A brief but sincere thanks...

I want to address all those who have followed my blog, and give you all a sincere thank you. I appreciate the attention I received, the feedback, and all other collaboration. I want to thank all the teachers at my internship site for their help, and I want to say that this has been a wonderful journey. Thank you all, and I wish you the best in the upcoming days, especially in your future as advocates.
It was a pleasure reading your blogs and having mine read!
Maria Garcia

Module 4 Blog Post

A question I have for my colleagues about my advocacy action plan is, how does one know what the limit to technology use is? How can a Twitter, a Facebook, and a blog all be consistently updated? I know that time is a limitation for me at the moment, being a working mother and enrolled in school, and so my worry is that I’ll take on too much that I know little of administrating.

I am searching for resources that target presentation ideas as well as resources in favor of speech delays that advocate for the need of awareness. These resources will help the information I am to distribute through social networks and my presentation.  I want to focus more on finding why it is detrimental that parents are aware of speech delays when their children are still young, even if their children have one or not, because it causes the parent to be more aware of any abnormalities in speech.

I found one article to be particularly inspirational and insightful about speech delays. The article was a shared personal experience that a mother had. She noticed her daughter had a speech problem, and consulted her pediatrician. The pediatrician assured her it was nothing to worry about, however, the mother remained unconvinced. She then decided to call an organization called “Early Start,” which focuses on early intervention, thus showing that initiative, being informed about resources and early intervention are beneficial.

http://www.apraxiaadventures.com/2011/07/12/dont-wait/

Personal Advocacy Journey

“A person's a person, no matter how small" – Dr. Seuss

           I am very eager to research more about speech and language development in children in the early childhood stage. I am very interested about being an advocate to raise awareness about speech and language development because in my center’s neighborhood, many parents are unaware of what it means and what they can do to help their child. My advocacy plan consists of addressing parents and other educators about what can be done if they suspect their child to have a speech delay; in how to find professional help and what can be done at home. The center I am at is in a predominantly Latino community, and I want parents to be aware that teaching children both Spanish and language isn’t the reason behind speech delays. I am excited to carry out my advocacy plan because it allows me to become involved in raising awareness for children who are having trouble communicating, thus giving them a voice and urging education centers to raise the resources they need.

            A challenge that I feel I will encounter because of my advocacy cause; speech delays, is communicating to parents about potential speech delays in their children without offending them. Many parents are under the belief that a speech disorder can be “grown out of,” however, my goal is to inform them that therapy is needed and that the child will only benefit from it.                 

            When presenting my Advocacy Action Plan, I feel that as nervous as I will be in targeting parents and educators, I shouldn’t let the nerves get the best of me. I am nervous at how parents will react. I would like them to know and understand that my purpose is to be a voice for children, and so I think that a good advocate is allowed to be nervous and not show it, which is my goal, to only show how passionate I am about raising awareness about speech delays found in the early childhood environment in my education center.

            I can encourage others, such as my fellow classmates in their advocacy efforts by giving them constructive criticism on what can be improved in their Advocacy Action Plan and what doesn’t need further elaboration, because it is important that our audience receives information that they don’t know much or anything about, over telling them what they are already aware of. I feel that the same can be done to me, for it will encourage me to continue searching for resources, information, and further information about speech delays that the parents and educators might ask me questions on.  

Internship 412

Hello everyone, I'm looking forward to working with you and reading your blogs. Drop a comment and I will be sure to reply.

Thank you.

I would like to start off by honestly saying thank you to all those that read my blogs, answered my blog posts, and to the professionals whom helped me in my research process. With all sincerity, I appreciate all the help and insight I received. This course was challenging and very mind-opening, and I am very grateful to have shared it with you. From now on, I hope my readers take awareness in early childhood issues that affect our communities, such as learning disabilities. I for one know that I learned a lot from my classmates, each passionate with their own topic. Once again, a profound thank you and I wish you all the best in the remainder of this course and in what remains of your academic journey. For all of you, I am more than willing to help, and if I can serve you in any way, I am most happy to do so.
-Maria

Module 4 Blog Post

For this module, I interviewed Angelica Gomez, the mother of a child that attends Our Lady of Tepeyac.  According to the mother’s understanding, dyspraxia is a neurological disorder. According to Gomez, her child was diagnosed with dyspraxia at the age of only nine months. The medic saw that the child wasn’t developing at speed, and so an early intervention was made. As a result of the early intervention made by trained professionals, I am further inclined to be an advocate for the early detection of learning disabilities. Many times, professional teachers disregard the fact that it is possible to detect learning disabilities because many of them are centered on reading or writing. However, the story of Gomez and her child show otherwise. Many children remain untreated, therefore growing up with no help.  Gomez states that her child still needs much help, despite his age. However, she admits that she has seen him improve as time progresses because of the services he has received.

I also interviewed Cristina Saucedo, who is also the mother of a student at Our Lady of Tepeyac. The mother shared that receiving help for her child was initially difficult. She shared that she had difficulties receiving help. She states that her language barrier was the reason she was delayed in the process. Now, that her child has received help, she states that she does see an improvement in her child’s behavior. She however, strongly hopes and beliefs that there is still more improvement to come. Due to her experience, Saucedo likes to raise awareness to other parents in her community about learning disabilities. Not only so, but she feels that the language barrier should be broken, because it shouldn’t be a limiting factor for children’s knowledge acquisition.

I have gained insights into the need of early intervention and advocacy in favor of equal opportunities for therapy and services for the child. Language shouldn’t be a reason that a child’s help is delayed, and neither should early intervention be considered unimportant or not necessary. Learning disabilities are real, and therefore professionals shouldn’t disregard characteristics that point towards them because of age.

Day 2 Week 6 Blog Post

During these weeks I observed and interacted with Maggie Moore, a Speech Language Pathologist. Moore pointed out that she had no previous experience with neither dyslexia nor dysgraphia. However, she did say that she is familiar with dyspraxia, which is a topic that I am addressing in my paper. Regarding dyspraxia, she addressed a very particular issue. She mentioned that therapy may include incorporating an alternative means of communication in order to help them communicate more effectively while continuing to work on their speech.

I was also able to interview Mrs. Gonzalez, the site Director. Although she said that currently there are no children with learning disabilities at the site, she did mention that in the past, children who come to the center with a learning disability have been pre-diagnosed and bring with them documentation or an IEP. Although the information gained doesn't address one of my research topics specifically, the interview did prove that children can be diagnosed with learning disabilities at a very young age, therefore supporting my claim that children with learning disabilities can and should receive the proper education and attention starting from a young age.