Durty Hands

I found myself in class on Friday struggling to participate in the activity of breaking apart my purpose statement. Ashley was writing on the board a mile a minute trying break down her statement. I just sat there not wanting to break mine apart because I didn't know where to begin. I had too many ideas floating around. I thought about some of the children that I work with that have sensory needs. Some of them seek sensory input, for example they run in circles and jump up and down so they feel where they are in space. Then there are other kids who try to avoid sensory input all together, covering their ears when they hear loud noises or trying not to get anything onto, and everything off of, their hands because they can't stand the feeling. In class as I was doing this activity I felt as if I was a child with sensory needs. I had a huge mess that I was supposed to touch with my hands, but I didn't want to. I was afraid to. I felt like there was a mass of information in front of me and I did not want to stick my hands into the craziness to get dirty. As class continued and we talked about this massive amount of information that I will be organizing I realized that this is something I am going to have to face. That is how you go about an inquiry. You have to sift through all of this information in order to drive what you are trying to find the answers to. I am going to have to get messy!!! What a concept! In order to help the kids who are struggling with sensory needs who do not want to touch things with their hands we try to help them by exposing them to the opportunities to get their hands dirty. I am going to have to let myself get dirty. I have a lot of information coming at me from many directions and I am going to have to learn how to touch it and organize it. The only way to do this is by going in there and exposing myself to the mess. I have to start touching it. I want to learn how to do this. Organizing and gathering relevant information will assist me in the field. My inquiry could take on a new direction because of the situations I find myself in there. If I have not gathered and organized the information well here then when I get there I will be unsure of what to do for my project. I will be there with no direction and months to pass until I head home. That would not be good! Here is the current condition of my "Purpose Statement."

My purpose for doing this research is to learn and better acknowledge how those from Mexico understand and feel about a child with special needs. What superstitions do they have? What is their current understanding of the capability of a child with special needs? Do they feel they can progress? As well I would like to understand what origin this understanding and feelings come from. This understanding will hopefully help me as I work with families here from Mexico who have a child with special needs or disability.

Here is my beginning. I have a feeling this is going to change, and change again, and again, and again as I get my hands dirty and sort through information to decide what direction my inquiry needs to take at that moment in time.