school and stuff
I think I wrote last about before Christmas. I was at my mother's house for a month, and that made all of my issues wose. There was no where I coul go by myself, and I hate being stuck somewhere.
We did Christmas at my aunt's house. It was weird because it is the first Christmas since my grandmother died, and we always did Christmas at her house. We had chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and rice crispy treats. We later had chips and cookies. My family drives me crazy sometimes. They sent my *16* year old cousin to watch me pour hot water! HOnestly! I'm not a child, and I can make hot chocolate for myself without someone watching myback! They tried the same thing when I was serving myself food, and I had to keep insisting I could do it myself.
I worked some over break. One of the ladies haaschronic health problems in addition to her blindness. I felt bad because she cried after she didn't understand tab and shift tab. I think she is feeling lonely since is by herself and has family issues. Another person I worked with is a 13-year-old boy who has improved over the past two years. He used to sleep in class and barely say a few words. Now he does book reports by himself and walks to class by himself. He has so much further to go, but it's little steps in the right direction.
I started working with a new man last week. It took 1.5 hours to get to his house because of a snow storm and heavy traffic. He went blind from a turkey hunting accident in June, so everything is hard for him right now. We worked on the Internet, using headings and links to navigate the page, back and forward buttons, and google searching. His family was nice and gave me some pizza after we were finished.
I've also started to work with the 10-year-old girl again. I go to her house 3 times per week for two hours, and we work on her homework or read a book or play Braille games. We worked on long division; I know how to do it, but the method they use is different fromhow I learned. Math isn't my strong point, and I am trying to figure out how to help her understand. She also wrote 3 pages of her book report about The Teddy Bear Tree. We've read two magic Tree House books; her reading speed is much faster, and that makes me happy. She was very excited to show me her new Braille books that she got for Christmas, and we will be reading a couple chapters from one of those next time. The thing I am still having trouble with is how to refocus a child when he/she is off task. She *refused* to do her homework or read r put paper in the Braille writer for a half hour. She screamed and threw a fit; her mother, grandmother, and grandfather all yelled at her, but it didn't help.
I'm back for my last semester at Bloomsburg University. It was ridiculous scheduling classes this semester. I ended up with an Intro to Individuals with Exceptionalities class, which is an intro to special ed, its laws, ETC. I'm glad for this class; I can always pay attention, even though it is an 8 am. I also have a language and society class. We study how people talk, local dialects, gender and language, ETC. I do not like this prof. Yesteerday, he said, "ywhat do you have to say? You must hear better since you can't see and pick up on expressions more." I hate being pointed out in class. I notice expression and dialect because it has always interested me, not because I SUPPOSEDLY hear better since I'm blind. I have independent study. I'm researching bloggers with disabilities. I have to find people with disabilities to ask about internet, why do they blog, how has blogging changed them, advantages of blogging, ETC. Finally, I have Deviance. It's how people are different from society. This professor says mentalillness doesn't exist, and people beleive anything they hear just because a doctor says so; he especially thinks this about depression and ADHD. We're also reading Subtle Suicide, An nquiet Mind, Methland, The lives They Left Behind, and A Place on the Corner. Such depressing material.
Dee is not guiding right now because I think she hurt her back after we slid and fell on the ice. She has no pull in harness, and she had this issue this time last year when we slipped on a hill near my apartment. I've been caning to class; I'm so glad I had the BLIND Inc. training, because I wouldn't be confident with my winter cane use without it. Dee is bored though. We go for walks on leash and we play with the kong and stuff. She has a groomer appointment Friday and a vet appointment Monday. We were supposed to go yesterday and today, but we got the snowstorm and my driver can't drive in the snow.
I like my new roommates. They both love dogs, and we have good conversations. Hannah's family gave her like 10 bhaked potatoes, so we have those for a few meals. We are out of groceries; I should be going shopping for stuff friday. I need baking basics: flour, sugar, powdered sugar, oil, ETC. I also want to go to a farmer's market and get my fruits and vegetables. I always prefer to buy organic and local when I can, and I'm glad I found one that is still open in the winter.
I'm tired all the time. I'm taking a vitamin D supplement and a probiotic, and they seem to be helping some. I am *not* behind in school work for the first time in two years. I filled out and am mailing in faccomodations forms for the GRE and Praxis exams. I've sent my application to Louisiana Tech, and I won't know until after my exams whether or not I got in.
