My Personal Research Journey

The topic I have chosen for simulation is Autism in early childhood settings.  This topic is dear to me because of my connection to individuals with disabilities in my professional work experience.  I have worked with several individuals with Autistic spectrum disorder and have knowledge of clinical views and practices when supporting adults who are diagnosed.  I would like to expand my outlook of this disorder from a clinical experience to a educational outlook when meeting early childhood needs.  There has been much controversy over the years of the cause and treatment of this disorder which I would like to compare to classroom settings.  The subtopics I have included are:    
Addressing Physical and Emotional Needs

Children with autistic spectrum disorder have physical and emotional needs that differ from those of most children in early childhood educational settings.  The idea behind this subtopic is to understand the facts and myths about these children’s needs and what it takes for a classroom to support those needs.

Inclusive Teaching Strategies

This subtopic attempts to define effective teaching strategies in combined classrooms that benefit not only children with autism but also everyone in the group.

Benefits and Challenges of Socialization

Isolation of children with autism does not sound like the best way to help integrate them as individuals in the larger society.  Thus providing opportunities for socialization with other children seems to be important in helping autistic children develop social skills.  However, challenges also exist when reaping the benefits of socialization that parents and educators need to understand and consider when developing strategies for integration in early childhood settings.

Coming from a background of case management and counseling, it is important for me to incorporate my knowledge and experience in to my new ventures.  My future goal is to open an inclusive child care/ learning center.  Has any one had any experiences teaching children with this particular disorder?  If so, I would appreciate any insight or sharing of your experiences.  Or perhaps any research of which may be beneficial.

"My Supports"

Supports are necessary through life’s journey.  I have many daily supports that I depend on and probably take for granted at times.  I depend greatly on my family for support in a variety of ways.  My husband and my mother are the main family supports.  They help me care for my son, and of course my husband helps me provide for our family.   They are my largest moral supports as well.  When I told my husband that I want to go back to school, he gave me the encouragement I needed to follow through with my goals.    If I did not have my mother or husband, life would not be the same.  There are many single parents in the world and I commend them for being in that challenging position.  It would definitely be a struggle for me to adjust to that life.  I find relief knowing that I have a family who is willing to help me in any way possible. 

My spiritual support comes in my Christian beliefs.   My parents and grandparents have encouraged my Christian beliefs, starting at an early age.  This has been an important support throughout my life.  I pray daily and depend on my relationship with God to lead me when making difficult decisions and in times of despair. 

There are also material supports that play important roles in my life.   I rely on my car for transportation back and forth to work and my son’s day care.   I also use my car for work when meeting with my client’s in the community.  I depend on technology for various tasks such as paying bills, communicating, and continuing my education.  I especially depend on my cell phone, every single day!   Without these supports I would have difficulty with meeting my daily needs and this would change my daily life. 

"My Connections to Play."

"Play is a major avenue for learning to manage anxiety. It gives the child a safe space
where she can experiment at will, suspending the rules and constraints of physical and
social reality. In play, the child becomes master rather than subject.... Play allows the
child to transcend passivity and to become the active doer of what happens around her."

--Alicia F. Lieberman, author, The Emotional Life --

of the Toddler

 

“When kids play, they remember. They may not be aware they are learning, but they sure
are aware they are having fun. When you have a good belly laugh with your siblings or
parents or friends, that stays with you. And the great thing is that is comes so naturally…
if we only let it.”

--Rebecca Krook, play facilitator for kids with

disabilities

 

 

Each of these images remind me of my childhood.  I was the only child until the age of 5.  During this time so enjoyed being the "girl" in my dad's life.  My dad would take me to Toys R Us just about every week to pick out a my little pony.  I had a very large collection.  When my cousins would come over, we played for hours pretending to be different characters with these ponies. 

 

At age 5 my brother was born.  Two years later another brother was born and a year after my parents adopted my sister.  In the back yard of our home my dad built a play set with a swing, slide , and fort.  We spent hours playing on this set.  Some times my mother would have to make us come in from playing so long.  Also my neighborhood friends enjoyed the play set as well.

