Children with Special Needs and How They Interact

As numerous people have stated before, â€Å"if you want to understand someone, take a walk in their shoes. â€Å" From this, one is not able to truly comprehend the feelings someone may have or how many difficulties a person endeavors on a day-to-day basis, unless they spend time with them. The topic that I helped research as a group for our senior project was how students with special needs cooperate with others like them, and then how they interact with people in society that do not have these needs. While researching this project, I kept one question in mind, what similarities and differences occur with these children when they are brought into these situations with new people. Through our mentor, we were able to interact with the special needs children at our school, one by observing from a distance, not to interfere with how they may regularly go about their school day, and then engaging in the tasks of assisting the students with whichever task they had at hand. Numerous children each year are born with disabilities that classify them with needing certain attention in various areas unlike children who do not have these needs. The statistics show that 1 out of every 5 children born will have some sort of impairment that requires the attention of a specialist in that disability. However, until one has been through the types of activities those children have been, it is quite difficult to learn how it is to have these disabilities, and how socializing with others that they are not familiar with can be altered from how one would normally act around others of the same needs. Most of these children are nervous or shy themselves away from regular students at the school, mostly because they either don’t want to try to make friends with them or that they are too afraid that they might be criticized for how they truly are. When our mentor, Mrs. Rang was interviewed, we asked her a series of questions to try to get a better understanding of how these children are, and what she thought of our idea for a possible senior project. Through this interview, we we’re able to find out numerous things about how things in the classroom work for these students. For instance, when asked how often and when the students interacted with students unlike them at the school, we were given the answer of that the interactions were very limited, these times came during physical education classes, bake sales, and fundraisers. Additionally, we also were informed on how well the children cooperate with each other in the classroom, and it was apparent that there was almost a family-like bond between the children. However, based on research, some children with disabilities have a fear of reaching out to socializing with others. These fears can come about from numerous sources, either through mostly experience or what can be seen or heard through the media. The most powerful source of getting news across the world is through the media, where within the chaos, numerous stories are said to be factual, when only the story is false, and people will only read it if it is intriguing to society. One of these stories includes how children with disabilities are being treated at a certain institute in Canton, Massachusetts, by using shock therapy. Whether or not these reports are true does not matter to the reporters, however if a child with special needs sees this story, it would result in them only wanting to surround themselves with other children that are like them due to the safety they may feel with them. Bullying is another form of socialization that may trigger the child’s abilities to break out of their shell and interact with others. With many children feeling like that they won’t be accepted due to their disabilities, their socialization skills deplete and children become more introverted. However, there are numerous websites and books that are help to assist one with their child’s needs in order for them to benefit from the factors of regular children. Certain aspects like greeting a new person everyday will allow them to not be intimidated by the children that are not like them. With proper guidance and support, these children with disabilities can be able to interact with other children unlike them in a comfortable environment. Furthermore, it has been seen in many instants where children with disabilities are able to interact with similar children with ease than to that of others. A variety of reasons can be held accountable for this explanation, such as how much time is spent with comparable children, and the emotions that are felt during these time periods. For example, during our interview, our mentor was able to inform us on how caring the children are for one another, which I feel takes into account where they spend the majority of their day in school together, and those students are the children that