Final Reflection ECSE 421

This semester I have learned so much about families who have children with disabilities. I have learned that they go through a grief cycle after experiencing a loss of the life they thought they would have with their child. I also learned how important it is to help parents feel empowered and also listen to what the parents have to say.

This will help me in the future as a Developmental Specialist. I will hopefully be prepared to judge less on their situations and check my bias. I want to advocate for the child as well as the parents in the school systems and when they have confusion over their rights and their children's rights.

Something I liked in this class was hearing all of the different family situations in our class. It is important for us to experience these discussions because it teaches us to collaborate in the future.

Final Reflection Blog ECSE 340

At my final home visit with my infant, I was able to present her Future Development Plan, and Resource Plan. Each of these gave her mom a lot of information and allowed me to think over infant development more deeply. She was sitting up almost unaided when Celeste and I visited. Her mother is more confident about leaving her to sit up while she accomplishes tasks, and is excited about her daughter's progress.

Celeste helped play with the infant as I presented the plans to her mom. It was great to have her there with me. I am glad I had Amanda as my partner for this semester. She taught me a lot and helped me understand a parent's point of view, as well as helping me find new ideas for intervention strategies.

ECSE 340 Week 10

This week my intervention session went better than I hoped for. I made the booklet for the infant which included pictures of her family and pictures of her. This was to engage her as she was sitting up and help her play with a toy while her mom sat her down. She was so excited to see the book. Her eyes lit up as she played with the book and saw her siblings. She wanted to find where her brother was when she saw his picture. She sat up and played with it for a few minutes at a time and kept coming back to it. Mandy helped me find resources for the family as the infant continues to grow. The infant’s mother has continued to show excitement for her daughter’s progress.

“The best part of being a parent that I never expected, is seeing my children interact with their siblings.” -Infant’s mother

ECSE 421 Week 10

This week we as we graded the family rubric I was able to relate a lot of what we did throughout the project to the guest lecture we experienced on Friday. As she talked about the families she visits and the importance of helping those families by empowering the parents, I realized our resource project needed to empower the parents of those families to act. To learn about my family in a different manner I would have changed how my group and I reflected together. We focused so much on splitting the project into parts that we forgot to reflect upon each section together. That collaboration is important especially as a Developmental Specialist. You bring together many professionals who are able to put the child’s best interest in the forefront.

The experience this week that helped me the most was the guest lecture who was a Developmental Specialist. She helped us as a class put into perspective the importance of helping the families and coaching them to help their children. She encompassed everything we have learned throughout this class.

To apply this in the future, especially our lecture on Professionalism on Wednesday, I am prepared to understand all areas of professionalism to be a great employee and represent the company I work for well, and show I am educated and can help families and their children. I want families to be able to trust me and I can do this through my professionalism.

My peers learned a lot in the Guest Lecture. They were completely willing to participate and ask questions. You could tell they were all invested in what she was sharing with us, and how we could develop the same respect for families that she had.

“While teachers may be viewed differently than other professionals, the importance of effective teachers in societal change cannot be underestimated. In fact, the classroom teacher is arguably the single most important individual in directing student success.” Professionalism PDF

For my HWD Project I decided to look into Retts Syndrome. This syndrome is a postnatal genetic disorder in which the symptoms start to show up around 6-8months of infancy. This disorder is a genetic mutation is often misdiagnosed because of the early symptoms as autism or cerebral palsy. These children experience sensory problems, communication delays, and impairments in their dietary function as well as breathing, muscles, and their mood. Because each of these symptoms show up separately I can understand how they would be misdiagnosed. Sister Cranmer and I talked about how this was a hard syndrome to work with as a DS because you have to “unlock” what is inside of them. They lack communication and it is hard to understand what they need or how they are feeling. As a DS I would need to look into strategies for communication as well as movement.

http://www.rettsyndrome.org/about-rett-syndrome/what-is-syndrome

ECSE 340 Week 9

This week my home visit went really well. My infant is sitting up and we started a new goal of balancing with her hands and reaching for objects. We tried something new as I sat her in a laundry basket. Her mother mentioned that while she is in a grocery cart her daughter gets tired of sitting up. Moving the laundry basket mimics that movement and will build her core strength.

