It's impossible for me to speak from personal experience on this topic. I can only speculate and try my best to understand the changes experienced by individuals who have full function of their bodies and mind one day, and as the next day begins, not. One area of particular interest that I have, are the changes experienced in educational settings for children when this occurs. Their family and close social supports are rallying and beginning to cope with new challenges, then they are left to be amongst their peers for the majority of every day, while they're trying to learn.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Orthopedic Impairments can happen unexpectedly, at any time. What can schools do to help? I think one way to help out all school peers in the long run, it to formally discuss and educate peers about these disabilities at an early age. That way when they are around a peer with a disability, they are not confused or as tempted to poke fun at. A challenge with this idea is the egocentric nature of children (and some adults).
As I just learned about in one of my last classes regarding race as a social construct and color-blindness as a form of racism. Could this same understanding benefit individuals who use assistive devices in schools? If the topic was discussed and children were exposed to differences early on in life, this could make a huge impact on the stigma of assistive devices. Most importantly, it could help out the people who are currently isolated and looked at as invisible amongst their peers in schools.
Through my experiences in the summer schools this past month, it was crystal clear that children who are in the special education population are much less acknowledged by their peers. If anything, the adult aids are acknowledged and socialized with more, than the child with their peers who needs assistance. I think a lot of this may come down to the same concept as color-blindness in the form of disability-blindness. Because these attitudes and behaviors are largely developed in the homes of children, should there be a push for encouraging parents to talk about differences amongst people, in the same way as the color of someone's skin? I don't necessarily point my finger at anyone in these thought provoking questions. Sometimes, I think that the general student body population has just been left to sort it out for themselves and when they see another peer who is different, they are confused and uneducated.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Orthopedic Impairments can happen unexpectedly, at any time. What can schools do to help? I think one way to help out all school peers in the long run, it to formally discuss and educate peers about these disabilities at an early age. That way when they are around a peer with a disability, they are not confused or as tempted to poke fun at. A challenge with this idea is the egocentric nature of children (and some adults).
As I just learned about in one of my last classes regarding race as a social construct and color-blindness as a form of racism. Could this same understanding benefit individuals who use assistive devices in schools? If the topic was discussed and children were exposed to differences early on in life, this could make a huge impact on the stigma of assistive devices. Most importantly, it could help out the people who are currently isolated and looked at as invisible amongst their peers in schools.
Through my experiences in the summer schools this past month, it was crystal clear that children who are in the special education population are much less acknowledged by their peers. If anything, the adult aids are acknowledged and socialized with more, than the child with their peers who needs assistance. I think a lot of this may come down to the same concept as color-blindness in the form of disability-blindness. Because these attitudes and behaviors are largely developed in the homes of children, should there be a push for encouraging parents to talk about differences amongst people, in the same way as the color of someone's skin? I don't necessarily point my finger at anyone in these thought provoking questions. Sometimes, I think that the general student body population has just been left to sort it out for themselves and when they see another peer who is different, they are confused and uneducated.