Rights for kids with Autism-Ariana Magana

Rights for kids with Autism

Research:

We walk down the street everyday, weather it is to the grocery store or the park for a jog. Every where public that we go to we see kids. Children come in every shape and size, just like any other person. They all have their own personality some are calm others are more wild. When people walk in the store and see a child walking up and down or making noise they automatically judge and say "where are that child's parents", we are very quick to judge, when it comes to seeing a child misbehave, but we do not really know what really is going on. That child might have Autism Spectrum Disorder and they should not be judge so fast. According to the website autismspeaks.org "Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors." Many people do not known exactly what autism is and even though it is a developmental delay, many kids learn to live with it and they become great people. Autism is more common than most people think, in the article Autism Prevalence it says "  This surveillance study identified 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD)." Which is why people should be more aware of the situation and learn that it is so common and that things should change for kids with Autism. Once a child get diagnosed with Autism, and they are ready to start school they automatically are put in special education because of the IDEA Law which is designed to help people with disabilities. But is it really helping the children or are they depriving them from a good education?. Kids with Autism tend to have more energy than most and just because they have a diagnoses they are placed in special education with kids that have a more severe mental or developmental issue. When in reality kids with autism can learn at the same pace as "normal" kids, its just that by them having a diagnoses they are treated differently. Below is a graph that shows the amount of kids with autism that are enrolled in special education, its only a small amount but this kids are not getting the right education so that they can be someone in life just like any other child.

Action: 
People should all unite and demand laws that laws that protect kids with Autism. But laws that actually help them reach their full potential. There should be classes for Autistic kids, where they are being taught but at their own pace, and not just because they have a diagnoses they should be considered less of a human.


 Personal:

This issue affects me personally because I work with kids with Autism every day. I am witness of what they are capable of doing. But just because they have a diagnoses many school just decide to put them in special education where they are not pushed to strive for better. I work with 7 kids with autism and every day that I see them, the teachers do not give any homework, or even teach them necessary things, most of the children I work with learn are learning to read and write from there family because they are the once that actually know what their children are capable. It is a very scary fact to see that those kids are brilliant but are not really given the time to be taught. I believe that there should be extra help to assist these kids and even though they do require extra help they should still be granted the same opportunities to learn. As I went out in the community I came to realize that I was not the only one that had the same believes. Below you will find different people in my community that felt the same way. As I was going around I came across different people that I did not know had kids with Autism. Most of the people below have a child that has Autism and also some students that live in my community that feel the same way. We live in the same community but we are always so occupied that we do not pay attention to what is around us. I believe this is a very important issue and something in the future has to be done so that all those kids with Autism get the education they deserve.
Members in my community that agree:

Citations:
1. "Autism Speaks." Autism Prevalence | Autism Speaks. ©2016 Autism Speaks Inc., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. 

2. "The Condition of Education - Participation in Education - Elementary/Secondary - Children and Youth With Disabilities - Indicator May (2016)." The Condition of Education - Participation in Education - Elementary/Secondary - Children and Youth With Disabilities - Indicator May (2016). N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Depression & women self-stigmatizing depression - Celeste Lopez

RESEARCH:

            Depression is a mental illness that is surrounded by stigma that discourages those with depression to seek help. Even though there are many treatments available for depression, people face challenges with the stigma associated with depression and don’t disclose their symptoms to health practitioners. This leads to treatment discontinuation rates to rise. People with depression fear that if they disclose their mental illness that not only their relationships can be affected but also they’re employment status, and their status for health insurance. Some of the most common reasons that patients do not report depressive symptoms or seek treatment are that they feel embarrassed and fear to be perceived as unbalanced, neurotic, irritating, and/or dangerous/violent, because of being diagnosed as having depression. Negative stereotypes towards depression is common, for example one stereotype of depression is that people with depression are the ones to blame for their illness, and that only they could solve their issues and better themselves.

