SEN :/

Hi,

RANT TIMEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you might know I really don't like the term SEN(aka special educational needs). Personally I feel that in the society we are taught not to label people as one thing or another,so why is it in schools perfectly acceptable to label children with physical or mental disabilities? 

Now I know that the term SEN mostly used between teachers so they can give the right support etc, but I my opinion it makes me more self conscious about how I act in school,like for example- when on earth do you hear about a SEN kid questioning what the teacher just said? Ok,that time in science was different, but anyway its not very often, and I Think I Know why it is because people think that just because you are disabled it means you are introverted and to be honest a little bit thick and psychology proves that if a lot of people around  you think something, you are going start believing it too, so in theory  if people who work around disable people and assume that they are introverted then most likely the disabled person is going to believe that they are. so what im trying to say is the SEN term is holding disable children back. 

Is this really ok? comment what you think down in the comments bar, I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Byeeeeeeeeeeee        

Cultivating mad cow

Hi,
My Mum has written a review on new author Kathryn A Littlewood's book about having bipolar and experiencing mental health distress (illness).

(Please note: This book is for Adults because of how the subject area and topic is described, but is comical none the less!)

Review by Ali Hayward: 

'I'd like to share something very special with you all. Yesterday, Wednesday 1st July 2015, was the launch of a new book from a new Sheffield author, Kathryn Littlewood. 'Cultivating Mad cow' is a personal narrative of a woman going through the trauma and confusion of a psychotic episode. Author, Kathryn Littlewood, recounts life from eleven years ago when she became very ill. With each turn of the page the reader gains a unique insight in to the depths of desperation, confusion and loss, mixed with the intensity of love, laughter and positive energy, only someone experiencing a Bipolar psychotic episode understands.

This book is as important to professionals, academics, and those in training for example, Counsellors and Therapists, Social Work, Medicine, Nursing, just as much as those who have an interest in life, caring, society and mental distress.

Whilst there are many books and journal articles on Bipolar, mental distress, trauma and/or psychosis, there are few written with the dedication and insight Kathryn shows. This important narrative, written in a style that is accessible to all, opens the door on a subject and experience that is ordinarily private or disregarded - giving the reader the privilege of understanding rarely available.'

Available to buy from Troubador:

http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=3237

Kathryn's links:

Twitter: @FlippinMentBooks 

Website: www.flippinmentalbooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CultivatingMadCow 

I hope you enjoy this book

Byeeeeeeee 

(not so) Happy Fathers Day

Hi.

So this post is about Fathers Day, it's late I Know,to be honest this Day is quite hard to talk about for me so if this post is short that's why. My Dad was called Alan Wood and liked profiteroles, I have inherited that trait for sure, anyway I don't have any memories really of him (he died in 2006,I was 3 before you judge about what a bad dad he must of been to not have given his daughter any precious memories of them together, I have had them but I can't remember them !!!!!) so the word 'Dad' hasn't really got any emotions, apart from the way I miss him,to associate with him. So FD (Father's day) is very depressing,all the stands with cards saying "#1 dad" on ect, I feel a sadness that I won't be able to buy him one. Luckily my good old Grandpa is still around so I still get to celebrate 
with him. YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!  

If you read this post text your dad/Grandpa/Brother and say I love you because one day they won't be here and it's scary to think that.


Byeeeeee 

My Dad R.I.P

sooooooooo sorry! :'(

Hi,

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while.(bad blogger!) 
Let's blame it on my teachers, they are the ones who give me loads h homework. If any teacher of mine reads this I love doing work but please I have pots to write, just kidding it's just a casual blog so give me as much homework as you like. Anyway the plan is to binge write a lot of posts Try and post on Saturday.  

Hope you think this is ok 

Byeeeeeeee

London town!

Hi,

This post is going to be about when I went to London with a group called IBK,which is a Sheffield-based group which provides young people with disabilities with groups and a support network of people who know that having or caring for someone with a disability is like.
Rant time! Ok then, over all the trip was great but there was one incident that,for me,soured the trip a little.So we were walking to the Natural History Museum and we were walking past a few stalls selling stuff on the way there. One boy in the group shall we call him 'Gary'? (I'm great at thinking of names as you can see!) Well, 'Gary' has some sort of autism and is sight impaired as well I think because he carries a white stick, I'm not sure though don't quote me,anyway His exact Disability isn't that important to this story. So where was I, the group was walking by the little stall things, with 'Gary' leading the pack with his carer next to him- we had to turn around because we missed a crossing or something, as we turn around 'Gary' fell into a stall and knocked the scale bowl on the floor by accident. The guy running the stall went absolutely ballistic! The guy on the stall was effing and blinding at poor 'Gary's' Carer and saying " THIS BOWL COST £500" and "YOU BETTER KEEP AN EYE ON HIM!" ect. I think 'Gary' was very distressed after this happened. The stall guy I think was very immature because that 'Gary' had Autism and that fact that someone with that  condition could lash out or something. It angers me that people don't even have a basic understanding about disability, especially store/shop/market sellers. That said, this is a small percentage of people.

Rant over 

bye 
               

Friendships VS Disability

Hi,

So this post is going to be about how some people, especially Children,with disabilities find it extremely hard to make friends. I'm so lucky at my secondary school I made friends very quickly and I know that many SEN kids aren't so lucky. When I young, My school used to have meetings about Me with my Mum. My Teachers always said that i had lots of friends blah blah blah, but my Mum didn't believe them so She decided to do a bit of investigating herself (see Mum is quite sneaky like that, I think she'd be a great spy LOL just picture it.). Anyway,what she did was she parked in her car near my school,but not where I could see, and she saw that I was playing with a hoop on my own. This is probably because my class didn't understand disability like they do now but it took me a very long time to make friends and I'm So glad I did. For me, please if you see a Disabled person young or old,go and talk too them, they probably have some good stories too!

