with. It was hard for me to come up with an answer for this one, so I would like to turn it over to my readers to tell me what they think the purpose of parenting is. Who benefits the most from parenting? This is also another question I would like to ask anyone who reads this post. So comment below and let me know what you think.

This post may be a little scatterbrained so bare with me, but I would just like to share some of the main discussion points we talked about that I found the most important.

It is more important to focus on character than the behavior. I thought this was huge for so many parents, in my observations of many parents I have noticed how easy it is for a parent to try to control every behavior of the child. But the truth is if you are focusing more on the character that your child is developing than the behavior shouldn't really be that bad. If you know your child is developing a good character than their behaviors should reflect that.

Another important piece of information I found interesting was to not without love, contact & affection. These are huge things for a child growing up. A child needs to feel that they belong and are needed to the family system. It is never okay for a parent to without love from a child because they are doing something wrong. Some people may not agree with this but it really can be so detrimental to a child if affection and contact is withheld from them.

The last thing I would like to talk about is a quote, in class we focused a lot about ways to raise teenagers. (This just gives me anxiety thinking about this huge tasks) Our teacher read us this quote by a researcher named Popins, "By the time our kids are teenagers the only real tool we have to influence them is our relationship." This really hit home for me. I wish I could say AMEN a million times. Like I mentioned earlier when I was a teenager it wasn't the easiest child. I remember fighting with my parents a lot because we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of the choices I was making. I remember my dad sitting me down as he had many times before but this time instead of trying to lecture me about what I was doing and why he thought it was wrong he decided to listen to me, he asked me questions about what was going through my mind. This was a huge turning point in my life. I finally felt as though they cared about what. At the end of the conversation he just nicely said that if I continued making these choices it was going to tear apart my family and lead me down a path I didn't want to be on. He reminded me how much I was hurting my mother & him and how badly our relationships had already been damaged/nearly destroyed. This was probably the only thing that could have gotten through to me at this point. I immediately realized that my silly rebellious behavior was not worth my relationships with my parents and their trust.

I will never forget how important those relationships are because I almost jeopardized everything I worked so hard for. A parent and child relationship takes a lot of work. Parenting itself I am sure takes a lot more work than I can even image. Although I have not been on the parent end of those relationships yet I can say as a child it is so worth it. Keep the big picture in mind, focus on the child's character, express your love for them often, make sure they know you believe in them. We have heaven rooting us on & with some divine help from above I really believe parenting can be successfully accomplished.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day!!

Fathers are Fantastic

Due to thanksgiving this week we only meet in class one time, but during that one time we talked a lot about fathers and finances. If you are like me I really don't like talking about finances, it just stresses me out and makes me scared that one day I will have millions in debt (silly I know). So instead of talking about such a sad and serious topic I want to talk today about FATHERS!

We were asked to find a research article on the benefits of having a father or father figure in the home and discuss why we feel these are important. My blog post this week is mostly going to be based on my paper so here it goes.

"My dad is the best dad ever." This is something you hear everyone say on fathers day, but I am hear to tell you that if you have ever said this you are terribly wrong and I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you. Truth is my dad really is the best, now although that is crazy and silly it is true. My dad is the best dad ever for ME.

In the research article I found 5 pieces of information I found the most important, they are:
1. A father provides protection for their children, economic support and a male role model.
2. Children who feel a closeness and warmth with their father are twice as likely to enter college.
3. Father encourage competition with leads to independence.
4. A child's happiness, well-being, social and academic success is based on their relationship with their father.
5. Fathers introduce children to a wide variety of ways to deal with life and provide kids with social experiences.

So as you read that list I hope it got you thinking of some things you agree with or disagree with. I hope it got your wheels turning to all the things your father did for you or all the things you wish your father would have done for you. Whether your father is a superstar dad or a dead beat, fathers impact their children's lives more than I think they sometimes realize.

