Teaching Children With Mild/Moderate Disability

Introduction

This task is all about the stories of the people who became successful along with their disabilities and still proved their selves to be an ultimate example for everyone else. So, that they can also move forward optimistically no matter how hard it becomes. Some people in the past have encountered such problems and disabilities yet refused to stop and gave their best to set examples, to prove that even along with disabilities, milestones can be achieved, and one can succeed in this highly competitive world.

Initial life

Terry Fox was born in Canada and he was an athlete (Noonan & McCormick, 2014). He had a strong belief in the value that human life consists of, he believed in providing ease to other humans and had a great inclination towards humanity and morals. He was also an activist for cancer research. He was a distance runner and a player of basketball (Aghaeepour et al., 2012). He was born on 28th July 1958 'in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Rollent and Betty Fox', Fox also had an elder brother, a younger brother and a sister. The reason that Terry Fox had such nature was that his parents were also a kind of dedicated too much for their family and this nature was inherited to Fox by his very protective mother (Prater, 2016). Because of his mother, Fox developed a nature in which he became highly stubborn to everything that he was dedicated to and he became highly committed to his dedication as well.

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Another factor that was present like Fox was that he was highly competitive, and he hated to lose. It was his first nature that he would continue to do a task continuously until he became successful in that (Aghaeepour, Nikolic, Hoos, & Brinkman, 2011). Though he was a very poor player at the starting but his first nature of sticking to his passion led him to be a top-class player of soccer, rugby, and baseball. However, his coach at his high school felt that what suited him better was to be a distant runner and he enforced him to take up it as a sport, in the starting Fox did not have any interest in being a long-distance runner but he adopted it as a sport because he wanted his coach to be proud of him. After his high school, his mother forced him to get enrolled in the university as well and he opted 'Kinesiology' to become a teacher of physical education (Aubert, Baerlocher, Vulto, Poon, & Lansdorp, 2012).

The accident and disability

One day when Fox was driving to his family to his home, he saw the construction of the nearby bridge and he got lost in that construction and became distracted and his car got crashed. His car became undrivable and there was a sore in his right knee, the reason for the increase in the injury was his ignoring behavior he felt greater pain in the coming December, but he relentlessly ignored it as well. Eventually, the pain increased to an alarming level and because of that, he decided to go to the hospital. In the hospitals, he was diagnosed with 'Osteosarcoma' which is cancer that starts close to the knee. It was clear that his accident exposed him to this disease and then left very vulnerable and serious reactions.

He was told by the doctors that his leg needs to be cut off from his body. It was also briefed to him that he needs to have 'chemotherapy'. Fox was to that there are 50% chances that he will survive because of the different innovations and in the field of medicine (Christiuk, 2013). The chances of survival before two years were set to have been only 15% and 50% was a massive increase in the medical filed. So, Fox's leg was amputated, and he started to walk around with the help of an artificial leg. Fox had greater chances of recover because he was very positive and the doctors also very impressed form his positive attitude towards his disease and its treatment, though the time spent in the hospital was not easy because he was watching others getting treated and dying to cancer which was very disturbing for him (Curwin, Paige, & Sutcliffe, 2011).

The goal of the life of Terry Fox was to recover as soon as possible and to become an example for others so he can put courage in other people as well. A Canadian wheelchair sports association also invited him to join a wheelchair basketball team, no matter he was going under' chemotherapy' and repeated treatments. He went there and he proved himself and became the part of the team.

Justifications

The life of Terry Fox is not just a story but it is a beacon of light for everyone who is hopeless about his normal life and everyone who is hopeless about his disabled life (Deyoe & Fox, 2012). The reason to choose this study was that Fox was an impeccable and faultless person in case of his goals and dedications, he could have done anything and everything to achieve what he is dedicated to. His consistency is something that is meant to be learned by everyone. Disability is not supposed to shadow every other ability as well, whereas it should be done in Fox's way that all the abilities should cover one single disability of a persona and with a bit of ambition and dedication, anything can be achieved. The reason of selection of the story also lies in the aims of terry Fox himself as well, as the aim of the terry Fox was not only to get recovered and get out of bed, his aim was also to be an example for everyone has some kind of disability and for everyone in general as well (Ellison, 2015). He wanted to get up to instill courage and everyone going through the same situation so that he can send a message that if he can do it, anybody can do it as well.

Reflection and implications of the story

Analysis

With even his leg amputated, he was so dedicated to run a long-distance marathon from east to west of Canada and all this effort to be done to make enough money and spread enough awareness for the cancer research (Foster, 2019). However, his cancer stopped him only after 143 days of his marathon and he ran 5373 kilometers and it ultimately took his life as well. Still, there was something which could have stopped him from spreading the words about cancer research and making offer for that except for his death. After his death as well, his legacy did not stop form being spreading worldwide and his efforts lasted for a long time as well. The terry Fox run exists today as well and it consists of some participants from more than sixty countries. It is also the largest fundraiser for cancer research in the world. More than 750 million Canadian dollars are raised (Gibson, 2012). This way Fox became a beacon of light and a practical example of hope for disabled people.

Fox was not only a hope for the disables, but he also set different examples such as when he opted his career only to make his coach proud of him. He followed not only the basic characteristics of his mother but also did what made her happy (Lee et al., 2013). He fought with cancer not just only by laying on his bed and having repeated exposure of chemotherapy, but he also spent his last days and last breath on doing something for the betterment of people coming behind him. His efforts for the fundraising of the cancer research show his dedication to creating a safe place for others like him, as his disease was not only the result of his ignorance but it was also a result of lack of research and knowledge in the relevant field and the relevant disease (MacDonald, 2011). He aimed to create a safe side and courage the spread of knowledge and research about the field as well, what he did was impeccable and was purely related firstly to his passion and dedication towards his goal and secondly towards the decrease of the pain of one's suffering in the same way. Terry became an example of the fact that disabilities cannot stoop form growing and doing something flawless for the sake of humanity proving himself a 'humanitarian'.

Fox today as well as a prominent figure in 'Canadian folklore', the determination put in by the Fox united all of the nations. People related to all of the professions and areas supported him in his run and are still supporting and he is a matter of pride for the country as well. In a national survey, he was marked as the greatest hero of Canada (Makarem et al., 2013). Fox proved that the title of the greatest hero can be achieved by a normal person as well if he does abnormal things. Another attitude of Fox was that he refused himself to be called a disabled person. And he never allowed anyone to be nice to him because of his disability and he hated pity as well. He always told everyone that his life is rewarding and challenging. The story of Fox and the efforts towards his disability changed the view of all of the Canadians towards disability and it was not just for the Canadians but also the whole world that he set an example, that disability cannot stop anyone from achieving anything and to do something for the betterment of the whole society (Perrone, 2013).

Fox received some chemotherapy treatments. Howsoever cancer continued to spread. And his conditions became worst. Due to the development of pneumonia as well, he went into a coma. His family praying by his side and the whole of Canada hoping for him to get well (Sheridan, 2013). He was not defeated by his disability but he was defeated by death, it was said that nothing but dead stopped Fox otherwise there was no other power and no disability that could have stopped him from achieving his goals and from doing things for the betterment of the society and others having same conditions like him.

Personal Experience

There are some phenomena which can be related to the classroom experience. One is of task-oriented skills which include both cooperation and the spirit of collaboration. It can be related to the story in a way that Fox did not stop motivating people or involving himself in different physical activities because he had problem-solving skills and abilities. The one with this ability can manage to overcome the issues and hurdles. (Noonan & McCormick, 2014). Another concept which can be mentioned is of Partnership with parents which can relate to this story.

This concept can be explained as one should respect his/her parents and follow them. In addition to this, share the happenings with them so that, they can guide well. In this story, it can be seen that the Fox was inspired his parents because both were determined and highly motivated. As in this case, His mother was the source of motivation for him to fight with the difficulties having courage and determination.

Weakness and Strength

The concept of task-oriented has a strength that the one, who is focused on the solution, can resolve any problem. This skill enables a person to see the positive picture of the situation and find out the solution to the issue instead of stuck in it. The weakness involved in it that, a person with this approach is too much focused to resolve the issue so usually; he ignored the additional or hidden factors which may contribute to the adversity of the situation. Secondly, the partnership with parent's concept makes a person to feel secure by connecting to his/her parents in each aspect so that the right decision can be made. On the other hand, this approach can convert into a weakness, because much dependence on parents can make a person too vulnerable for the situations. So, he may not be able to take any decision on its own.

Moral and ethical meaning of the story and its effects

Anything can be achieved if the moral of a person is quite high enough to break the myth and the barriers created by any of the disability. The things that are setting him back for achieving his goals (Perrone, 2013). The moral of an individual towards himself and his surroundings need to be high for the sake of the contribution of his surroundings and for the sake of contributing to making this world a better place to live. What matters today is that what a person has contributed to his life span to make this world a better place to live and to make the society a safe place and growing entity at the same time.

The ethical consideration does not believe in the existence of an individual but they believe in a community and the things done for the whole community (Scrivener, 2014). What Fox did was a part of his self and a part of the society as well. Fox, first of all, respect his dedication and his own goals, he out his passion above everything else and his disability as well. Fox made his weakest thing to be the strongest base for him to achieve his goals. Moreover, apart from his passion and dedication, Fox made everyone believe that no disability is strong enough to keep someone from achieving his goals and so he set an example for everybody else like him (Rebollo et al., 2011). And everyone who is hopeless contributing to a big program for cancer research, not only contributing to cancer research but also lighting a candle for hope for everyone in the society.

Conclusion

From the story of Terry Fox, it can be concluded that a person does not lack anything in his body, a person can only lack dedication, passion, and consistency in his self that can stop him from achieving his goals. Moreover, the only persons topping an individual from his achievements is his self, a bit of determination, passion, and stubbornness towards the goal can result in its achievement and setting the example for the whole society as well. The story was selected to provide an example regarding determination in relation with a disability, from the story it can be learned that the nothing can stop a person from setting an example of being the best one and from beneficially contributing into his society, be it any kind of disability or anything else. It can be learned that for succeeding, determination, will power, persistence and loyalty towards passion is enough.

References

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