I observed a student with Down syndrome. This student has a low cognitive ability and cannot read or barely add and subtract basic math. This student wears glasses and has a one-to-one paraprofessional. Student A also needs assistance in other areas as well, such as carrying her books and balance. To assist with these needs Student A uses a rolling book bag, leaves class early and always uses a chair with arms to help her stand up and down on her own. This student is a freshman in high school, African American and from a stable home. While she is from a stable home, she does not receive the extra help she needs at home such as working on homework, watching less television and staying as active as she can. This young lady is kind and generous but from what I observed, she may never be able to live on her own and hold down a job, without some serious life skills classes. I was told that this child’s parents do not want to put her into a different school setting, even though it has been recommended, and I think it will be a detriment to this student’s future. Overall, this student has potential as long as she receives all of the extra help she possibly can.

 

            Student B is an autistic student with a very low I.Q. Student B can barely read cite words and needs a lot of help staying focused. This student spends most of her day in special education classes and all of her classwork is differentiated in some way. Student B also has a paraprofessional who follows her around for most of the day but the paraprofessional is not designated as her one-on-one, even though I think a one-on-one should be required. With differentiated work and a paraprofessional at her side, this student still struggles to comprehend the assigned work and daily lessons. Socially, this student has few, to no friends at all and this is because she cannot read social cues and is usually unaware of what is going on around her. This is a Caucasian student from a set of triplets, her sister also has a low I.Q. and they are in the same classes but her learning ability is nowhere near as low as her sister’s, the two young ladies also have a brother who is in all general education classes, so this reiterates the fact to me that even though all children can be different even if they come from the same family.

 

            Student C has Attention Deficit Disorder. This student is an African American male who also has behavioral problems that stem from his ADHD. This student has multiple blurt outs due to his inability to regulate his own self-control and often loses assignments. Along with blurt outs Student C has anger problems and issues with authority; defiance is a constant struggle with this particular student. The emotional struggles this student encounters each day also interfere with his social life. Student C is negative to majority of his peers so he struggles with making meaningful connections to both peers and adults so he has few friends. I am told this student has started a check-in and check-out sheet to help, not only his teachers and social worker but himself in seeing his behavior throughout the day on a piece of paper. Hopefully with the extra help this student will be able to learn self-control behaviors and lead a productive life in the future because he is extremely smart and can be kind and respectful when he wants to.