they interact with almost everyday. Additionally, many will say that the more time you spend with a person, the more you get to know them and care for them, which is proof with these children. Some however, may not want to branch out and socialize with other children, which even though I feel these students would benefit from the experience, people can not be pressured into something they are not comfortable doing. When doing this sort of project, there are certain risks and learning experiences that come with the opportunity we were presented with. In order to fully commit myself to this project, a certain level of commitment and connection had to be made with the task at hand. Before this project was assigned, I had volunteered time at the Nursing Home where there are numerous patients with disabilities that after listening to their stories, had numerous troubles growing up. It was evident that just like the children now, some wanted to socialize with others, while some rather stay locked up in their rooms all day in a groggy mood. As a result, it inspired me to find out why people with disabilities are sometimes stubborn to interact with others, while still establishing friendships with those who desired companionship in the home, especially those who made connections with others who had similar disabilities. Due to the level of this project, there were also numerous risks and successions that are related to the action of the assignment. After discussing that the group desired to work with the special needs children in Mrs. R & Mr. Dami’s class, we knew that we did not want the students to feel like they were just an assignment, where they would only be talked to for a month or two, and then once the class was over, the connection that was made would slowly disappear. If that was the case, no one would benefit from this project, I knew that we had to make sure that we got to know the students, how their personalities were, what their interests are, and other such aspects. The risk being taken was that when going into this project, we were not aware of how the students might feel with us being in their classroom. Being uncomfortable in a safe environment is one of the factors that we as a group wanted to make sure would not happen, however studying their behavior with others would allow us to benefit for the task at hand. Success would be able to be achieved, only if our interactions were carried out properly. From this, our success would be finding out the difference between the socialization that children with disabilities use when they are surrounded with different people. Moreover, failure would also be expected when we were spending time with the children because as Benjamin Disraeli once said, â€Å" All my successes have been built on my failures†. From this, we were not expecting perfection the first time we met the children, but hopefully, a bond would slowly start to form between us and eventually they would become more comfortable to talk to us when they ever saw in the hallways or during lunches. This is able to relate to civics, where from our education throughout the years in socializing with others, not bullying, and always making other feel welcome, we are able to take the lessons that we have already learned, and apply them to the task at hand and hopefully make new friends along the way. The experiences that I have had so far have been very beneficial to not only me, but my group as a whole. We were able to discover that some of the children with special needs wanted friends, but were too afraid to due to lack of socializing when they were younger. On another note, some children were able to talk to anyone that was willing to listen, while others unfortunately did not wish to make new friends than the ones that they already had currently in the classroom. Different personalities were able to shine through while we visited the students during different blocks, and friendships were able to begin being built. However, more information on why parents and others do not try to socialize their children with disabilities would be helpful when working on this project, however, the best is being made with the research we have. Throughout the experience however, it reminded me of being with the patients at the nursing home, as if those patients younger selves were able to interact with me now, and it was able to give my more insight into their everyday lives, even though I may not have been able to walk a mile in them. To end off though with these friendships and the positive effects they will hopefully have on these children, as Francis Bacon once stated, â€Å"This communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth grief’s in half†. Where joy is able to be experienced by those who enjoy the companionship of a good friend, and the grief they may have suffered is no longer that big of a burden for them to handle.

