Down Syndrome: We Can All Be Friends
^^^ Above is a link of a 13 minute video about children with Down Syndrome ^^^
If you don't already know, I am aspiring to be a Special Education teacher for high school-aged students. I have always been looking to find some way to make a difference in this world and to be able to reach out to the people.
THIS IS MY CALLING!
In my senior year of high school (Go WHS!!) I dropped my AP Statistics class a couple weeks into school because my anxiety was making me sick to my stomach and I was having trouble learning through just reading the textbook. Without doing this, I am not sure who I would be or what I would be wanting to do in my life. So, for one, I thank my anxiety, which is not always so bad to have, for making me switch out of that dreadful class.
You may be wondering why it is that I am thanking a class I never took for making me want to be a Special Education teacher. The answer is that I turned my sixth block into a time to aid students with different disabilities (best word I could find at this time). I got to meet the wonderful students and the teachers. They all taught me so much, about myself and about helping others. It threw my life in a whole new direction.
I got to see that sometimes my situation isn't always as bad as I make it out to be. Yes, I have anxiety. Yes, life is not easy. Yes, I am failing at my first semester in college. Yes, a lot of my friends have changed and moved on. Yes, yes, yes.
These kids made my days when I was holding back tears. They put a smile on my face, as I did the same for them. I saw them struggle to speak their mind, overcome their differences, and work in class. Yet, they accomplished so much in the year that I was with them. One boy was overweight and we all tried very hard to teach him nutritional values and about how exercise is important. Later that year he finally had his first salad, and they started him on a regimen of walking around the school to get into a habit of exercising. That same boy in the beginning of the year ate more than I could eat in a day and none of it was ever healthy.
One time we were playing soccer in the wrestling room, where there PE class is held, and I kicked the ball to the same boy I was talking about above. Guess what he did? He made it into the net! I was so proud of him. I gave him a high-five, and that one accomplishment made his day. Now, to this day, I feel like I made a difference in that boys life.
Another boy I worked with on occasion was both blind and deaf. Imagine that! I never knew he even existed, or went to our school, until the day I joined that class. I learned that to teach such a student was a very difficult task. As it is with any student really. Gosh, I wondered. How in the world could he learn? What was the point of even being at the school? Then I figured it out. You taught him by cause-and-effect: tap his hand three times to release the ball (even if he didn't actually let go on his own), let it roll down the ramp, and if it hit the pin he got to feel it). This wasn't just learning but it was sensory learning. If you can't see and can't hear all you really have left is your taste, smell, and touch. So he had to learn through that.
I couldn't even imagine how it would feel to be both blind and deaf. Not knowing what the world was like. What would I even think about? That would just kill me. So to see him wheelchair bound was hard. The poor guy. So weak. So unknowing of life. Yet, there he was eight hours every week day in the same school I sat in and learned my English, history, math, science, foreign language, music, and more. I still wonder what his mind goes through. He doesn't say any words, just moans and you're stuck figuring out what is wrong.
I've become friends with these students. They look up to me, and when I see them around town I call them by name. We have conversations in the hallways of school and at football games. It may be hard to understand them but I try my very best to comprehend what they are trying to tell me.
I want others to recognize that these kids are full of amazement. That they are just like us. They need friends. They enjoy singing and dancing. Being silly is what they do. Having fun is just a way of life. They feel secluded. They yearn to be like every one else, yet we just walk on past them as they sit in the hallway eating there lunch like everyone else but no one spends time with them. There only interaction is with the teachers.
So next time you are walking the halls of your school, or really anywhere for that matter, stop for a second and say "HEY!!". The smile you'll bring to their face will make you understand how I feel. It's the same feeling of being a teacher, which is exactly why I want to work with these students.
Watch the video if you haven't already! You'll learn something new! Even I did!
Love,
<3 p="p">
Forever Lexi =D
I got to see that sometimes my situation isn't always as bad as I make it out to be. Yes, I have anxiety. Yes, life is not easy. Yes, I am failing at my first semester in college. Yes, a lot of my friends have changed and moved on. Yes, yes, yes.
These kids made my days when I was holding back tears. They put a smile on my face, as I did the same for them. I saw them struggle to speak their mind, overcome their differences, and work in class. Yet, they accomplished so much in the year that I was with them. One boy was overweight and we all tried very hard to teach him nutritional values and about how exercise is important. Later that year he finally had his first salad, and they started him on a regimen of walking around the school to get into a habit of exercising. That same boy in the beginning of the year ate more than I could eat in a day and none of it was ever healthy.
One time we were playing soccer in the wrestling room, where there PE class is held, and I kicked the ball to the same boy I was talking about above. Guess what he did? He made it into the net! I was so proud of him. I gave him a high-five, and that one accomplishment made his day. Now, to this day, I feel like I made a difference in that boys life.
Another boy I worked with on occasion was both blind and deaf. Imagine that! I never knew he even existed, or went to our school, until the day I joined that class. I learned that to teach such a student was a very difficult task. As it is with any student really. Gosh, I wondered. How in the world could he learn? What was the point of even being at the school? Then I figured it out. You taught him by cause-and-effect: tap his hand three times to release the ball (even if he didn't actually let go on his own), let it roll down the ramp, and if it hit the pin he got to feel it). This wasn't just learning but it was sensory learning. If you can't see and can't hear all you really have left is your taste, smell, and touch. So he had to learn through that.
I couldn't even imagine how it would feel to be both blind and deaf. Not knowing what the world was like. What would I even think about? That would just kill me. So to see him wheelchair bound was hard. The poor guy. So weak. So unknowing of life. Yet, there he was eight hours every week day in the same school I sat in and learned my English, history, math, science, foreign language, music, and more. I still wonder what his mind goes through. He doesn't say any words, just moans and you're stuck figuring out what is wrong.
I've become friends with these students. They look up to me, and when I see them around town I call them by name. We have conversations in the hallways of school and at football games. It may be hard to understand them but I try my very best to comprehend what they are trying to tell me.
I want others to recognize that these kids are full of amazement. That they are just like us. They need friends. They enjoy singing and dancing. Being silly is what they do. Having fun is just a way of life. They feel secluded. They yearn to be like every one else, yet we just walk on past them as they sit in the hallway eating there lunch like everyone else but no one spends time with them. There only interaction is with the teachers.
So next time you are walking the halls of your school, or really anywhere for that matter, stop for a second and say "HEY!!". The smile you'll bring to their face will make you understand how I feel. It's the same feeling of being a teacher, which is exactly why I want to work with these students.
Watch the video if you haven't already! You'll learn something new! Even I did!
Love,
<3 p="p">
Forever Lexi =D
1 comment:
Thanks for the link of the video!It should be shown in schools to inform us more about them and its really great that you got the chance to interact and befriend those students. They are just like us without the hate or greed that people usually have within them and all they need is support and friendship so they can happy and normal live like the rest of us.
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