            The stigma that society has towards depression has lead to self-stigma for women. A study assessed the self-stigma from a sample of Latina, African American and Caucasian women with depression and who have access/qualify to health care services. For this study 37.5% of the women in the sample said they would try anything to keep their depression a secret, 55% said that if they disclose their depressive symptoms it would be to their best friend and 80% of the women make the decision to not disclose their depressive symptoms to a health care professional. Women who do not disclose their depressive symptoms believe that disclosing may cause them to be socially stigmatized and/or socially distanced. In a longitudinal study that observed the different treatments and gender differences in spouse abandonment showed that “healthy wives were more willing to be caretakers for ill husbands but they were unable to explain why ill wives were more likely to be divorced by healthy husbands” (Oakley, p.513). Especially in today’s society, depression in the media are seen associated with bizarre behavior, and women that have children fear that they may be seen as dangerous by authorities, or dangerous in general for being diagnosed and treated for depression.

REFERENCES:

Oakley, L. D., Kanter, J. W., Taylor, J. Y., & Duguid, M. (2012). The self-stigma of depression for women. International Journal Of Social Psychiatry, 58(5), 512-520. doi:10.1177/0020764011409820

Monteith, L. L., & Pettit, J. W. (2011). Implicit and Explicit Stigmatizing Attitudes and Stereotypes About Depression. Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology, 30(5), 484-505. doi:10.1521/jscp.2011.30.5.484

PERSONAL:

            The stigma towards depression affects more people than we realize, something that people should take notice. This issue as effected me on a personal level, not because I have known people affected by their depression but because I’ve have depression. And growing up with depression I have realized that as an adult one can be more criticized compared to being in middle school.

            I chose this issue because people can individually start to erase the stigma around depression. By just being supportive towards the idea of depression, sometimes we just have to ask if they’re really doing okay. As a society we have to change the image of depression, and show that depression does not make people weak and that people are not responsible for having depression. Something I learned is that depression doesn’t go away, its an illness that we have to fight everyday, because we can’t let depression control our lives, it should be us in control of our own lives. When I transitioned from high school to college my depression has slowly taken control on my life, and I tried counseling but I felt more like the councilor was interrogating me instead of asking what was really going through my head and I stopped going because I felt like it wasn’t helping at all. Currently, because of my depression, I have a hard time concentrating, sleeping and even eating. No one should feel like they cannot be helped and let their condition worsen.

            My action is to take a stand against the self-stigma of women when it comes to depression, and starting with the stigma towards depression in general.

MEMBERS FROM MY COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY THIS ISSUE: 

Cyber Bullied in the LGBT Community

            For this project I decided to do something that involves more the community of the internet, more specifically cyber bullying resolving the LGTB community. I spend many of my time on the internet and as part of the LGBT community I had witness many cyber bullying occurring to my friends many times. It still hurts to know they are experiencing this while I am bisexual, but had not been bully because of my sexuality despite being open about it. My friends only received hateful words anonymously rather than any other serious matters. LGBT affects my community because it heavily hurts their self-esteem and may cause harm to the victims either doing poorly in school or committing suicide.

            According to Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), they have stated that 42 percent of the LGBT youth have experience cyber bullying, and 58 percent had negative words spoken to and about them online. That is a pretty high percentage regarding to cyber bullying and specifically the latter because when harmful words are spoken to or about them it misleading information to spread. And many who reads these harmful words, and do not know anything about the person may just believe on such fact. Which then would lead the future bullies to actually turn a blind eye for the victim in need or participate in the bullying. 

            A research by Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin they had created their own survey and discovered “…over 72% of LGBT students reported being the  target  of  a  bully  at  some point in their lifetime compared to 63% of heterosexual students.” As they had also received the results of LGBT student reporting their experience came out to be almost twice as many experience of cyber bullying compare heterosexual students, leading to a 36.1% vs. 20.1%.

            I created my own research with the help of using social media such as twitter and tumblr. I had first ask regarding if many are aware that cyber bullying occur within the LGBT youth community outside of the internet First this is the results I’ve receive from people outside of the internet, 33% of yes and 67% of no, out of the 14 participant I’ve collect, which is a shocking discovery to me. My discovery of asking people within the internet lead to be 86% of yes and 14% of no, out of the 64 voluntary participants. Then the next question I’ve asked through the community of the internet if they are being cyber bullied. About 55% of yes and they are part of the LGBT, 20% of yes and non-LGBT, 10% of no and LGBT 15% of no and non-LGBT, out of the 55 voluntary participants that said yes to the previous question. 

