[tri-med] Re: Disability Awareness

Yeah, I guess they were from the kid's school.  It's nice when people 
working with your child understand how they feel!

Jennifer, mom to Arwen, 6; Elanor (t18), 4; caregiver to Joe (cerebral palsy 
& spastic displaysia), 25 & Eric, 18; and wife to Andrew
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jude Wolpert" <jfwolpert2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 9:19 PM
Subject: [tri-med] Re: Disability Awareness


> wow how cool!  some peole really get it dont they?
> jude, mom to derek-18, kelsey-16
> and kameron-7-full t18
> golden, colorado usa
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jennifer Vanderbeek" <Phil46@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>>I don't know if you know what ABC's Ultimate Makeover Home Edition is, but
>> they redid a house for a family with a son who is autistic and blind
>> awhile
>> ago.  To help the designers understand what it feels like to be autistic,
>> they sat the head guy in a chair with rocks on it (to show how it feels 
>> to
>> be sore and uncomfortable due to lack of repositioning or just
>> sensitivity),
>> put lime juice in his mouth (for bad tastes from lunch or just in
>> general),
>> taped his mouth shut (not being able to communicate), shined flashlights
>> in
>> his eyes (overstimulation and light sensitivity), had someone sit close 
>> to
>> him and whisper (distractions caused by other people in the room that 
>> were
>> hard to tune out), waved a cologne-soaked cloth in his face (smells that
>> were overpowering), and had two people giving him directions (making it
>> hard
>> for him to keep up and decipher what it was for him to do).  It was a
>> really
>> enlightening experience.  We care for an autistic boy occasionally, and I
>> now understand why he reacts the way he does to changes.  Mostly it was
>> demonstrating overstimulation and sensitivity to senses that we take for
>> granted and can deal with easily.
>>
>> Jennifer, mom to Arwen, 6; Elanor (t18), 4; caregiver to Joe (cerebral
>> palsy
>> & spastic displaysia), 25 & Eric, 18; and wife to Andrew
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Karen" <karens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Tri-Med" <tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Cc: "Our Kids" <OUR-KIDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 6:02 PM
>> Subject: [tri-med] Disability Awareness
>>
>>
>>> Its that time of the year again here in Aus - coming up towards the end
>>> of
>>> the school year. Instead of focusing on wonderful grades like I did with
>>> my NDA kids, we seem to focus on all that went wrong, didn't work and
>>> highlight all of the special needs we live with every day and take as
>>> "normal". Sighhhhhhh
>>> One of the things that has cropped up is a lack of understanding and
>>> tolerence by children and teachers of other people imperfections.
>>>
>>> With the kids this is showing itself in teasing and marginalisation, 
>>> with
>>> the adults its coming out as frustration and trying to change what can't
>>> be changed.
>>>
>>> So what I want to do, actually what I really want to encourage is some
>>> understanding of what its like to live the lives of our kids. Not in
>>> words
>>> alone, but in action as well.
>>>
>>> I have a few resources from my working days but I know that everyone 
>>> here
>>> will have some great ideas and I was hoping you may share them with me.
>>>
>>> At the moment I have teaching examples for vision impairment (wearing
>>> goggles with different types of lenses), deafness (ear plugs, tape
>>> recorders etc) and physical impairments (splinting a leg, using
>>> wheelchairs etc). And one for word retrieval problems (tell a story but
>>> not being able to use any word with r in it). Does anyone have any other
>>> ideas?
>>>
>>> Specifically I would like some ideas on attention issues (I can find 
>>> some
>>> on line but would prefer practical ones) and sensory integration issues.
>>>
>>> Many thanks
>>> "It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is
>>> not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."
>>> ~ ~ Mother Teresa ~ ~
>>>
>>> Keep Looking For Rainbows!!
>>>   _--_|\
>>> /Karen \
>>> \ _.--._ /
>>>          v Karen, Mum to Alex (10 years, T-18 Mosaic)
>>> http://members.optushome.com.au/karens
>>>
>>>                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
>>>                       www.trisomyonline.org
>>>                  Families Helping Families On-line
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
>>                       www.trisomyonline.org
>>                  Families Helping Families On-line
>>
>
>                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
>                       www.trisomyonline.org
>                  Families Helping Families On-line
>
> 


                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

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