At the ripe age of eight I was left alone without a dad, at the ripe age of eight I got counseling at my public school, at the ripe age of eight I was left with an alcoholic mother and an autistic brother. Life with you was like the world stop spinning, me and Dawson, my brother, lived with you full-time and never saw our mom except when you made us, until you got sick. Some say “You’re a strong girl for raising your brother and dealing with your mother,” but to think without you I wouldn’t be strong. Your stage four, be on your own in two months, brain cancer made me who I am. I am not the naïve little girl you use to know, you leaving me made me realize I want a better life for myself than the one I was in. As soon as you left, I became the mother figure Dawson never had and that he so …show more content…
Dawson is the light of my life, he is my best friend. Without you I wouldn’t be as close to my brother as we are. Remembering you and thinking of him reminded me to work hard and get out of the hole that became my life. As we grew I had to do two homework assignments, two projects, pretty much two of everything because Dawson was unable to do homework by himself. That year I got held back because my reading levels were too low, I couldn’t ever read at a 2nd grade level in the 3rd grade. But after I failed a grade the social services started asking questions, and me and Dawson were taken away from our mother. Our new home was my loving grandparents’ house. Without you I would have never gotten away from her soul draining attitude. I was happy for a little awhile, I could finally be a child, I went to my first birthday party at 12 and I felt so out of place because I was years beyond my peers. Then one day I met a girl in counseling at my school, she had the same struggles and was mature like me when I was only 12. Her name is Sierra, we talked for hours about each other’s life and
When you got sick and the doctors told me I should hold you back you taught me it was more important to feel and grow like any other child than to have me hide you under my wing. It was more important to live. And that you did. You danced so beautifully, for years. And then your greatest joy, cheerleading. You made me so proud. You have always been my greatest pride and joy. I'm not sure how I can live this life without you. Remember when you would cry and tell me you were so afraid because you didn't want me to die before you. And I would tell you I wasn't going to die. And remember me saying you couldn't die before me, so we agreed, we had to go at the same time because neither of us could live without the other.
Information Communication Technology (ICT) is essential in classrooms for producing significant improvements in children’s reading ability (identification of letters, words, and sentences) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Research conducted by Hagiwara & Smith Myles (1999) their conclusion was that visual cues used to explain social stories help children to understand the meaning behind the text. Howley and Arnold (2005) reflect the way in which a Social Story presented may be key to the success of the intervention used in improving literacy in children with Autism. For younger children, having the freedom to explore and reflect on the effectiveness of their actions through a combination of sensory and cognitive processing, gives rise to developmentally appropriate uses of ICT. The use of technology to support the Social Story approach may have several benefits including the use of visual information to improve meaning as many children with autism are visual learners Grandin, Dawe (2006). This essay will discuss the use of modern multimedia programs to teach language, emotion recognition, or social skills to individuals with ASD. Draws on (Williams, Wright, Callaghan, & Coughlan, 2002) Study that suggests that computerized instructional programs may be highly motivating and effective for enhancing receptive vocabulary acquisition for children with ASD. Furthermore, consider the use of ICT can cause stress and isolation with ASD children, and when used as an integrating component based on individual requirements social stories and ICT can improve literacy in children with ASD. Language may be delayed or impaired in individuals with ASD (APA, 2000). Many interventions for this population focus on the development of v...
I sat in my bed and questioned what purpose I held not only in my household, but also in the world around me. Being young and not understanding what you were put on the Earth to do is hard, and I really feel for my 8 year old self. At 8 you should be enjoying life without stress. An 8 year olds’ biggest worry should be whether they are going to play at the neighbor’s house or stay in and watch their favorite movie. Life didn’t come as easy to me, but this is also not to say that I was the only 8 year old struggling in the world. I knew that I shouldn’t have been feeling the way that I was, but at the same time I also didn’t know how to fix
She recalls her father picking her up from her first varsity cheer game. His eyes were filled with tears and misery. The whole car ride to her house was filled with silence and despair. Walking in her house, it appeared everyone was trying to act as if everything was okay but, she knew something was wrong. Everyone was staring at her with sorrow and her heart began to beat rapidly. She began to sit down at the kitchen table and her mother said, "We need
In the morning my father was there to drive us to school. I didn’t ask about the argument that I had heard the night before. I just figured somethings were better left alone. I could tell by my father’s face that he was upset. In all my fourteen years I had never seen him this upset accept for the night that my grandfather died.
Picture this, it was about twelve o’clock in the afternoon when my brother and I went outside to play. We decided it would be cool to build a cool tree house in our front yard. So, we went to work right away. We grabbed a 2 by 4 with me on one side and him on the other, carrying it above our heads to the fort to be. Tyler happened to let his side down and me, not being strong enough at all, let the piece of wood slip out of my hands and it landed dead center on my head. My mom came running outside to my crying as I passed out. Even though Tyler didn’t support me in this situation, he does now. With him supporting me, being the strongest person I know, and him always being there for me has made me who I am today. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be.
