Day 17: Moving Into Friendship

One of my precious moms shared her heart with the kids and helped them reach one of the most important phases of "How To Be A Friend To Someone With a Disability."  Three weeks ago they had questions and even some fear towards people with disabilities.  Then they had to work through some feelings of pity and now they are moving into a phase of friendship.

When my mom shared about her youngest son she was honest about his challenges but also shared how to work through them.  Her older son, one of my students, modeled how to be a supportive and loving brother by sharing his understanding of his brother's disabilities.

A day later and things are different.  The kids treated her son like a little rock star when he came into the room.  They gathered around him to play with him.  Their fears were gone, their questions had been answered and they weren't so afraid of hurting him...they just loved him.

Days 15 and 16: Market Days!

On Monday we had our first "Market Day."  The kids were so excited to set up their little booths at school.  They were proud of the creations they were selling but what I loved was hearing them share WHY they were selling them.  They had so much enthusiasm and excitement!  They were also so supportive of each other.  The money circled the room as they purchased from each other!

On Tuesday, we had our second "Market Day."  The kids had even more support from the parents of other students, as well as the staff.  In our society today, we don't really carry cash on us so people were a little more prepared on the second day.  I loved watching the other teachers come up to the kids and congratulate them on their hard work.  

In class, we learned about Autism.  The children learned a few things about the brain and why people may react differently to situations.  The also learned how to be a good friend to someone affected by Autism.  I don't even have to tell them much anymore because they come up with the answers themselves!

We also had a highly respected occupational therapist visit our classroom.  She shared about children with sensory processing disorders and then let them experience some of the things they do.  The OT touched on a variety of senses and how they may be impaired.  Children are amazing because you can see the shift in perspectives on their faces as you are talking. 

I know God has a plan for me but I have to say, I am really going to miss teaching kids!

Day 14: All It Takes Is A Little Innovation!

On  Day 14 we talked about one of my heroes that is both deaf and blind, Helen Keller.  I love the "water" scene in the older movie about Helen Keller with Patty Duke as Helen.  It is a little eye-opening for five year-olds, but we quickly moved to the excitement of watching Helen learn a way to communicate and open up her world.  The kids tried signing in each other's hands.  It wasn't quite as easy as they thought it would be!

Later in the morning one of my sweet friends came to share her wonderful business with us, "Katie's Snack Cart."  I met Katie when she was two and now she is a beautiful woman in her early 20's.  Katie was born with a developmental delay and an intellectual  impairment.  Katie loves life and uses her talents to serve quality and healthy snacks to a variety of businesses.  Her mother, Wendy, is an innovative and supportive president of Katie's Cart.  They both work together as a beautiful mother/daugther team!

Days 13: Tips For Easter Dinner!

On Day 13 we talked about how to be a good friend to those with a hearing impairment. I asked the children how many of them had grandparents that have a difficult time hearing and almost half of them raised their hand. I passed out cards that my husband and I have made to help grandchildren and grandparents communicate better. It was fun listening to their stories about family gatherings and the little differences they can make to ensure everyone feels included. I hope they practice some of the strategies over Easter dinner this year!

Communicating With Your

Hard-of-Hearing Grandparents

• If you notice your grandparents off to themselves and not involved in the family conversation, go talk to them.
• Always be in the same room with your grandparents when you are speaking to them.
• Get the attention of your grandparents first before communicating.  Call their name or gently tap their shoulder.  
• Look at your grandparents face-to-face while speaking to them.
• Do not cover your mouth, chew gum, or turn away while you are speaking.
• Speak clearly and slowly.
• If your grandparents cannot understand you, choose different words with the same meaning.
• Eliminate as many distractions as you can.
• Use language they are familiar with using.  Do not use slang.
• Always be patient, loving, and willing to repeat what you said so your grandparents can be part of your conversation.

And now for the grandparents...

Communicating With Your

Grandchildren

• Make sure you are in close proximity to your grandchildren.
• If you cannot sit on the floor with your grandchildren, move to a table and chairs so you can sit close to each other.
• Eliminate as much background noise as possible.
• Remind your grandchildren to look at you while they are speaking.
• Do not pretend you understand what they just said.  If needed, have your grandchildren rephrase what they said.
• Praise your grandchildren when they have communicated well with you and tell them how much you enjoyed your time with them.
• Answer their questions about hearing loss.  Explain how the ear works and what has hindered your ears from working properly.
• Learn some sign language together and you can send your own secret messages at the dinner table!
• Just for fun, watch one of your favorite shows with closed captioning.
• Affirm your grandchildren for taking the time to include you.

