Letter for the Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter for the Portfolio - Essay Example For someone who just started writing, it was such a distressing experience to scrutinize the work and rationalize effectiveness based on the essential elements in arguing a position. Likewise, the topic of â€Å"A Strong Healthy Economy Versus a Strong Healthy Environment† was also difficult because, as emphasized, both facets seem to manifest similar levels of importance. Concurrently, one found the topic on â€Å"Causes and Effects of Privacy Violation on Social Media and the Internet† most useful due to the preponderance of continued use of social networking sites and the online medium. Thus, there are a wealth of authoritative sources that provided the needed support. I actually learned immensely from these essays; particularly skills in critiquing, in research, and in writing an effectively supported cause and effect; as well as persuasive arguments. I was made assuming a more professional stance in writing by gathering authoritative information that would support and validate the arguments made. Likewise, I learned to observe proper citations and references; as well as the need to abide by grammatical rules in sentence structure, spelling, use of punctuation marks, appropriate choice of vocabulary, and editing.  

The Effects of Autism on a Familys Social Participation From a Fathers Essay

The Effects of Autism on a Familys Social Participation From a Fathers Perspective - Essay Example In this study, the researcher conducted a qualitative investigation regarding the impact that autism has on a family's social participation from the father's perspective. The researcher will explain how using the Person-Environment-Occupation model may both increase levels of social participation and increase the overall wellbeing and mental health of family's of autistic children. The nature of Autism, a complex developmental disorder, remains largely elusive up to the present time. However, there have been myriad advances and discoveries regarding this condition (Rutter, 1999). Compared to other developmental disorders, Autism is being diagnosed at a rapid rate with an annual growth rate between 10 and 17% (Autism Society of America, 2007). This disorder has a prevalence rate in one out of every 150 births and affects approximately 1.5 million Americans (Autism Society of America, 2007). There is both a desire to treat the devastating effects of this disorder and a fascination to understand the nature of social interaction of patients with this condition. Large proportions of autistic patients exhibit differences in sensory processing and motor performance that may affect social participation and day-to-day functioning (Chawarska, Klin, Volkmar, & Powers, 2008, 104). In their research, Domingue, Cutler, & McTarnaghan (2000) found that family members that care for autistic children have been shown to have greater difficulty in developing and sustaining vital social connections both at work and at home. Social activities such as dinners, weekend outings, and vacations are greatly reduced and marital difficulties often arise from the difficulty of effectively supporting their autistic child (Fisman, Wolf, & Noh, 1989). In their 2005 study, Rodrigue, Morgan, and Geffken pointed out that fathers have been largely neglected in previous research of families with autistic children. They found that fathers of children with autism reported frequent use of both wish-fulfilling fantasy and information seeking as coping strategies. In addition to this, fathers with autistic children reported a greater financial impact and disruption of family activities when compared to fathers that did not have children with this disorder (Rodrigue, Morgan, and Geffken, 2005). While the researchers found that fathers adapt reasonably well to the needs of their autistic children, they also noted that autism had a significant impact on the family's social participation from the father's perspective (Rodrigue, Morgan, and Geffken, 2005). Cost of Care Numerous costs are involved in the treatment and care of autistic patients. When calculating the price of treatment, it is necessary to include direct medical, direct non-medical, and lost productivity costs. A complete treatment plan for an individual with autism may cost the public $3.2 million over the patient's lifetime (Moldin & Rubenstein, 2006, p. 476). In addition to this, the combined societal cost to treat all individuals with autism may amount to $35 billion over the pa

