EEX 2010Amanda McCrae

amccrae@knights.ucf.eduDecember 7, 2011

The Conductive Education Center of Orlando (CECO) is

located in Winter Park Florida

Non-profit organization which offers services and programs

to children with motor disabilities.

CECO was founded in 2001 by Joe and Vicky Raymond.

CECO’s mission is to combine physical and social

educational methods to meet the unique needs of children

with motor and cognitive disabilities.

Conductive Education Summarized by Conductor, Virag CzibokConductive Education is a developmental method to teach everyday life skills to children and adults with motor disabilities. It teaches the participants in the program how they can use and improve their skills to achieve their maximum abilities and take an active part in life. It is a lifestyle. Conductive Education covers all aspects of human development—physical, cognitive, communication, language, social and emotional. It is based on motivation.

CECO reaches out to the community by providing services to children and their families.

Children are attending a school that meets their specific needs.

Parents get the opportunity to watch their children grow physically and academically.

I had the opportunity to work with a student one on one in different task such as stretching and massage which prepares the student for the physical tasks of the daily programs. I also helped with a lying program which is designed specifically for children with Cerebral palsy who have difficulty with muscle control of their limbs.

CECO’s school day last 6 hours. I volunteered 3 separate days.

I found out about CECO in 2010 from a friend and I immediately wanted to work there.

I had the amazing opportunity to work at CECO for the 2010-2011 school year. It was by far the greatest job I have ever had. The kids at the school actually urged me to change my major to Exceptional Student Education.

Unfortunately I was unable to work at CECO for the 2011-2012 school year due to conflicts with my school scheduling but I did not hesitate to go back and volunteer my time with them and see some familiar faces.

Students at CECO range from 5 years old to the age of 21.

CECO is made up of a diverse student population of 28 students.

The majority of the children are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. But a few students are affected by the Autistic Spectrum.

From my service hours I worked with a different child each day I volunteered, so I served three different child with disabilities to fulfill my hours.

Before getting involved with CECO I could never imagine myself working with children with special needs. I thought it would be a sad experience and I would feel sorry for these kids and their families. But those thoughts and feelings definitely changed. Once I witnessed how happy these children were and how excited their parents were with their progress from day to day I then realized I could make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities.

I am completing this Community Partners project for class EEX 2010

I have gained more knowledge about Individualized Special Education

Programs (IEP) which is covered in Chapter 2 of our text Introduction to

Special Education. An IEP is designed specifically for each student

emphasizing the goals that the parents and teachers would like to see

the student reach. At CECO one of the conductors went over a sample IEP

with me so I could see how it is set up and what kind of goals are

reasonable for each child.

Another topic that I gained more knowledge about was Speech and

Language impairments which is covered in Chapter 4 of our text. Speech

and language impairments can cause many obstacles when it comes to

communicating with your students. At CECO I was shown different hang

signals that students have learned either and home or at school. It was

really rewarding to be able to communicate with the students by using

hand signals.

One last topic in which I gained more knowledge about due to this

project was Physical and Health Disabilities, Chapter 9 in the text.The

majority of the students I worked with at CECO were wheeled into in

wheelchairs. But at CECO once the students are in the door they are

transferred to walkers or other types of assistant walking devices. I

learned a lot about the mobility obstacles that the children are faced

with and realized that the stretching and massage that is performed at

the beginning of the school day is very helpful to the students. It helps

loosen their tight muscles and helps them perform better throughout the

day.

I better understand the lives of not only the children and their

families but also the individuals that work with children with

disabilities. This experience has been eye opening and has shown me

how rewarding working with people with disabilities is.

These experiences will help me with my future professional work in

many different ways. I will not be uncomfortable working with or

talking with children with disabilities. I will be confident while

speaking with them and now I know that I can talk with them just

like I talk with anyone else. Communicating may be hard at times

but I have learned different ways of communication in this class and

was able to put them to use out in the community.

Being civically engaged and volunteering doesn’t only help the

community but it also help you grow as a person and gain knowledge.

It is awesome to volunteer and to lend out a helping hand.

Volunteering plays a huge role in society for everyone especially

citizens with disabilities. For people to have a kind heart and to help

and give to those that are in need is incredible. We all will need help

someday. The purpose of volunteering is to reach out and HELP.

Service learning as a method of teaching is very effective. Service

learning puts students out into situation where they will one day be

and can help determine if they want to continue their education in

the field or change to a different field.

This experience definitely motivated me to be more engaged in the

future. It made me very excited to finish my degree so I can be a

teacher to those with disabilities and make a impact in their lives.

I would highly recommend service learning to teacher and students

in the future. It is fun and also gets students engaged in real life

situations that can be eye opening.

I really enjoyed working with children with

disabilities. It was a fun and rewarding opportunity.

I plan to continue volunteering at CECO while I

study at UCF to get my degree in Exceptional

Student Education. I want to work with children

with disabilities in public elementary schools.

CECO Video