Day 12: Sign Language Lessons

Today we continued our discussion on hearing impairment.  Two wonderful guest speakers came today to share with my students.  The first guest was my husband Bill.  Bill is an audiologist and explained the anatomy and function of the outer and inner ear and passed around a model of the ear as he spoke.  He started off by using the following you tube video:

"How Your Ears Work"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMXoHKwWmU8

Bill then talked about different types of hearing loss and used this video:

Hearing Loss Simulation - Hear the World Song

This video gives you a good feel for different types and levels of hearing loss.
Bill concluded by asking the children if they had any questions about hearing impairment.
Several of the children wanted to know how hearing aids work and proceeded to share stories
of what their younger siblings had stuck in their ears.  It is funny where their little minds can go :)
After Bill spoke a good friend, who is a sign language interpreter, came to share with the
children.  She signed everything she talked about and taught the children a number of signs.
She shared a video of the school for the deaf that she works for in Haiti.  Mrs. Dard has a
huge heart for the hearing impaired and deaf communities.  She was such a wonderful ex-
ample for the children.  She finished the morning with signing, "Let It Go."  The girls, in
particular, loved it!

Day 11: Lessons on Hearing Impairment

While I was home with my hubby helping him recover from surgery, my sweet students were working hard.  I know they had some good times playing over Spring Break, but they also were working and sacrificing for other kids.  My butterfly box was full of Ziploc bags this morning.  Each little baggie contained dollars and coins, as well as wonderful stories.  

The kids are always so proud to come in and show me the money they have raised.  They also enjoy telling the other children about what they did to earn the money.  One little boy really touched me when he stood up and shared how he had raised almost $200.  That is the first time in the seven months I have known him that he stood up in front of the class with his head held high, his voice loud enough for us to hear him, and an enormous smile on his face.  It was powerful to see what his sacrifice meant to him!

We spent the first part of our day writing names on butterflies for every dollar that had been raised, swarming our little fundraisers with butterflies and then hanging them on the wall.  Fifteen five and six year-olds have raised over $1,000 in just three weeks!!  This is enough for six wheelchairs!

We continued our unit on disabilities by learning about hearing impairment.  As we started our lesson I put a pair of ear protection domes on one of my students.  They would each take a turn experiencing mild to moderate hearing loss.  They were all anxious to try them but were also grateful to take them off!

We talked about a variety of accommodation strategies for the hearing impaired including:

• hearing aids
• cochlear implants
• speech therapy
• lip reading
• flashing lights
• vibration
• closed captioning

We passed four hearing aids around with each hearing aid getting smaller.  We talked about how you can barely see them now and can even buy disposable hearing aids, similar to using contacts for the eyes.  In addition, the children were able to see a representation of the cochlea or inner ear.

We concluded our lessons by watching, "Signing Time."  The kids have already been exposed to about 50 signs in just two class days.

Day 10: Fund-raising Is Fun!

Day 10 was a day of review.  I had a little quiz for the kids on how to be polite to those with a physical disability and a visual impairment.  I was amazed by how much the kids remembered!  We followed the quiz by reading, You've Got A Friend, by Joni Eareckson Tada.

I spent the morning interviewing and videoing the kids as I asked them questions about disabilities.  I look forward to sharing the videos with the parents of my students!  They are so insightful and incredibly cute!

The students have gradually brought in money and love to stand up and share with the class how they raised it.  They also shared what they will be doing over Spring Break to raise money.  They have come up with some very clever ideas!  I am looking forward to Monday and all of the excitement and enthusiasm they will have as they bring in their little bags of money!

Day 9: Congratulations, kids!

Yesterday we had a larger view of what it would be like to be completely blind and today we brought it down to a fine motor skill view of what it would be like.  My aide and co-teacher filled a box with about 45 items and the kids had to keep their eyes closed as they pulled an item out of an enclosed box.  They were given three tries to guess what the item was.  The hardest item was a glue stick apparently.  The activity broke the ice for the rest of the morning on visual impairment.

I handed each of the children a piece of construction paper with two windows in it.  In the top window was a piece of wax paper and in the bottom window was a piece of wax paper with a hole in the middle of it.  The children looked through the windows to see what it is like to have vision that is severely blurred vs. tunnel vision.  Afterwards the children looked through cards that showed what your vision is like when you have glaucoma, diabetes retinopathy, or cataracts.  They all came out of the exercise with a greater appreciation for their ability to see.

The next segment of our morning was learning about some very talented people that happen to be blind.  We listened to the amazing talents of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder!

I am so proud of the kids as they continually bring in money for the wheelchairs.  They have already raised enough money for two wheelchairs and I know their little heads are spinning with ideas!!  They never cease to amaze me!

Day 8: From the Mouths of Babes!

Today we learned about how to be polite to someone with a visual impairment.  I loved the look of shock and then laughter as I pretended to talk to someone that is blind in a very loud voice.  I told them how funny it is but adults do it all the time!  The kids already knew that you don't need to speak loudly to someone that is blind because they can hear, they just can't see.  We did a number of exaggerated role play exercises and the kids left the day with a new understanding.  