For my Developmental Activity I am working on a booklet with her family’s pictures in it. This book will have sensory activities as well as a strap to hook to the laundry basket or to her car seat. This will allow her entertainment to engage her as she sits up.

In class this week I was able to get great feedback on my activity as we learned what I could do differently with my activity. They expounded on my idea and gave great critiques. I learned a lot from my peers this week.

In my expert interview for ECSE 421 I was able to get ideas for helping my toddler learn to sit up. I shared some frustration in applying my interventions into her daily routines. She said, “Every family is unique and busy, and trying to help them learn to help their child as a part of their routine.” –Sister Cranmer

As I focused on this quote I was able to use the coaching model more effectively in my intervention session. 

ECSE 421 Week 9

This week in our class we had a work day to focus on our family projects. As we were able to finish it up my group came together and we understood the purpose of the IFRP. We are giving the family valuable information that is easily accessible. What we could have changed and done better in our project is edit our binders to fit the family’s current situation. The family changed with each card and we hoped that we updated it enough to adhere to their changing family.

The experience that helped me the most this week was my HWD expert interview as well as the other group presentations. I learned through my interview the importance of working with families and other professionals. I also learned through other presentations that families come from different backgrounds, religions, and have different mind frames. I need to be unbiased when dealing with each family.

I am becoming well prepared to apply this in my future as I am sensitive to the family’s needs. I will hopefully begin to understand the importance of collaboration with the family’s and other professionals.

My peers did really well on their family presentations and helped me become aware of different disabilities. With them being prepared they were able to teach me something new.

“It used to be that the interventionist was expected to “fix” the child. The power comes as parents learn that their child isn’t broken, but different.” –Sister Cranmer HWD Expert Interview.

This week for my HWD project I did my expert interview with Jillisa Cranmer who is a faculty member over the toddler labs on campus. She worked as a Developmental Specialist after getting her undergraduate degree in Child Development. She later received her master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education. I have looked up to Sister Cranmer as my faculty mentor as she has helped me in my education thus far. The interview I did with her took place in person. She expressed her excitement with me in sharing her experiences. The biggest thing she stressed throughout the interview was collaborating with other professionals as well as the families. When she was an interventionist she was expected to go into the home and “fix” the child. The coaching model was not implemented until after she was a Developmental Specialist. Looking back she understands the need and vitality for the coaching model because it implements the interventions into the daily routines.

            I appreciated her thoughts about families. She shared with me that easy families are the minority. We are lucky to be receiving our degrees in Rexburg, Idaho where families are open-minded and understand the importance of their child’s development. Some families in Rexburg as well as around the country will not be so simple to work with. I will need to be educated in tactics on working with families and helping them have easy transitions as they work with and learn to teach their child. I need to take into account that the parents are their child’s first teacher. They spend the most time with them. If I want the strategies to work when I am gone I need to make them comprehendible for the parents. As I work with other professionals I need to understand that I will not always agree. My opinion needs to be open minded, but Sister Cranmer said that it doesn’t always mean I am wrong. Sister Cranmer loved working with other professionals because she could really uncover the child’s disability and come to a wider understanding through those who specialized in different areas.

ECSE 421 Week 8

I didn’t attend the first class on Monday that we had, but I read the preparation materials and the videos. From that I realized that the Lord has a hand in our life, but he needs to let us go through trials in order to for us to have growth and learn from the hard times. God loves us enough to watch us go through hard times and learn just as he also needed to grow and learn. As we trust him he will show us that everything turns out all right.

As we worked on our family projects we were able to find some great resources that match the family’s concerns. It is sad to see that when a child is born with a disability it can take such a strain on a family. Hopefully we are able to provide them with the resources they need in order to mend their family and relationships with each other.

