Personal Narrative: Working With Children With Special Needs

In my experiences and observations with disabilities, they are different in many ways, but are still the same as us. Sure, maybe they can do everything that we can do, but they still eat ice cream, play video games with friends, and tell jokes. I think this should inspire us to see strength before differences in everyone. Many people we look up to have disabilities like Stephen Hawking. He had motor neurone disease ( Lou Gehrig’s disease) and that did stop him from being theoretical physicist. Or Helen Keller, she was became blind and deaf from an illness and she was the first blind-deaf person to earn a bachelor of arts degree .

On Monday, January 11 2016 my fall break was over and I found myself back in at internship at Leland elementary. After almost three weeks of vacation time I must say I was not ready for the event that was about to take place that day. Around noon in one of the classrooms I was alerted of the disruptive behavior of some of the students in that class. As I walked in the class I noticed to young ladies in each other faces saying vigor language and within seconds they were fighting.

For my field experience hours I had the privilege of working at Angels Reach Academy for Divergent Learners. As fate would have it in February of this year I was offered a position and I jumped at the opportunity. My sister who is also a teacher started working there at the start of the school year. Unfortunately, at the time there were no position available for me as well. However, in February a position became available and that meant I would be for the first time working with children of varying disabilities. I began on Feberuary 10, 2016, I was nervous and eager all at the same time.

]There was this one where I was volunteering with little kids in a program that I was involved with at the time. I was on probation while I was doing this, so I felt like if I can tell them to do right , I would at least teach them a path to success instead of failure. I went to,¨Jerome Center¨, located here in Santa Ana to help these kids with school activities, arts and crafts, sports and many more activities. I was like a mentor to them because there was like 3 teenagers in total. I would talk to them the most because might as well make my time useful and get to know how these kids were. Some were very loud and annoying being little kids that is, but a few were very quiet and shy and I liked talking to them because there character was a complete opposite from the louder ones. Either way I ended up knowing all their names and how each of them was. There were supervisors there too, too help us with any problems we had so it made me feel more comfortable and relaxed.

Kids raced past me as I gradually walked to the wooden doors. I glanced around but couldn’t see any familiar faces. Hatred spiraled up in me as I stood there and watched them. They seemed calm, as if nothing had happened. How could they just walk by without saying a word? My mind was still in denial of what had just happened.

I practice these skills everywhere I go. I have to be respectful everyone because in order to receive respect you must give respect. A positive trait I practice everyday is caring because I babysit my little sister every afternoon. Therefore,I can't be selfish and just think about my self I have to watch over her and make sure she is okay. Peacefulness I think is a natural trait that I have because I don't like to argue. I normally try to let everything pass and move on with life. In a community as big as Oakland everyone has to learn about citizenship. I learned about citizenship with school. It has to do with knowing how to co-operate with others in order to get a job done right and well. Empathy I practice with my parents because I help

By the way of introduction, I am Aleem Punja's cousin and he suggested I reach out to you to explore possible opportunities at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

This afternoon while shopping with my dad, I observed a gentleman in an automatic wheelchair sitting in front of the door inside a Home Hardware store. As I got closer to the door I realized he was unable to open the door on his own as it was not accessible. I held the door open for him, however, as be began to exit I also noticed there as a bit of a step outside the door. While walking it is easy to just step or walk over however, this man had a bit of trouble getting over the step which took him two attempts. As he left the store I smiled at him and he nodded back. Once he had successfully exited we entered the store. My dad and I were shocked the store was not accessible especially with todays technology and all the resources available.

After struggling with the department of education and guiding my son through the right path, I decided to become a paraprofessional for children with special needs. I absolutely love my job. Being able to help other children by accommodating their needs is a true blessing. Providing children with the tools necessary so they can accomplish given goals and expectations according to their specific needs makes me feel like a successful assistance. I have learned to be patient, understandable and resourceful for both children and families in my classroom.

I interviewed several service providers in my school, Stephen Knight Center for Early Education, that included the psychologist, special education teacher and a general education teacher. I interviewed Ms. Iris, the school psychologist, Ms. Kathy, the special education teacher, and Ms. Hilary, a general education teacher. Ms. Iris’ responsibilities include working with students who have social emotional needs. This can include behavior challenges, learning new social skills, managing grief, etc. She works directly with parents and teachers to provide resources regarding the child’s well-being, and ensure good attendance by setting up plans. Ms. Iris works with children in general education, counseling groups, and one-on-one situations, including special education minutes. Ms. Hilary is a general education classroom teacher. She is responsible for the well-being of her students academically, socially, physically and developmentally. Ms. Hilary also advocates for families and students to receive the support that they need to feel successful in their first years of school. Finally, Ms. Kathy is the staffing

To be able to work with so many children every day, each with a different disability has to take a lot of creativity and problem solving. I remember going to her office when I was younger, and wanting to be just like her. Now I have the opportunity to do something very similar. I haven’t yet decided what age group of people I would want to work with in the future, but I have a feeling it would be children from birth to three. My mom has even helped me build some connections, helping me set up a day to shadow one of the few speech therapists that worked in her office in Temple. After following Morgan, the speech therapist, for the day I realized how much patience and time her and my mom put into their jobs. I had forgotten about all of the nights my mom had come home from work still typing reports on her computer. Working with children and their families can take up time in your personal life, not just your professional

I have limited experience working with children. I have tutored children from my neighborhood and family members. I would help them out with their homework and prepare for exams, in social studies, reading, and some math. Tutoring included having discussions with the students, parents, and teachers to figure out what material to go over. After these discussions, I created assingments and study guides to help the students, out of the tutoring

I have worked with children that are a few months old to 17-years-old. Although I have had many experiences with elementary school students by being an Early Elementary and Special Education major, my main experiences have been through Junior Achievement, volunteering at a Sunday school for children with disabilities, and being a Resident Assistant.

Ever since I could remember I had been labeled the learning-disabled child and asked myself what if I challenged that label. My story begins sometime around the end of my seventh-grade year when my band class had been offered the opportunity to march as an eighth grader in high school marching band. Where that small opportunity would challenge me academically and mentally eventually leading me to be the person I am today. Beginning what I now know was the first step to accomplishing my personal goal getting off an I.E.P. (Individualized Education Program). Soon after receiving the news that I would be marching flute that year I learned that everyone was responsible for learning their own music and drill. At first, I thought this was going to be a

I called the constituent, he stated needs a house. He stated is currently in wheelchair. I asked where is he currently living, he said with her ex-wife.