Casey Martin Verdict essays

Casey Martin Verdict essays All athletes are not born on a level playing field and some athletes have disadvantages. Is everyone made to be an athlete? How far would you go to become a professional athlete? Would you take your case to the Supreme Court? Would you spend three years in and out of the court system arguing a case that is so clear to you but not to others? On May 29, 2001, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the federal disability rights law entitles Casey Martin, a 28 year old golfer, to ride in a cart between shots while competing in PGA Tour events. Martin suffers from a rare incurable circulatory disease called Klippel Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome or KLS. His right leg is so weak that for the last 10 years he has been unable to walk a full eighteen holes of golf. Martin was awarded a scholarship to play golf for Stanford University and while he played in the college ranks the NCAA allowed him to use a golf cart. This was a very special privilege because after college the PGA Tour would not be so suppo rtive of his needs. The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA came to Martins rescue throughout the court cases. Casey Martin has served as an inspiration to other athletes with disabilities. Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome is a rare congenital malformation that includes cutaneous capillary malformations, soft tissue and bone hypertrophy and lymphatic abnormalities. Complications may include excessive bleeding, gigantism of toes, hand and feet anomalies, lymphedema, and many others. People are born with this disease and scientists believe that the cause maybe the result of mutation of a gene. There is no known cure for KLS and there are only some treatments to slow the effects of the disease down. The only treatments available are elastic garments that protect from future damage and pumps to keep the blood moving through the limb. The odds of developing KLS are a one to one million. (EMedicine) ...

Teaching Personal Space to Children With Disabilities

Teaching Personal Space to Children With Disabilities   Children with disabilities, especially children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, have difficulty understanding and appropriately using personal space.  Its importance is significant since many of these young people when they reach adolescence, become particularly vulnerable to assault or predation because they are unaware of the social and emotional boundaries that are important in the general public.   Deep Pressure Some Children with ASD are what we call deep pressure, and they seek as much sensory input as they can get.  They will throw their arms around not only significant adults in their lives but sometimes to complete strangers.  I worked 5 years ago as a volunteer at a camp at Torino Ranch, maintained by the Torino Foundation.  Ã‚  When my camper came off the bus he threw his arms around me (we had never met,) and I ticked off deep pressure kid, which led to four days of success.  I used that sensory need to keep him calm and appropriate.  Still, these students need to learn appropriate interaction.   The Science of Personal Space Proximics, or the science of personal space, explores how we as humans and as social and ethnic groups use the space around us.  Research has found that in a typical person the amygdala responds negatively to the invasion of personal space.  Research has not been definitive on the effect of population density on the size of personal space, as reported by anthropologists, but this writer has experienced it.  In Paris, in 1985, I attended a concert at the Place de Concord.  There were somewhere in the range of 50 to 60 thousand people there.  Someone started to push at the outside (Word was out that they were thugs [clouchards].)  Amazingly, after several minutes of chanting Assis! Assis! (sit down) we sat down.  Probably a couple of thousand people.  I looked at an American Friend and said: In America, we would have had a fist fight. This, of course, is why its important for special education students to understand personal space.  Students with autism may resist everyone entering their personal space, but all too often their amygdala is not firing when someone comes into their space, and we know they cant understand another persons desire for personal space.   There are three things needed to help them learn this: A metaphor that can help them understand personal space.Modeling to show how we use personal space andExplicit instruction in the use of personal space.   The Metaphor: The Magic Bubble Typical children and typical human beings are able to write their own meta-narrative, the story of their life.  Face it, when a woman gets married she often has a lifetime of plans dancing in her head about the perfect wedding (or her mothers dream.)  Children with disabilities, especially children with autism spectrum disorders, are unable to write those meta-narratives.  That is why Social Stories (TM) or Social Narratives (my name) are so powerful.  They use visual images, a story and often the childs own name.  I will be changing the name in the original document for the children I will use it with. I created the social narrative, Jeffies Magic Bubble, to support students with autism spectrum disorders.  It uses the metaphor a magic bubble to define the invisible space around each of us that is also called personal space.  Children with disabilities love to play with bubbles, so using it as a metaphor will provide a visible understanding of what that space is like.   Modeling Once the model is established by reading the book, make a game of magic bubbles.  Have children spin and identify the edge of their bubbles (arms length is a good compromise between intimate and familiar personal space.) Practice welcoming others into their magic bubbles by putting hands out and greeting others with a handshake. Hi, Im Jeffie.  Nice to meet you.   Make a game of Magical Bubbles by giving students clickers and having others come as close as they can without stepping inside another childs personal bubble.  The student in their Magic Bubble will click when they think the other student or students enter their bubble. Explicit Instruction Read the book Jeffies Magic Bubble aloud as a group.  If students need individual instruction (so they are better at paying attention to personal space) you will want to read it to those students over and over again.   After reading each page, have students practice:  when you get to crossing arms and hands on hips, have them practice.  When you read about Jeffie saying NO!  practice saying NO!  Practice asking friends for a hug.   Be sure that you recognize students who respect each others personal space.  You might want each child to have a magic bubble chart.  Hand out stickers or stars for each time you catch them asking to enter another childs space, or asking another student politely to move outside of their personal space.