Got it done 10 minutes ago. Comments and constructive criticism extremely welcome :)
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WHAT ARE THE ISSUES FACED BY CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY IN
MAINSTREAM EDUCATION?
My name is Tommy Collison. I am 14 years of age and in first year of
Castletroy College. I was diagnosed with Moderate Spastic Diplegia at
an early age.
Cerebral Palsy (pronounced sir-ee-bral pall-zee) is a disorder of
movement and posture due to a defect of the immature brain. (Bax 1964)
"Cerebral" refers to the Cerebrum, which is the area of the brain that
is affected. Palsy refers to disorder of movement.
Spastic CP is the most prevalent type of CP at 85% (Stanley et. al.
2000). Spastic CP is characterized by stiff or tight muscles
associated with increased reflexes (Burns et al. 1996).
CP is the most common cause of physical disability affecting children
in developing countries (Stanley et al. 2000). In the Republic of
Ireland with a population of 4.235 million (Central Statistics Office
2006) and at an instance of 2.0 to 2.5 per 1000 live births (Stanley
et al. 2000), the number of people with CP is approximately 9,500.
With approximately 60,000 children per school year in Ireland (REF
GOES HERE), this equates to 120 children with CP in every school year.
CP is classified according to the area of the body that is affected:
Hemiplegia: Only one side of the body is affected
Diplegia: The legs are more affected than the arms
Quadriplegia: CP affects the whole body (Burns et al. 1996).
CP can also be classified according to the severity of the disability
in terms of function:
Mild, Moderate and Severe (Burns et al. 1996). The different
severities mean that one could be wheelchair bound, or one could
merely walk with a limp, and any stage in between.
A number of studies have examined the effects of CP in education
(Nadeau and Tessier, 2006; Nadeau and Tessier, 2008). My study is
unique in that it is the first study of children with CP in education
by a person with CP of school going age.
The methodology to be used is as follows:
1) I have read previous publications concerning children with CP in
mainstream education.
2) I shall conduct a survey of children with CP to ascertain "What are
the issues faced by children with CP in mainstream education?"
3) Permission has already been sought and granted from St Gabriel's
Centre (which provides services for children and young adults with CP)
for me to send a questionnaire to school-going children with CP in the
Limerick area.
4) The help of professional staff at St. Gabriel's Centre and teaching
staff at Castletroy College will be sought in the formulation of the
questionnaire.
5) I will analyze and summarize the results of the completed
questionnaires and make recommendations based on the results.
I was told by Olivia that I should make one of those cooking videos on making stuff, to show the masses how to make them. She told me my macbook would be fine for recording it. Where'd I upload it? Youtube don't allow vids over 10 minutes (which I'd imagine would be too short to make one pancake start to finish). Any other video hosting sites out there that would be easy to use and easy to but on here? Anything I should know about cooking and cameras?
In other news...
1) Young Scientist proposal is going great. Am also 3/4 finished the page proposal I need to send off to the folks at the RDS. It'll get finished tonight and I'll post it here when I get it done. It's currently 3 pages long and needs a haircut.
2) Really looking forward to the Irish Web Awards on the 11th. :D
3) You gotta love the creativity of some...
Paddy is back on Irish soil again, for how long I do not know (and I'd wager he doesn't know either). Lilinator has joined him, after spending a happy week in The 'Couv.
I have lots to do. I'm meant to have all my Young Scientist forms/proposals finished for tomorrow, as well as a large amount of homework. My room has suffered from the lack of motherly cleaning instinct that is prevalent in all mothering mammals. Like I said to a friend, I've got to take away the resemblance to the site of a moderately large atomic bomb. It's not as bad as Patrick's now, but give it another few days and I could enter that league. I'm stepping in before that shame befalls me.
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Found these two youtube videos in a quick perusal and decided to bring them to the blog.
First is from America's Got Talent. I have a couple of theories of how they could have made it happen. They involve robotics and midgets.
The second one is from the British equivalent. I can only sum it up as the epic fail that'll be talked of for years. What makes it even funnier was he didn't realise it until he'd showed us the other duck. That said, he took it well and maintained his (or what was left of it) dignity until he got off the stage
