Amber Dietz

4/10/2015
Service Learning Reflection
Mr. Buckle
230 :The Exceptional Child

For my Service learning I visited a school where my two sons attend school. I visited Mrs.
Cassie Holmquest. I knew her from school when I was in high school and middle school. I think this
helped me by going to a classroom where I knew the teacher I could get the answers to questions that I
might not ask if I'm not fully comfortable with the teacher. The first visit I just watched not fully
comfortable with what they were doing I was just there kinda like a fly on the wall and took it all in.
The classroom I visited was all special needs children, but they have kids from different areas come to
Hailmann. The children in this classroom are in K-3 grades. After third grade they will attend a
different school. Also while I was a fly on the wall I learned that they also have a sign language
students as well there were around 3 students there. Two of the boys in the classroom had a
Tympanometry device to assess the middle ear's response to pressure and the sound(Hallahan 267).
There are a few other types of other services that the school has and offers as well.
In the classroom I was in it was a colorful room. There were paper lanterns hanging on the
ceiling. They were round and different colors and they were also made into owls. Also each of the owls
were different colors they were surrounding by different types of art work in the color of the owls. The
same colors were together. The classroom was a warm environment to be in. The lights seem to be
turned down at many times. I think that it helps the students to have the lights turned down. There is
also a smart board on the wall where there is interaction with the students. They also have a smart
board where the students can sit down and do your work. Then there is also a mobile smart board one
that can be moved around the room. They also have different types of wheelchairs for the room. They
have a rocking chair for story time. They also have mats that sometimes the students may lay down.
There is also a changing area in the back of the room. They also have their own bathroom in the back
of the room. There is also a closet full of different toys and diapers also changes of cloths. The desks
are arranged in threes one on the end and then two facing each other. One desk is raised for a
wheelchair for one of the students. They also have a small kitchen and a fridge in the back of the
classroom. They also have a sensory room with many different types of sensory material in the room
different lights and textures. There is also a sensory type swing on the door of this room if this type of
sensory due at certain times. There are a variation on materials in the classroom to suit the different
students in the classroom.
There are 12 students in the classroom. They also have a teacher, and 3 aids for the classroom.
Two of the students have nursing RN and an LPN with them. The reason they have the nurses with
them is because they both have feeding tubes. The two nurses also ride the bus to school with the kids.
The students in the classroom all have different needs and all very different needs. There are 12
students in the classroom Ricky is autistic he is also non-verbal he knows some sign language. He also
has a picture book with different pictures for him to point out what he might want, but what he might
want doesn't mean he's going to get it. He also have had some different attitudes at some different
points he sometimes yells out of nowhere he also has been known to hit himself in the head if he
doesn't get his way at times, sometimes the light or different sounds can set him off. Students with
autism spectrum disorder's especially those with severe levels of autism, sometimes display highly
inappropriate behaviors, such as biting, hitting, or screening (Hallahan 222). Cody is wheelchair
bound he can sit at a desk if the staff is seeing him not sitting up straight They have put him I a chair
for him to sit up straight, But they have him wheel himself places to the lunchroom early. When they do
work on the board they have him wheel himself up early and he does the work from his chair on the
board. Breaeana she's also in a wheelchair she's non-verbal. She broke her leg last year while her
parents were caring her down the stairs. She can no longer put weight on her legs to be able to walk.
The parents of a child with a disability frequently wrestle with the feeling that they are in some way
responsible for the child's condition (Hallahan 68). Augusta she's very well rounded. She sometimes
can have a smart mouth on her where it has caused her not to be able to play with some of the other
students during their free time. She's very eager to please also very eager to volunteer to do things.
Logan is also autistic. He also has food allergies during snack time he has his snack at his desk just to

