Fall 2016
Social Health & Diversity
Marriage & Family 2400 Family and Human Studies
Rock Climbing
Marriage & Family 2400 Family and Human Studies
Rock Climbing
Social Health & Diversity
Emmalisa Horlacher
11/26/16
1110 Social Health & Diversity
The Differently Abled Community
For my hours of community service, I volunteered helping at the annual buddy walk as well as working for a few hours at a babysitting institution for autistic and mentally challenged children. The buddy walk is an event where families sign up and spend a day walking around the park and playing games. I helped set up the bags with the shirts that each family would receive. At the event itself, I was in charge of manning the fishing pond. The player would hold the fishing pole, I would throw the bag inside a tent and the person inside the tent would fill up the bag and the player would get their gift. I got to get free chickflilay and a Volunteer T-shirt. There were all kinds of kids. Each family had at least one special needs child. There mainly Hispanic and Caucasian families attending. The babysitting institution was different, I had more one-on-one interaction. Each volunteer was assigned a child and since there were more children than volunteers me and my father teamed up to care for Joshua, an autistic eleven-year-old. Joshua was a energetic kid that ran laps throughout each room pretending to run from a dinosaur, which was me. Through these experiences, I have learned new things about children with disabilities.
Autistic people can sometimes be seen as strange, awkward or even dangerous because of their different ways of interacting with people. My experiences interacting with autistic peers at school are not good. I felt harassed by them. I did not understand why they would say the things they did. From what I have observed those with autism talk about whatever comes to their mind, often saying what they will in a way that can be easily misinterpreted. Little things that most people recognize seem to go right over their heads. Person boundaries and taboos do not always apply or they apply to an extreme. At the Special Needs Buddy walk I found that the most peculiar things was how they interacted in social situations. Some would hide behind their loved ones. There was one boy who started running and didn’t seem to realize he needed to stop and come back to his family. When interacting with Joshua, when I pretended to be a dinosaur he was more than willing to come and snuggle up next to me. When I went to be my normal self he was angry at me and avoided me. We would try different tactics to get Joshua to play a different game he was only interested in playing dinosaur. Joshua’s relationship with me was strained. We communicated in different ways and bridging that gap was not very easy for me.
In the time I’ve spent interacting with autistic people I’ve noticed they were like little kids in big bodies. Some shy, some outgoing. Most were constantly told what to do by their parent. Their eyes seemed farther apart then the eyes of people I’ve seen. They do things to their own beat. I noticed the kids at the buddy walk event who spoke or walked differently but none of that has inhibited them from walking or speaking. As for Joshua, the biggest difference I saw was that, aside from knowing what every single dinosaur was, he was bursting with energy. He could have ran around the building all night but it seemed like he had no boundaries. He would hit his sister’s volunteer because he was afraid she was taking her sister away. But he only hit the girl volunteer and didn’t bother fighting the guy volunteer. He just did whatever he wanted and wouldn’t listen to us, he had no reason to. There was nothing compelling him to follow the rules. The only rule he did follow was to stay inside the building. He was just the same as any other kid, except more energetic and less boundaries.
In the end these people with Special Needs are different but that shouldn’t make them scary or stupid. They have their own strengths and weaknesses that need to be respected. In the end they are different then the way I have seen them in the past and that’s a good thing because now I can be an ally.
Reflection
This class was a good learning experience. I feel more willing to act towards the things I care about and to make a difference in this world. I want to do more volunteer work and community service. I want to know about my world. I want to be an Ally.
I've come to the conclusion that even though I may not agree with people's opinions I can still respect them and love them. I've also learned that I can not always count on people being as tolerant of me and my opinions. I realize now that others have the free will to judge me because of my religion. That hurts but now I'm not ignorant of it. I'm grateful for this class and the things it's taught me.
