Getting Out of the Ruts

Yesterday, I was in a wheelchair for two and a half hours to help me see what those with orthopedic impairments go through on a daily basis. Sadly it was only for two and a half hours so I wasn't able to get a full experience but what I did experience taught me alot.

There were 8 tasks I had to do while being wheelchair bound:
1. Get a drink from the drinking fountain.
2. Go another building on campus and ask for directions/assistance (e.g., Kimball Building information desk).
3. Ride an elevator.
4. Go through a door using the door opener.
5. Go up and down a hill by yourself.
6. Go through a door without using the door opener.
7. Ask for assistance to navigate a tough spot.
8. Go to the restroom, enter a stall, and transfer your body from the wheelchair to the toilet. Reverse the process and return to the wheelchair.

You know how there is a tall and short drinking fountain next to each other. I used to think the short one was for children. Well it serves this purpose too but it is for those individuals in a wheelchair. It was a perfect height to drink. Except I still managed to spill all over myself cause I'm short and clumsy. I am so glad I didn't have to reach up to the tall fountain!

As I rode down the hill to ask a questions at the Kimball Building, a guy came running to help me get down the hill safely. As we talked he told me that he had been in a coma when he was 19 and afterwards had to be in a wheelchair as he recovered. He expressed his understanding to getting around in a wheelchair and how hard it can be. I was amazed at how nice people were as I rode around campus. Many people offered to help push me up the hill and open doors for me. It made me reflect on if I am this considerate to others around me.

Some things that were hard was going down the hill by myself. My wheelchair didn't have brakes which hurt my hands and the speed increased as I went down the hill. Another hard thing was when I went to the bathroom the door was really hard to open and get through on my own without a button. And the handicap stalls are always in the back of the bathroom. Do you know how hard that is to maneuver around people and the small space in the bathroom!? I ended up not using that bathroom because of this. The handicap stall was also tiny!! It was only a few inches bigger than the normal stalls. I ended up finding a handicap single bathroom. That had plenty of room to turn my chair around and attempt to transfer my body to and from the toilet. This was so hard! I ended up giving up and used my legs.

I am a pretty independent person. I realized as people would ask to help me I would feel absolutely helpless. I ended up just talking to them and trying to make conversation. I felt kind of awkward cause all I was doing was just sitting there and I hate not being able to help with things. I felt silly at times how people would serve me.

As I wheeled myself up to the Hinckley Building, one of my wheels go stuck in between the grass and sidewalk going uphill. I could not get it out. So I turned around and asked the people behind me to help me get out of the rut. They ran up and agreed and said, "Of course, we all get in a rut sometimes!" I loved this. No matter our situation we all get in ruts. And it's always nice for someone to help get us out! The biggest thing I learned from this simulation was that I need to be more considerate of those around me and help others who may be in a rut- physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy

Today Stephanie Nielson came to BYU-Idaho and talked about her experience. In 2008 her and her husband were in a plane crash where her body was about 80% burned. Click here to see her story. Grab some tissues, you'll need them!

At the forum, she explained her story and gave some additional insights that can't be found in the video. As she talked I wondered to myself, What would it be like to have a near death experience? How would I react? What would I do? What would be my last wish? If I survived-like Stephanie did- would I wish I had died instead of have to endure the pain and stress and challenges that came with the accident? 

She talked about how everything in her life would never be the same. She wouldn't be able to do certain things and she wouldn't even look the same or feel the same. Life as she knew it was over and a sequel began. She talked about the pain of having her wounds scrubbed so they wouldn't get infected. Now I've had a few of my wounds scrubbed before but those were just scratches! Her wounds covered her whole body! 

It tugged at my heart strings so bad when she talked about looking at herself in the mirror for the first time. I could only imagine how hard it would be to look so different. It would be so hard on your self-esteem and your identity. Something I liked that she said was she wanted to be

"Not just a survivor but a thriver"

She told us that the only way she could have made it through this trial of hers is through Jesus Christ. He helped lift her burdens and gave her strength to go forward. This is what Christ does for all of us, each and every day. He is there for us to rely on and turn to and He will never leave or forsake us. I thought to myself, we all have scars of sometime. Whether it is scars of physical injury or emotional or spiritual. We all have them. The Savior is there to help each of those wounds heal. His Atonement can heal all ailments.