The resource that helped me the most this week was my peers. They were able to help me find resources and understand the family project better. We worked together to understand the assignment and were able to complete our portions on time. We had a work day on Wednesday and Friday that really helped us finish Part B and C of the assignment.

To apply this in the future I will want to validate the feelings these families are having about their trials. They will wonder why their child is not like other children, and some will become frustrated in their relationships that have been severed because of their child. I hope they see that I am an advocate for their family and I will strive to have the light of Christ show through what I can teach them.

“Thank you, for loving me enough to cut me down.” –D. Todd Christopherson 

As we understand our trials make us better, we are going to trust in God even when he cuts us down.

For my HWD project I decided this week to study Down Syndrome. I have seen older children with Down Syndrome, but I want to know how I can help a child with Down Syndrome in Early Intervention. First there are health problems that are related to the copy of their chromosome, Trisomy 21. Some of these health problems include Heart Defects, intestinal problems, hearing, vision, and thyroid problems. These are just a few of the health problems some children with Down Syndrome with have.

As and early interventionist I will be finding resources for these families to receive help as they deal with medical bills, and possible relationship problems as a result of a high stress family situation. They will already be seeing a physician frequently for their child’s medical concerns, so my next step after helping them find resources, is to teach them how to help their child reach milestones.

    

Since these children will likely have developmental delays related to Down Syndrome, they will have different ages that they reach milestones as opposed to typically developing children. An example of the difference in milestones is they will sit up unassisted between 6-30 months. Typically developing children usually sit up between 5-9 months.  I will help the family see where they child is at in their development and gauge where they need to be based on having Down Syndrome.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/parenting-child-downs-syndrome#1

http://www.ndss.org/resources/therapies-development/early-intervention/

ECSE 340 Week 8

This week in my intervention Session I was able to see the infant progress and take major steps to accomplishing her goal. Her mom still wants her to work on sitting up, because she can’t leave her alone to sit up and play yet. As she continues to get stronger her balance will get better. Her mom is going to work with her on her balance and giving her more opportunities during the day to sit up by herself. She is busy and told me that she needs to allow her baby more time during their routines where they can practice balancing. She will try more strategies I gave her while she is getting dressed, and while she is eating.

I was evaluated by Celeste this week and she told me one thing I can do better is working more with the coaching model. I noticed I tend to take over when the baby is sitting up, and that is mostly because I want the mom in front of the baby to keep her engaged. This week I will practice telling the mom why I am doing certain strategies and how that helps her baby.

A concern I have is that she is leaning to one side when she sits up. A strategy I showed her mom was putting her on an exercise ball to strengthen her core on her other side. Is there a reason for me or her mom to watch this closely?

“We need to teach them things that are concrete and not abstract.”-Amanda

This applies not only to her infant, but also to the one I am working with. If she is not motivated or sees no reason to sit up, then she won’t.

ECSE 421 Week 7

This week we talked about a few things that I feel are very important. The class discussed the importance of adult learning when it comes to early intervention within the family, as well as how mental illness is portrayed today and what we need to do to help families. I thought it was great that we learned coaching for adults. When we speak to adults about their children we need to teach them what and why we are using certain strategies with their child. We need to teach them how to use these strategies in the routines within their homes. As we do this they will discover the importance of RBI’s as well as be more trusting of the interventionist who is allowing them to be a part of their child’s therapy.

With mental illness I found it very shocking how hidden it is. Society thinks it isn’t a huge issue because those who have mental illnesses may be ashamed of them. As we let others open up about mental illness we can help them release frustrations and teach them coping strategies in how they can deal with their mental disorder. We need to look at it the same way we look at other disabilities.

The resource that helped me the most this week were the statistics as well as the TEDx talks. The statistics on mental illness were shocking. And the TEDx talks helped me understand a mother’s perspective on mental illness, as well as a teacher’s perspective on helping adults be a part of their children’s education.