            Sadly, the participants do not want have their pictures released on the internet. Mostly the people I’ve collected through the internet due to the fact they fear about their friends, family, or anyone else discovering their sexuality. I had the feeling the vast majority would not participate in wanting their picture displayed, however, I would still like to know how many people are being affected by cyber bullying.

                                                                                                                                     

Marra, A.  Out Online: The Experiences of LGBT Youth on the Internet. Retrieved from

http://www.glsen.org/press/study-finds-lgbt-youth-face-greater-harassment-online

Hinduja, S. Ph.D.,  Patchin W., J. Ph.D. Cyberbullying Research Summary. Retrieved from

http://www.cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying_sexual_orientation_fact_sheet.pdf

Decreasing Gang Violence - Jeremy Pope

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Gender Roles in a Mexican-American Family - Alejandro M

Is your role in society influenced by your family’s culture? I definitely believe this to be the case within a Mexican culture. In a Mexican–American family, where there is a strong focus on family dependence and on gender specified roles, the young children may be more likely to look to their parents as models for gender maturation(Cauce and Domenech-Rodriguez 2002). More specifically, the Mexican culture influences the gender role within the family and society. The traditional gender roles of a Mexican culture are demonstrated to the children by the parents and the children are expected to follow the same. The traditional family in Mexico is led by the father. Family is the most important aspect of their culture and the father has authority over the family. The female is always treated as less important within the family by the men. The male’s role within the household is that he the leader of the family and the main breadwinner, the person who earns the most to provide for the family. The female’s only place is to stay at home. The woman should not work outside of the home in order to take care of the children and take care of the cleanliness of the home. The reason for her not allowed to work is that the wife would be less dependent of the husband in the sense of financial independence and thus would be less focused on his needs as a man (Gonzalez, 1982).

This issue is one that I feel very strongly about. The reason being that I was brought up in a Mexican household and I encountered these influences of gender roles. Since I was very young, although I was taught these traditional roles, I never agreed with them. Possibly because of the fact that I grew up as an only child by a single mother. I would notice the roles from extended family or my friend’s family, in which the women would attend to the man. Although I did not agree with this traditional role of the woman, I perceived it as a normal situation in society. Not only until I began to encounter families of other ethnicities, I realized that it was not a normal situation within all of society. There were a few similarities within the gender roles throughout other ethnicities, but the particular roles that I was encountering within my family were based only from our culture. I promised myself that when I would marry someone, I would never impose these outdated gender roles within my marriage. If my wife wanted to have successful career that involved much of her time, I would be accepting of it and I would support her unconditionally. 

Fortunately, I have practiced my promise to myself. I am currently married and have been for 4 years now. My wife, also Mexican-American, never took liking to the gender roles imposed to her by her family either. We both always share responsibilities within our family, household, and we share our efforts to earn money to provide for the former. I believe a woman and man are equal and parents should model that equality to their children.

Supporters of the community:

Brianna Pacheco

References:

Cauce, A. M., & Domenech-Rodr ́ıguez, M. (2002). Latino families: Myths and realities. In J. M. Contreras, K. A. Kerns, & A. M. Neal-Barnett (Eds.), Latino children and families in the United States (pp. 5–25). Westport, CT: Praeger Press.

Gonzalez, A. (1982). Sex roles of the traditional Mexican family: A comparison of Chicano and Anglo students' attitudes. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 13, 330-339. 

#BlueLivesMatter?

What's the largest gang in America? The police. Why do police have military weapons then use them on unarmed. Why isn't there anyone policing police? They have full reign to terrorize their community with minimum risks. You can't defend yourself against a cop or they'll kill you. So basically, even if you're undeserving of their cruel treatment there's literally nothing there can be done about it. Body cams are virtually ignored. There has to be a way to put police in their place because we the people are tired of their antics and deserve better. People of all races and not just blacks are victims to their unjustified treatment of their communities. Enough is enough. We need to come together as one to overcome adversity. We're so divided among cultures but all have one big problem in common. Police. They aren't there to protect and serve but to kill and neglect, drunk with power and have itchy trigger fingers. Eagerly awaiting to take a life no matter how petty the situation. Paramedics answer to the call, fire fighters answer to the call, but police, they activity seek.