We did Christmas at my aunt's house. It was weird because it is the first Christmas since my grandmother died, and we always did Christmas at her house. We had chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and rice crispy treats. We later had chips and cookies. My family drives me crazy sometimes. They sent my *16* year old cousin to watch me pour hot water! HOnestly! I'm not a child, and I can make hot chocolate for myself without someone watching myback! They tried the same thing when I was serving myself food, and I had to keep insisting I could do it myself.
I worked some over break. One of the ladies haaschronic health problems in addition to her blindness. I felt bad because she cried after she didn't understand tab and shift tab. I think she is feeling lonely since is by herself and has family issues. Another person I worked with is a 13-year-old boy who has improved over the past two years. He used to sleep in class and barely say a few words. Now he does book reports by himself and walks to class by himself. He has so much further to go, but it's little steps in the right direction.
I started working with a new man last week. It took 1.5 hours to get to his house because of a snow storm and heavy traffic. He went blind from a turkey hunting accident in June, so everything is hard for him right now. We worked on the Internet, using headings and links to navigate the page, back and forward buttons, and google searching. His family was nice and gave me some pizza after we were finished.
I've also started to work with the 10-year-old girl again. I go to her house 3 times per week for two hours, and we work on her homework or read a book or play Braille games. We worked on long division; I know how to do it, but the method they use is different fromhow I learned. Math isn't my strong point, and I am trying to figure out how to help her understand. She also wrote 3 pages of her book report about The Teddy Bear Tree. We've read two magic Tree House books; her reading speed is much faster, and that makes me happy. She was very excited to show me her new Braille books that she got for Christmas, and we will be reading a couple chapters from one of those next time. The thing I am still having trouble with is how to refocus a child when he/she is off task. She *refused* to do her homework or read r put paper in the Braille writer for a half hour. She screamed and threw a fit; her mother, grandmother, and grandfather all yelled at her, but it didn't help.
I'm back for my last semester at Bloomsburg University. It was ridiculous scheduling classes this semester. I ended up with an Intro to Individuals with Exceptionalities class, which is an intro to special ed, its laws, ETC. I'm glad for this class; I can always pay attention, even though it is an 8 am. I also have a language and society class. We study how people talk, local dialects, gender and language, ETC. I do not like this prof. Yesteerday, he said, "ywhat do you have to say? You must hear better since you can't see and pick up on expressions more." I hate being pointed out in class. I notice expression and dialect because it has always interested me, not because I SUPPOSEDLY hear better since I'm blind. I have independent study. I'm researching bloggers with disabilities. I have to find people with disabilities to ask about internet, why do they blog, how has blogging changed them, advantages of blogging, ETC. Finally, I have Deviance. It's how people are different from society. This professor says mentalillness doesn't exist, and people beleive anything they hear just because a doctor says so; he especially thinks this about depression and ADHD. We're also reading Subtle Suicide, An nquiet Mind, Methland, The lives They Left Behind, and A Place on the Corner. Such depressing material.
Dee is not guiding right now because I think she hurt her back after we slid and fell on the ice. She has no pull in harness, and she had this issue this time last year when we slipped on a hill near my apartment. I've been caning to class; I'm so glad I had the BLIND Inc. training, because I wouldn't be confident with my winter cane use without it. Dee is bored though. We go for walks on leash and we play with the kong and stuff. She has a groomer appointment Friday and a vet appointment Monday. We were supposed to go yesterday and today, but we got the snowstorm and my driver can't drive in the snow.
I like my new roommates. They both love dogs, and we have good conversations. Hannah's family gave her like 10 bhaked potatoes, so we have those for a few meals. We are out of groceries; I should be going shopping for stuff friday. I need baking basics: flour, sugar, powdered sugar, oil, ETC. I also want to go to a farmer's market and get my fruits and vegetables. I always prefer to buy organic and local when I can, and I'm glad I found one that is still open in the winter.
I'm tired all the time. I'm taking a vitamin D supplement and a probiotic, and they seem to be helping some. I am *not* behind in school work for the first time in two years. I filled out and am mailing in faccomodations forms for the GRE and Praxis exams. I've sent my application to Louisiana Tech, and I won't know until after my exams whether or not I got in.