For applying this in the future I would say that I am becoming prepared to teach parents strategies rather than do the strategies for the parents. I am learning the importance of being impartial and holding my bias.

My peers did a great job of sharing personal experiences as well as experiences they have had with other people in their lives. It opened up my mind to mental illness and the reality of it. I don’t know many people dealing with depression, or anxiety that have made me aware of it. I’m glad my classmates were willing to participate in the discussion.

“This problem is too big for me to handle on my own. Sometimes there are no good options. So you just pray for grace and trust that in hindsight, it will all make sense.” TEDx talk which is a mother’s perspective on dealing with her son who has a mental illness.

This week for my HWD project I wanted to get some field knowledge on working with children with disabilities and their parents. This is not my expert interview but I needed more information on what it is like working with children who come from different backgrounds. My mother is a special education teacher in an elementary school in Utah. She teachers K-5, and has children in her class who come from very low SES families, as well as middle class families. She said that the success a child has during the week can quickly be back tracked when they go home, IF the parent is not working with the child at home. This made a lot of sense to me because it is vital that every day the child is utilizing strategies and the parents are implementing them in their routines.

This applies to early intervention because I need to provide the parent’s with strategies that they can easily use and resources they can quickly find. My mother says the reason she sends home daily notes on each child is so the parent is aware of the child’s progress and lack of progress. She gives the parents strategies to use at home, and whether they use them or not, at least they have the information available.  As I work with families who are too busy to sit down and implement strategies within their routine, I want to focus on loving the family who is taking care of the child. I want to have communication with them in between intervention sessions to help me be aware of their child’s progress and what I can do to help them keep their child progressing towards their goals. 

ECSE 340 Week 7

This week my home visit went really well. The infant I have been working with is doing very well on her goal, but her mom is not convinced she has met the goal, even though during the session she did. Her mom wants to time her sitting up at different times during the day to see if it makes a difference how well she sits up. Next week we will work on balance and her interpersonal skills while she sits up. I'm concerned that I won't know what to do after this week, mostly because her mom isn't concerned that she isn't crawling at 9 months. She scoots a lot, but her next step from sitting up and balancing is crawling. Her mom doesn't want her to crawl yet.

Working with my Partner, Amanda, has been really good. She helps me with strategies on how I should speak to the parent and she helps me fill out the SOAP note while the mother and I are talking and working with the infant. This week I also want to include the infants father in her strategies.

"RBI's are where we show the parents strategies they can use for their child's goal through out the day."-Sister Swenson, This is not word for word, but it helped me realize how to help the parent apply what we do during and intervention session.

ECSE 421 Week 6

This week we continued to focus on the sub systems of the family. The two main focuses were fathers and siblings. These two sub systems within the family are very important because they are the daily interactions with the child who has a disability.

Fathers are important because they complement mothers in the family. We read several articles as a class that said fathers are invaluable and they are worthless in the family. I would argue this to the death because I know that without my father I would not be who I am today.

We also had students in the class talk about their siblings who have disabilities. There were many stages of the grief cycle displayed. It is important for siblings to share their experiences because they are able to show empathy for one another as well as learn from their experiences with their siblings.

The resource that helped me the most this week was my peers. They were the ones who shared raw experiences they have had and helped me gain a different perspective on how separate members of the family deal with someone who has a disability.

To apply this in the future I am prepared to take into account helping fathers feel included as well as helping siblings have a voices. The point of an IFSP is to provide the family with a plan to help them all cope with each other and the child who has a disability. My peers did great in making sure the discussion board was meaningful. They also shared their experiences in class which added to the class discussion.

