As a Para-Educator and Fitness Coordinator at a school for children with autism, Dave Geslak (Coach Dave) experienced first-hand the challenges of teaching exercise.
Welcome to Autism Awareness Month. On today ‘s podcast, we speak with Dr. Stephen Shore, an adult with autism.
We ‘ve all been thrown into our new teaching reality…we ‘ve gone virtual. It ‘s new, it ‘s tough, it ‘s exciting. While some of us are just starting our journeys, others have been doing it since all this started.
I ‘m uber excited about today ‘s guest Jessica Minahan. Jessica is a special educator, Behavior Analyst, and author from Boston, Massachusetts. As educators, parents, and professionals, we seem to always wonder why kids do what they do; behavior-wise. Jessica breaks this down for us.
Listen to Kate Balsamo, SENIA Board Chair, as she shares her progressive views on special education in international schools.
Congratulations to Seferina Engen from Taipei American School as this year ‘s recipient of the SENIA Student Award. This award recognizes a student for advocating awareness for differently abled individuals.
At a young age, Seferina was diagnosed with a rare genetic syndrome. As the doctor explained her diagnosis, she listened to him talk about neuroplasticity and her brain. He explained that with the right strategies and a lot of effort, there was nothing she couldn ‘t accomplish. Teachers supported her by teaching strategies to become organized and how to break down any problem into smaller, more manageable pieces. They taught her to have faith in herself and the learning methods that were successful for her.
Through learning more about herself and advocating for her needs she began to realize that she needed to celebrate her differences and wear them with pride. She set out redefining what is “normal.” She realized long ago it is not enough to hope society changes; she needed to bring about the changes herself””or at least try her best to help others in any way she could. She organized more than 100 volunteers to run the Hero Games, a Special Olympics for special needs children in Taiwan. She also became President of Operation Smile, an association which raises money and awareness for kids with cleft palate. Finally, she founded “Make it Shine” in partnership with a local NGO to help special needs kids explore their creativity through art and sports.
Next year she will be attending university in the UK and she will continue to pursue her passion for advocating for children who are different. In her own words: “I reject this whole label ““ “˜disability. ‘ We are not disabled and we are not dumb, we just think differently. Neurodiversity is a gift to the world, not a problem to be overcome.”
K.A. Razhiyah
Congratulations to K.A. Razhiyah from Panji Secondary School in Malaysia as the recipient of this year ‘s SENIA Advocacy Award. This award recognizes professionals whose mission is to advocate and provide opportunities to differently abled students.
K.A. has done just that! As part of the special education branch of her school, she championed the development and training of her students in Teratak Spa. The idea of Teratak Spa is to provide differently abled students with the transition to work skills in providing spa type treatments ““ facials, scrubs, massages ““ as well as developing SPA products to be sold. The students go through challenging coursework to register for their Malaysian Skills Certificate based on Modules of Spa Therapy.
The impact on the students in this program has been life-changing. “Practical, work-based learning alongside professionals and being treated like an adult can transform the motivation and aspiration of people with disabilities who have struggled in school, helping them to achieve more than they ever thought they were capable of,” says K.A.
The Teratak Spa began in the local community with students providing services for teachers, parents and fellow students. Word began to spread about the amazing services offered by the students and soon the invitations began to pore in! They began with providing services at the Mydin Mall, then they were encouraged to open a SPA booth at the Teacher Training College, Tesco, Balai Islam and on a Teacher ‘s Day Celebration for their state.
K.A. has written many articles and presented at numerous conferences about the benefits of providing students with the life skills necessary to become contributing members of society. She has received many awards both nationally and internationally for her continued work on providing students with special needs an opportunity to be employed. To this day, she continues to encourage the spa industry to find a place for her trained students and develop inclusion for all members of society.