Blog #12

 Mallory Needham 

Blog#12 

Last Blog 

Within these last couple of months I have learned so much! Besides the authors, articles, podcasts and videos, I have learned what it means to correctly collaborate. Sharing your opinions with others while gathering positive and constructive criticism are skills that I have gained so much knowledge in. 

1. When touching on neurodiversity I felt very confident in that area when speaking in class. I felt that our classroom space deeply allowed me to share my personal life which I greatly appreciated. Being able to share my story on my brother will be something that will for sure resonate with me. 

2. The card game we played in class honestly amazed me for such a simple concept. After playing the game in class, I went home and shared the story with my family which was so cool. It amazed me how people were so quick to judge each other when not realizing we all had different sets of rules. Taking away from the card game, I learned such a valuable lesson that I will carry on in my teaching career. 

3. As much as I did enjoy all the authors, an activity that stuck with me was when Professor Bogad handed out the worksheet and expected us all to finish it in a certain amount of time. The information on the worksheet was useless and felt like a waste of time. Come to find out, we learned that she tested us to see if we felt that was worth our time. Professors and teachers often make us as students feel dumb and that was a realization that really struck me during that activity. 

Blog #11

 Read: RI Laws and Policies 

Read: Queering Our Schools- Written by: The Editors of Rethinking Schools 

Watch: Woke Read Alouds: They, She, He Easy as ABC 

Reflection: After reading both articles and watching the short video I question the reality that all schools abide by these policies listed. Growing up in western Cranston, many children did not identify as other genders besides male and female. The reality of those concepts was not common so when having a child identify as something different that child was looked at weirdly. I wouldn't say that the specific child was bullied, however the likelihood of seeing that through my schooling was low. I feel now in the past couple of years more and more children have been identifying themselves more publicly and proudly. I believe that social media has a big influence on this in both positive and negative ways at times. I believe that in some cases schools can make a child proudly express themself or on the other hand,  have the child completely shut down being afraid to show who they really are. 

To share with the class: 

When discussing this topic I feel a sense of awkwardness. I am not heavily educated on many of the policies of gender identity when it comes to schooling. We live in a generation now where these concepts must be a reality to all. One specific question I have is, how can we get younger children to express themselves more freely at a young age? How can we support them to feel comfortable in their own skin? I believe young children are the most understanding, less hateful than adults. If we can get the younger generation to learn and understand at an early age we might be able to shift the mindset of so many. Growing up and coming from an extremely Italian household, I was never educated in this area. Coming from this, I would like to help as many struggling people as I can, understanding  how difficult it can be to find who you really are. Expressing yourself without the rude and hatefulness of others! 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10063975/

Blog #10

 Title: What is Neurodiversity? And how can parents support kids who are neurodivergent?

Written By: Caroline Miller 

Reflection: “Nerodiversity is the concept of people understanding that there is a natural variation in how people's brains work.” This definition stuck out to me and also is extremely important inside and outside of schools. Understanding people's lifestyle to the best of your availability will help set the scene for success and positivity in our community. As a whole I think it's so important to realize that no two brains work the same even when disabilities are involved within individuals. I believe instead of pinpointing the differences and needs of others, we should bring light and celebrate the differences of others. 

To share with the class: 

Having someone in my family who is neurodiverse is something that is not abstract to me. My brother, Dylan, is 22 and has Down Syndrome. He has many limitations but that honestly does not stop him. He lives an amazing life and truly shows my family the meaning of living your life to the absolute fullest. Just recently my brother got his first ever job at a local coffee job in Providence. Bitty and Beaus is a new coffee shop that only hires people with disabilities. There are hired professionals that work one on one with the individuals to help them gain a real experience of working in the community. My brother will get the experience of a work uniform, a paycheck, and the ability to serve in a restaurant. It’s been a struggle in my family to find my brother a job because he is very low functioning. We didn't feel comfortable having him alone so he qualified for a work coach when out in the community. He had his first ever interview yesterday and was so excited to tell us he got hired at Bittys and Beaus. Small things like this make a huge difference for some people that can be so minor for others. 

(this is a picture of Dylan!!)