Sean's Story: Question 5&6

Just like every child is unique in their own way, so are their mothers! Through out this video, we can see that Sean and Bobby's mothers are very unique in their thinking regarding their sons' paths for education. Even with both of these mother's claiming to know what was best and most fitting for their child's education, we can point out difference between the two, speaking about similar situations. Sean's mother spent many long hours and years for Sean to have the opportunity to be in a general school, taking him out of Ridge, a school only for students with disabilities. Sean's mother argued that Sean did not need to be held back or be pushed to such low standards. Instead, she believe that being educated within the general school, Sean would gather many more experiences, teaching him about the real world. Sean's mother understood his disabilities but did not want him to be treated or placed any differently than any other student for reasons of acceptance along with educational purposes. Bobby's mother on the other hand was all for Bobby staying in Ridge. He had been doing exceptionally well, making huge steps of progression, learning how to read, gaining real world skills, learning proper behavior and social interaction skills with his peers. Bobby's mother did not feel that being placed in the general education school was necessary for Bobby's progress, actually believing that this was the best fit for him. She did not think that she was lowering the expectations of Bobby or what he could do, but instead, understood that this was Bobby needed to do his best and more.

Both parents and other people through out the video spoke about their expectations for inclusion as well as each of the boys. The video demonstrates expectations being pushed higher and higher, not allowing for students of any type to settle. Bobby and Sean we're given expectations and each went about reaching each in their own way. Expectations aren't simply about the goals or limits of a person, it is about the opportunities to achieve the expectations and then some, never settling upon what will do, but what is best.

3. In my opinion one of the biggest benefits of special schools for students with disabilities is because they are more hands on with things just for them. Special schools differ from regular schools because they have more potential to learn and grow. They also get more special attention to prepare them for their life.
4. In the video I was surprised at the fact that at such a young age they had them stocking shelves and learning about McDonald's as if thats all they had coming in their life ahead and that was all they were capable of doing.

Iris Post

Helena George

1. I think perceptions play a part in the role of every child's success. Perceptions, negative or positive will affect the child in some way.

2.I would be pleased to have any of these children in my class, they look eager to learn and genuinely happy to be learning.

3. If I was in charge of the movie production for a person who is blind, I would show that they are independent and very capable of living their lives happily and productively like anyone else. I would debunk the myth that people who are blind are heavily dependent on other people and show how independent they are and their accomplishments. The stereotype I'd be sure to avoid is that  they can't get by without help and pity and need someone to help and feel sorry for them. I've seen that being portrayed in a lot of pop culture items and feel it is underestimating just how capable people with disabilities are and I would change that in my movie.

Sean's Story questions

Helena George

question 2 In your opinion what is one of the biggest benefits of inclusion? Include on detail from the video to support your answer.
 One of the biggest benefits of inclusion is that young children can gain an understanding of people with a disability. At the end of the video the reporter asks the children what they think of Sean and they answered that they know him now and that he is nice and "not someone to just laugh at" and I think that is very important to get the preconceived notions that people with disabilities are something to laugh at or think of as different starting with young children so they don't grow up thinking it's okay to make fun of someone who is different.

question 5 Compare Sean and Bobby's mothers' approach to supporting their sons' education.
Sean and Bobby's mothers had different approaches to supporting their son's. Sean's mother fought hard and believed he could learn anything a child without disabilities could learn even if it took longer and she never lowered her expectations of her son. Bobby's mother seemed to give up on the idea that he could keep up with the curriculum in schools who didn't cater specifically to children with special education needs. She believed the expectations were too high and was afraid of him falling behind and that his self esteem would suffer. It seemed, in some parts of the video, that she lowered her expectations of her son but that's what she felt was best for him, to be in an environment with other kids with disabilities. Which I can't really blame her for I suppose but I don't have kids and have never been in such a situation so it's hard for me to gauge her actions on whether they were right or wrong. They both wanted what they felt was the best education for their sons, they just went about it differently.

IRIS assessment

1) I personally do think that other people's perceptions will effect children with disabilities success. I feel like disability or no disability perceptions will have a positive or negative effect on a child.
2) I would love to have all of the children featured in this video in my class. They all looked so happy, positive, and eager to learn!
3) If I were to make a movie about a person who is blind, I would make sure that the character was independent. He/she would be able to get to place to place by him/herself,  have a steady job, a family, played sports or had hobbies, and anything else a typical person. I would debunk the myth that a person who is blind has to depend on others so in my film I would avoid  making the character dependent on his/her family and friends.

I believe that perceptions of others have a huge role in the way children with disabilities succeed and progress. They way to make the children feel comfortable and want to do better in class is how that adults treat and work with them. Poor attitudes and negativity will only bring the children down and show poor success. Everyone deserves to be treated equal.

Word

By Shelby Artis

1.     1. Language is key to our society. It works as both an empowerment and to some, as a weapon. Using language in a positive manner can build someone up and make not only the person using the positive language feel good about doing so, but also make the person receiving the positive vibes feel better about themselves. However, when used negatively, you could tear that same person down equally as quickly as you had once built them up. With that being said, society needs to work as a whole to eliminate the negative side of language in order to continue the empowerment of it that way we can continue to build those around us up.
2. When I think of someone who has power, with the exception of if they were born into it, that power is a huge privilege. You as a person have done things to draw positive attention to yourself from those around you and by doing so, have earned a place of power above others. However, though power and privilege work together, one must note that there are some slight differences in the two words. One being that power is something that is usually held over others, and privilege can be something you are lucky to have.
3. I'm someone who is usually all about respecting myself and others. Therefore, after reading the people-first language my personal commitment is to treat those in a matter I would wish to be treated and to watch how I speak to others who may be different from myself.

