Final Project

This project is turning out to be harder then I thought it would be. At first I was going to do disabilities and do down syndrome. That turned out to be a huge flop. I went to the local book stores and was disappointed with how much they actually had on disabilities. Then to even go further and be specific was even more difficult. It is just disappointing to me that I can not go into a book store and find books for disabilities. I can't imagine how the children or parents must feel when they go into a book store and can't find a book that fits what they are looking for. Therefore I had to change my subject to Cerebral Palsy. But it seemed like any book I picked up was either a self help book for a parent or the simplest form of a baby book to show you what a certain disability looks like. Also most of the books seemed to be about Autism as if it is a new fad. Yes the rate of children being diagnosed with this is going up but still doesn't mean that the rate of children having other disabilities has completely gone away. Another thing I found interesting was that the disability section was placed outside the children's area. Did they do this for a reason and if so that is really really sad.

Scholastic Bookfair

I am doing a project in the Marble Elementary School and my kids have recently gone to the book fair that they are having. I was looking around there and I only saw a very few books that actually had awards on them and then looking closely at the books there were a few that even looked like good literature. Some of the books were codes for gaming or journals, or other things that that are not really about reading. Actually looking at the books makes my cringe thinking that the parents think their children are looking at books when there are hardly any good ones. I think Scholastic should re-think the type of books they are putting out for children to buy.

Uncle Charlie

I have to share this because I was jumping up and down today because of it. First some background information.
I have an aunt and uncle who have down syndrome. My uncle has the brain capability of a 7 year old and my aunt is about a 3 or 4 year old, they are both adopted by my grandparents and are in their later thirties early forties. When I was younger my aunt and uncle lived closer to me than they do now and because I was the first grandchild I was always over at my grandparent's house. As I was getting older and able to actually walk and play it was fun to have an adult act like a child especially because I was the first grandchild I didn't really have any other kids to play with yet. I was always playing with my uncle probably getting in to trouble together and all sorts of fun. My aunt on the other hand did not care for me at first. My mother has a special bond with my aunt because my mom always calls my aunt her baby doll. Well when I came into the picture my mom had a real baby doll. Therefore at first my aunt was slightly jealous of me but then said that I was her baby doll.
Now they live out is Missouri and still live with my grandparents. Every now and then we hear stories of how they got in trouble and what not. I love hearing them because most of the time it is my aunt who likes to push my grandma's buttons. She is a lot smarter then what people want you to think. For example it was breakfast time and my grandpa had given my aunt a piece of zucchini bread and she said no toast. Grandpa continued to tell her that they can not put this kind of bread in the toaster but she insisted on having toast. My grandpa was getting angry and said, "Tammy you can have this or nothing." So she put the entire piece in her mouth and spit it out at my grandpa. My mom and I found this hilarious. Sure she might not be vocal but she sure is smart when it comes to making my grandparents angry. Another time she got mad at Uncle Charlie because he was teasing her about something so she simply got up took a flower pot and chucked it at his head.
I think that my aunt is a lot smarter than she leads people to believe. Same with my uncle. He could sit for hours in front of a TV playing a video game until he beats it. He has a lot more patience then I could ever have.
So back to why I am so excited. I went to check my mail today and I got a picture my uncle drew of his dog, me and him. I told him that I wanted a picture from him so I could put it on my fridge because I sent him a Valentine. It's the little things that make me happy and today was an amazing day because I got the picture!!!!!!

Ignorant People

There has been a lot of buzz about the show "How's Your News?" produced by MTV. I get the feeling that lots of people are against the show because they think MTV is exploiting the people on the show because they have special needs. Personally, I think that the people who think this are ignorant. It is like someone saying that you can't have a TV show because I said so. No one has the right to tell someone that they can't do what they want in life because of something that makes them different than anyone else. I have such a hard time with people who think they are all about helping children with special needs who act like the kids they are working with are something other than human. I'm here to say THEY ARE HUMAN DON"T TREAT THEM LIKE THEY ARE NOT. The other night when I was watching the show I found it so funny that one of the girls told a band that they sucked. I wanted to give her a high five because I knew that if I were to be on that show I would lie and tell the band they sounded amazing. I have a really hard time with people who don't think the same way I do about this and think they need to see it from my perspective because they are making people with special needs to not be people at all when they are.