I know that I start things between us a lot of the time, but even you know why. You know that it took a lot for me to trust you, but now I do. I am so happy that you are still here with me, being patient, and still by my side. So many people say that I will not make it far in life, but they do not understand me, let alone know me. So many of those people do not know how hard you push me to make something of myself. In the past, I honestly believed that I would not make it anywhere, but now I know that as long as I am happy and still alive, with you by my side I am doing great and can achieve anything.
There were many days that passed when I felt as though I wasn’t going to make it and I felt as though I didn’t deserve to be alive, but who is really ready to take care of a child anyhow? I wasn’t. Then one day I woke up and realized that my life would go on, and that I just had to do the best I could and learn from my mistakes.
As we were packing boxes for our new cottage our family seemed more distant than ever, it was like everyone had lost the sunshine in their life. We had just left our home and had moved into our small old cottage, but it was better than nothing, I couldn’t hear the echoes of Dad any more this made me feel like a part of me was lost and would never return.
In middle school I was diagnosed with a disability with the way I expressed myself through writing. Ever since, I have gained multiple values and learned several lessons about self confidence. I was taught to push past my limits, in order to be successful in reaching my goals along with my dreams. Today I am a senior in high school who was once thought to struggle, but was able to succeed beyond expectations. To some, a disability may seem like a setback from achieving goals, but to me I used it as a challenge for myself. I accepted myself for who I was and looked at my disability as a unique trait of mine. I was able to provide a message to others that anything you set your mind to is possible with dedication and hard work. It might take
I didn't know at the time that I first became blind that my life was going to be difficult and hard to understand things like everyone else. However when i became old enough to walk i could tell i was different that other kids even though i couldn't see or hear anything. I would get so frustrated knowing that i couldn't see what was in front of me. I didn't think i was very smart or would amount to anything but my mom knew and had hope in me.
I believe that this internship opportunity will provide me with insight on whether or not I will specialize in working with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in graduate school and in my future career. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a peer mentor at Rockhill Elementary and I appreciate that each week I spend with these children presents a new challenge. As I mentioned earlier, each child at Rockhill is on a different level on the spectrum and is stimulated in a different way. I find it to be an exciting challenge to learn how to engage each student in a way that suits them the best. I have developed a special place in my heart for these smiling children and look forward to spending time with them each Friday. I am
As I walk around the yard I remember all the fun and hardship I had at his house. All the times I use to climb the tree, to the times fall out of them, all of this was the thing I will miss no matter what. As I circled back around to the front I got into the car where the rest of my family was waiting for me, I shut the car door, my dad put the car in drive and we pulled away from my favorite house. I took one last look the grey and blue house that I have lived in. As what my dad said “it’s for the best, we are leaving to live a better
I laid on my side facing the kindle, holding my best friend since birth –my stuffed golden retriever Princess Rose- while slow quiet tears fell with the words that filled my silent room. The lyrics silenced all of the discouraging words and thoughts that floated in my head, and throughout my room. In their place were lyrics that shook my core. The dam inside of me was beginning to burst but the water flow was a slow trickle, and as the song continued to play the tears ran faster. The song that saved me was “Try” by Colbie Caillat, that night it played on repeat like a broken record. My mom came in my room during the fifth or sixth repeat and saw me crying, I probably scared her that night, I ever saw her eyes because I was too busy crying. She had many question, none of which I could answer at that point, all I could say was “listen to the song”. Without further questions, a mother’s instincts came out as she laid down next to me and soothed me with her presence as she stroked my soft brown hair, in that moment I was a little girl again, safe and sound in my mother’s arms. In the security of my mother’s arms, I slowly drifted to sleep with the music still
It was on a Friday morning at 4:30 A.M. that happiness and joy filled the hearts of both my parents. I was born on November 29, 1996 at Broward General Hospital in Fort Lauderdale Florida. My parents had five children, and among the five children that they had, I was the third (or middle) child from them. It started off as two boys, then I came along as the first girl, after it was another boy, then finally, another baby girl; so total was three boys and two girls. The way that my parents lived and treated each other was the same as if any other married couple that loved each other so much. They’ve gone through a lot to get to where they are now today, but they made it and along the way had us five children. They have been really strong with each other which made them only have the five of us and no other step children. My mom is a great cook and enjoy cooking for us; this is probably where my passion for culinary comes from. My dad is an amazing tailor, he is very good at making our clothes, and my passion for fashion probably came from him. My dad is also a teacher, one of the best math teacher I know, he is passionate about his job and his family is the center of his universe. I cannot finish this chapter without mentioning my grandmother, I was lucky enough to have ever met. I had spent part of my life time with her, like the rest of the family she is sweet, my grandmother Abelus,