Literature Review:Sourcing for Information

I had a real tough job getting Reynard and Rui Liang to source for online information on Interacting With Autism. 3 days after when they were supposed to give me their articles, I finally got them to find some articles, 6 in all in fact. As for Xuan Ru, he had found some books for the literature review. Now, I am going to have to read though the books, online articles etc., select some important parts, scrutinise those parts, THEN start writing the first draft for the literature review.

For Grace Orchard, the group will have to find some time to do the Unit Plan for the lessons so that they can begin ASAP. If no one is willing to do it, I'm somehow guessing I'm going to be the one to do it in the end.

/Ken

Why special education is important

Our modern society is harsh and ever-changing. No one can predict what may happen tomorrow and one can never be prepared for everything. Even people without disabilities struggle to keep up with times. Upgrading and improving themselves every moment, many are all so afraid that they would left behind. People with disabilities will definitely face problems in their lives and if deprived of a proper education, they may stand no chance when they start to move on into work life. Thus, special education becomes essential at this point to make sure these people with disabilities can be just as good if not better than others at their own niche areas, so as to ensure that they can secure a job and at least become an independent individual in the future.

Special education hones the skills of an individual inflicted with disabilities, guiding them in not only their studies but also in some technical skills like for example, baking. By coaching them in basic academics like basic English or simple Mathematics, they provide the base for them to further their studies in other areas related to these topics. For example, with the knowledge of simple English, they will have little difficulty when reading books on baking. As for the work skills they are taught, they will no doubt be given them the edge in that specific area that they study. With courses such as life-skills also provided, these children undergoing special education are actually being prepared to take on the daunting task on being independent instead of always turning to another for help. This will greatly benefit them more greatly then the education any normal school can provide.

Also, special education also allows them to start to “open up” to others at a slower pace. This gives them the opportunity to bit by bit grow more confident at speaking to others as well as telling others about their feelings. This gives them a chance to improve on their interaction and communication. This will also benefit them much in their work lives as they interact with others. With the skills given to them through special education as well as their abilities to interact better with others, they can actually excel and demonstrate to others what they can do. Through this, they can gain and earn the respect of others and this also lets them become part of the society. Instead of letting the disability rule their lives, they can take control of it and become a confident individual who is just the same as any other.

With special education, students’ talents can be harvested and nurtured. Their potential can also be developed and allow them to achieve beyond what many feel they can. This is due to the fact that special education focuses hones specific skills to improve and nurture. A great example to illustrate the fact that even people with disabilities can do amazing things would be Chris Burke. Despite his mental retardation, he is now a successful television actor and has even acted a main role in the show, Life Goes On.

The above points clearly illustrate the importance and need for special education. From allowing the students to become independent individuals to allowing them to lead fruitful and meaningful lives, schools providing special education are indeed essential institutions in society, allowing people with disabilities to lead their lives in their own “unique” ways as well as giving them equal chances to excel in society.

Inventory list!

Hi guys,

I have done up the inventory list. Here are the items.

Item	Number	Quantity
Blue toyogo trays	1 to 8	8
Grey toyogo trays	9 to 16	8
Yellow toyogo trays	17 to 24	8
Dustbin	25	1
Toyogo cabinet collection	26	1
Shelves (with the cabinet collection)	59 to 63	5
Water Jug	27 to 28	2
Blue mini cupboard	29	1
Small blue office trays	30 to 33	4
Medium blue office trays	34 to 37	4
Large blue office trays	38 to 41	4
Ladder	42	1
Transparent boxes	43 to 48	6
Tables	49 to 58	10
Cup and saucer sets	64 to 67	4
Mop wringer	68	1
Cleaning in Progress sign	69	1

Please take care of the items we bought and make sure they do not get lost.

Also, here are some pictures.

The messy state =)

After arranging =)

Labelling of the first blue toyogo tray =)

Grace Orchard Visit

Really very tiring day and after getting a whole bunch of demoralizing marks, I went down with the RE group to Grace Orchard to set up all the stuff we bought from our previous Toyogo trip. We also sat down to discuss about the lesson plans for a while.

Well, the process of arranging all the things as well as labelling all the items so that we could keep track of the things we had took approximately two to three hours and I can say we were quite pleased with the "end product". While the room had really been in quite a "bad condition", I believe we did a commendable job in tidying things up.

Most of the pictures of the place is with Rui Liang but I have some here...

Rui Liang and Reynard trying to fit on the wheels on the stupid cabinet while Jin holds it up

Jin trying to fix back the wheels after HE ACCIDENTALLY MADE THE WHEELS COME OUT

Reynard, our secretary, staring blankly at his reflection in the cabinet.

Extra tables and a push trolley shoved to a corner

/Ken

Grace Orchard visit (4/1)

Hi guys,

For tomorrow's Grace Orchard visit, we shall meet at the RAJA block foyer immediately after the 4th period (when our RE period starts). Jin will be bringing his camera while I will be taking pictures using my phone and posting it up here. Please think of how to arrange our stuff.

Regards,
Ruiliang

Add on:

Ken, please remember your hardcopy of the unit plan templates and receipts for the purchased items. I'll be bringing a hardcopy of the timeline + a backup camera in addition to Rui Liang's camera.

/Jin

"Meaningful" post

Well, it's written on the panel to your left. I'm Jin, the Communcations Manager Guy for RE-SL Group 3069. Our leader, the "Ken", requires all group members to post a "meaningful message reflecting the group's recent progress throughout the course of the project", so here I am.

I added a hits counter to our blog.

It counts hits everytime it logs a new IP address instead of everytime it logs a visitor, this will prevent inflated numbers from people repeatedly refreshing the page to bump up the counter in times of severe boredom.

That's all from me for now.

/Jin

RE Shopping Trip!

Hi guys, this is a post on our progress today and what furniture we bought.

Since we already cleaned up the work skills room, we went to get the furniture today and was really happy with what we got. So, after school, we made our way to the Toyogo warehouse to do some furniture shopping. We started with some walking around and waited till Ms Yvonne came. When she came, we noted some stuff of what to buy.

In the end this was what we bought.
1 x Electric Airpot
2 x 2L Water Jug
4 x Tea Cup and Saucer Set
1 x Tray
1 x Dust Pan set
2 x Mop set (stick and mopping cloth)
6 x model 9707 container
1 x 903-5 drawer (brown in colour with an extra mini drawer free)
1 x welcome mat
8 x YELLOW tray
8 x GREY tray
8 x BLUE tray

This is a rough idea of what we bought. We hope to post this to keep track of what we bought as to provide records.

Also, the long overdue pictures of our cleaning up session.

Some of the stuff we used to clean the window.
Look at how clean the shelves are! And the floor!

A picture of Ken, our Group Leader!