Video/readings Journal

I don't know that I can elaborate much on what my teammates have said, I agree with all of them on just about each point!

Concerning the videos from the institution in Serbia, it made me incredibly sad to watch how the people were treated, and the surroundings they were living their life in. It almost seemed as if the people in charge--or those responsible-- thought that each person in the institution was "broken". They couldn't see that there was a perfect spirit inside each of those bodies, and there was nothing wrong with it. The reporter touched on that a bit, when she mentioned one of the patients responding to her when she touched and spoke to him. As I watched the video I felt a bit helpless; I wanted to help those patients, but had no idea where to start. After reading my teammates posts, I realized I can help people with disabilities when they come through my classroom. I can be an advocate for them and their needs. I can do everything possible to make sure the other students treat them with respect and are educated about how to act around a person with disabilities.

I also liked studying the court cases about different children and their disabilities, and what they were fighting for. We mentioned at my table how important these rights must have been to the parents of the children, because the time it takes to push a case through court and get a decision usually isn't fast. Their children would likely not benefit from the ruling, but the children in the following years would, and I liked that the parents were passionate about rights for ALL children that they would put in that time and effort!