11/26/16
1110 Social Health & Diversity
The Differently Abled Community
For my hours of community service, I volunteered helping at the annual buddy walk as well as working for a few hours at a babysitting institution for autistic and mentally challenged children. The buddy walk is an event where families sign up and spend a day walking around the park and playing games. I helped set up the bags with the shirts that each family would receive. At the event itself, I was in charge of manning the fishing pond. The player would hold the fishing pole, I would throw the bag inside a tent and the person inside the tent would fill up the bag and the player would get their gift. I got to get free chickflilay and a Volunteer T-shirt. There were all kinds of kids. Each family had at least one special needs child. There mainly Hispanic and Caucasian families attending. The babysitting institution was different, I had more one-on-one interaction. Each volunteer was assigned a child and since there were more children than volunteers me and my father teamed up to care for Joshua, an autistic eleven-year-old. Joshua was a energetic kid that ran laps throughout each room pretending to run from a dinosaur, which was me. Through these experiences, I have learned new things about children with disabilities.
Autistic people can sometimes be seen as strange, awkward or even dangerous because of their different ways of interacting with people. My experiences interacting with autistic peers at school are not good. I felt harassed by them. I did not understand why they would say the things they did. From what I have observed those with autism talk about whatever comes to their mind, often saying what they will in a way that can be easily misinterpreted. Little things that most people recognize seem to go right over their heads. Person boundaries and taboos do not always apply or they apply to an extreme. At the Special Needs Buddy walk I found that the most peculiar things was how they interacted in social situations. Some would hide behind their loved ones. There was one boy who started running and didn’t seem to realize he needed to stop and come back to his family. When interacting with Joshua, when I pretended to be a dinosaur he was more than willing to come and snuggle up next to me. When I went to be my normal self he was angry at me and avoided me. We would try different tactics to get Joshua to play a different game he was only interested in playing dinosaur. Joshua’s relationship with me was strained. We communicated in different ways and bridging that gap was not very easy for me.
In the time I’ve spent interacting with autistic people I’ve noticed they were like little kids in big bodies. Some shy, some outgoing. Most were constantly told what to do by their parent. Their eyes seemed farther apart then the eyes of people I’ve seen. They do things to their own beat. I noticed the kids at the buddy walk event who spoke or walked differently but none of that has inhibited them from walking or speaking. As for Joshua, the biggest difference I saw was that, aside from knowing what every single dinosaur was, he was bursting with energy. He could have ran around the building all night but it seemed like he had no boundaries. He would hit his sister’s volunteer because he was afraid she was taking her sister away. But he only hit the girl volunteer and didn’t bother fighting the guy volunteer. He just did whatever he wanted and wouldn’t listen to us, he had no reason to. There was nothing compelling him to follow the rules. The only rule he did follow was to stay inside the building. He was just the same as any other kid, except more energetic and less boundaries.
In the end these people with Special Needs are different but that shouldn’t make them scary or stupid. They have their own strengths and weaknesses that need to be respected. In the end they are different then the way I have seen them in the past and that’s a good thing because now I can be an ally.
Reflection
This class was a good learning experience. I feel more willing to act towards the things I care about and to make a difference in this world. I want to do more volunteer work and community service. I want to know about my world. I want to be an Ally.
I've come to the conclusion that even though I may not agree with people's opinions I can still respect them and love them. I've also learned that I can not always count on people being as tolerant of me and my opinions. I realize now that others have the free will to judge me because of my religion. That hurts but now I'm not ignorant of it. I'm grateful for this class and the things it's taught me.
Marriage & Family 2400 Family and Human Studies
Emmalisa Horlacher
CONTENTS: This class taught ways to make marriages successful. It taught facts on family statistics. It taught terminology to different family situations. It taught different types of love and the science behind it. It taught about sex and birth control. In this class we did essays every week, below is two of those essays. Every two weeks we had a quiz. Twice we were required to do a presentation on an assigned subject.
THE OLDEN DAYS
10/27/2016
Question:
Sit down with an older person (Grandparent type) and ask them to talk about the positive and negative aspects of family life in the "olden" days. Some interesting areas to explore might be the role of women in the family, views on the child's role in the family, the family's view of divorce and divorced people, their perceptions of people who chose to stay single, or any other topic that seems pertinent.
Answer: I interviewed a woman named Sharon. She is over 75 and widowed. She has eight kids and currently lives in her house with her dog Cashe. She is a lovely lady and I enjoyed getting to know her history.