History of architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

History of architecture - Essay Example The plans did not contain all the elements in the actual buildings, which were requisite of the architectural drawings. The separation between technology and architecture was achieved by the gross structure and physical plants of the sectional drawings. This implies that architecture focused on the structure of a construction while technology handled the rest of the physical plant. The modern practice combines all the technological and structural requirements of buildings by including every aspect in the plans (Banham 14). I think ancient architectural designs were just concentrated on the complete finishing of buildings. This gave the engineers the freedom to add new concepts pertaining to the preference of the home owners. The article indicates that some of the olden features of a building were not included in the plans, but revealed the skills of the builders. This implies that the principles guiding modernists did not apply then and this was risky to the welfare of the home owners. It is evident that the article highlights the milestones that architectural works have surpassed to give modern designs and inspirations (Banham 16). The article also gives examples of ancient architects who inspired designs and plans that contributed to the developments in the

Parent Teacher Behavior

Parent Teacher Behavior The correlation of a good parent and teacher relationship Parents and teachers constitute two of the most important information sources of young childrens social skills. However, Parents and teachers often are very influential adults in childrens lives, and thus they can provide important perspectives and information concerning childrens behavior. Parents are unique compared to other adults in that they often have observed their childrens behavior across time and across diverse situations. It declared that parents often are aware of subtleties in their childrens behavior and are able to observe them in different contexts, and, therefore, they should be included in the assessment of their children. Inclusion of mothers, fathers, and teachers as assessors allows for comparisons regarding their agreement about childrens behavior across situations with consideration of physical location as well as with sensitivity to differential behavioral values. (Mouly, 2000) In research it has been found that teachers benefit from involvement with parents. Teachers who had high involvement with parents indicated that they were more proficient in instructional and professional activities, devoted more time to instruction, and maintained better parent relationships than did teachers who had little contact with parents. As a result of these reciprocal benefits of parent-teacher relationships, others have encouraged the use of home school collaboration programs to help modify childrens academic and social behavior in school. (Slavin, 2005) Parents play an important role in an exceptional childs life and must inform teachers of their special conditions since no two children are alike. (Mouly, 2000) Teachers can be very helpful in supporting a childs treatment once parents inform them about the disorder. Parents can provide information to the teachers and school personnel about their childs medication or other special needs. From here, teachers can provide parents with occasional progress reports. Even if a child is not active at school, teachers should be informed that treatment can improve the childs ability to learn. However, misunderstandings between student, parent and teacher are common, but can be lessened with early communication between parent and teacher. The first contact between parent and teacher should be made before problems arise with the student. Parents can get involved in school activities in many ways, they can assist teachers with class once a week, volunteer to talk to the class on a particular topic, help with field trips or donate supplies for special events or projects. Some techniques that have effectively been used when working with parents of exceptional students are as follows, effective use of home liaisons, teachers who go on visits with home liaisons to enhance communication between school and parents, treating the parents with respect, encouraging their continued assistance with their childs education, and complimenting them on participation in their childs education. Some other suggestions for improvements that could be made are, training parents specifically in their roles in Individual Education Plans and School Evaluation Teams; obtaining through interviews and observations, viewpoints and feelings of parents; communication through media forms (announcements about appropriate meetings); guest speakers for parent meetings who would give in depth training concerning parental rights, early intervention, and transition plans; all teachers should be required to make personal contact with parents even if there is no apparent intervention neede d, this will keep the door of communication open; activities taught at school that would have a parent participation component included at home. It is very important that teachers help the parents of exceptional children to learn their rights. (OCD, 2005) Some of these parents dont know them at all and some only know bits and pieces that seem misconstrued. Teachers are required to have the parents sign their parental rights at all the meetings with the Diagnostician that would be concerning the childs education. It would be helpful for the parents to know and understand what they are signing for them to feel more comfortable. Most parents are kind of scared to sign things that they are unsure about, and then they are tense and unable to really make the best decisions about their child. (Slavin, 2005) In conclusion, I feel that working with parents of exceptional students will cause a mix of emotions. You are required to be on your toes at all times and they expect you to know everything, but as long as you treat them with respect and follow the simple guidelines from this paper, you shouldnt have a problem. You just have to keep in mind that you are teaching their pride and joy exceptionalities and all. References Mouly, G. (2000). Psychology for effective teaching. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. OCD Resource Center, (n.d.). Child adolescent ocd. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2005. Slavin, B. (2000). Learners with exceptionalities. Ford, D. (1996, Aug 05). Good parent-teacher relationship benefits children. College ofAgriculture and Home Economics, Retrieved Mar 20, 2005 Jones, D. (1997, Mar ), Working with navajo parents of exceptional children. Communication is the key. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2005, from Children, Youth and Family Establishing a parent-teacher relationship. (1998).

