I Love Babies!!!

The documentary was amazing. After watching the movie I thought I need to get this movie because there is so much to learn from it. It was fascinating to see these four babies grow up in completely different environments, yet they all still had similar developmental tendencies. I noticed while watching the movie my thoughts and beliefs changing as the movie progressed. At first, I felt horrible for the babies and mothers living and growing up in an African country. I saw the lack of clothes, lack of hygiene and living conditions. Slowly I realized I had these feelings because of the society I've lived in that has shaped my beliefs of other cultures. I remembered that I should not compare cultures because I will be looking through the eyes of my own culture. Out of all four countries, I felt that the babies in Africa were the most well behaved, and loved life. The mothers were caring, loving, affectionate, and the babies were perfectly content.
The children growing up in Mongolia however, were misbehaved. The older brother picked on the baby, and repeatedly hit him. Restraining the baby to the bed and to the bed posts I felt was horrible. Then, I slowly remembered that this is the only thing they know and I stopped comparing.
The babies were adorable, and I found myself wanting to take them home with me. They were hilarious, especially the girl in Japan (I believe) who could not stop crying when she was playing. Overall, I felt appreciation for the things I have in my life and the opportunities we have in the United States. The film was excellent and I will most likely be watching it again.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder face many day to day challenges in both school and in the home. Children with FASD are often diagnosed with having attention deficit disorders, social difficulties, and language impairments. Children have difficulty interpreting social information, including social cues. Their delays in school will be the most challenging. The main job of family members is to be supportive and part of a team member among educators and professionals. Families need to be educated on FASD, specifically the effects and strategies to help the child’s learning delays as well as strategies to cope with their responsibility for their child. It is the SLP’s job, as well as other educators to give support to family members and create open communication with each other.
Families of children with FASD face hard challenges. They may become stressed, frustrated, burned out, and feeling like nothing is working. Having a child with a developmental disability can be life changing. This is why it’s essential for families to be part of support groups where they can communicate ideas and share events with people who are in similar situations. Specifically with FASD, children may be out of control, have sudden mood changes, and may not be able to express themselves. These are only a few behaviors that could potentially happen to children with FASD. There are hundreds of difficulties and delays that could persist with children living with FASD. The main concern for children with FASD is lack of communication. Professionals and educators need to teach parents and family members how to effectively communicate with their child. If the child is unable to communicate, then the child will be miserable and this can negatively impact the entire family. There are websites online that family members can go to for additional resources. There are tips online, written from parents with children of FASD, in terms of establishing rules, advice on toilet training, strategies, how to minimize screaming, and family commitment.
When working with families of children with FASD, you may encounter feelings of guilt and depression. One of the possible causes of FASD is consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. It is very possible that when communicating with the parents, they may blame themselves for the condition of their child. Both educators and professionals need to know how to deal with parents who are emotional and blameful for their child’s disorder. This is when we may need to refer families to a psychologist or a counseling service.
Overall, the most important advice professionals need to stress with families, is the accomplishments and strengths the child has. Parents need to understand that their child has every capability to learn and function in the world. Educators also need to stress that without the help of the family; the child may not improve or succeed as successfully. The family members are the child’s best advocates.

Asian culture: Beliefs, values and education

The article was very informative, particularly the background on Asian culture. The article takes an interesting perspective on family issues with education. Most of my background knowledge on family values in Asian culture is minimal. Therefore, majority of the information I received from the article was new and somewhat surprising. For example, adopting children is unpopular in Asian culture because they rely heavily on blood ties. Attaching shame to women who are pregnant and unmarried I feel is awful. In addition, I did not realize how important education is to children in both China and Korea. It seems as though these parents are obsessed with their children’s education, as it marks family social and economic status. There seems to be too much pressure put on these children to perform well enough to get into the few universities that have strong reputations. Because of the lack of “quality” schools, parents will view their child as failures if they have disabilities, or if they are unable to perform. Likewise with the case of Xin who wanted to participate in music classes, but his parents wanted him to be in math or reading classes; areas that he performed poorly at. In this case, I feel that the parents should be more willing to let their child do what they enjoy, instead of putting their child into classes that they dislike so that their families reputation can improve. This obsession with their child’s education is unnerving and selfish. Also, when the children need IEP’s, the parents are unable to interact with professionals. The special education teacher has the main responsibility of developing IEP’s. If a child’s education is so important to the parents, I would expect them to have more involvement in their child’s education plans. According to the article, parents are passive recipients of their child’s education. This doesn’t make sense, when they rely heavily on their child’s education and future success. More involvement in their child’s education would be beneficial to both the child and to the parents.
The article changed the way I may interact with children in the future from Asian culture. The article provides an informative table on how to work with families from Asian cultures. For example, grandparents hold higher authority than parents. When working with grandparents, the professional should express respect. Additionally, the fathers of children with Asian cultures are uninvolved in their child’s education. Therefore, it is important to help fathers understand their role in education and they should be involved in making decisions. When it comes to the parents’ strong passion and reliance on their child’s education, it is important to express concern for that child if he or she has a disability or a learning difference. These are just a few ways to help gain trust and provide information to parents from Asian cultures.
Overall, the article changed the way I thought about Asian culture in terms of education. Many of their beliefs and values are new to me, and I believe it can be a challenge when faced with children and parents of Asian culture. Professionals and educators need the ability to meet the needs of diverse students and their families, especially when their culture is significantly different from ours. The article was very informative and it opened my eyes to other cultures and education.