Impacts Of Poverty On Student’s Achievement Essay

Poverty is an issue faced by more children in our nation. Children face problems related to poverty during their schooling. The price that children pay out of poverty is incredibly high than anyone can imagine. Each year, schools admit large numbers of children with needs brought about by poverty which is an issue that the school is usually not prepared to deal with. Poverty is a risk factor in the process of student’s education. This paper examines the impacts of poverty on teaching and learning which determines the student’s academic achievement. The concept of being at risk This term refers to students who are faced by life’s social circumstances such as poverty that puts them at risk of underachieving in school. There are many risk factors which increases the chances of a student to failure. However poverty is regarded a major risk factor due to its compound effect. Some of the factors that are related to poverty and put a student at greater risk of failing include, very young parents, unemployment, low educational level parents, substance abuse, exposure to inadequate or improper educational experiences, dangerous neighborhood, mobility, abuse and neglect as well as homelessness. (Gromard, 2003) These factors affect the physical status of the children as in dressing, the type of food they eat, their personal effects are usually of low quality or cheap. The physical disparities in among the students cause a wide gap between the poor students and their peers from middle or upper class families. Sometimes the isolation of this group of students is automatic in that they themselves assume that others do not want to associate with them. Teachers may also contribute in perceiving students in accordance to their social classes. This is however a rare case because teachers are professionals. Nevertheless, there are some instances that the teacher may talk about an issue in the process of teaching and unintentionally touch the students from poverty stricken families. For example in studying population, the teacher may teach about demographics of poverty which is inevitable. This students may change their attitude towards the teacher and hence the subject. (Knapps, Shields, & Clementina, 2001) High mobility is a symptom associated with poverty in connection to other surrounding factors. Students who come from poor families may live in daily or monthly rent houses. This is makes them to move day in day out as their parents look for jobs or runs away from problems like abusive spouses, financial responsibilities or criminal records. This kind of situation may also put the poor family homeless. The conditions they live in affect their education achievement. This result from the emotional impact that moving impacts on children. The children also are forced to join new schools occasionally where they may find it very difficult to adapt. When this factor combines with other issues related to poverty, overwhelming effects on the students’ social, emotional and cognitive development are experienced. Students from poor families attend school irregularly. Transfers to new schools are a routine which brings about difficulty in socialization with new friends in the new school. This may make the student to become either withdrawn or hostile due to their experiences in their past attempts to make friends. The student may therefore develop an attitude of ‘why bother’ with regard to both social and academic aspect schooling as they will after all be moving soon. Due to the various reasons of moving, which are often abrupt, the student come to the new school without records from their previous school which makes it difficult for the school to track the records. As a result, teachers lack the slightest idea of what the student have or haven’t leant. It is a big challenge for the school to place the new students in a class and provide them with the additional services they may require. Even when the school succeeds in placing the new students in class and providing these services, these students will likely move within the school year. It is also difficult for teachers to teach these kinds of students something valuable as they rarely concentrate. Children from poor families become aware of the social economic classes that exist in the society at a very tender age. They grow being aware of their own class and that of their peers which make them to develop a class related attitude as early as in their elementary schooling years. This attitude id carried on throughout their lives in school. Inferiority complex or aggressiveness may be the end result of this effect of poverty in the student’s life. However teachers can help children build up caring and sensitivity towards various cultures including social classes. Lessons and activities in the school should be designed on how children perceive the world and themselves during the different stages of development. For example at the age of eleven, children can comfortably reflect on the causes and solutions to poverty. Achievement gap Achievement gap is the difference in academic achievement between children from various groups or classes in relation to ethnic, income or race. The achievement of students is generally lower than that of middle and upper classes. However at lower levels, children of poverty achieve more than their peers from well to do families. Children from low income families have more in their minds than quizzes, homework or extracurricular activities. As pointed out earlier in this work some may have spent their nights in the streets due to homelessness, at camps or compounds of their friends or relatives. Therefore they are often engaged in thinking about where they will spend that night as well as caring about their parents who go through hardships trying to look for a living for the family. This affects their concentration in class and other school activities hence affect their performance academically as well as socially. (Brown, 2000) The reason for variation in achievement of students is determined by the social environment the students come from and the education that they receive in school. Poverty influences the quality of student’s learning behaviors, their past experiences with education, home environment and sometimes the teacher’s attitude which greatly affect the individual student performance. Students from poor or low income families are generally worried too much about themselves. They usually feel out of place when interacting with children in other social classes. They may feel that the society is unfair by placing them in poverty. The students may decline from participating in class activities and this affects their learning in school. As proposed by Salvin 2001, schools impact on students’ academic achievements are powerful and the success of all the students regardless of their social economic class depend on the teachers’ perception of these students as at promise rather than at risk and at the same time preparing them to get to their full potentials in life. A good education that is focused is usually the only means of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty for the poor children. These children require an education founded in high standards with high expectation for all. The curriculum should be aligned to ensure that a meticulous and assessment go hand in hand with the standards. The curriculum should avoid a decrease in opportunities for the students from the poor background. What usually takes place in the classroom has influence on the achievement of the students and hence teachers should be careful when passing information to students. (Plumber, 2004) The teacher should avoid at all costs any activity that may discriminate students from poor backgrounds. The content of education should be of value and cultural relevant. Teachers should be aware that the instructional and classroom management methods do not necessarily work well for poor students. The teachers can help in closing the achievement gap.