“Push fear of the unknown out of your head and worry about today and what is right in front of you.” –Alex Parrott (Fathers PDF)

This week I have felt kind of stuck in my HWD project. As I talked to Sister Swenson I was able to expand my thinking beyond the jobs within Early Intervention, but also to the disabilities I will be working with. I will research 3 new disabilities that I am unfamiliar with and what they will need within early intervention. I am also getting ready to do my professional interview to gain more perspective into the field. I have 2 ideas of people I can interview and I will be contacting them this week. 

ECSE 340 Week 6

This week for my intervention session I had this feeling the infant would reach her goal when I went to her home. As we worked with her on sitting up for 2-3 minutes she had times during the session where she would make it 20 seconds and then fall over, versus 4 minutes where she would stay up for a long time. We tried a few different strategies in order to have her sit up. She liked interaction with her mom and her sister over the toys. When the mom and sister used a toy to interact with her she also responded to that very well. She had moments where she was able to keep her balance when a toy was out of reach, but balance will be something her mother and I want to work on with her more. For my back up plan I will have her work on getting on her knees to go from scooting to crawling.

In class I really appreciated the class sharing their concerns as well as their triumphs. This helped me remember that we are in the beginning stages of our learning and it is okay not to be perfect. I also learned during class how important it is to be repetitive and learn from our strategies that don't work. I am looking forward to our next session together as we try new strategies and I see her continue to develop.

"I feel like she is grading me!" -Rachel

While this is a funny quote, I think it is applicable because a lot of us feel incompetent, but Sister Swenson reassured us that as long as we are making progress and intentionally planning and thinking through our plans, it counts.

ECSE 421 Week 5

This week I was greatly impacted as we talked about families and the grief cycle. We also had a guest lecture by a mother with who has 2 sons with various disabilities. In the grief cycle we talked about how it is important to be aware of the family’s needs at the current moment. They will go through the grief cycle many times as their children fail to reach milestones they would have expected for them. As a professional in the home we should become familiar with the grief cycle and label where they are in the cycle so we know how to approach interventions.

My greatest resource this week was the guest lecture. It is not very often as professionals that we get to hear the mother’s day to day routines that are difficult to adapt to. She has to plan her entire life around those boys and it is a struggle to keep the energy going in order to keep up with their hectic routines. She has realized that she gets to provide experiences for her boys instead of having experiences. I can imagine that is very exhausting.

To apply what I have learned this week into the future I would like to take on a new attitude. I need to realize that while I may know what the child is like at home, I am not at home with that child day in and day out. I do not know what those parents are going through because I have not experienced the everyday care of that child. I would like to be more empathetic towards parents and show them that I realize they know what is best for their child and I am there to provide the tools they need to accomplish their child’s goals.

 My peers learned a lot this week and I learned a lot from them. They participated in the class discussions and provided insight I had not thought of before. I appreciate how they are willing to share personal experiences with family members or people they know who have disabilities and what it is like in their home.

“Their behavior isn’t a reflection of my parenting.”- Guest Lecturer

As I venture deeper into my HWD project, I am coming across many ways to apply what I am learning into the field. I have been able to take strategies from ECSE 340 and apply them to early intervention. This week I focused on learning what and early intervention specialist does within the homes of the families. I learned that the main goal of the Developmental Specialist is to work with the parents to create goals for the child. As they look at the developmental checklist along with the parental goals, they will help the parent be the advocate for their child.

The families do not have to pay for these services, and the Developmental Specialist is able to create a plan for the family called an Individualized Family Service Plan. Through this plan the families will be able to learn how they can implement strategies into their daily routines. The Specialist helps them learn these strategies based on the child’s goal.  

I have also seen other careers in Early Intervention such as, Speech Pathologist, Physical Therapist, Behavioral Support, and Occupational Therapist.

http://www.eiskids.com/default.asp

ECSE 340 Week 5

I attended my home visit last week and have another one scheduled for this week. My previous blog post explains my thoughts on the previous home visit. As I reflect and learn on what I will be working with this infant on I am excited to create this goal with her mom and work on gross motor with her. The goal we are looking at is having her sit up for 1-2 minutes during a session. This will help her in so many areas as she develops her core strength and balance.