It’s Time to Toughen the Laws on Teen Drivers :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

It’s Time to Toughen the Laws on Teen Drivers      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Turning sixteen years old in teenagers' lives is an exciting event. It allows them to get a drivers license and is a big step towards adulthood.   With this, it gives them freedom and control over something they have never experienced before.   In most cases, people stress about gangs, drugs, and violence in our communities as a big result of teenage deaths, but the leading causes of accidents today are teenage drivers, especially sixteen and seventeen year olds.   Maria Purdy, an author for "Teen Magazine", writes about statistics with young teenage drivers.   She sites that, "To equal the number of youths killed in motor vehicle crashes in 1995, a plane with 520 people on board would have to crash with no survivors once a month for a full year" (online).   Legislators should pass a law changing the drivers licensing age to eighteen instead of sixteen.   By doing this, it could decrease driving problems we face today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In most European Countries, teenagers aren't able to earn a license until they are at least seventeen or eighteen years old.   There have been less fatal crashes among teens in these countries because of this.   Cheryl Tevis who wrote an article in the "Successful Farming" magazine, writes about American teenagers compared to other teenagers around the world.   She states that "American teens drive at an earlier age than those in most countries" (online).   This is not surprising to me since there are some states that have allowed teenagers to drive at age fourteen in some circumstances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the most part, sixteen and seventeen year olds don't realize the importance and responsibility that comes when getting a drivers license.   They feel it is something to play around with and don't take it seriously.   For instance, immaturity is a cause of being   irresponsible.   Because of this there are many accidents that happen that could have been prevented.   Allan F. Williams, an author for "Public Health Reports" writes about the characteristics all teenagers have in common.   He observes that "Qualities generally associated with immaturity (such as chance taking, testing limits, poor decision-making, overconfidence) are associated with the more risky driving styles characteristic of teenage drivers" (online).   Almost half of the accidents today caused by teenagers were linked to peer pressure and immaturity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Often, in teenagers' lives, they look towards their friends for advice and guidance rather than their teachers, parents, and others.