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions Assignment - 2

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions - Assignment Example It summarizes all of the revenue and expense items of the firm and presents the final result in term of profit and loss, for a given period of time. Financial statements are prepared to present and record information regarding the financial position of a firm at a given point in time, to show performance of the firm during the particular period, and to depict changes in performance during that period. This information is used by the different users of financial statements to make their decisions. 5. Impact of Inflation:- Financial statements do not account for the impact of inflation hence â€Å"Cannot be a true reflection of growth where the economy is infected with a high level of inflation†. [IBP 2011] 7. Measurability:- Financial statements only record the information that is measureable and do not account for qualitative characteristics and assets and efficiency, competence of workforce and goodwill etc. suitable option available to Paul and Sarah’s. Moreover another benefit of using this option according to Boyneclarke .com is that â€Å"you relinquish no control over your business.† [http://www.boyneclarke.com/ resources/entry/sources-of-business-financing] so investing personal savings will also secure control of the partners on their business and will result in avoiding many managerial and regulatory complexities. Both of the partners Paul and Sarah can invest their personal savings at any agreed ratio into the business to finance its expansion. Paul and Sarah’s. They can add new partners into their business who can provide required financing, moreover if they succeed in adding a competent business partner then it can not only provide financing but also can provide business acumen and can help in administration. it is an equity investment so entails high risk, so venture capital organizations require high expected rate of return on their investment, as

The contribution of customer satisfaction of after sale service Dissertation

The contribution of customer satisfaction of after sale service - Dissertation Example Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturing company and is one of the largest car manufacturing companies in the world. The stated vision of Audi is â€Å"Audi – the number one premium brand†. As per a strategy document released by Audi named Strategy 2020, Audi aims to achieve the leadership position in premium segment, and wants to consolidate its leadership position in that segment (Audi USA, 2009, p.27). After sales service is one of the most important factors influencing brand loyalty. According to a survey conducted by Bain and Co, â€Å"one of the most powerful techniques for converting buyers into die-hard fans is providing exceptional after-sales service† (Flees & Senturia, 2008). This report will aim to evaluate the existing customer satisfaction level of Audi customers, identify how critical is after sale service towards overall satisfaction, and identify possible areas in after sale service where there is a scope of improvement. These will be eval uated by analysing data collected by administering a questionnaire to the customers who come to the Audi dealer for after sale service. This questionnaire will capture both qualitative and quantitative data. The data collection process will also include interviewing customer facing staff in the dealership and the service manager of the dealer shop. I will be able to have access to Audi Company through my friend who holds a position as a service manager. I will be able to provide a confirmation letter from the company with their approval, in order to carry out the project research proposal. 2. Research questions Explanatory Objectives RQ1: Investigate levels of customer satisfaction with Audi? (This objective will assess and quantify the level of satisfaction that an Audi customer has.) RQ2: Which specific factors in the provision of after sales service affect customer satisfaction? Explanatory Objectives RQ3: identify main reasons for low customer satisfaction of after sales service RQ4: identify the factors that influence customer service from after sales service Developmental Objectives RQ5: evaluate methods that can potentially improve customer satisfaction 3. Research Ethics â€Å"Ethical issues are present in any kind of research. The research process creates tension between the aims of research to make generalizations for the good of others, and the rights of participants to maintain privacy† (Orb, Eisenhauer & Wynaden, 2001, p.1). The entire data collection process will be voluntary in nature where all respondents, including customers, dealer staff and the service manager, will share their responses after explicitly agreeing to participate in the survey. Before the survey is conducted, each respondent will be informed about the nature and goal of the survey. Each respondent will be informed about their nature of involvement in the survey process. Additionally, each respondent will have the right not to participate further at any point of time. In dividual responses as well as the final results of the survey will kept strictly confidential, and all response forms as well as stored data will be destroyed once the analysis is completed to ensure complete privacy of participants. 4. Literature Review RQ1: Investigate levels of customer satisfaction with Audi? There are a multitude of factors that influence the levels of customer satisfaction for a premium, life style brand like Audi. Audi, as discussed above, is a premium car brand that sells high value cars. Till the late 1990s after sale service had been viewed by manufacturing