Sharon grew up on a farm in a poor family. She didn’t know her family was poor but her family worked hard to support their needs. They had lots of food in the form of beef, fruit, vegetables, eggs and other ingredients that you find on a farm. She lived in a three room cottage with her four other sisters. Her eldest brother slept in the attic starting at age 10. Grandma had running water but her family did not, which meant that any time they needed water for cooking, drinking, washing and bathing they would have to hall it from grandma’s house. She didn’t have running water until she moved and she didn’t getting working pluming until she was older. Her father was the patriarch of the family as well as the nurturer. If a child was hurt they would go to the father. The mother was a hard worker though they suspect she may have had some form of autism. Children in the family were meant to be seen not heard. Children did not debate in adult conversations and they were meant to keep their opinions, if they had any, to themselves. The older children had brains while the younger ones did not. It was unspoken in the house that the son was the favorite. He was a boy, that made him best. Both parents encouraged education. They were a tight family that sang together in fields, worked together, did everything together. The father was the bread winner and though the mother was the cook and domestic she did not like to clean the house. They always had good food at home.
When Sharon was older her family moved to a military base where she attended high school and such. It was here that she tried to be a second boy for her father. She did boy activities to prove that she could be just as good as any man. When it came to friends Sharon was never allowed for friends to sleep over at her house. On one special occasion her father barely permitted it. One of her friends got pregnant as early as age 14. That made Sharon decide to not date the older men until she was their age. Eventually Sharon moved away to college.
At college Sharon met Bob and got married. She had no idea what marriage was. She still believed marriage to be a fairytale happy ending. Sharon thought she had married hypergamously. Hypergamy being “marrying up” in society (Strong and Cohen, 2014, pg 283). The reality was wrong. Bob had lied to her about many things before their marriage. Bob was not attending school. He was a janitor and had no plans to better himself as a citizen. She only met his family after they were married. She learned Bob came from a dysfunctional family. At age five Bob blamed himself for his mother’s death. He was abused at age 7. His father ignored him and remarried. The new step mother was a wicked witch who would not claim Bob or his sister as her own. In the garage Bob received his first exposure to porn on the monthly calendar that was hung up on the wall. The only person who would love Bob was his grandmother but it was conditional. “If you’re a good boy then I love you”. So Bob learned to lie. These are all things that Sharon didn’t know before she married Bob.
Their life together was rough. They were incredible poor and were in and out of debt. They had 23 moved over the years having 8 kids. Sharon was the dominant responsible breadwinner. Bob couldn’t hold a job and was felt to be distant from his children. Sharon and Bob were married for 50 years. The culture was to never divorce. To end it off, Sharon told me that that’s just life. It’s messy.
Strong, B., & Cohen, T. F. (2014). The Marriage and Family Experience (Twelfth ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
CONTENTS: This class taught ways to make marriages successful. It taught facts on family statistics. It taught terminology to different family situations. It taught different types of love and the science behind it. It taught about sex and birth control. In this class we did essays every week, below is two of those essays. Every two weeks we had a quiz. Twice we were required to do a presentation on an assigned subject.
THE OLDEN DAYS
10/27/2016
Question:
Sit down with an older person (Grandparent type) and ask them to talk about the positive and negative aspects of family life in the "olden" days. Some interesting areas to explore might be the role of women in the family, views on the child's role in the family, the family's view of divorce and divorced people, their perceptions of people who chose to stay single, or any other topic that seems pertinent.
Answer: I interviewed a woman named Sharon. She is over 75 and widowed. She has eight kids and currently lives in her house with her dog Cashe. She is a lovely lady and I enjoyed getting to know her history.
Sharon grew up on a farm in a poor family. She didn’t know her family was poor but her family worked hard to support their needs. They had lots of food in the form of beef, fruit, vegetables, eggs and other ingredients that you find on a farm. She lived in a three room cottage with her four other sisters. Her eldest brother slept in the attic starting at age 10. Grandma had running water but her family did not, which meant that any time they needed water for cooking, drinking, washing and bathing they would have to hall it from grandma’s house. She didn’t have running water until she moved and she didn’t getting working pluming until she was older. Her father was the patriarch of the family as well as the nurturer. If a child was hurt they would go to the father. The mother was a hard worker though they suspect she may have had some form of autism. Children in the family were meant to be seen not heard. Children did not debate in adult conversations and they were meant to keep their opinions, if they had any, to themselves. The older children had brains while the younger ones did not. It was unspoken in the house that the son was the favorite. He was a boy, that made him best. Both parents encouraged education. They were a tight family that sang together in fields, worked together, did everything together. The father was the bread winner and though the mother was the cook and domestic she did not like to clean the house. They always had good food at home.
