I decided to look up the book, A Slant Sun by Beth Kephart, to learn a little more about the book and the information it has to offer. The book sounded very interesting and a great book for parents to refer to when they find out they have a child with special needs. Although the child is not diagnosed with Autism, he does shoe Autistic characteristics along with many other characteristics. At one point during the synopsis, Beth Kephart states "What, in the end, are you fighting for: Normal?" Kephart asks. "Is
normal possible? Can it be defined? . . . And is normal superior to what
the child inherently is, to what he aspires to, fights to become, every
second of his day?" I really found this quote to be very moving. It's true, everyday we fight for our children to stand out from the norm, we want them to be successful in their own ways yet, when a parents child is diagnosed with a disability they try so hard for that child to be normal. We need to embrace our children, know matter what disability or personality they may have. I've worked a lot with children diagnosed with Autism and their family's, it is hard. I know the family's work hard for that child to get the disability services they deserve, and the right amount of attention they deserve. But, I love seeing the family's allow that child to be who they are. This book seems to be about the parents of a two year old boy, who in the end realize, they don't want Jeremy to be normal, they want Jeremy to be Jeremy. That's why I ask myself the questions, are there books for parents to refer to or conferences they can attend, so that they too can learn how to help their child but, then allow that child to be who they are, not what society expects as "normal."
http://www.amazon.com/A-Slant-Sun-Beth-Kephart/dp/0393340988/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335271179&sr=1-1
Yes, there are many opportunities for families to obtain information. Locally, you may want to check out the Kelly O'Leary center at Children's Hospital.
ReplyDeleteBeth Kephart's book is an interesting and inspiring read about her family's struggle to find ways to support their child's needs without changing or restricting him. And though there were two parents in the household mom was the one who spent the day with Jeremy in his big green hat out at the store and interviewing schools for their son while father accepted Jeremy’s fixation for cars mom wanted at first so badly for Jeremy to play with other things with other people she wanted him to have the same opportunists to be successful in life as anyone else. In A Slant of Sun there was a one school in particular that meet her needs and her sons. The Quaker school did what no other school in Jeremy’s past had, it set the foundation of accountability for both the school and the Kephart’s efforts in educating Jeremy. A family-professional partnership is gradually formed between principle Mrs. Tara and the mother by establishing trust, setting clear and specific goals, and staying committed to Jeremy and his needs above all. This gave Jeremy and his parent’s a sense of belonging which promoted friendships, increased development of language acquisition and challenged him cognitively on a developmentally appropriate and personalized level. The Quaker school truly highlights a life changing experience for the Kephart family. When Jeremy is accepted by the Quaker school the essential link in relationships are evident in supporting Jeremy’s educational gains and meaningful friendships. When the “family, the school team and medical professionals work together to capitalize on each other’s judgments and expertise” it presents an firm and open minded respectable partnership of community, school and family as the only way to effectively increase the benefits of Jeremy’s education and development (Turnbull, Ch. 4).
ReplyDeletePeople learn at various rates in different context and perceptions. But people in inclusive environment have been known to have positive outcomes for all participants in an inclusive classroom. Teachers must recognize disabilities as the largest minority population in America and that general education teachers are more qualified to teach a student with a disability than other educational personal. With cooperative learning, social emotional skills are enhanced, greater awareness of ourselves and others is gained, tolerance, acceptance and appreciation of diversity is embraced in all inclusive settings. “When we realize that quality of life is being the master of one’s own destiny, the ability to communicate is more important that the ability to talk. That independent ability is more important that the ability to walk, learning in one’s own way is more important than meeting a counterfeit definition of intelligence and being supported and understood is more important than achieving an arbitrary standard of appropriate behavior. We will no longer try to change them. Instead we will change ourselves and how we view disabilities and come to understand disabilities as a natural human characteristic and believe that all students can succeed, because nothing great has ever been achieved without high expectations” (Disability is Natural).
For resources for coping families of children with disabilities I would refer this book by Kephart, the biography of Jamie A Literacy Story, by Diane Parker provides educators and parents of young children with valuable and effective approaches to guiding children’s reading and writing development, the Help Me Grow organization online at the following link for over the phone questions and answers and resources
http://www.ohiohelpmegrow.org/parents/childrenspecialneeds.aspx, project genesis, and the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities resource page online.