Service Learning Individual Reflection

The program touched on many different topics from the study connected with those who are afflicted with mental retardation. I enjoyed learning about the intricacies involved in our aging

Lost in a Desert World relays the story of the life of Roland Johnson, a man born with an intellectual disability and placed in an institution who eventually went on to be the president of Speaking for Ourselves, a group that encourages those with disabilities to stand up for themselves and their rights. This memoir offers a rare first-person, nonfiction account of the life and experiences of someone with an intellectual disability. Though filled with the harsh realities of the treatment of those with intellectual disabilities, the book is also one of passion, strength, and hope.

The critical difference of service learning and the traditional learning style is that students are learning and addressing real needs in the community. Which connect students to the community through meaningful interactions with others, safety, and educational needs. This specific course includes readings, discussions, and activities to support

In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special

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

Tacachale Center is a community for adults with developmental disabilities. I learned about Tacachale from a classmate and was compelled to visit the community after learning about its mission to promote independence and the individual potential of the residents. As a volunteer, I did crafts with the residents and helped serve snacks. I learned from the staff that most residents were abandoned by their families and that visitors were not common. Although most of the residents are unable to clearly communicate, it is easy to realize how much they appreciate the volunteers and enjoy interacting with new people. Through this experience, I learned that I posses a strong interest in working with underserved populations. I am drawn to people that

Reflection 1 Learning about family policy while doing service learning can provide those participating in service learning with demographics and background information on families and communities. The importance of those doing the service learning and the community collaborating is to get an idea of what is going on in their community that results in using the services provided by family policies. Learning about family policies can help me to understand what services can be provided to families. It can also help me understand what requirements are needed to qualify for certain services. It can be beneficial doing service learning because it can provide me with the opportunity to gain real world understanding and connections.

During my time spent interacting with residents with physical and mental disabilities, I was able to gain a better understanding of what the resident experiences during everyday life. I was able to observe the everyday challenges of living with the different disabilities. I witnessed the profound effect that mental health has on the quality of life and the outlook on life for an individual. I hoped to observe positive treatment and individuals of the individuals staying there and I witnessed just that. I obtained a better understanding of the experiences and feelings of the residents living there. My knowledge of the mind/ body interaction was strengthened during my time spent volunteering.

My role in my service learning position is at Tri-City Church (also Community Bible Church... as there is currently a merge going on) of Vista, CA. My position is primarily to care for the needs of children while the mothers are able to take a break to meditate on the sermon. This care includes feeding children, playing with them, soothing them, taking care of their toileting needs, and helping sign in and out the children to their parents or family members. While I am already fairly comfortable with this routine (as I have been doing it for some time now) there is still the occasionally apprehensive moment. Occasionally I have trouble connecting with the parent's if their new to the area. Earning parents' trust can be a difficult thing to do.

Starting my freshman year I joined Project Unify and began volunteering at the Special Olympics, working with intellectually disabled students to promote love and friendship through sports while also connecting them to the community. As a part of Project Unify, I was able to assist in encouraging inclusion and acceptance of students with intellectual disabilities in my school and the local area. I became an advocate for students with intellectual disabilities, reaching out to my peers to illustrate that they are not different than us and that the only divide that exists between us and them is one we create. We had campaigns throughout the school such as “Spread the Word to End the Word” to stop the hurtful use of the r-word. I took part in

It was great working with all of you! I definitely learned something new from our group efforts. As I was going through our presentation, I realized that it would be a great challenge for us as care providers to take care of patients with IDD. However, it dawned on me that it is even harder for the families with IDD child/children to cope and deal with the situation. The process of grieving takes time and parents and/or siblings undergoes the Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief: denial (rationalization and inability to accept the child’s condition); anger (questioning stage and blaming someone or something that led to the disability); bargaining (thought that the change of care providers, schools, or neighborhood could change the

I really enjoyed my service learning site because I got to work with kids from different backgrounds and help them with pronunciation and reading. I most significant accomplishment for me was be able to help kids who are struggling with English as a second language. I was pleased to see one of the students that I worked with actually came out of his shell and talked to other kids in the class. When I worked with him, he did not clearly pronounce the words, and his responds to me question were just nodding his head or performing some kind of gestures. For me last few weeks there, I was happy to see him being comfortable to speak out and interacting with other students. The most important thing I learned from my experience is that being patience

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members

It has been about five weeks since I started my journey to become a great teacher. Before entering the doors of the service learning classroom. I was full of nervousness, uncertainty, and motivation. Although I felt butterflies in my stomach it never hid my goal; I aimed to make a difference. On the first week of my service learning, I was bombarded with questions of uncertainty ranging from math problems to essay structures. As I have mentioned in my previous reflections it was definitely a process trying to get into the rhythm of things. The new environment was definitely something I had to get used to. However, now, not only do I feel more comfortable in the in the classroom but I genuinely feel like I’m actually contributing to the students process of improvement! Of course, by no means did I make them little Einstein’s but the fact that I

Prior to the course, Perspectives on disability, my understanding of disability was a fundamental, concept of disability, in which I knew it existed, and also have seen and interacted with people considered to have a disability. I never took a deep look at all the social and political factors that exist within the spectrum of disability. This course has allowed me to examine all aspects of disability, which has changed my view and approach of what a disability is and how it is viewed. "Historically, disability has been viewed fundamentally as a persoal tragedy, which has resulted in diasbled people being seen as objects of pity or in need of charity. They have been subject to descriminatory policies and practices in which the predominant images of passivity and helplesness reinforced their inferior status"(Barton 4). Uncovering the framework of disability, by studying the historical, soicial political and educational standpoint, I see the intricacies in which gives me a greater understanding and awareness of the topic.