To protect and serve. Or to control and conquer? The police should be sued for false advertising their actually purpose. Now more than ever, more and more of the minorities are being shot down in cold blood, not doing a thing to warrant such a fate. But it continues, it continues unchecked. This has always been an issue but the attention has really became mainstream since the unruly murder of Trayvon Martin. Which resulted in the #blacklivesmatters movement created by Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi. George Zimmerman got off with no charges so they created it to bring attention to how easily a cop can kill a black person and get away from it. However, I think the problem surpasses just the black community to all minorities. Specifically, Hispanics and black people. Hispanics, for example, make up 17.6 percent of the U.S. population but represent 23 percent of all searches and nearly 30 percent of arrests as stated by Kenya Downs from “PBS The Rundown.”  she also says “Among minorities, the rate of police killings for Latinos is second to those of African-Americans. As of today, an estimated 94 Latinos have been killed by police in 2016 alone, making up 16 percent of the 585 police-involved killings this year.  In contrast, people who are black or African-American are only 13.3 percent of the U.S. population, but 144 black Americans have been killed by police in 2016. At 25 percent, those deaths represent a disproportionate number of officer-involved fatalities compared to the population.” This is an outrage. Those are 585 lives that could still be with their families spending the holidays together but had their lives tragically cut short. There has to be a change. The police should operate with rules of engagement as the military does. They shouldn't be allowed to fire unless they are fired at first and anything done otherwise is an automatic dishonorable discharge from the police. Furthermore, there is no need for them to have military weapons because they hardly ever deal with such major threats and even if they do that's what S.W.A.T is for. Their power continues to rise as civilians have no power against them. The law is set up to even when wrong, police are always in the right. Proven by David Packman from “POLICE MISCONDUCT” he states “Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP) which tracked over 8,300 credible reports involving allegations of police misconduct in the US from April of 2009 through December 2010 which involved nearly 11,000 law enforcement officers within those 21 months. Of those reported allegations, only 3,238 resulted in criminal charges against law enforcement officers. Of those 3,238 criminal cases against law enforcement officers in the US, only 1,063 officers were ultimately convicted of those charges or reduced charges associated with the original allegations. Of the law enforcement officers who were ultimately convicted, 36% were ultimately sentenced to spend any time incarcerated and the average length of incarceration for those sentenced to prison or jail was approximately 34.6 months.” These statistics are from 2010 so just imagine how high that number is now. Police’s false duty needs to be address or one day I feel civil war will rise again. There is only so much we can take before matters are taken in our own hands. We can get petitions, have rallies, and protest. Our voices will never be heard. Leaving us with only dire options with dire consequences.

Rizzy Session 

Age: 16 

What I think about police is that the white ones can be racist for an example when I had got into that fight last week the police had stop me and my cousin and we was the most black since our skin darker out of my boyfriend and my friend but refuse to believe what me and my cousin was saying when it was us but when my friend spoke and told him everything is fine he said ok and he let us go when he could've just let us go when me and my cousin told him everything was fine to began with why when my biracial friend step up and say something then he automatically said ok and she half white if she wasn't there I feel that he wouldn't had let us goI hate police and wish they fall in a f****** trap and die simple 💀They think they can get away with sh*t ,sexually abuse women , kill people for no reason , be f****** racist and still walk around like they don't do shit ? F*ck them. What happen to them protecting us from the prevention detection of crime?  How are we being protected from this when they doing this  ? When they the ones out here doing the crime ? When they the ones going against the law ? They want to be responsible for our district so why can't they be responsible and man up to the sh*t they do ?"

Belinda Vinson

Age: 37

"Police brutality goes against everything that they stand for "to protect and serve" and i believe they should be retrained on how to handle certain situations '

Victoria Morales

Age: 18 

"I lost all respect for people after the day my best friend's uncle was beat and tazed for no reason in front of public right in the middle of the street. He was killed and all for nothing. Recently, I watched a man get beat while being bite by a K9 just because he stole a car. So what do I think of police? F*ck em." 

The people have spoken.
Yet the government reminds ever silent.
 If change doesn't happen now the repercussions will be violent.

