Richard Lavoie Continued October 5, 2010

So today in class we finished the movie reviewing Richard Lavoie and I took quite a few points from him when talking about family and how disabilities have a tremendous impact on the family. It reminded me of a TV show that I watch regularly and it is called "Parenthood". The dymamic's of this family are clear and what Richard talked about today had a direct relation to the TV show. Below is a link for a clip on Youtube for this TV show and the importance of all areas of the family being involved with a child that may have autism. This boy has severe autism in the show and it is about Max getting accepted into a special program for children with learning disabilities. The parents have their disagreements and tough times but always seem to work out issues and communicate about what is most important for Max. Some episodes do indeed have the ripple effect occur from family member to family member but it shows different strategies this family uses to help get through the issues that are present. So far in the last season it has not talked about his schooling or what happens at school but there is a lady who is his mentor or helper with social relationships.

Richard also talked about how there are social obligations and social rejection and Max goes through these stages as well. The show portrays different situations and how the parents have troubles with maintaining a relationship with their son. The father feels as though there is not a father-son relationship present and gets angry with the mentor with how there is no change or positive progressions. It is important for teachers to understand that there are also challenges at home that need to be touched on. This must be important in the IPP process so we understand that parents are truly the ones who should be or are the experts on their children's special needs. Just as teachers go through levels of understanding, parents must also go through these levels of understanding so they take it seriously not personally.

Clip of Parenthood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1waWotx14I&NR=1&feature=fvwp

He also brought forth the questions:
How do you build self-concept and self-esteem in children that have special needs in your classroom? What about a regular classroom?

I would like to be able to answer these questions before leaving this class and be able to implement some strategies we have already discussed!