1. Language empowers people by building up their confidence and their self- esteem. Nobody wants to hear negative things about themselves, but instead positive uplifting words of encouragement. People hear kind words and they feel empowered, they feel like a million dollars, but as soon as one negative thing is said about the same person it can tear down and crumble everything that person just felt about themselves. Language, good or bad, can make or break any person.
2. Some people in our society have power, meaning they have a say- so over other people. They have control to make a change, good or bad, and they have the ability to control the people under them. I think power is often portrayed in a negative manner, but that's not the case. There are people who work for the power they possess and they've earned the right to be in charge. Other folks have the privileges, meaning they don't always have the right to that power mentioned above. Privilege, in my opinion, can also be portrayed negatively because often people see the word privileged and think that that person didn't have to work as hard or put in as much effort to get to wherever they're at in the world. These words can be seen as both positives and negatives, but they hold a connection. To have power means to be privileged. One has the privilege of being in a position of power, whether they've worked hard for that position or not.
3. My personal commitment to People- First Language is to be respectful to others. To watch how things are being said, but also to encourage others, with or without disabilities.

1. Language works to empower people by making connections with people. Language allows people to learn about each other in different ways. Language allows people to build relationships with each other. This is the building block for our society today. Language is a positive.

2. In order to have power you have to be privileged. You were given that power for a reason. In order to not let your power get out of hand you need to be level headed.

3. My own personal commitment to using people-first language is to use it as much as I possibly can. People-first language is just such an easy way gain and deliver respect between people. Respect is a thing that everyone wants to get and using the people-first language is an easy way to get it.

Perceptions: people first language

Within today's society it is clear that language, our words that we speak about ourselves and others, bring both power and priviledge. Language, words spoken about or towards a person or persons, affects everyone's perceptions about the subject. If the words create positive perceptions of people or an organization, then that causes the subject to become empowered. In the same sense, if  the words that are spoken create negative perceptions of the subject, that can cause belittle the subject. To me, this is key within the world of so many different people. If we as a society can add or take power so easily, simply by our word choices, we need to watch and think of others before we fill the world with negative and degrading meaning. With respect to the power that can be easily created, privilege is close behind. People with power are given privileges, people with privileges are granted power. This is another key reason for why we need to handle everyone in this world with respect, empowering them, not allowing one person or group to have more power or privilege than the next. My own personal commitment to using people first language, language that empowers people and not spreading negative perceptions of others, is to be aware of those around me, seeing them as equal if not more than I see myself. I do not know their stories, I do not know their thoughts. So, why not respect them with my body language, actions, and words.

1. Empowering language can either be used positively or negatively for instance, if you offer some kind words of advice to a friend or a fellow classmate you could potentially be giving them the encouragement they need to keep moving forward in their life. Negative language though can be harmful and could make someone feel lonely and down. As said in the People First Language article "A person's self-image is strongly tied to the words used to describe him/her." whether that be positive words or negative words is up to you.

2. In my opinion gaining power is a privilege. If you have power most people think of you as being superior to your coworkers, or fellow classmates but that is not always the case. To me privilege means a reward of some type that could potentially be taken away if you do wrong. For example: I work at McDonald's I am a cashier, I have worked at McDonald's for about a year and I am never late for my shift. I am promoted to be the assistant manager at the McDonald's that I work at, that is a privilege that I gained and I now have more power over the other employee's simply because I got promoted to a higher position because I worked hard. I know that if I start slacking on the job and missing shifts and taking long breaks that my privilege of being assistant manager could easily be taken away from me. So essentially they go hand in hand together.

3. My personal commitment is to give in return the respect that others give to me. I wish to really try hard and focus on changing the way I speak about special needs children by using the people first language more regularly. People First Language is a wonderful idea that will help lead to no segregation among people with disabilities because after all people with disabilities are more like us than they are different from us.

Language is empowering whether used negatively or positively. Words have a hold on us all it's to what degree you let yourself take to heart that give words it's power.

Power and privilege work together in most cases. Power being something someone has or worked for, it's superiority and authority over a person or group of people. Most are born into positions of power because of privilege but privilege isn't something you necessarily had any choice in but it is something you can use to gain power.

My own commitment is to give everyone the respect they deserve and correct any misinformed notions I may not even be aware of. I commit to learning and using people first language is a necessary step in equality and an understanding of the people around us.

1. Language empowers people by imposing either a negative or positive effect on them. Using strong, harsh language is, of course, going to offend or hurt the one receiving it. But with positive language you can inspire them or even make them feel important as an individual.

2. To me power and privilege go hand in hand. I think to posses power, you were privileged to receive that power.  But, I think the difference is, having power seems to be something you have superior to something/someone else; privilege, is something you earn that's rewarding to you. For example: A mother has the power to discipline a child for bad behavior. But a mother is privileged to physically have a child and the child can be taken away by social services.

3. My own personal commitment to using people-first-language is being sure to use it in everyday conversation, even when I'm not referring to a child with a disability.A lot of the time people are quick to be judgmental. I think if we used people-first-language everyday we would become a less judgmental society.