This week in class we talked about developing an intervention plan for the infants. We talked about focusing on the domain the child is in need of based on their Ages and Stages paper work. The infant I am working with is significantly low in her gross motor development. Her goals will be centered on sitting up and building interpersonal relationships with others as she gains a new perspective from sitting up.

“Make goals specific, measurable, and observable.” –Sister Swenson. This is important as we create goals to make sure we can observe the success within the intervention session. This is how we will measure progress.

ECSE 421 Week 4

As we learned more about families this week we discussed open systems and closed system families. Open system families have information constantly flowing in and out of their home. They are open with other families about things going on in their lives and don’t mind that everyone knows their family matters. A closed family is the opposite. They are very private with information going on in their family and don’t want a lot of help. Working with both open and close system families can be a challenge because one (open) is always looking for a fix, while the other (closed) has a hard time accepting help for their child.

The greatest resource for me this week was how Sister Swenson taught us about the Crisis Cycle. As I read about the crisis cycle it didn’t make complete sense how the stages worked and how a child can flip back and forth between stages. She really explained how to prevent going into escalate mode and waiting until they are ready to problem solve before we make the next move as caregivers.

I am well prepared to understand open and close ended families, I do think it will take practice in sensitivity to know how to approach each situation with skill and tact. I also feel helping children learn the crisis cycle will take a lot of practice so I know how I can keep from triggering escalation.

My peers learned this information and retained it really well. They applied what we were learning to their families and asked questions about how to apply the crisis cycle in different scenarios. I helped by being a part of the discussion and also discussion outside of class with my classmates about what we had learned. It helped us retain it and continue to apply it.

“All children have basic needs for acceptance, appreciation, and love. Exchanging unconditional love is an essential ingredient of family affection…” –Families, Professionals, and Exceptionalities p. 57

ECSE 340 Week 4

This week was my first home visit to the infant’s home where I will be working with her. The home visit went great as the children crowded around to play with the little girl and her mom and I discussed where her development is at. As her mother and I talked she discussed how she is 9 months old and feels she is a little behind developmentally. While we went through the ages and stages checklist it was clear that she was more around a 6 months level rather than a 9 month. It will be great to see how she progresses as we work on some motor development with her as well as separation anxiety.

While I did the case study on a girl names Serena in the book, I realized that some of her motor movements will help me with the infant I will be visiting this semester. I really tried to focus on her as I planned the lesson for my case study.

Working with the infant I have been assigned, I would like to allow her the opportunity to explore her world as she develops her gross motor muscles.

“As children develop, they become increasingly more capable of acting on their world. With the help of supportive adults, young children learn to address their needs in more sophisticated ways with increasing independence.” –Family-Centered Early Intervention p. 168

ECSE 340 Week 3

This week we learned about intervention plans and what it is like conducting a visit where we implement strategies. Our book talked about Routine Based Interventions (RBI) and how they need to be family based. The purpose of this is to help the parents understand what they can do in order to carry out the routines when the specialist is not there. In the coaching model it talks about how we should be working with the parent. They know their child the best and as we seek their advice we can also counsel them on strategies to implement what they think is best for their child.

We also learned about how to begin our lesson plans for this class. They need to be detailed in order to show that we are being intentional and show that we are thinking through the strategies we have come up with for these toddlers.

“Joint planning [within the coaching model] puts the parent in a more active role in determining what is appropriate and manageable for his or her family…” 

-Family Centered Early Intervention p. 93

ECSE 421 Week 3

This week in ECSE 421 We focused a lot on the family and understanding the family in order to help the infants we will work with. In order to understand children with disabilities the class discussed our ADA projects. Each student did a different simulation on a particular disability. The insight I gained from each person’s statement was that they had time to reflect on how hard it would be, even though the simulation isn’t even close to what the actual person with a disability would go through.