We read the story from John 9:1-12 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Three of the children in the class have moms that are expecting babies.  They knew the babies cannot sin in the womb.  God would use this to show His power!

We had great discussions during our class time but one of my favorite things happened first thing in the morning.  One of the moms shared a precious story with me.  Her daughter had been playing with her four little mermaids and suddenly ran off to retrieve a mermaid she had bought from a dollar store.  This mermaid was missing an arm.  She brought the mermaid with the missing arm to the other mermaids to play.  She said, "She just has a disability, there is nothing wrong with her."

This story was so powerful to me.  This little girl is only five and she is already beginning to understand what may take a lifetime for the rest of us...everyone is valuable!!  She now sees the mermaid first, not the disability.

Day 7: Visual Impairment

A lady with a gentle and tender soul came in to share with my kids today.  She has been a kindergarten teacher for the last twenty years and now stays home with her sweet baby boy.  She is beautiful, talented, smart, and very compassionate.

She was also born without one of her eyes and had to have some other surgeries as a result of her disabilities.  She shared with the children about the limitations of the eye she does have and shared about the artificial eye that was made for her.  She went to a school for the blind as a child because doctors believed she would no longer have any sight by the time she became a teenager.  She learned to read Braille in preparation for blindness.

I loved how she explained everything to the kids but even in the midst of the difficulties she had hope.  She also had the courage to do whatever God asked her to no matter how challenging it was or even frightening.  The kids were spellbound as she shared about taking her students on a field trip to Interspace Caverns when she is uncomfortable with being in the dark and has depth perception problems.  Making her way through the cave was difficult. She also lead a hike through some higher elevations but she had God by her side to give her strength.

The children were told about tools someone with a visual impairment can use to help them such as a magnifying glass, a cane, and a seeing-eye dog.  By the time she left she was a new friend and we all had a better understanding of what it would be like to live with a visual impairment.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5,6

Day 6: Amazing People

It is difficult to document all of the lessons learned in the classroom and the great conversations that follow.  The kids truly are like little sponges as they have learned about a variety of people.  We started off the day watching a video about Joni Eareckson Tada and the summer she dived into shallow water and broke her neck.  She has been affected by quadriplegia ever sense.  The kids already know how the Lord has used her talents, drive, and platform to reach so many people that had lost their hope.

We read the story of Mephiboseth from the book of Luke.  Mephiboseth was in line to be the next king but people didn't feel he was fit to be a king because he had lost the use of his legs as a young boy.  He was also banished from the palace because of his disability.

King David reached out to Mephiboseth, however, and not only welcomed him to the palace but gave him a seat at this table.  He made sure that all of Mephiboseth's needs were met.  As a result of King David's actions and kindness, other people started to treat Mephiboseth well and his life was changed forever.  I have seen this happen in churches as well.  Once the pastor has a friendship with those with a disability, people in the congregation will begin to as well.

The kids were also introduced to one of my other heroes, Nick Vujicic.  What an inspiration he is.  Nick travels all over the world sharing his faith and encouraging teens.  Nick has no arms and no legs but can swim and skateboard and a multitude of other things.  The kids laughed at his stories and his great sense of humor and loved him before the video was over.  When Nick showed them how he gives a hug, they all wanted to try it and closed the day giving each other "Nick hugs."

As the day came to a close we recited our Bible verse for the week, 

"A new command I give you; love one another.  As I have loved you so must you love one another." 

John 13:34

From No Limbs To No Limits - Nick Vujicic - YouTube

▶ 1:10:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLyHdjEdtus

Day 5: Healing from Traumatic Brain Injury

One of my students was proud to have her dad join us at school.  She had a huge smile on her face as she introduced him.  He was hurt in a car accident four years ago.  He underwent 11 months of hospitalization and rehabilitation due to damage to his neck and skull, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke like symptoms on the ride side of his body.

Our guest shared the challenges of being in a hospital for so long and how difficult it was to learn how to do everyday tasks all over again.  He had to learn how to eat, swallow, walk, read and write.

I loved how well he communicated to five year-olds and the enthusiasm he had for perseverance.  He shared how you can't give up and you just keep moving forward.  He also shared his dreams for the future.  It was great to see such a spark in his eye as he shared those dreams.  No doubt the journey has been hard and exhausting, but he only had positive things to say.

In addition, our special guest shared how he looks at people with disabilities differently now.  They aren't different than anyone else and they need our support.

I hope the kids will remember the great examples they have had this month of endurance, perseverance,  and a positive attitude.  We have already met people who have endured a lot on their journey, but they are stronger and more compassionate as a result.

