How a Wheelchair challenge Mobilized a High School to become more accessible (3:57)
Tag: parents of children with disabilities
Dogs For the Deaf and Children with Autism
You can find resources in the strangest places. I was leafing through the April AARP magazine and saw an add in the back that said the following:
TEACHERS
Do you know a special needs class that could benefit from a professionally trained Program Assistance Dog?
- Provide a calming influence
- Enhance learning
- Increase social skills
- Motivate & reward
- Help students focus
1-800-990-3647
OK, you got my attention! I went to the website and found out they provide dogs as Program Assistance Dogs:
Program Assistance Dogs go to work with and assist full-time professionals such as physicians, teachers, counselors, and licensed therapists in the treatment of and work with their clients and students. These dogs can provide a calming effect, allowing the professional to better serve or treat the clients. These dogs do not have public access except when accompanying the professionals and their disabled clients in order to provide assistance to the clients.
They also have Autism Assistance Dogs:
Autism Assistance Dogs are trained for children and families living with autism. The rise in autism rates are staggering. The evolution of programs geared toward successfully integrating children with autism into routine daily activities includes Autism Assistance Dogs.
Autism Assistance Dogs are trained to enhance the safety of children with autism by acting as an anchor and preventing the child from bolting into unsafe environments such as traffic, bodies of water, etc. Autism Assistance Dogs can also have a calming effect on the child and may improve the child’s willingness and ability to communicate and bond.
If this sounds like something you’d like to explore, check it out!
Brain Injury Alliance of AZ
I’m currently doing my annual decluttering and organizing, a challenge for all teachers who tend to save things that might be useful for their practice in the future. One of the purposes of this blog is to serve as a repository of articles and resources that my college students and others may find useful.
Here’s a resource I saved in my pile that I would like to share today. It is the weblink for the Brain Injury Alliance of AZ
http://biaaz.org/
The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona (BIAAZ) is a non-profit membership organization of people with brain injuries and their families, friends, and service providers working together since 1983 to provide information and referrals, education, advocacy and support for those affected by brain injury.
At this site you will find pages on the following:
- Learn about Brain Injury
- Coping with Brain Injury
- Find Resources
- Community Resources
- Community Involvement
- About Us
- Corporate Sponsorship
- Calendar of Events
At the bottom of the home page is a link to Navigating the System: A Guide for People with TBI and their families. When you click on this, it takes you to a page that lists a series of videos on the following topics:
What is Traumatic Brain Injury?
I Hurt My Head But Didn’t Get Help
To the right of each video there is a list of resources you can access.
Overall, I am impressed with what this organization and website has to offer for a person with traumatic brain injury as well as families and professionals helping that person.
Resources for Hard of Hearing and Deafness
This is a comprehensive guide to hearing loss provided by AARP. It is relevant to all ages. In particular there is vital information on how to prevent hearing loss.
Deaf Websites: The History of Sign Language: http://www.deafwebsites.com/sign-language/history-sign-language.html
Early Childhood News Staff Newsletter: Teaching Babies to “Speak” with Signs: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=641
American Association of the Deaf-Blind: (Deaf-blindness is covered in ch. 14 and is a separate federal category from deaf)
http://www.aadb.org
American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association
http://www.adara.org/
National Information Center on Deafness-Northridge University
http://ncod.csun.edu
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: http://www.agbell.org/
American Society for Deaf Children: http://deafchildren.org/
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: http://www.asha.org/
Family Voices: http://www.familyvoices.org/ Family Voices aims to achieve family-centered care for all children and youth with special health care needs and/or disabilities.
Universal Hearing Screenings and Assessments: http://www.infanthearing.org This website provides information about universal hearing screenings and assessments.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Early Intervention in Hearing: http://www.entnet.org/content/necessity-early-intervention-hearing
ASDB Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind: https://asdb.az.gov/
How Does a Hearing Aid Work: http://www.happyhealth.net/hearing-aids-reviews/how-does-a-hearing-aid-work
Preparing Our Children for the Future
“It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise
children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.”
― L.R. Knost, Two Thousand Kisses a Day: Gentle Parenting Through the Ages and Stages
Using “I” Messages
I found an excellent website that explains the concept of using “I” messages when communicating concerns, especially touchy ones, with others. This is an important communication skill for educators, parents, and students alike. Here’s the website: http://www.only-effective-communication-skills.com/imessages.html
Read this Autism Mom’s reaction to April being Autism Awareness Month. It give you some insight into what parents of children with autism are dealing with every day.
April is Autism Awareness Month so of course being an active advocate I am glad that awareness and acceptance are making their rounds. I hate the fact that April is also prime time for every controversial issue in the autism community to be argued about.(Not pointing any fingers here, I too am guilty of this. Most of these people argue because they’re passionate about their loved ones. I can relate to that, I just can’t participate anymore) I am to the point where I feel guarded about some of my opinions, particularly in April. I used to be an open book but it is unbelievably exhausting to argue with people everyday and have to be on the defensive 24/7. I can’t handle all of that bad energy. It doesn’t make me productive, it makes me a depressed and people can sense it. I have decided that this year, rather…
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