be safe. He's very talkative and sometimes that can get him into trouble, but Logan has one of those
faces and smile that just makes you smile. While I was there he wanted many times for me to sit next to
him during the class. Ruthie has a nurse she has a feeding tube where she has liquid put into the tube at
least twice during school. She seems to become attached to different objects and seems to have to have
these things. With her having a feeding tube she can't have some food items with her dietary
limitations. She sometimes gets upset seeing others eating some foods that she can't have she
sometimes has fits if she can't have her way. Cody as well has a feeding tube he doesn't eat solid food
at all. He's had many of his teeth fall out. Many of them fell out due to acid reflux with throwing up at
certain times. Cody is in a wheelchair never get out of his chair. The only sound I heard from him is
when he was having a seizure. He made like laughing sounds while having one. Maria is a non-verbal
small little girl . She needs lots of help with her work during work time. Madison is also very quiet
when she talks almost to the point of non-verbal. She needs direction with her work, but she will do her
work. Brizeyda she has a very high attitude she and Augusta seems they can't seem to play together
without auguring over toys and objects. There is also Thomas he's autistic high autistic he can answer
his answer on the board work and also do shape work with shapes. One of the only things that I noticed
was that he didn't want to sit down at any time. Wesley missed many of my visits he had an appendix
that busted and missed many classes from this. He also cusses when he doesn't want to do something
that he asked to do.
The classroom has a very set routine. I think that they have to. I believe that kids needs a special
routine and stick to it on any normal day and if there routine is messed up the whole day is on a
screwey ideal. It's like they become on a different secluded. When I visited they had library on Monday
and after their special they came back to the room and did their daily things calendar, days of the week,
months of the year, they also played songs to both of those. One Wednesday they had music class and
that class was one of the classes where the kids excelled at they all sat still for the most part sand
participate in it. They could sing the songs and play with their sticks tapping them together. The
students also had two different home rooms one for the first grade and one for the second graders. They
do some work on the board where there were some things for their age that they do daily. While I was
there one day the teacher had to leave to get ready some IEP for some of the students. individualized
education program is the legal documents that describes the education services (Hallahan26). She was
meeting with some of the students parents later that day. To discuss their plan for the student.
The classroom management was a major part in the classroom. If not the students will run a
muck. There tones were very fun place they all had a very positive attitude thru the day, and through all
of my visits. All of the teachers and the aids knew exactly how to handle each student what would work
and what wouldnt. Some things that worked with one student might not exactly work with another
student. Like Thomas you could be stern with and that what he needed and if you didn't give him a
stern voice he would run all over you and do whatever he wanted to do over you. Then if you would
yell at Maria she would cry and not handle it. I watched once that the teacher talked stern to her and she
started to cry. There are a variety of classroom management styles I watched in her classroom.
While I was there I watched Ricky having a episode where he was hitting himself and anyone
around him. They calmed him down and having him point out some of what he wanted he started to
calm down. Ricky was kinda had ants in his pants and one of the aids put him in the swing and he was
very fine and com temp in the swing. PBIS involves finding ways to support positive behaviors of
students rather than punishing negative behaviors (Hallahan222).
This experience made me think about my own kids and how I'm grateful everyday for what I
have even on the days I think they have driven me crazy. It's hard for me to imagine where I couldn't
hold my children in my arms. I think as parents we think about our kids and the idea or reality of them
being in a wheelchair not mobile is a scarey though or idea. That no one would ever want. By watching
this classroom of children made me think of the process that their parents go through everyday.
The text and my classroom made me think of exceptional needs my views have changed. I sub

in LaPorte where I live and I got a phone call to sub in the classroom where I observed and I took the
opportunity to go sub there. It was an interesting two days. I was instead of watching the kids I was
now in part of their classroom as a teacher to them. I got a first hand experience of my time there what
the teacher and her helpers / aids go through everyday. It was a very powerful experience for me. I
worked with the students hand by hand with the kids, helped them with their work. I think as a society
we have an idea of what goes on in these classes or what we think goes on there but some might be
wrong. There kids, students just like my kids or the same age as my kids at home or in their classroom.
I made the most of my experience in the classroom asked a lot of questions and they were
answered truthly and honestly. It was an interesting expereice one that I won't forget for along time.

Work Cited
Hallahan, D., & Kauffman, J. (2000). Exceptional learners: Introduction to special education (8th ed.).
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.