Day 4: Physical Therapy and Prosthetics

Today was wonderful!!  A dear friend and physical therapist came and shared with the kids.  Her son was in my class four years ago and she has shared her time and talents with us ever since.  I love her heart and compassion.

Mrs. Dorr shared some pictures with us of a variety of children with a physical disability and then explained some of the equipment they use to strengthen their bodies and help them improve their mobility.  The kids were very interested in the water therapy and hippo therapy.  One of my students has a sweet brother that has a variety of therapies so he was able to add to the presentation.  The children were also able to watch a basketball game played from wheelchairs.

Mrs. Dorr gave all of the children an opportunity to experience a therapy ball.  They loved bouncing, flying with their arms and legs stretched out, as well as floating on the top of the ball.  I think they could have spent the rest of the day with Mrs. Dorr and would have been very happy!

A little later some friends of mine came in to visit with the children.  Mr. Beatty lost an arm after he climbed a 65 pole to clear some trees.  He was shocked and fell about 60 feet.  Unfortunately he lost his arm and suffered other injuries.  Mr. Beatty and his wife have such positive attitudes and as Mr. Beatty kept saying, "You just have to keep moving forward."

Mr. Beatty showed the children his prosthetic arm.  The boys were especially impressed with the hook at the end and instantly they all became "Captain Hook."  When he brought out his prosthetic and robotic hand, the children were quite surprised! I was impressed with how real it looked and the dexterity the hand had.  The kids were uncomfortable at first but quickly realized that it is just a tool and it was pretty cool!  Mr. and Mrs. Beatty made everyone feel comfortable and were very inspiring.  We are only on week one and the kids have already met some amazing people.

Day 3: How To Be A Polite Friend

It was a quieter day.  We will have a number of visitors tomorrow, however.  

We had a wonderful day of reading a few books about children with physical disabilities.  My favorite time of the day was role playing what it would be like to be in a wheelchair and how to be kind and polite to someone that uses a wheelchair.  

I love to exaggerate some of the crazy things we do and then ask the children what is wrong with what I am doing.  What am I doing that is impolite?  How could I be a better friend?  We talked about a number of things such as, see the person first, not the wheelchair and sit down next to the person in the wheelchair rather than standing and looking down on them.  We also talked about offering assistance is polite but do not just start pushing someone around.  We had a number of suggestions to discuss and the children came up with a few on their own.

As we concluded our time together I asked the children if you can dance when you are in a wheelchair.  They said of course and started wiggling around in their seats.  I said that is one way to do it but here is another way.  I started singing a Beatles song and danced with one of my students in the wheelchair.  They loved watching us spin around the room together.

Day 2: This Is What It Means...'

It was a powerful day today.  We started off the day reading the book, The Boy Who Changed The World, by Andy Andrews.  I have always loved this story because it talks about a little boy that changed the world but acknowledges the person before him that impacted his life and maybe he was the one that changed the world.  Then the story takes another step and talks about who impacted this person and then another step back and then...in other words, we can all change the world by the impact we make on others.

I then showed the kids the impact they will make by raising money for "Wheels For The World."  We went to www.joniandfriends.org and visited their kids corner.  We then went to a video called, "Ebenezer" on the homepage and the kids fully understood the difference they will be able to make.

A little boy was unable to play outside but his whole world changed when he was given the gift of mobility.  What I love about five year-olds is they are surprised when they see a child with a disability but they quickly move to love and compassion.  My hope is they will be able to then move to friendship.

I introduced a big word to the kids today, "accommodation."  We talked about the things a person with a physical disability may not be able to do, but with a few accommodations or adaptations, they may very well be able to do it.  By the end of the week the kids will be masters at thinking of accommodations!

Next, I pulled out a ukulele and told the kids it is like a tiny guitar.  I started strumming it and asked the children, "How do you think you would play it if you didn't have any arms?"  One of my kids who tunes in very quickly said, "With your toes!!"  I told her she was right and then introduced them to Tony Melendez by showing a clip from YouTube.  Afterwards we all took a little rest on the floor and listened to his music.

From watching an introductory video on Joni Eareckson Tada yesterday, the kids knew that she couldn't paint with her hands and has to use her mouth to hold a paintbrush.  So we decided to try it!  Most of the kids thought it was pretty difficult and it was especially difficult to not sneak their hands on top of the table and use them!

When I asked the kids during "Circle Time" if they thought it was hard they all started saying it was easy.  I reminded them of their comments while they were painting.  When I pulled out a picture of one of Joni's paintings, every one of their mouths dropped and they started saying, "WOOOOW!"  I shared with them that Joni says the ability to paint is not in your hands, but in your mind.

Tomorrow we will have our first guests.  I told them when they get dressed tomorrow to be sure and put their manners on :)  I know they will love their new friends tomorrow!