 

When I was 6 I began playing T-Ball.  My dad being an athlete himself loved sports and I instantly fell in love with the game as well.  It came very natural to me and was extremely fun as a child.  This sport had so much influence on my childhood that it became a large part of what molded me in to the person I am and the life I have today.  I played through college and continue to play in adult leagues.

 

I believe that play today has changed for children because of the advancement in technology.  There is more television watching an vidiogame playing than what I remember as a child.  Also thinking back to my childhood,  all of the neighborhood children would play out side for hours at a time and this is something that I don't see as much in my neighborhood now.  On the other hand, as a parent today, I'm not sure that I would give my child the independent freedom of play that I was given years ago.

Relationship Reflection

My husband is the closest relationship and partnership that I have today.  We met 13 yrs ago in college and married in 2006.  We have a 3 yrs old son together and through our commitment to each other in addition to parenting responsibilities our relationship has evolved from young care free teens into committed parents and business partners.  Along the way the changes in our relationship have been learning experiences of each other.  At one time we were associates who grew in to friends and now we have gone further in having shared legal responsibilities.  We have not always agreed on decision making processes or roles, or even shared the same views.  In our commitment of marriage and family we lave learned new expectations of each other and and discovered the true meaning of compromise and the importance of communication.  In order to grow together we needed to invest in rediscovering each other in alternative ways. Seeing each other in a new light has made me respect his entrepreneur spirit, and he appreciates my concrete thinking style.  I expect as we continue to grow our relationship will continue to change in ways ; but just as we have made adjustments in the past I believe we will continue the same in the future in order to maintain our commitment.  The great thing is that we understand the commonality of the goals we share but realize our views of how to reach the goal may differ.  I believe that this relationship has prepared me for the early child hood field because I have learned what a true partnership means and realized my way is not the only way.  I have learned one of the most effective tools of communication, which is listening to others.  This is imperative with creating partnership with other parents who's opinions are just as valuable as mine.  I plan to use my partnership experience when entering the early childhood field.

My relationship with my mom is the longest of my life.  She gave birth to me at 15yrs and we have been joined at the hip since.  Although very close, at times our closeness feels like a sister connection rather than mom and daughter; but none the less, truly best friends and still to this day.  We have both changed very much over the years and had similar goals of making changes in our lives, such as educational goals to encounter better success.  For example we both were enrolled in school at the same time but thankfully at different institutions.  I believe that my relationship with my mom prepares me for the early child hood field by eliminating presumptions of young mothers.  There are many young mothers today who are challenged by parenthood but I understand that this does not limit their lives or futures.  I understand the challenges and situations young single mothers are faced with and will be more encouraging to them as a support because I have seen the struggle and the glory first hand. 

When I Think of Child Development

“Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.”

 Maya Angelou

This quote reminds me that children even in the worst of situations survive and some by demonstrating the power of resiliency.

If a child is given love, he becomes loving ... If he's helped when he needs help, he becomes helpful. And if he has been truly valued at home ... he grows up secure enough to look beyond himself to the welfare of others.
DR. JOYCE BROTHERS

This quote reminds me of the importance of teaching children to be empathetic towards others, as they will continue to share this quality as adults.

Testing for Intelligence?

Intelligence testing is necessary but it is important to continue structuring standardized test to meet the needs of children of all backgrounds and learning styles. For example, minority and economically disadvantaged students tend to score lower than other students and, consequently, are often underrepresented in gifted and talented programs.  Some contemporary theorist claim IQ tests are not guided by logical theory of how the brain functions and do not include contemporary ideas of what "intelligence" actually means.  Some modern theorist feel that an expanded view of intelligence should be incorporated in the testing model. Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983), has caught the attention of many critics. It proposes the existence of  nine distinct areas in which a student may be particularly highly skilled;   Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”), Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”), Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart), Existential Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”),  Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”), Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart), Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart”), and Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”). Those who agree with Gardner, appreciatee the broadness of recognition in skilled areas in which a student may be talented. This theory identifies children of minority groups who in testing processes have been under-identified using more traditional approaches.  In terms of representing a child as a whole, I believe Gardner's theory of  multiple intelligence does just that.  It represents logical and sound thinking geared toward specific learning strenghts.  I believe that it is important to take in to consideration when testing a child the education levels of the parents as well.  Education begins at home and and this is where children learn disipline and dedication to education.  With out involved parents in the home environment at an early age, some children may fall behind in areas of which they are being tested.  I also believe that it is important to consider the child's ability to speak and understand language.  Testing should support a child where some abilities may be lacking. 

