Hannah
has been more involved in her children’s lives and has been taking the
antidepressant medicine for about a year now. Hannah has shown positive improvements
and sees a therapist once every two weeks. Ali had a bad accident while
firefighting. Falling debris severely injured his leg and put him out of
work for 2 months while it healed. During Ali’s recovery time, he was not able
to work. The Shakur’s were living solely from disability services.
The disability added up to approximately $300 a week for the two months
that he was on disability. However, the payments ended up taking about 30
days to kick in so for a month, money was extremely tight for the family.
Hannah
and Ali have established that Friday nights are for them so that they can have
alone time or time to recuperate from the children and stresses. Lately,
because of Ali’s injury and lack of money, they have been spending the time going
up and down the street with Hannah pushing Ali’s wheelchair. The doctor’s
and therapist agreed that it would be incredibly important for recuperation
time for the parents. On these nights Ali’s parents come over and watch
the children.
Aaron
is now three years old and still has a therapist coming to the house for
thirty-five hours a week, adding an extra hour of therapy Monday-Friday.
Unfortunately, early intervention services end when at the child’s third
birthday, so a new strategy for Aaron has been in the making. The
Shakur’s are setting higher goals for Aaron developmentally. Aaron now
makes requests for “drink” or “food;” Aaron uses gestures to communicate to his
parents, and Aaron uses pictures the family has added to the household to
assist him in learning. Sadly, most of the time Aaron does not talk.
Considering Aaron’s IQ is 45, his potential with speech will never be
great. The therapist is worried since he has now shows signs of
regression with his speech and lack of desire to use verbal language. He
does run around and engage in the interactive creative play that is encouraged
by the family, which is a great sign that he has responded to the early
intervention. The next step for Aaron is preparing him for
preschool/school type settings. The Shakur’s reorganized the house to
learn what objects are with fun little activities. They want to end up
getting him to the point where he is able to follow adult directions, learn to
ask for things appropriately/mannerly, and complete activities under adult
supervision (and eventually without adult supervision). Aaron is showing
some other normal signs of autism-sleeplessness. Aaron is wide awake
every morning around 2am, causing Hannah to have to be up with him as well.
She longs for the day where he can go to school a couple of hours a day
with the other children so that she can have a break.
Amir
has been showing signs of rebellion at school and the Shakur’s are trying to
deal with him. They have began to give 7 year old Amir some chores, piano
lessons, and Arabic lessons. Kayla has started ballet, violin, and Arabic
as well. Ever since the two older siblings have gotten more structure,
they have not acted out or felt left out because of all the extra attention
Aaron receives.
The
Shakur’s had tried to speak Arabic constantly at the house, but it has not been
going over well with toddler Aaron. Their heritage is important to them,
but they are seeking other alternatives (that’s why Amir and Kayla are taking
Arabic now). According to Lifespan Perspectives on the Family and
Disability, “special care needs to be taken to ensure meaningful participation
of culturally and linguistically diverse families in the early intervention
program” (Berry, 2009). Kayla and Amir are doing well with two
languages; however, Aaron’s speech development is slow due to trying to
distinguish the two languages at home because they are so different. Ali
and Hannah are trying to expose him slower to Arabic and were advised by the
therapist to not overwhelm the child but to also decide if they want to bring
in an Arabic therapist.
It is
clear that Ali and Hannah have always wanted the best for their children, but
because of their lower middle socioeconomic status, they do not have the means
to have the best for them. The therapist is also recommending family
bonding activities now that Ali is healed, and Aaron is getting close to five.
1. Would Ali and Hannah have enough
money to put Aaron in private school or would he be better suited for public
school? What would be the cost if
private school was the best option or what other options do they have for
Aaron?
2. The Shakurs want to raise
awareness in the community about Autism.
In a big city such as Chicago, kinds of organizations exist which might
provide an outlet for the family’s desire? Are there typically parent advocacy
groups in places like Chicago, Richmond, Fairfax/Washington, or
Norfolk/Virginia Beach?
3.
What kind of community supports would be an option for the Shakur’s with
three children and one with greater needs?
Decision Point:
The older siblings are at a point to
where they know their little brother is very different from other children. How do Amir, Kayla, Ali, and Hannah handling
the bullying and taunting (at school and in the neighborhood) regarding their
little brother Aaron?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Would Ali and Hannah have enough money to put Aaron in private school or would he be better suited for public school? What would be the cost if private school was the best option or what other options do they have for Aaron?
