Week "who knows what week"

It's been another week in SPED 310. We did a lot of practicing of IEPs and going through the process to be able to classify them and to decide whether they are eligible for special education. Then Friday we learned about Orthopedic impairments.

My favorite part of this weeks classes was learning about orthopedic impairments and the kinds of things that happen. There are three different types of orthopedic impairments nueromotor, degenerative disease, and mulsculoskeletal. Some causes are before birth and some are after. Accidents can cause someone to have a orthopedic impairment.

Today we mainly talked about Cerebral palsy and Spina Bifida. I can't imagine what it would be like to have one of these difficulties. One important thing for a teacher of someone with an orthopedic impairment is to make sure the classroom is wheelchair friendly. We drew plans for a future classroom that had 48" on every side to make sure it was a classroom that someone in a wheelchair would feel comfortable in.

Then we discussed the people who have done the orthopedic impairment challenge. This is when you are in a wheelchair for 4 hours and have tasks to accomplish. Some of the experiences I heard made me want to avoid this for the rest of my life and just accept a failing grade especially since I didn't want to do it in the first place. I can't imagine being stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I have so much respect for those who do.

One of the presenters shared a story from her mission when she taught someone in a wheelchair who couldn't talk well because of an accident. It was a touching story because she didn't know if she was teaching well, but hoped he understood. Before she left he was baptized and at the baptism interview she wasn't sure how he would answer the questions, but the interviewer told him to squeeze his had for yes or leave it alone for no. When he asked if he wanted to be baptized the man squeezed his hand so hard the interviewer thought it might break. We need to remember to love those around us even when they are different and accept them.