Presentation Week!!

This week's presentations all have been very informative and I have loved all the intervention strategies.
  After Work Activism, Homeless Population, and Executive Order.

 After Work Activism I think is a wonderful idea. A way for people that are busy to engage and make a difference. Not to mention a great source of networking! I really appreciate this  idea because as we were discussing in our HB class that what gives us the sense of a community? For me I  don't feel that I am a part of our Sw community just because I'm balancing so much: school, work and life as a single mother. However, this idea has given me an opportunity to engage and become active. So thanks a bunch!

Homeless Population- This I could see the affects of this on and around the streets of Austin.And the emotion that some of the presenters had was very touching.  All the information given about this population has given me more insight. And like Irene said that so much stigma comes with this population but the truth is that they are people just like you and I and we should not have any fear of being around them.

Executive Order- I can only image all the stress that came from not being able to find a solution but it has showed all of us that answers and solutions do not come easy. And like one of the presenters said that it helps us to realize that as social workers the solution does not happen in one day and that we will not be able to solve every problem. I am very much interesting in learning more about this  and the fact that there is no information given to us about overturning an executive order. I just think that is crazy! I agree with Nikki- It only makes one think "What is there to hide?"

I thank every group for all there hard work that was put into the project and sharing the information with us. We all did such a great job!

Adultism

Adultism is - “…all of the behaviors and attitudes that flow from the assumption that adults are better than young people, and are entitled to act upon young people in many ways without their agreement.”-Dr. Dr. Barry Checkoway at the University of Michigan.

"In our own lives, even if we fight against racial injustice, even if we fight for world peace, even if we fight for a sustainable world, if we are using our power over the children in our lives, we are perpetuating injustice and oppression. We are setting children up to accept a world that is based on the more powerful controlling the less powerful."...Reading this quote made me feel terrible! I disagree with it only because parents are held responsible to raise respectful adults and if they end up in jail or committing crime who is to blame? Only the parents, children need our help to become who they should be

I will admit that I tell my daughter what she can listen to, what to wear, and give her chores to do. I as a mother automatically do this because I am responsible to raise her into a great person. I mean how else would one do this without setting boundaries? Should we just have kids and let them make decisions on there own? I can only imagine what decisions a 2 year old would make and for that matter a 10 year old. I do think that there is right and wrong way of speaking to our children. Many examples from the book: "You are so stupid !"," Don't every yell at your mother(while yelling)", "You are being childish", seem very disrespectful to me and I would not do that as a parent say things of this sort. With that said I think this whole Adultism is a matter of how one says things to another and the respect in it. Even a 1 year old deserves respect. If there is respect then we are taking into account our children's desires.

I also think that with out all these laws put in place for children to follow then there would not be a society. If there was not a school to enforce children to attend school then what? This very morning, I stopped by my sisters place and my 16 year old nephew was still laying in bed. He chose not to go to school because he did not want to, I of course told him and asked him what he wanted for his future and took him to school. Now with that said there will be so much more children that could make these very decision to not attend school or follow the laws if it were not for adults to help them make the right decisions. Parents are here to raise children that will grow up to be participants of society and.

Extra-Ordinary

Dyslexia: is one of several distinct learning disabilities. It is a specific language-based

disorder of constitutional origin characterized by difficulties in single word decoding, usually
reflecting insufficient phonological processing.

  It was not until recently, that my daughter has been diagnosed with dyslexia, that the term disability meant something to me. Prior to that it never hit home. At any rate, all the paperwork that I had to fill out and continue filling out repeats the word "DISABLED"  and I must say that alone has had a major affect on me. I really dislike the word and wished that they did not have to reiterate it so much. Reading it so many times and having the school personal say it so much only makes me feel uncomfortable.
 The feeling that comes with this experience is almost like you can not help but to feel embarrassed. I know the stigma that comes with someone being labeled and my daughter is feeling it because she has to be pulled out of her class to attend 30 min sessions. Regardless of how much school officials try not to disrupt her regular school scheduled those 30 minutes do a lot of damage with her identity.

Extra-Ordinary: going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary

   Instead of the word disabled I would prefer to use Extra-Ordinary because any one who does require additional aid goes through so much physically, emotionally, and mentally. For you and I, we don't have to worry about how we will get somewhere or even set up additional arrangements on top of our everyday life schedule.  My daughter has been making grades the "Normal" kids have been making without any accommodations. Despite seeing things way different than me, she worked hard and taught herself many things in order to keep up. In the future, I know I will have to read out many books to her and even when she gets to college.With that said I think that anyone who is labeled disabled, in my eyes they are strong and EXTRA-ORDINARY.

If children and adults were to be educated on all of these "disabilities" and were knowledgeable of what someone has to go through, then maybe they will not call anyone retarded or disabled.

 

Fighting Back- Transgender Liberation

    As with every other ism, being LBGTQ just so happens to be other reason why one would discriminate against you. My thought behind this is why does society have to be so concerned about who you want to be or how you dress and who you date?  First we all get the lovely pleasure of being in a dominant or subordinate group and if that is not enough how one dress and who one dates adds to that long list of how we all can be discriminated against. 
  I think being transgender, gay, lesbian, or  bisexual would not be such a stigma if media would not portray it as something so bad.  Being identified as one of these groups is just the same to me as being Mexican American, both are in the subordinate group. With that said they might as well go on to say that being Mexican American is just the same.:) My point is that Media always makes something seem that much worse or bring attention to a issue that other wise would not be a problem. And unfortunately for many, media is the only source that they obtain their information from. Because if anyone who was so against individuals being LBGTQ actually took the time to know someone who was, they would see that that person is in fact a human being and is no different. 

   I found that the Riot in Compton's Cafeteria in 1966 to be very inspiring! How a group of drag queens  came together and fought back! That was amazing, not the violence part,but that was the measure they needed to take in order to provide justice for themselves.

I do hope that overtime with every situation(sexism, racism, and heterosexism,etc) it gets better.