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Isaiah is Samuel's older brother. He likes to watch football and play tackle with Samuel. They go to the same school and Isaiah says Samuel's friends there love him. Samuel loves his friends and he has a great time. Isaiah says Samuel's teachers also love him. When Samuel sees Isaiah he will come crash into him with a wheelchair to get a hug. It makes Isaiah feel good because he knows his brother loves him. Isaiah worries a lot about Samuel and sometimes feels like his parents don't care about him when Samuel gets all the attention. He loves his brother.
Samuel Habib is a cheerful, intelligent, funny boy who loves to play with his brother and be with his friends at school. He loves being involved and his parents do everything they can to make sure he is included in school and everyday life. When Samuel was 1 his parents found out he has Cerebral Palsy. In the movie his father explains that his brain has difficulty controlling his muscles.
Cerebral Palsy: a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth.
I can connect this movie to the module about collaboration and community along with assistive technology. Samuel's teachers along with his parents worked well together to make sure he was included in an inclusive classroom. He had a team of teachers working to check his progress and figure out how to overcome obstacles. His parents collaborated to be sure he was in an inclusive environment as they wanted for their son. Teachers and families need to collaborate together to stay on track with what their student/child needs. Samuel has been supplied different assistive technologies to use. Assistive technology is any device or service that helps a student with a disability meet their goals and participate in the general education classroom. When integrated into the classroom, students are given ways to complete their work and meet their goals
in the best way for them to do so.
As a future teacher I want to be able to work in an inclusive setting. This can be a challenge for some teachers but with the right collaboration team and assistive technologies it is possible as I have seen from this film. This movie has inspired me to make every effort I can to work with all teachers needed to work towards goals for specific students who will need them. I know there are so many assistive technologies out there and there are ways to be creative with them. I will make the effort to research assistive technologies that will work for my students and be sure to get them as well.
The challenges of inclusion have forced her to become a better teacher. A team of teachers meet weekly to check in on progress, figure out how to overcome obstacles, and make sure they're working towards the goal of Samuel's IEP (Individualized Education Plan). She feels if children learn to accept differences and challenges in the classroom they are going to accept them in life. Samuel has the most obvious disability in his classroom but he isn't the only one being included. Several others have disabilities and IEP's. She says inclusion is easier in the younger grade levels but when getting up to the higher ones it becomes more difficult. Technology is the teacher's along with Samuel's friend. He has a communication device, laptop with a joystick, and a power assisted wheelchair. The teacher says inclusion is the best way for learning. Not only for the child with a disability but for all children.
Not having inclusion takes away a community.
Emily has schizophrenia. She says it is like she has seven people in her head. In her head there is an internal world of fighting ad friendship. Her mom says she was a mystery early on and she wanted Emily to be with her peers. She was in a public middle school integrated with the general students but there were problems. Her needs are so intense that no one teacher could begin to give her the supports she needed. However, if she had the right supports and an IEP then maybe it would have worked. Emily was isolating herself from others in the classroom and heard voices coming through the ventilation system. She put up walls and didn't want to be a part of others worlds. A doctor warned that being placed in a public school was putting her at great risk so they moved to a private program specializing in illnesses. She began to really learn in this atmosphere. Her mom was worried about her missing peer interaction because this goes against full inclusion. A teacher told her in spite of what is difficult to manage for Emily she always needed to keep her spirit intact. This is exactly what the mom did for her she has always been a guardian angel to her and has never given up on her. Emily graduated from high school and now lives on
her own. She plans to become a teacher. She wants people to
see the clever smart person she is and doesn't want to be
judged.
The movie "Including Samuel" is about a young boy with cerabral palsy. The movie was created by Samuel's father, Dan Habib. He goes through their family's life showing their thoughts and feelings, how they include Samuel, and their struggles. Along with meeting Samuel we also meet four other inividuals with disabilities and learn about them as well. Through this movie we learn about individuals with disabilities and the struggles they have in life along with learning about inclusion.
Nathaniel was different than the children in his preschool room. He was withdrawn, very repetitive in movements, and had minimal speech. His mom found out he had autism. The school district told her to put him in a separate classroom for students with disabilities. This classroom was in the corner of the school and not around other children. In this room he was getting behaviors from other children that he didn't have before. He was then placed into the Haggerty school in Cambridge MA. The principle has been committed to full inclusion for decades. Teachers became better teachers through inclusion. The children in the school are accepted for who and what they are. Inclusion is an easy thing to do poorly and when it's done poorly there are beliefs that it can't work. Nathan's parent's goal for him is for him to shine no matter where he goes and to show his strengths and weaknesses.
Keith is a disabilities rights activist and hip hop artist. He also has cerecral pasly. In the 1970's all kids with disabilities were segragated but he didnt want to be segragted doing the activities that they were doing. Keith wanted to do real school work like math that would be meaningful. In 1981 his family moves to boston and attented an elementary school where he was in regular classes and being supported. He says you cant box people in a room and expect them to have social interaction skills in the world. His family told him to mever let anyone tell him about him and to never let anyone put constarints on him.
Norman Kunc, also having cerebral palsy, was speaking at a high school about disabilities. He spoke about turning down a cure and people wonder, why would you turn down a cure? He says he is a person who is a product of history and a person with a disability. He would have to start his identity over again if he were cured. He asked what do you really want for your kids?
Samuel's father listened to this speech and answered this question to himself saying he wanted to build a sense of belonging in schools and communities. He wanted Samuel to be happy but realized his son already is.
Alana is a nice and funny girl but says people don't understand this. Her mom was told she would never walk or talk and would be institutionalized and she was a freak of nature. Alana goes to Pembroke Academy, a public high school in NH. They include students with the most significant disabilities in regular classroom studying the regular material. The school has full inclusion but is still a work in progress. Her teacher didn't have training on a student like Alana. She would come in and scream in the classroom. The teacher wants to know how she can reach all the students in her class. She says the definition of inclusive education has changed, it's not how can I fit these students in my class but it's how can I design a curriculum, instruction, technology, and the whole classroom climate that works for an increasing diverse population of students. A teacher says all kids with the right support, right technology, and the right teaching can learn the general education curriculum. Alana wants people to be her friend and she says if people aren't trying to be her friend
then there is no reason to call people names.