Chapter three also hits home to me. One of my very best friends has ADHD and many things are a struggle for her. Another problem for her is that she is a woman with ADHD and usually only boys and men are diagnosed. Often she is misintrepreted as purposefully trying to be rude, but in reality she is just very active and hyper.
Moving on, I thought Chapter 3's case study was very well written actually, more-so than the others.
Reader Inquiry and Reflection.
1.) Ignoring that the chapter was entitled "Individual with ADHD" I thought Ms. Cross might be talking about a behavioral disorder in Alphonso.
2.) Are Alphonso's parents or guardian(s) know about, admitt, and respond to this behavior at home?
3.) I wonder about Alphonso's family life. Since he is so young they are probably his only influences.
4.) Does Headstart diagnos behavioral problems in children when they are that young? Does Alphonso come from a low SES family or high SES? This all has to do with community, housing, health-care etc. Does he have siblings? If so, do they exhibit these characteristics? Is this behavior excepted in the home or ignored and not dealt with? Does anybody in the family have a behavioral disorder or any kind of disability?
Questions/Activity/Task
1.) The next step for Ms. Cross is to talk with Alphonso's parents and the school psychologist. She could possibly research or talk with a special education teacher abuot how she can help Alphonso. The next step for Mrs. Young is to try and get assistance to Alphonso to a doctor and get a diagnosis and possibly the right medication if he needs it. (Although too many children ar ediagnosed with ADHD when they are really just...being children, who are naturally hyper-active and curious. All children learn to walk and talk at different speeds...perhaps most children learn to calm themselves and restrain their impulses at different ages and those who don't learn by a certain age are ADHD?) The next step for Mrs. Matchwick would be that she could observe Alphonso in a classroom setting and write reports for a doctor to look at to help properly diagnos him.
2.) Yes, ADHD is considered a learning disability. As I said, my good friend has ADHD and in school she had an IEP and recieved extra time on tests, to complete homework, and her class-work and homework was less. She also recieved a check and and medication. She was in some resource classes in high-school as well. I assume Alphonso would be no exception since he comes from a low SES background.
3.) After and if Alphonso is diagnosed with ADHD his parents need to find a way for him to have some time each day at home to let out some energy. However, this should be done in appropriate ways, or he could even be enrolled in soccer, martial arts classes, or something he might enjoy. The park is always a good idea because he can run around and play. If the family would recieve a check for him it could help pay for such activities. His parents could also take some time to help him play better and his siblings could play vital roles in the task as well. Communication between family and school could be weekly phone calls to tell his parents how is he doing in class. They could meet monthly as well. If Alphonso is doing better this gives him a chance for praise and if he is not this gives teachers and parents a chance to modify activites.
4.) Ms. Cross could make some activites more intense and shorter in time-span. Find ways for Alphonso and the other children to release engery. I think special education is too soon for Alphonso. He is so young. This article does not seem to say he has devolped delays in speech or physical delays either.
5.) Ms. Cross could talk with the parents about getting a diagnosis for Alphonso and taking further steps to help him in his education. Ms. Cross could also try to make activities more relevant to Alphonso and the class.
___________
Chapter 7
Reader Inquiry and Reflection
1.) What has happened to Sarah to disturb her and distress her? Why must she walk out and see the Special Education teacher when she is distressed? Is she in any special education classes?
2.) Pretty much everything, there really is no background given or even any hints. What kind of home life does she have? What kind of school is it? Where is the school? What type of community does she live in?
3.) Where is the school? Is the community supporitive of children and is it low or high SES? What about her parents or guardian(s)? Family history of Emotional Impairment or behavioral disorders?
Questions/Activities/Tasks
1.)Her belief that her mathwork is boring should be taken seriously. It is said that she is slightly higher than average at math. Maybe the work is boring because it's too easy. If it is too easy then she does not have to concentrate as hard and this enables her to think about other things. Possibly things going wrong in her life. A factor to consider is if they "up" the work is to make sure it's not too hard or too much.
2.) Sarah is also beginning puberty and their are many more changes for a girl, especially emotionally. The team can talk to Sarah about how she feels about herself and the changes going on in her body.
3.) Yes, it would be a good idea to revise her behavior contract because the current one is not working and seems to be of no consideration to Sarah. The revisions I would recommend would be the ones that are named in the continuation and closure section, as well as talking to Sarah and her mother about seeing a psychologist.
4.) I think Sarah should be allowed to attest for her behavior, but her attestments should be monitored for accuracy. Girls her age tend to be drama. I think Sarah is old enough to talk about changing her current program. However, it needs to be done with sensitivity. I would have the team meet and make some decisions, then call Sarah in and discuss them with her, and tell her she can ask for changes and if they are suitable the team can consider them.
----
Chapter 11
Wow. I had never really thought of using e-mail to help a non-verbal person communicate. That really astounded me.
-Reader Inquiry and Reflection
1.) I wondered how Blake became autistic? What grade is he in? Does his teacher fully understand autism?
