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.  

Discussion Module 3

Discussion- Module 3

As I organized my outline, I saw that the research conducted in the past modules were piecing together perfectly. However, despite the information that I already have, I still found editing what will be used and what will receive more attention than the rest to be a challenge. However, the focus questions were really helpful in breaking down topics that would have otherwise been very broad. My challenge is to go from those broken down topics and find more resources and information to support my ideas.

I learned that in order to put together an effective outline one must have a strong thesis statement that encapsulates the whole paper in short, as in the viewpoint and what will be discussed without being too vague or broad. For my paper, I will focus on learning disabilities and the importance of early detection. Through the process of putting together an effective outline I learned that it is crucial that my paper has structure. I will structure my paper by separating my topics; which are the learning disabilities I feel impact early childhood development, and by addressing my focus questions so that I can narrow down my topics.

The advice I can offer my colleagues is that they organize their information and their sources. Also, I recommend that they omit resources that don’t apply to their research and to look for new resources that can fortify their claims and standpoints.  Also, since much of our research comes from primary accounts, I feel that my colleagues shouldn’t deter themselves from asking these professionals for further information so that they can have an abundant amount of information to pick from for their paper.

To my colleagues, I would like to know what you guys have done to narrow down your topics, as in did you guys omit some information you had once found useful?

   

Blog Post Two

            During the two weeks that I spent observing and interacting with professionals in an early childhood setting, I gained more knowledge on how to help children with learning disabilities succeed. I interviewed Blanca Contreras, a Social Worker in an Early Childhood setting. Contreras shared that learning disabilities are hard for both parent and child; since both are unaware of what a learning disability is and what help they can both receive and give. However, I have been particularly interested in what she said, that “children are still able to learn.” I am especially interested in her statement because it is exactly how I feel. I feel that many times, parents lose hope and feel frustrated. However, a learning disability only means that a child needs more time and more attention. It is absolutely crucial that an educator pays special attention to those students with learning disabilities. Although it is difficult to diagnose children with learning disabilities in an early childhood setting, it has been done before. It is imperative that if a child portrays these signs, that the teacher recognizes them and refers them to further resources and evaluations. A teacher shouldn’t disregard the signs simply because it is felt that children do not have learning disabilities at a young age.

             I also spoke to another Early Childhood Educator, and this was Annabelle Irizarry, from Joyful Noise Christian Daycare.Irizarry pointed out that when working with students with learning disabilities, it is important that one refers a student to the School Counselor or Social Worker in order to put together an Individual Education Plan (IEP). She stressed the fact that it is imperative to find help and resources as early as possible. These can be in the community or elsewhere Irizarry also spoke about advocacy and learning disabilities, and how important it is to provide families with pamphlets, community resources, and referrals.

             Concerning my question about how to address and treat a child with learning disabilities in a working class setting, both professionals suggested that the children be required to do the same work as their peers. However, they suggested adjusting the lesson plan into one that includes visual, hands-on, and verbal activities for all.  They also specified that children with learning disabilities should be paid special attention and further worked with individually.

Discussion 2- Module 2

              So far my research has been progressively advancing. I have started to focus more clearly on the topics that I have chosen about Special Needs/ Learning Disabilities.

             The area of interest that I will conduct research on is special needs/learning disabilities.  Learning disabilities can impact how a child learns to read, write, hear, speak, and do calculations. Learning disabilities are different, for there are many different kinds and different effects on children. According to the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (2010), there is no direct cure for a learning disability, however, “early screening and intervention from specialists can often provide great benefits. Early intervention can prevent learning difficulties, thus reducing the number of children requiring special education services” (NICHD, 2010).  Given that they are a broad range, I have chosen to focus on three kinds of learning disabilities that affect early childhood development: dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia.

            According to the NICHD (2010), “About 15 percent to 20 percent of people in the United States have a language-based disability, and of those, most have dyslexia” (NICHD, 2010). Dyslexia is the most common, which is a reading and language-based learning disability. Dysgraphia is a learning disability that relates to handwriting. People with dysgraphia have problems writing proportionate letters and writing within a defined space. The last learning disability I will focus on is dyspraxia, which is a disorder that affects motor-skill development. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities (2010), “It is estimated that dyspraxia affects at least two percent of the general population” (NCLD, 2010). The learning disabilities that I have chosen interest me because they are very common in early childhood development. Unlike other disabilities, learning disabilities cannot be identified because of physical reasons, meaning that they are more hidden are harder to be identified.           

           One focus question that I have on the topic of dysgraphia is what alternatives can be provided to the written expression? Dysgraphia is the learning disability that relates to writing, and so my focus on it is to find ways in which children don’t feel high expectations and overcome their challenge one step at a time. Focus questions are needed because they approach a very specific part of an issue. By narrowing down what one will address in the topics, the research will be more effective because one reduces the information to what is actually relevant and applicable to the topic.

          A question I have for my colleagues is, how can I choose the main focus on each of my topics? I would like to be able to successfully narrow down to the factors that apply to children in early childhood development without disregarding necessary information. Also, can I require a student with a learning disability to do something in my class that I require all other students to do?

                                                               

                                                            Works Cited

"Learning Disabilities." NICHD - The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Official Home Page. 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 26 July 2011. <http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning_disabilities.cfm>.

"What Is Dyspraxia?" National Center for Learning Disabilities. Ed. Ncld Editoral Staff. 9 Dec. 2010. Web. 26 July 2011. <http://www.ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aamp-language/writing/dyspraxia>.

                        

                                             

                                                               

Module 1 Inteview

In my interview with a Special Education teacher and with an Early Childhood educator, I was given some insight into some issues in the field of Early Childhood. These educators shared that they are involved and aware of current advocacy efforts. Both educators shared an interest in special needs and learning disabilities, since as they said, it continues to affect many children, not only in early childhood, but as they grow up as well.

I have chosen to focus on special needs/learning disabilities as my area of research. This area interests me because it lends itself to advocacy efforts. It is important for children to receive a proper education starting from a young age, and therefore, there should be no impediments that hold them back or limit them academically.  This area can be divided into three different branches that can each be advocated for independently too, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia.

These are common types of learning disabilities that commonly affect children and go unnoticed. However, I think it is important to raise awareness and help children learn in the proper environment and receive the attention they need.

A question that I have for my fellow colleagues is how can I address a child with a learning disability and help him feel confident and not frustrated?