Valentine's Day

Tomorrow will actually be my first time going to Harris Hillman and I'm super excited and nervous! I can't wait to volunteer with my housemates. I'm looking forward to interacting with the students and having a great time.

Why Aren't People First?

While educating ourselves about people first language and the importance of utilizing it daily, I have become more aware at how common it is to fail at recognizing people as who they are rather than what they are. Has society placed so much emphasis on differences in appearances that we have forgotten that a person is more than just that?

Living and Learning

Sometimes, I feel that we took on too much when we started this project. Not just in terms of the project, but also in terms of the reality that living with nine other people in such an intimate setting is. We've bonded, we've had disagreements, we've taken care of each other in times of need, we've confided and I've personally learned as much about my roommates as I have about myself. A lot of us came to the Mayfield with very little knowledge about each other and our own preconceived notions - it is for that reason that I feel that living in the Mayfield has helped us more than anything else in embracing the spirit of the people first movement. There's been ups and downs - fortunately, mostly ups - and I can truly call this a "living learning" experience.

With the project, I've been exposed to my own ignorance about the ableism of our society and how far the disabilities awareness movement still has to go. Dr. DaFonte has been phenomenal in teaching us how to use people first language and educating us. I couldn't ask for a better mentor. I think we've reached that stage in our learning process where we are ready to spread what we've learned with the rest of our community. And I am beyond ready to. 

Bigger than us.

This past semester I have learned more than I ever thought was possible.  It's been a while since I have taken the time to put my thoughts down onto paper, but looking back, promoting the concept of People First was a bigger task than I imagined.  I never knew how uninformed I was about the movement.  You always think about the movements for African American and homosexual rights, but I guess the movement for the rights of people with disabilities often goes unnoticed.  Now that I (maybe not fully) understand the magnitude of the project we are faced with this, I feel much more prepared and ready to start our volunteering hours at Harris Hillman and educating the greater Vanderbilt community about our project.  After beginning our project with all the worksheets, documentaries, and discussions with the ever helpful Dr. Da Fonte, I finally feel ready to really begin.  I'm excited to see what we can do with these next few months.

Moving Forward

Before beginning this project, I was very excited to participate in another extra-curricular activity where I could work with children with disabilities and live with others who shared this project. Although we have not been as "hands on" as I would've hoped, I can honestly say that I've still enjoyed living in the Mayfield and working with an amazing group of people. Over  the fall semester, I feel as if we've learned a lot about the People First language and how to apply it to our daily lives. I find myself thinking before I use certain adjectives to describe people. Self-education is a must in our project because we can't possibly be expected to educate others without first FULLY educating ourselves. Additionally, for those who were already rather familiar with People First and children with disabilities/special education realm, I feel as if last semester may have given them a refresher course. Overall, I think our project has made great strides and we will continue to do so this semester in the creation of our video on the People First language. I'm super excited to work with the Harris Hilman School and dive deep into the next part of our project.

Thoughts on last semester

Over the course of last semester, I have been surprised by how much my mindset has changed about people with disabilities. At the beginning of last semester, I did not agree that people with disabilities should be integrated into regular classrooms. I thought it was unfair that so much time and money was poured into a select number of students when it should be used to benefit the greatest number of students possible. I thought all special education teachers believed the opposite of what I believed. Our advisor, Dr. Da Fonte has shown me that not all special education teachers push for complete immersion. Some people with disabilities benefit from an integrated classroom and their presence does not inhibit the learning of the other students. Dr. Da Fonte said that the government misunderstands what special education instructors say about students with disabilities: some students should not be in an integrated classroom. Their disability not only hinders the learning of other students, but often, being with other students is unhealthy for the student with a disability. Before pushing for unquestioned, complete integration, the government should consider the inappropriateness of integration for some students. Our Mayfield spent the Fall semester learning about the People First Language. What we have learned has given me a fuller understanding of how people with disabilities should be educated, integrated, and most importantly, seen as people first.

Harris-Hillman visit

The girls and Dr. Dafonte warned me that the trip to the Harris-Hillman school may be shocking and possibly very saddening. However, during my visit I had the opposite reaction. Seeing the personnel work with the students there warmed my heart and made me truly appreciate their talents. It was amazing to experience first-hand that there are public schools and people out there with a true passion to work with people with disabilities; we have come a long way since Willowbrook.  I feel as though the experience emphasized to me how crucial it is to provide everyone in life with a safe and productive learning environment. Though initially nervous about the trip to the school, I'm now excited to return and volunteer.