2.) Informaton on Blake's family life, birth, and possibly vaccines...because I've heard that they can cause autism, is this true? Information on the school, classroom, community. I assume Blake has an IEP, but what are his modifications?
3.) What kind of school is it? Do they have a program to help those with autism? Is the community supportive? Does the community have groups in which parents or guardians get together to help their autistic children and let the children play with one another? Does Blake live with a mother and father, singl mother, single father, foster care, etc, etc.
Questions/Activity/Task
1.) Shawn and Emma's plan as a follow-up in Language Arts for Blake could be to use games to help him learn to spell more efficiently if he has any trouble with that. They could try to get the use of the computer in all his classes. I also think computing in his other classes should be mandatory. He has a voice now. I think all his classes should be considered. I think he should have a computer in his gym class that he can go to if he has a question about getting a drink of water, going to the bathroom, how to do something, etc.
2.) Yes, I would definitly recommend that interactive computing be used at his home. He deserves to talk with his parents and siblings and others...if there is a way for him to use his "voice" he should be able to use it. Well, his parents have bought him a computer. Really if he needs to talk to somebody he could type his or her name and what he needs to say. Then he could go to that person and tug on his her arm and that would tell them "hey, come to the computer I need to tell/ask you something." Yes, autistic children have problems with non-verbal cues, but with practice he would probably get it and if it would work and the person's arm on whom he tugged came to the computer he gets the desired result.
3.) I could see Blake in a job in which he can use the computer for the majority of the time. In an office, or even typing up doctor office reports. He could send e-mails for companies, etc. Just anything in which a computer can be used. In Blakes IEP and transition plan, I think the high school should be contacted about his use and need for a computer in the classroom. That at least he and his teacher(s) need a computer to comunicate back and forth. It seems that Blake is very smart, just limited in his language and a few behavior problems.
4.) The internet is a community. I believe that with supervison Blake could use the internet to communicate with family, friends, and many other people. Also, within his home community maybe there is another boy or girl about his age who uses a computer to communicate. Why not set the two up with computers in the same room and let them talk? In the process a person could be there and try to get them to use some eye contact.
-----
Chapter 12
Reader Inquiry and Reflection
1.) What exactly is impaired about Irina? That is a big question, it is almost like they do not even talk about *her*
2.) What happened to her, how has she done in school, why did they decide to let her participate in electives this year? What kind of plan was written up for that? What are her requirements as well as the general education music and chorus teacher?
3.) What kind of school is it? Where is the community? Low or high SES family? Both parents? One parent? No parents? Gardians? Siblings?
Questions/Activity/Task
1.) I think the vice principal should inform Mr. Lewis about Irina and tell him that a plan is be developed to help Irina and him in their upcoming music class together. I think he should be told as soon as possible so he can make some recommendations or suggest modifications for the plan Irina will have set up for her. He should be involved because it is his class and only he knows what kind of schedule he has set up for his students.
2.) For consideration in devising a plan for Irina in her music class, two things that come to my mind are: that the teacher and other students need to be told and warned about Irina having trouble singing and get the students to a point where they will help her and not make fun of her. Irina could have an aid for part of the class helping her to understand music and music theory while the students are singing, and possibly the aid could help her with her voice some too. If she gets tired she could rest some and rejoin the class.
3.) The technology she uses could be used to help her read music and it could even play the sounds back to her.
4.) Mr. Lewis could grade her on participation, but take into consideration how easily she tires out. He could grade her on effort and on music theory and even just memorizing most of a song with a certian amount of accuracy. He should not focus on how great or how bad her voice sounds.
------
Chapter 9
This chapter hits home to me as well. A little cousin of mine was born with a hearing impairment. He can not hear at all out of his left ear. For a long time we thought he ignored everyone...sometimes.
Reader Inquiry and Reflection
1.) How bad exactly is Amy's hearing. I know it says moderate, but what exactly is that for Amy. Moderate could take on different levels for different people.
2.)Amy is three, so is she in headstart? How qualified are these educators to help a hearing disabled child?
3.) Does the school have an employed speech therapist, as well as a professional person who speaks sign-language? Is the community high or low SES? Are the mother and father competent in sign language? How have they helped their daughter so far?
Questions/Activity/Task
1.) This family is facing a language issue. They are also facing issue's with people being ignorant about Amy's hearing disability. The parents of Amy could gather information or real-life stories on people with hearing disabilities and prove to others that she is NOT stupid. (I can't believe people would think that way, I mean...honestly)
2.) Yes, support from family and friends means almost anything. Nobody needs discouraging family and friends. If the friends continue to be like that...they're not friends. If the family continues to be like that toward Amy...they are not family either, at least not to me. From the perspective of family and friends...I'm afraid to say, for fear of being judgemental, I would say they are very much uneducated. As is said above, the parents could gather success stories.
3.) To help accomodate Amy in the preschool would be to teach her that when the red light is flashing on the fire alarm that the alarm is going off and she needs to follow the teacher to get out of the building because danger is approaching. Verbal cues would strongly play a role in helping Amy understand things in the classroom.
Adding your comment: