- Can we go? - Make sure we don't
get hit by a car.
- What's it say now, is it walking?
So can we go? (mumbles)
- OK, well then let's go.
- From working with the VAST Life program
I feel like I've learned, and kind of
what I have learned throughout teaching
but it's been more solidified,
is that not every child, and especially not
every disability is cookie cutter.
The only way to really learn about that child
and that disability is through something like VAST LIFE.
So, in a classroom setting you're really pushing
for excellence and you're pushing for learning,
and in the community, and in VAST LIFE,
we really, and something that Dr. Hopkins pushes us to do,
is push that student to the point where then
they can make the decision, and if they make a mistake,
that's a perfect learning experience.
- Community based instruction is a very real part
of the special ed world.
It's the ability to create instruction
that you implement in the actual community setting.
So, you're not just talking about
how to go shopping at a grocery store,
you're not just talking about how to cross the street,
you're doing it live in the setting.
It's a huge, very important part of the special ed world.
Well, if you've never done that before
because you're just always in classrooms, it's alarming.
You get really nervous, because what do you do
when you're standing in line at the Penn bookstore
and it might take your student five to 10 minutes to pay
because you want them to do it on their own
and now you've got a line behind you.
- So it has to go sideways right?
So hold it sideways and we'll swipe it.
(mumbles)
I don't even remember what I used to do
before I came to this great place.
So many things has happened, it's like,
I'm just expanding.
I don't know if I'm even, I don't feel like myself anymore.
I mean, everything has changed.
VAST has made a big change of me.
- There you go.
It is, so it looks like a cat, but it's a jaguar.
- There's no special ed hallway in the world,
so all of these kids that we're educating,
possibly in somewhat segregated environments,
in terms of special needs versus kids
with neurotypical needs, especially this population,
are gonna go live in a community
and live in a neighborhood where they're fully included.
They're going to be working in local businesses,
they're going to be socializing in the community
and they need to understand what it's like
to do this as much on their own as possible.
- I think the biggest thing that the VAST LIFE students
take away from the experience is
a feeling of self-confidence, and that they have ownership
of these things that they're doing.
I feel like, in school a lot of the time
they're given these modifications that they need,
but, it can have an impact on them
where they understand they're not doing the same things
that the other kids in the class may be doing,
so I think that this experience
is allowing them to have real-life experiences
that they witness all these other people having
and realizing that there's just little accommodations
that can be made so that they
can have these true experiences too.
- Go ahead, you can do it.
How many years ago was it? - So my hope is always
that students come away with this
for a passion for wanting to work with the population.
And my other hope is that they become
their own little preachers.
This needs to be a calling in many, many ways.
And if it's not a calling, you probably
should look at another area of certification.
So I preach that all day long,
but I really do find that it's VAST
that makes them the little preachers
that go off into their own educational communities
and in some ways, market the population
as to what they can do, and all of the things
that can go on, and how easy it is
just to tweak little things in classrooms
and tweak little things in lessons,
to really create a fully inclusive school.
The goal is full inclusion.
The goal is that we don't have separate classrooms.
The goal is that everybody's getting their needs met
at their level with everybody else,
because as I said before, there's no special ed hallways
in the world, so why would we create
segregation in our schools?
- This figure is one of a pair.
What's a pair again?
What's a pair? Well we're a pair,
but how many things are in a pair?
Two, yeah.