Prayer policies between the Christian and Muslim Essay

The Christian and Muslim religions have long argued their religious differences. On the surface, both religions possess similarities. Both religions advocate the worship of a singular God. Both impose obligations and duties on their believers as a means of becoming and staying as an advocate of the religion. Both use prayer as a means of communicating with God. However, when the prayer policies of each religion are contrasted, the differences between the two systems of beliefs can be easily identified—in their concept of prayer, the form of prayer and the rituals that come with it, and the intention of the prayer. A primary distinction in the prayer policies of both religions is their understanding of the concept of â€Å"prayer. † The Muslim religion, or Islam, understands prayer as that which involves a series of very specific rituals. The Islamic principle of salat, which is commonly used to understand the Muslim concept of prayer, signifies a rigid set of prayers that Muslims are expected to perform five times daily (â€Å"Salat: Daily Prayers†). On the other hand, Christians view prayer in a broader sense, in that they see it as a form of mental and emotional attitude. Therefore, their prayer is not limited to a prescribed form. For the Christians, there is no right and wrong way of praying (â€Å"Muslims Ask, Christians Answer†). A glimpse at the form of rituals each religion observes in praying best illustrate this point. In the Muslim religion, ablutions and washing are required before praying. This is in keeping with the belief that only those who are considered to have been purified can communicate with God. A prayer leader known as the Muezzin calls the Muslim faithful to prayer from a portion of a mosque called a Minaret. After calling the faithful to prayer, only the prescribed prayers should be recited. During prayer, proper clothing, as well as the calculated gestures of kneeling and bowing, is imperative. Otherwise, the prayers said are regarded as void, and the believer is required to repeat the entire prayer from the beginning to the end (â€Å"Salat: Daily Prayers†). On the other hand, the Christian religion does not prescribe either form or amount of prayer. No ablutions or washing rituals are needed before a Christian may validly pray to God. Christian texts such as the Holy Bible, offer suggested passages and prayers, but do not require strict compliance. The religion focuses mainly on the believer’s sincerity and not necessarily his words (Schirrmacher 2). Thus, Christians can use various forms of prayer such as dance, music, whether accompanied or not by lyrics, meditation, or through the use of artistic skills such as painting or sculpture. Another distinction in the prayer policies of both religions is the purpose of prayer. Although both Muslim and Christian prayer invokes the aid of an Almighty being, their prayers aim to bring about different goals. The believers of Allah (i. e. , the term Muslims use to call their God), through all their gestures and prayers, intend to manifest their submission with all humility as a servant, both to his Lord, and to his community (Spengler). Thus, intimate names of God cannot be invoked. Muslim believers regard Allah as solely the Creator and cannot be considered as on equal level with the products of His creation (Schirrmacher 2). Christians, on the other hand, aim to commemorate Jesus Christ’s sacrifice through the Eucharist (Spengler). Through prayer, Christians intend to express the intimacy of their relationship with God. Hence, they can address God as â€Å"Father† or â€Å"Abba. † These distinctions in prayer – their concept of prayer, their rituals in praying, and their goals of prayer—illustrate the differentiate prayer policies between the Christian and Muslim religions. While these distinctions set both religions apart, they both worship only one God. They also impose duties and obligations on their believers. Finally, they use prayer to communicate with God. Works Cited â€Å"Salat: Daily Prayers.† BBC Religion and Ethics – Islam. 09 March 2006. 27 February 2008 â€Å"Muslims Ask, Christians Answer. † 27 February 2008. Schirrmacher, Christine. â€Å"Christian and Muslim Prayer. † World Evangelicals: 1-4. World Evangelical Alliance. 27 February 2008. Spengler, Oswald. â€Å"Does Islam have a prayer? † Asia Times. 18 May 2004. 27 February 2008 .

Deaf Culture essays

Deaf Culture essays Deaf people, like hearing people have their own culture. Not only d they have there own language but a separate culture then hearing people. The deaf culture is very important to the deaf community in this paper I will tell you some examples of this amazing culture. Many people of the hearing community might think of a deaf person as handicapped but if you called a deaf person this, they would be offended. Deaf people do not think of them self as disabled or handicapped. They prefer to call them selfs by this only for social, political, or economical needs. Many hearing people think that deaf people should learn to lip-read and learn how to speak so hearing people can understand them. Deaf people like to think of them selfs as having nothing more then a language barrier, such as we would think for someone who spoke Spanish instead of English. Also phrases such as deaf and dumb and deaf and mute and hearing impaired are considered offensive to many people in the deaf community. Hard of hearing or just Deaf are preferred by most deaf people. There are a few different types of sign language that a deaf person might use. The most common is ASL (American sign language) when signing in ASL you uses a different grammatical structure. Also In ASL you do not sign every word, words like it, the, is, a, an, etc. are not signed. Another language used is Pidgin signing. With Pidgin you leave out the small words and articles but you use the exact word order. Another is exact English; with this you sign every word, and in the same order as you would in spoken English. ASL has existed since late 1700s. French sign language and British sign language existed in Europe before ASL began. A lot of ASL comes from French sign language. When Europeans came here to settle they brought their deaf culture. When speaking to a deaf person, no matter what type of sig...