The experience that helped me internalize and empathize with these infants and their families was on Friday when we each discussed our own family dynamics. It was really powerful to learn about the families and their subsystems and how these systems shaped the individuals in my class. It is amazing to me that with about 25 students in our class each and every family situation was unique. This will help me realize the infants I work with will all have unique family situations and their IFSPs need to be incredibly individualized and specific to that family. My peers impacted me as they shared these personal stories which allowed me to feel open enough to share my family story. They helped me understand how to be open minded when working with families in the future.

The resource that helped me break down the family systems was the power point that was shown in class. When I was reading about it I wasn’t able to categorize and internalize this information. The PowerPoint had bullet points that helped me simplify the family into spousal, parental, and sibling subsystems.

“…whether they have children with disabilities or not, families are unique and complex.” –Families, Professionals, and Exceptionalities Ch. 2

For my HWD project I have decided to research Early Intervention and jobs within it. I have thought about becoming an Early Intervention Specialist, so I looked up what that job entails. First of all I would need to graduate from an accredited school with my bachelor’s degree. Then I would be able to work with children through Early Intervention from birth to 5. An Early Intervention Specialist travels to preschools, homes, or kindergartens in order to work with the infant and their families. This is when they will create an IFSP individualized for the family.

Looking up this first job within early intervention has made me even more excited to get into the field. I hope to find more jobs so that I can broaden my horizons.

http://www.specialeducationguide.com/teacher-certification/what-early-intervention-specialists-do/

ADA Blog Post

I had the ADA assignment of Epilepsy which is a seizure disorder. Every 15 minutes for three hours I would essentially have a seizure. This consisted of stopping anything I was doing for 2 minutes and sit still.

As I did this assignment it first was a huge inconvenience. I had to pause homework. I would pause videos or readings and set a timer for two minutes. During this time I reflected on how hard it would be if I were really having a seizure. I wouldn’t be able to simply un pause a video, but I would need some recuperation time because I’m sure seizures take up so much energy. I had to stop eating during a meal and wait to leave the house. I sat and waited for the seizure to end then I was able to go to the gas station. On the way home my husband drove as I had another seizure.

Driving, going to school, and living an everyday lifestyle would be so hard with and epileptic disorder this demanding and time consuming. Not only was it inconvenient, but I didn’t really have any seizures. Someone with this disorder would have very litter energy to complete tasks and very little time to complete activities of daily living between the seizures.

As I was on my way to the gas station I realized that seizures probably aren’t aware of time. What if I really did have a seizure and it decided it wouldn’t wait the full 15 minutes. I wouldn’t be able to drive. ADA doesn’t have a place comfortable or safe for me to go in every building to have a seizure. There aren’t any accommodations or modifications to buildings that would allow safety for myself if a seizure were to happen at any moment.

Thinking back on my experience it is nothing compared to someone who deals with these episodes multiple times every day. They can’t set a timer and hope their seizure adheres to their schedule. They can’t pause videos, stop eating, the seizure doesn’t have time to wait for them to pause. Those two minutes every 15 minutes did give me time to think. I thought about how scary it would be to not control my own body. I can’t imagine how frightening it would be to be a family member watching their child experience one for the first time.

As ADA considers accommodations and modifications, there are always going to be disabilities that are left out or hard to accommodate for. It is impossible to put into place those accommodations for every disability. What we can do as educators, is help our leaders become aware of those with disabilities. They can be made aware that these people are strong, and can be as independent as possible if we allow them the guidance to do so. 

ECSE 340 Week 2

As we prepare for home visits and learning about Early Intervention, we have seen how important it is for us to work with the families, as well as gain their trust. We are only with the toddlers and infants for a very short period of time each week. This means parents have the primary responsibility while we are gone to carry out the plans we have. As we study and relay confidence to parents, we can gain their trust. We need to be respectful of family situation that will be different than what we deem as normal.