Researchers studied a village in Western Kenya to test the theory that academic and practical intelligence are separable and distinct. Eighty-five children (43 boys and 42 girls) between the ages of 12 and 15 years participated in the study.  Researchers found that villagers prefer children to develop practical skills which are more useful in the village over intelligence skills. The interest was their set of scores on a test of their understanding for natural herbal medicines used to fight illnesses. This type of information is important in teaching their children about the environment, due to the fact of the high number of children that have encountered parasitic infections that can seriously impose their functioning. Scores on the test of presumed knowledge differed rather poorly with scores of academic intelligence and achievement.  It can be summed that most villagers in this area value practical skills and may view academic skills as less necessarry and a distraction from more applied lessons that are of more use to them.


Sternberg, R. J., Nokes, C., Geissler, P., Prince, R., Okatcha, F., Bundy, D. A., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2001). The Relationship between Academic and Practical Intelligence: A Case Study in Kenya. Intelligence, 29(5), 401-18. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

From: Overview of the Multiple Intelligences Theory.  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and ThomasArmstrong.comThe Nine Types of Intelligence

http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm© Multiple Intelligences concept: Howard Gardner 1983; review and other material: Alan Chapman 2003-2009.

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

One on the greatest stressors of my childhood that I can remember came to me in the form of racism.  I grew up in a predominantly white middle class area which means I attended school with mostly white middle class children.  In elementary school I was usually the only black child in my class each year.  Of course I recognized the differences in myself vs. the other children very early on, not to mention that I was reminded of those differences daily.  Well, it felt like daily.  I did have friends but not many at that age because I was a very introverted person.  I was shy, not very outgoing, and just not comfortable in my surroundings while attending school.  I do not know if my personality at this age was a direct product of my experiences and my feelings of being the odd child out.  Perhaps it was by nature that I was a little timid and just happened to live in an area that was not culturally diverse.  Either way I still to this day have memories of my child hood life experiences related to racism.   I did eventually find an arena where I excelled and was accepted, where race did not seem to matter.  That comfort was in playing sports.  I believe that my athleticism created a place within myself, where I learned to be confident.  

Hawaii has been collecting hate crime data since 2002.  In the first six years, the state reported only 12 hate crimes, and half of those were in 2006. There was anti-white bias in eight of those incidents (Keller, 2009).   In schools children who are not considered culturally native also have experienced episodes of racism.  For example:

• The last day of school has long been unofficially designated "Kill Haole Day," with white students singled out for harassment and violence. (Haole — pronounced how-lee — is slang for a foreigner, usually white, and sometimes is used as a racial slur.)
• A non-Native Hawaiian student who challenged the Hawaiian-preference admission policy at a wealthy private school received a $7 million settlement this year.
• A 12-year-old white girl new to Hawaii from New York City needed 10 surgical staples to close a gash in her head incurred when she was beaten in 2007 by a Native Hawaiian girl  (Keller 2009).

Jon Matsuoka, dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Hawaii believes that the resentment native Hawaiians feel toward white people is related to “ancestral memory”;   Through stories about the theft of the land and culture that have been passed down from one generation to the next (Keller, 2009).  The Hawaii Department of Education has promised to take various steps to improve the reporting, investigating and eliminating of student harassment in the future.  Although racism does exist in Hawaii, many people not native to the land have not expressed feelings of discrimination and Hawaii continues to attract many tourist each year.  I chose this topic because based on my own experiences I do not automatically associate racism as an act against white people.  But racism can take place against any one of any race, ethnicity, or culture.

Keller, Larry.  Prejudice in Paradise Hawaii Has a Racism Problem.Intelligence Report, Fall 2009, Issue Number:  135 © 2011. Southern Poverty Law Center