Today we went back to Warren School and Outside the Box for the second time! Working with the kids at Warren is always a blast because those little nuggets always have so much energy. We switched the room this time so the people who were in the room with the inclusion classroom got to go to the self contained classroom and vice versa- so everyone got experience. Personally for me, Priyal, it was so cool to see the differences between the two classrooms, as they really did operate quite differently. In the self contained classroom, it was very obvious that our presence made a huge impact, as we were able to have one on one time with the kids, and really get them to be more social and exposed to interaction.
The one on one interactions that we have made with the children were truly inspiring and challenging. For me, TR, the difference between children with typical development and children with disabilities was not recognizable. The way for me to interact with them did not change. They got frustrated for not getting what they want. They enjoyed when they got what they wanted. Even though their communications were not verbal, it was possible for me to understand them through their body language and facial expressions. It was challenging as I realized that these facilities cannot be perfect to provide the needs of the children, aka love. As parents, they will pay their full attention on their children. In these schools, teacher to children ratio will always be more than one on one, which means that the teachers will not be able to provide children the love they need.
On another note, today was simply fun. We got to play with the parachute thing we all remember from elementary school!!!! *See picture below* Also it was field day at OTB! We all definitely got a good dose of sun and we got to be a lot more active, as we were in charge of different stations. It was nice because we got to interact with almost everyone there for a couple of minutes, as they rotated stations. Also at the end of the day, we got to meet with Cassidy and she explained more about OTB as an organization and answered a lot of the questions we had.
The field day was definitely a great time to meet most of the participants at OTB. It was possible to make different interactions with people with various characters. However it was challenging as we only had about eight minutes to build a relationship each group. Yet, it was a great experience that expanded our perspective on adults with disabilities.
Dinner today was definitely one to remember. It was Taco Tuesday and it was absolutely delish!!! Some drama llama went down as well, as Tunji felt as if he was being attacked for his love for fruit snacks. It definitely left Priyal and Caroline with tears of laughter. Don't worry though, it was all fun loving.
Overall, it was a great day full of laughter, physical activity, great social interactions, ending on good food and a fantastic reflection!