We will learn about our toddlers in the next week and as we partner up we can discuss strategies as well as find these strategies in our books. I decided to purchase the class textbook to keep for when I am in my future career because I know it will provide me with great strategies for children. In our class discussion we also talked about how it is important to know the developmental checklist and show sensitivity when looking at where the child fits on that list. As we know the list we can show the parents our confidence in their child.

On the Parent Involvement Pages it says in regards to families, “The child’s best learning occurs within everyday activities that comprise the bulk of the child and family’s life. These activities provide rich opportunities for the child to learn to communicate within meaningful, relevant and social contexts.”

ECSE 421 Week 2

This week as we learned about Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Individualized Education Plans (IEP), as well as Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP). Starting with ADA we watched a video and read about how ADA has affected communities and how communities accommodate to those with physical disabilities. In our books it really laid out so many laws that helped me understand what those with disabilities went through without ADA as well as the difference and problems it still has. ADA provides physical structures with accommodations such as slants in a sidewalk, buttons to open doors, and rivets in the sidewalk to know when the sidewalk is ending.

As I prepare to become a developmental specialist, I will be working primarily with families and building an IFSP that helps them understand their child’s developmental delays more. I can help a family transition and the readings about IFSPs help me prepare to work with families in the future. IEPs are plans that is specifically specialized to the individual child. As the children go through their education starting at age 3 they can receive accommodations and modifications as their IEP team has discussed and it is free to the parents if the child needs the assistance in their classroom.

In our class discussions my peers really helped me understand personal situations they have encountered and insights from their learnings. As we do the class discussions I am able to see things they got out of the reading that I didn’t understand as much. I love how my class is willing to participate and share what they have learned.

On the IFSP/IEP comparison chart given for resources it states that an IFSP’s focus is, “Providing early intervention to meet the unique needs of the child and family.”

For my Higher Wider Deeper (HWD) choice proposal I chose to learn more about Early Intervention, and jobs within my major and within Early Intervention. I learned that there are many professionals on campus I can interview for my proposal, and I purchased the class book to keep as a resource for the future. I am excited to learn more about the field of Early Childhood Education and how I can advocate for children as well as families. 

ECSE 340 Week 1

For the first class in ECSE 340, we talked about home visits and the syllabus in class. This is a class I am particularly excited for because I would love to work in an infant/toddler program for Early Intervention. We talked about how we need to act and dress professional when working with children in their homes. I know that with home visits it is important to be an a place where the child needs to work on their skill. The home is a comfortable and familiar place for the child to be in. When working on skills we need to make sure the toys or items we use are left with the family, or the family already has the item. Parents need to understand why we are working on certain skills, and how they can work with their child when the professional isn't there.

So far I don't have any questions on this course, but I am excited to learn and work with others in my class who are learning with me.

ECSE 421 Week 1

This week was our first week in ECSE 421. We talked about HIPAA and FERPA. What I currently know about HIPAA is that it it keeps medical records protected and private. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act was put into place in 1996. It allows patients to amend and apend their health records while have access to them. The records must be kept behind 2 locks and only shared on a need to know basis. FERPA is similar in that it protects records that are personal. The Family educational Rights and Privacy Act was put into place in 1974 and protects educational records. These records also must be kept behind 2 locks and strict records are kept of who accesses them and why. Students have the right to inspect, amentd and apend these documents. When the student is 18 or in college the parents no longer have rights unless the student signs written notice. Both of these acts are very important in protecting privacy of individuals and families.

During this semester I want to learn how to make families feel comfortable working with schools and school districts to help their child. I want to learn how to assist families in learning about their child's disability and how they can advocate and care for their child. I am excited for this class because it will provide for information vital to working in Early Intervention. I don't have any questions about this course yet but I am ready to discuss and learn all I can to help families and children.

"There is nothing attractive about the space between your pants and your shirt line." -Sister Swenson. This was in regards to professionalism and being aware of our surroundings and our dress. We need to know we will be working on the ground with children and parents need to be comfortable as well as look at us as professionals.