That's it 
Bye            

My disability

 Ok, this is weird but I'm going to talk about my disability and how it affects me so this is it then:

I have cerebral palsy (cp), I was born with it but it wasn’t diagnosed with this when I was 10 months old (I think, I'm not sure!) but when I was 8 months old my mum saw my right arm get stuck in one of my toys, so she ask my doctor and he examined me and they found out I had cp. my sort of cp is called hemiplegia, which affects my right side. 

So, what is cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a disorder which affects the part of the brain that controls the nerve messages to muscles. Normally, the brain sends messages to the muscles to do something and they do it. But in my case, the messages get scrambled so my right arm goes into spasm (goes shaky) which can sometimes be scary for people who don't understand cerebral palsy, but I have some ways of control by folding my arm up. Because cerebral palsy affects the brain it can also make these things difficult:
Hearing
Speech
Eating
Walking
Talking

What causes cerebral palsy?
Well, Doctors don't know exactly want causes cerebral palsy; they do know that it's the result of brain damage- either the damage is caused while in the womb ( which is what happened to me) or a year or two after birth.
Babies are more likely to get cerebral palsy if they are born early or underweight when born.
Also have lack of oxygen when born have a higher risk of getting cerebral palsy. But I am no doctor so if you are worried ask your gp.
Ok I want to make one thing clear, cerebral palsy IS NOT contagious!!!!

Like all children, children with cp go through puberty. These changes like rapid growth cause teens with cp wobbly-ness, in my experience this can be very embarrassing in font of friends without any disabilities.

As a pre-teen myself, I am in and out of school going to hospital appointments seeing what seems like hundreds of professionals , telling me to do things to help me - this can be daunting sometimes!

Kids with cerebral palsy have social lives too. Like any teen I like too:

Do after school activities

Listen to music

Hang out with mates

Read

Going shopping

I'm naming just a few of the things I like to do but other children will like different things

Helping someone with cerebral palsy

Ok how to help, just treat the person like anyone else - I would like to point out DONT be patronising we aren't dumb!  Children with cp have the average IQ as anyone else and in some cases higher than average IQ so we aren't dumb. Also don't make a big deal with helping out with things, most teens with cp don't want to stick out of their friends. Would you?

Don't be afraid to ask them about cerebral palsy. Most children don't mind and are sometimes better at explaining cp then doctors!

Now I have got the factual bits out of the way, I want to express my thoughts and views on cerebral palsy. To start with some truths about my disability:

It affects 1 in 400 children in the UK

1 in 3 children with cp can’t walk

People with cerebral palsy use up 3-5 times the amount of energy to get around (that’s why I use a wheelchair)

Cerebral palsy is brain damage to the part which controls the muscles

When I explain cerebral palsy to my friends I say ‘basically cp is like when your muscles speak Spanish and your brain speaks English, the messages that get carried get muddled up so the muscle don’t know what to do!’ This is a very basic explanation. Doctors can give a more detailed version but I’m no medical student!   

Ok, I disagree with the term ‘special needs’ because we are all special in different ways, aren’t we? So why categorize ‘special needs’ to disabled people?  Society says don’t label people or put them in boxes, which is very true, but then it’s schools and places that label disabled children as special needs children, just because they need a little more support.

If you ask me ‘what’s the worst thing about being disabled? I would say not the revolving door of the hospital which somehow I’m always going through, or the stupid wheelchair that makes me stick out of my friends.  I would say discrimination because even if it’s a stare or even a laugh, it hurts!  I may look like a different sort of person but I have feelings! Would you like it? No, I don’t think so!

My views on this topic are purely my own I am not representing all disabled people. I’m sorry if I have offended anyone by doing this but this is my views on disability, like I said I’m no doctor! So if you are worried about anything talk to your doctor or GP.  I only know about my sort of cerebral palsy – and at best just a few facts it.  So I’m no expert. I’m just a child with CP wanting to explain what I know about my disability.  Thank you for reading.

Some people Just.......

Hi,

I'm very annoyed. So there is this boy lets call him Ron, So Ron has Autism and he can be quite aggressive. What's annoying me is Ron's peers and his school. Instead of teaching Ron properly, in a classroom with his class, he is kept in a small room with a teaching assistant all day playing games. I don't know if this is because the school don't fully understand how to teach children with autism or if it's in case of Ron lashing out on anyone but, I believe that is unsuitable for a child of his needs. Ron lives near a pub and there is a field behind his house.On a nice hot day the Kids all go and play on said field whistled their parents have a drink at the pub. Now Ron doesn't have the people skills that a non-autistic child has, the other Kids take the Micky out of him. they call him a "Retard" and throw sticks for him to collect, like a dog. That's whats so annoying, the fact that its straight up discrimination and you can't do much to solve it.

I'm so glad I got this off my chest

Bye                   

Welcome

Hi,

Welcome to my blog, my post are mostly going to be disability based but I might post a few life blogs as well. (if your lucky!) Anyway I thought it would be nice for you guys to get to know me so here are 10 facts about me:

1. I have Cerebral palsy 
2. My favorite subject is science at school 
3. I have 2 cats,2 tortoises and 3 fish
4. My friends call me 'Jonah Rufty bear' (no joke)
5. Sadly, my Dad passed away when I was three
6.  My favorite singer is Lucy Spraggan
7. I play the piano 
8. My Mum is in a wheelchair
9. I have a older brother 
10. I can't think of another fact about me

So that's it 

bye