Learning Disabilities

To simulate a learning disability I had to ask people questions and I could not use any words that had "l" or "n" in it. This was really hard for me to figure out a scenario I could do without using "l" or "n". Most questions words have these letters in them, heLp, wiLL, waNt, caN, etc. I was thinking about this activity for days trying to figure out what I could do. Finally I decided to ask someone a questions about where something was and then restate the directions back to them and then ask a questions at a store.

On campus today I stopped a girl walking and said, "Excuse me, where is Birch?" She proceeded to tell me she didn't know because it was her first semester and asked where it was near. I paused and thought about a campus building it was near and then had to double check if it had "n" or "l" in it. I couldn't say the I-Center but I could say the Hart! I told her and then when she could direct me that way I tried to restate the directions back but I messed up and said "left". It was so hard not to use words that had "l" or "n" in them.

For my second option, I went to Walgreen's and asked a lady where the oreos were. She told me the aisle and then I asked how much they cost. She said she didn't know but she could take me there. I felt so bad because I wanted to thank her but I couldn't say thank you so on our walk over I was thinking what I could say and after she showed me I just said, perfect! I felt kind of rude not being able to say thank you or be able to talk to her more.

This was an interesting experience to see how hard it was to come up with things to say that did not include the letters "l" or "n". The simulation helped me notice the long pauses that are needed to think or the drawn out sentences that can occur if someone has a learning disability.

Confessions From Behind the Mask

For four hours I had to wear four different masks-one each hour- each simulating a different visual impairment. 

Glaucoma Simulation (12:30pm-1:30pm)

This is the first mask. It was pretty hard to focus my vision. I tended to focus more out of the left eye because the hole in the mask was slightly larger. My neck was strained a lot too because of the limited vision. I had no peripheral vision which made it awkward to look at people. I tended to keep my head down and it was very hard to be aware of my environment. I did not interact with anyone because it was too hard to focus on them. Even when I ate my lunch I didn't even realize I spilled food on the front of my shirt till later. As I did homework during this time and it was very hard to focus on the computer screen and it made typing really difficult. When I do my homework, I normally have both earplugs in listening to music but I took one out to heighten my sense of my surrounding so people wouldn't scare me every time they walked into my vision and I didn't hear them coming. It would be so hard to be deaf and have limited vision! I had to over-exaggerate turning my head to see what is on the side of me. I wanted to be invisible. I had to hold my phone or other objects farther out in front of me so I could focus on them better. It was interesting what effects this had with my normal routine. 

Loss of an Eye Simulation [Causes loss of depth of field-limits dominant eye] (1:30-2:30)

This simulation was very interesting because my mom cannot see out of her left eye. It was interesting to put myself in her shoes to see what she experiences every day. I continued doing homework and this mask made it much easier to focus and read. I ended up switched my one headphone to my left ear to hear what was coming from my right since I couldn't see that way-as you can see in the picture. I enjoyed being able to have peripheral vision again, even if it was just in one eye. This mask wasn't that bad. It didn't effect my learning or ability too much. I recognized that my left eye became a little more strained. But that's about the only disadvantage I noticed. 

Problem with the Lens Simulation [ie. astigmatism] (2:30-3:30)

This mask was my least favorite. Luckily I was in my Exceptional Students class. So I was able to have their help to know what was going on. But I could not see a thing. Everything was blurry and I could not see anything or read anything, It was a joke to even try to read the power point or read the handout. When class was done I still had 30 minutes left, so I just went and sat in the hallway and talked to another classmate who was wearing the same mask. We could hardly see each other or those that were passing us in the hall. I felt as if I was blind. There were two spots in the mask that I could see a bit clearly but I had to move my head into an awkward position to see. By the end of this simulation my eyes were tired and I had a bit of a headache. 

Macular Degeneration Simulation (3:30-4:30)

This one wasn't that bad. I was supposed to focus on the green pieces of paper and only use my peripheral vision. It was hard to not focus above or below the paper. I was able to type and text and do other homework. The time seemed to go by faster and I wasn't as shy when I talked to people.