ReplyDeleteConsidering that Ali and Hannah only have a yearly income of $30,000, money would be extremely tight if they enrolled Aaron in private school. Private schools in Chicago range from $15,000-$20,000. This would cut the families paycheck in half. Seeing that the family is already struggling to get by with the money that they currently have, it would not be wise to enroll him in private school. Although a public school may not have all the specialized facilities that would be beneficial compared to a private school, they have many resources that may be beneficial for Aaron. Every special needs child has the right to a free and appropriate education. The individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which was first enacted in 1975 and most recently revised in 2004, mandates that each state provide all eligible children with a public education that meets their individual needs. Aaron would be evaluated and given an Individualized Education Plan that focuses on his needs and goals for specific benchmarks. This individualized attention will be very beneficial in helping Aaron succeed. Under IDEA as parents, Hannah and Ali are entitled to be treated as an equal partner with the school district in deciding on the education plan for Aaron and his or her individual needs. This enables them to be a powerful advocate for Aaron. It also means that they must be an informed, active participant in planning and monitoring your child's unique program and legal rights. Since Ali and Hannah are very dedicated to choosing what is best for Aaron, this would really allow them to have a say in his education. Also, the school could incorporate the same ABA behavior plan that Aaron uses at home in order to be reinforcing the same behaviors in using the same system in regards to his behaviors to allow consistency for Aaron. If Aaron’s parents wanted additional resources, they could recommend that he see a speech therapist during the day to assist with his language. That way he would have one-on-one attention that specifically targets his delay of speech (Autism Speaks 2014).
2. The Shakur’s want to raise awareness in the community about Autism. In a big city such as Chicago, kinds of organizations exist which might provide an outlet for the family’s desire? Are there typically parent advocacy groups in places like Chicago, Richmond, Fairfax/Washington, or Norfolk/Virginia Beach?
There is a really great organization suited for the Shakur’s family called ChicagoLand Autism Connection. They seek to be there for families when they receive news of having a child with autism, be there when families need a shoulder to lean on, be there when they need someone to listen and to be there when families need advice. The ChicagoLand Autism is “a not-for profit organization whose mission is to increase autism awareness and improve the quality of life for children and adults with autism. Since 1997 the CAC has touched hundreds of families by providing tools to "shine the light" on the darkness of autism”. This organization has many events that aim to increase the awareness of autism while also providing activities for families and their children to do together to bond as a whole (CAC, 2011). There is also an organization called Autism Speaks that is located in every state that is very well known that provides many events to advocate autism in the specified area. There are also events such as walks, golf tournaments, and information sessions that aim to bring the community and families together to raise awareness for autism while also having fun as a community. Each city has different events and activities that can be found on the Autism Speaks website (Autism Speaks, 2014)
3. What kind of community supports would be an option for the Shakur’s with three children and one with greater needs?
ReplyDeleteThis answer is going to be similar to the one above. The best resources that are beneficial for the whole family would be found in ChicagoLand Connection and Autism Speaks. There is a specific walk called Walk Now for Autism Speaks is in Chicago and the family could sign up for this event. They could make this fun for the families, making it a challenge for the older kids by telling them they have to skip for the whole thing or add jumps in between etc. This would also be a great time to explain to the whole family that this is an organization that is trying to raise awareness of what autism is and the needs of children with autism. There is also a Parent to Parent Town Hall meeting in Chicago that Hannah and Ali could attend to have their voice heard while also meeting other parents that are in their similar situation (Autism Speaks, 2014). It would be important to focus on the other two children just as much at these events explaining to them that they are also loved and that this is an event to help the whole family, not just their younger brother.
Decision Point:
The older siblings are at a point to where they know their little brother is very different from other children. How do Amir, Kayla, Ali, and Hannah handling the bullying and taunting (at school and in the neighborhood) regarding their little brother Aaron?
Bullying has been a very common concern among our society today, especially among those with disabilities. I think that it is crucial for Ali and Hannah to sit down and discuss with Kayla and Amir why their younger brother is different and what it is that makes him different from the other children. This way, when teased, they may be able to explain to other children that Aaron is a kid too who just has different abilities from them. Bullying tends to happen when peers are different from the others. The best way to end bullying is to prevent it in the first place. However, this is not always the case. Therefore, Ali, Hannah, and Kayla and Amir should learn how to respond to bullying. There are three ways to do so. First, they can stop it on the spot. This means that they intervene right away when they see bullying occurring or to tell an adult nearby if they don’t feel comfortable doing so. Second, when Kayla and Amir talk about bullying, Hannah and Ali should find out the facts of what happened to determine if bullying occurred. They should do this by asking simple questions that allow for an open, comfortable environment for the children to talk about it. Lastly, they should support their child who is being bullied by explaining why the bullying is occurring and ways to cope with it and what strategies are being used to currently end the bullying. The bully will need to know what the problem behavior is in order for it to stop, which should be taught and addressed by the school or a member in the community neighborhood (Bullying, 2014).
References
ChicagoLand Autism Connection, CAC. (2011). Chicagoland Autism Connection Events. Retrieved from http://www.chicagoautism.org/events.html
It's time to listen. (2014). Autism Speaks Inc. Retrieved from http://www.autismspeaks.org
StopBullying.gov. (2014).U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/
Your Child's Rights. (2014). Autism Speaks. Retrieved from http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/your-childs-rights