When Sharon was older her family moved to a military base where she attended high school and such. It was here that she tried to be a second boy for her father. She did boy activities to prove that she could be just as good as any man. When it came to friends Sharon was never allowed for friends to sleep over at her house. On one special occasion her father barely permitted it. One of her friends got pregnant as early as age 14. That made Sharon decide to not date the older men until she was their age. Eventually Sharon moved away to college.
At college Sharon met Bob and got married. She had no idea what marriage was. She still believed marriage to be a fairytale happy ending. Sharon thought she had married hypergamously. Hypergamy being “marrying up” in society (Strong and Cohen, 2014, pg 283). The reality was wrong. Bob had lied to her about many things before their marriage. Bob was not attending school. He was a janitor and had no plans to better himself as a citizen. She only met his family after they were married. She learned Bob came from a dysfunctional family. At age five Bob blamed himself for his mother’s death. He was abused at age 7. His father ignored him and remarried. The new step mother was a wicked witch who would not claim Bob or his sister as her own. In the garage Bob received his first exposure to porn on the monthly calendar that was hung up on the wall. The only person who would love Bob was his grandmother but it was conditional. “If you’re a good boy then I love you”. So Bob learned to lie. These are all things that Sharon didn’t know before she married Bob.
Their life together was rough. They were incredible poor and were in and out of debt. They had 23 moved over the years having 8 kids. Sharon was the dominant responsible breadwinner. Bob couldn’t hold a job and was felt to be distant from his children. Sharon and Bob were married for 50 years. The culture was to never divorce. To end it off, Sharon told me that that’s just life. It’s messy.
Strong, B., & Cohen, T. F. (2014). The Marriage and Family Experience (Twelfth ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Rock Climbing
This was a fun class. I made friends, climbed rock and it helped to overcome my fear of heights!
There are many great health apps to choose to review and I chose an app called My Calendar. It tracks the menstrual cycle of a woman. This is important for the female gender because females need to be aware of their bodies and take the time necessary to deal with their emotions and pain when the body is under such feminine stress. It can also be a tool to help a man better understand and communicate with his woman. The opening screen tells you how any days are left and on what day a woman will menstruate. It also has the next time a woman will be fertile enough to have a baby. If it doesn't match exactly then the app has a manual system which a woman can also track and have a rough estimate as to when their period should start. Next on the opening screen are 5 tabs, Calendar, Log, char, settings, and add note. The calendar shows the date, the days of fertility, and the chance of pregnancy. By clicking on a day you can add more things such as intercourse and other things involved with the period flow. The log shows the past track data and the future predictions. The chart is a chart of fertility and ovulation of the year, month and weeks. The settings are just preferences for the app and the add note is to personalize each day to fit the woman's health needs.
There are many great health apps to choose to review and I chose an app called My Calendar. It tracks the menstrual cycle of a woman. This is important for the female gender because females need to be aware of their bodies and take the time necessary to deal with their emotions and pain when the body is under such feminine stress. It can also be a tool to help a man better understand and communicate with his woman. The opening screen tells you how any days are left and on what day a woman will menstruate. It also has the next time a woman will be fertile enough to have a baby. If it doesn't match exactly then the app has a manual system which a woman can also track and have a rough estimate as to when their period should start. Next on the opening screen are 5 tabs, Calendar, Log, char, settings, and add note. The calendar shows the date, the days of fertility, and the chance of pregnancy. By clicking on a day you can add more things such as intercourse and other things involved with the period flow. The log shows the past track data and the future predictions. The chart is a chart of fertility and ovulation of the year, month and weeks. The settings are just preferences for the app and the add note is to personalize each day to fit the woman's health needs.