Wearing these masks reminds me of the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera- my favorite musical! He was invisible and hid himself and that's what I did. I hid in the education building on campus and did homework and had class till my four hours were up. I thought about the individuals in the Bible who were blind. How amazing it would be to see again and have vision restored! We rely so much on what we can see. I am so thankful for my ability to see and that we have technology and resources to correct our vision. I wear contacts and when I take my contacts out I can see but things that are about 5 feet away are blurry. 

Stuttering

This weekend I had to simulate as if I had a stutter in a public situation. Now I love doing social experiments. I find it so interesting how people react to different situations or uncommon ones. It kind of shocked me what happened, how people reacted and how I reacted to this assignment.

This weekend I was going to Salt Lake City to visit family and I planned to do this assignment in SLC not in Rexburg. This was interesting because I am not normally afraid what people think of me but for some reason I felt really embarrassed if I were to do this on campus or around campus afraid someone who hear me and judge me because they thought I actually had a stutter. So I decided to do this in SLC.

I went to Best Buy to look at laptop cases. When I got there I thought I would just have to talk to one sales associate and the clerk and I would fulfill the assignments requirements. However, I asked one associate and he had to get another and that one had to get someone else. So in the end I talked to 4 store associates and one clerk. The whole time I acted as if I had a stutter. The first couple of associates looked at me and seemed a bit impatient and didn't really care to help me they just did their job and passed me off to someone else. There was one associate who helped me a lot and was kind the whole time. Not taking notice of my stutter. I asked him to help me find the case I found online and to price check three other cases I was interested in. The clerk was also very nice and patient with me. I asked him about the return policy and asked him a few questions about the coupon I used.

Throughout the whole time in the store I varied what type of stuttering I would do by repeating certain words and pausing and repeating sounds of words. Here is an example:
Associate: "Did you see the other name brand cases in the front?"
Me: "Yeah they were up-up-up-up-up there and it wasssn't there."

It was interesting to see how having a stutter affected me and my confidence. I found myself wanting to respond with one word so I wouldn't have to stutter as much and I found that as I walked around the store I avoided asking the attractive employees questions because I was embarrassed. Also I realized as I walked around I kept my head down and I could feel my confidence was lacking. As I kept talking to other store associates I forgot about the embarrassing feelings and was able to feel more confident near the end of the store visit.

It was interesting to me to study beforehand what people with stutters sound like. I haven't been around many people who have a stutter or recognized they had a stutter. As I watched videos of people who stuttered I realized that there are so many different severity's of a stutter. Some have had lots of help with speech therapy and speak normally except a few stutters in a paragraph. I also realized that I stutter a lot and have never been diagnosed with a speech impediment. This is just because I get nervous or my brain in working faster than my mouth. It gave me a greater appreciation for those who live with a stutter 24/7 and the fears they have to overcome daily.

Look How Far We've Come

Did you know how far we have come with special education in the US? You could say it all started with the civil rights movements. There were so many sacrifices of others to get special education. It started as hiding those with disabilities -out of sight out of mind- which led to institutions, then no institutionalization, to mainstreaming, to what we have now, inclusion.

There are still countries today where children with disabilities are still institutionalized! We watched a NBC Dateline about mental institutions in Serbia. I learned a lot watching this video that we have come a long way to help the specific needs of individuals but there is still so much more we can do. As I watched these different clips, I wondered if there is anything I can do to help these individuals in Serbia and the others like them across the world. I want to learn more about this. It will help me in the future as I work with children with disabilities and their parents because it can still be a fight for parents to get the education their child needs when it comes to special education. Many parents get frustrated that their child doesn't get everything the way they hoped for but I am so grateful for what we do have and for how far we have come. 

My peers helped me learn more about other points of view. As we discussed they helped me see just how far we have come and how great it is that we can have all the great opportunities we now have for those with disabilities. We were able to learn a lot from each other as we discussed this video. For those who want to watch this I have included the link below.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26332429/ns/dateline_nbc-international/t/serbias-horrific-institutions-relic-past/#.VJNAKCvF9Ns

This Journey Called Life

Hello! Just a little background, my name is Celeste and I am currently studying Child Development at Brigham Young University-Idaho and I love it! I am so passionate about the home and family. My goal is to become a home educator, I'm excited for what the future moments have to bring. The purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts and ideas with others about the different topics around the family and education. In turn, I hope to hear from all of you about your beliefs and views on these things as well! So feel free and comment. I hope to also talk about my experiences I have in this journey called life!