I can easily say my dad was all of these things for me. Throughout my life I have learned how important the role of a father is to his children. He is one of my favorite people. My dad was a superhero in my eyes, I still remember being scared of monsters in my closet when I was little. My dad opened up our front door and yelled outside for all the monsters to leave our house alone. Of course I believed him because my dad was invincible. One thing I would like to point out though is that a relationship between a father and child takes some effort. I know I would not have the relationship I have with my dad today if I hadn't gone on plenty of road trips with him, spent days just him & I, and involved him in what was going on in my life. Because we had a relationship well established when I was younger it made the hard teenage years a little easier I like to think. I saw a lot of my friends completely fall away from their parents, for me that was never an option because our bond was already so strong.

I would like to also mention that the relationship between my father and I isn't perfect and I am sure there was some times it was really bad, but I think the important thing is we both keep working at it. He has loved me my whole life, he always has believed in me & in my dreams, even when I know he wasn't impressed with some choices I made he still stood by me. I can't imagine going through life without knowing my dad loved and supported me. That is a huge thing for a child growing up. Fathers are so so important to children, more than they probably realize.

So today, this thanksgiving holiday, express your love to your father. I am sure if you think hard enough they really have shaped you into who you are today.
Thanks for reading & have a great day!

The BEST dad out there!

Communication & Counseling

"Talk to me" is a phrase I can often be found saying to my husband. Communication is the one of the only ways humans are able to form deep and close relationships, its no wonder that there is so much focus on this important subject. We are constantly communicating whether we are talking or not, our words are really actually only about 14% of overall communication. Some people would be surprised to know that the tone of which we saying something is actually 35% and our nonverbal is whooping 51%. Nonverbal communication is huge! One thing I would like to ask my readers is what do you think of the silent treatment? Silent treatment is huge for so many relationships, I remember giving it to boyfriends, my parents and siblings all growing up. Was it really effective? Did it serve the purpose that I wanted it to? I honestly don't know. What are your thought?

Communication is something I can constantly be working on. I am going to get a little person here and talk about some things I can improve with my communication and hopefully that makes you think of some things you can improve on as well. I have a big problem when it comes to communication because I also like to assume I know what someone is thinking about the situation, feeling or meaning. This has effected a lot of my relationships with family and friends. IF you happen to find yourself tending to be like me, I would like to challenge you to not jump to conclusion. One goal that I am going to set for myself as I try to change this is to ask the person what they are feeling/thinking instead of assuming. 

There is one important thing I would like to talk about that struck me during this discussion was a quote my teacher said, "Everyone has problems, what is important is the way we talk about them and handle them." I couldn't agree more with this statement. Everyone has problems of course and as hard as it may be for people its important to talk about them and make sure we come up with appropriate solutions. This is just a little thought I would like you all to think about. 

Counseling is the next thing I would like to talk about. We discussed in class the way that our leaders of the church counsel. I am sure most Mormons already know this, but for those of you who don't know our leaders meet in the LDS Temple every Thursday morning to counsel about things happening. They have a very profound order of the way they do things, first they begin with sharing things they love and appreciate about each other, they then pray to open the meeting for the spirit to be with them, then they discuss the topics that need to be talked about in order of seniority, they close with a prayer and end with refreshments. Of course I could go into more detail and talk about the importance of each of these but instead I would like to focus on something else. 

Growing up we always held a family counsel on Sunday Evenings. Our counsels were not this structured and we didn't do all these different things but I would like to implement them into my future family. In my family growing up we would go through the activities for the week and see what each person would be doing. We would then talk about anything that someone was having a hard time with or just wanted to talk about. They would usually be very sweet and short and to the point. Although these aren't perfect I would say the idea of the concept that my parents were instilling in us is great. 

My Perfect Family Counsel I want to go a little something like this:

• Start with sharing good news of someone else in the family that week (ex: if someone did great on a test or if someone won their basketball game.)
• Then open with prayer
• After that I would have someone take turns reading the family calendar off so we could see what we have going on that week or 2 weeks or whatever.
• Then we would have a time for anyone to bring up any issues that have been going on or any questions that they may have that effect the whole family (if they are personal I will make sure my kids know they can ask their parents after the counsel is over and we can discuss in private)
• Then we would have refreshments and close the meeting

This is something I would like to start with my husband now so that we get into the habit of it when we have kids. Do any of you have family counsel traditions that you have liked or disliked? I would love to hear any comments! 

Thanks for reading guys & have a great day!