Western civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Western civilization - Essay Example The second industrial revolution was characterized with mass production systems to achieve economies of scale to increase profits. While in the first revolution, the people were self employed and worked manually and it was only a little later that mechanization started to be employed. In the first industrial revolution, much of the development depended on the willingness of capitalists to risk financial loss, however in the second revolution, the development was promoted by the government and hence the development depended on several factors including the availability of natural resources, capital, government support, an active middle class, entrepreneurial spirit. Another striking difference is that in the first industrial revolution, the production was dependent on the cottage industries and was more agrarian in nature. In, the second revolution the products were customer oriented and the nature of products was more industrial. Also marketing, innovative business practices and globalization were essential features of this age of expansion. The late nineteenth century saw tremendous growth in professionalism of products. With the economical growth several innovative products and ideas came into existence. The demographic population increased and with it, the need for more resources. The social dispersion was captured in the music of that time which changed to â€Å"reflect the disorientation of traditional standards and values, the contrasts between an extreme collectivism and an equally extreme individualism†. The art captured the emotional isolation of the individual and questioned the values of a modern consumer-oriented society created by the industrialists to reap economies of scale. The people at that time felt fearful and disorientated because of shifts in demographical factors such as emigration and globalization. Economic competition and

Executive Brief on Strategic Planning for a Military Base for Homeland Essay

Executive Brief on Strategic Planning for a Military Base for Homeland Security Class - Essay Example to wane over time, supporting Erik Auf der Heide when he declared that â€Å"interest in disaster preparedness is proportional to the recency and magnitude of the last disaster.† (p. 3) such public attitude has been crucial in national policymaking that determines America’s preparedness for terrorist attacks. When the 9/11 disaster occurred, the public and the government were finally seized with the realization of how important it is to address the issue. This did not come, however, without a price. Hundreds of Americans lost their lives and the impact of the crumbling Twin Towers sent ripples not only economically but also in the psyche of America as a nation. Scholars point to tragedies such as the 9/11 as some catalyst that spur the public and authorities into action. They become opportunities in order to improve the emergency response capability in America. Immediately after the 9/11 incident, the FBI Academy Handbook stressed that in addition to improving capabilit y, there is now a need for an active municipal and citizen involvement to fight terrorism. It stressed that these stakeholders are the in the frontlines in the on-going battle, being the first to be affected and the first to respond in cases of terrorist attacks. (IBP 2002, p. 48) For this purpose, there is now a concerted effort to improve municipal capabilities and resources to address the terrorist problem. The Office of the Homeland Security leads these efforts. This brief outlines the program that has been set in place in Carroll County as part of its role in the national strategy for terrorist threat preparedness. One of the most important of the county’s goal is to ensure that the Fire and EMS departments are integrated and coordinated to effectively carry out the responsibilities assigned by Homeland Security. Currently, the EMS and the fire departments in Carroll County work in a loosely coordinated system and mostly staffed by volunteers. The landscape is a primarily a consequence of

College Saving Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

College Saving Plan - Essay Example As the paper highlights, it is assumed that Wally who is 17 years old will join college at 18 years and this means that he only have one year to join college. He will also attend college for four years and full time basis. Since there are only four years, the parent will pay 100% of all the projected college costs and wish to meet all the savings goals by the time he completes the studies. The parents will make a monthly contribution towards their son’s college savings. The cost of college education is expected to increase by 3% annual which is the inflation rate. The couple also expects to earn a 9.65% after tax every year in the college saving fund. The current college cost is $25,000 per year. Based on this analysis, 100% of the total college cost will be $107,728which then means a monthly contribution of $2,122. The couple wished to save for the college education of the two children. In this case, 529 plans can be used for the two children. The only difference between the saving for the two children is that the saving for Wally will start only a year to joining college while that of Theodore will start 14 years before he joins college-assuming that the two children will join college at the age of 18. The parents will also have to contribute less in terms of monthly pay for Theodore than for Wally. Based on the above assumptions, 100% of the total college costs for Theodore will be $158, 203 leading to a monthly contribution of $354 aimed at meeting this cost. Since Harvard and UMass-Boston are both based in Massachusetts State, the best 529 plan would be U.Fund College Investing Plan. Â  This saving plan is managed by Fidelity and offers five different individual fund portfolios to choose from with each portfolio corresponding to the age of the beneficiary. It does not require any state residency. With this plan which is based in Massachusetts State, then it means that the savings for the college of the two children will well placed as the finances will be paid to their colleges.