CSU Homelessness (Diana Maldonado)

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/csucauldron.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/1c/31c47d14-76d4-11e5-99cd-1fc4cb562248/5625ab70014b8.image.jpg?resize=728%2C305w


Intro:
Homelessness is a huge issue in our daily society, from the unfortunate homeless people at Skid Row to the ones right next to where you live. We see it almost everyday, but who would have thought in seeing it at Universities, where everyone looks ok while seeking for their education, to obtain a career in the long run. We at times stereo type the homeless, as individuals who do not like to work or who have an addiction to alcohol or some sort of drug. We never imagine finding hard working people struggle with this issue. The sad part is, the individual sitting next to me in class at Cal State LA can be homeless and nobody knows. This is a very important issue because being a Cal State student I feel we all struggle for our education, and being homeless does not help.
Action:  As a college student, I know and understand that college is tough in many ways, such as tuition, which is very high. I stand in creating awareness for this issue, the same way as colleges ask from us a lot, they should provide programs to help their own students.
Research:
  Homeless students in the CSU system was not known until February of last year (2015) when a study commissioned  by Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White, brought in results and awareness on this issue. The study informed that it was difficult to obtain an accurate report of students who are homeless. You may ask yourself why? Well, on a News article "Study Says that 1in 10 Cal State Students are Homeless" by Tim Loc, it is because many students do not consider they are homeless, especially those who are "couch-surfing or living in their cars" according to Rashida Crutchfield, who is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Cal State Long Beach. There are others who are embarrassed to say they are homeless. Therefore, making it difficult to see who is in need. Not only are many of this students in need of a shelter, but most of the time they are in need of food.

  On an article "1 in 10 Cal State students is homeless, study finds" by Rosanna Xia, the study by Rashida is broken up furthermore, making it easy to understand the severity of the problem. Xia states, that out of 460,000 California State University students about "one in 10 are homeless".  Moreover, one in five doesn't have steady access to enough food. The homeless and shelter problem is an several issue that needs to be fixed. Chancellor White, said in a conference back in June 2016 "We're going to find solutions that we can take to scale". The problem was hidden, but now that it is know, many individuals including other students and administrators see it as their task to fix this problem, and fix it right.

References:

Xia, R. (2016, June 20). 1 in 10 Cal State students is homeless, study finds.
Retrieved from
 http://www.latimes.cm/local/lanow/la-me-cal-state-homelessness-20160620-snap-story.html
Loc, T. (2016, June 20). Study Says that 1 in 10 Cal State Students Are Homeless.
Retrieved from
h
http://laist.com/2016/06/20/homeless_cal_state.php


Personal:
It is very important for me to bring awareness about this issue because it is something unheard of. When my counselor professor mention that 1 in every 10 CSU students are homeless, I was in shock. It is unbelievable, that a lot of students are going through something that should not exist. They are trying to overcome all obstacles and become successful, but unfortunately along the way it just becomes harder. We hear quiet often the importance of eating well and sleeping well for our health, this students sometimes do not get any of it.

Approximately last year, I found an old friend from High School at Cal State LA, I was already leaving to class and she said she was just waiting for her gap to pass, to go to class. It was a cold day, I had gone to get myself  a hot chocolate and a snack. While talking to her she told me she had not eaten all day, it was about 4 p.m. when we started talking. She had a terrible head-ache, I offer her the snack I had, she was very thankful. She started opening up to me, saying that most days she would maybe eat only once. I asked her if she was soon to graduate, she said no for the past three years at Cal State LA she had become stuck in the general ed classes. She could not find a job, she mentioned she was trying to join the Marines, because she just wanted money to continue her education and to be able to have for her food.

Months later I come to know that she no longer attended Cal State LA. Her bad grades had caused CSULA to kick her out. That touched me because I know she is a smart individual, because of life circumstances her grades went down. I believe that in situations like this, administrators should see why students grades are low, not assume that it is because of lack of study. I find it very important to support my friend and anyone else I may find a long the way. We are all struggling for our education, and the students who are homeless needs more of our help and support. I can only come yo think that like her there are other students with children, I have personally struggle a lot with school and my two year old. I have a place to call home and food, while there are others with children who are the ones that become more affected. It is very important to see ways to help this college students.

Community Members:

                                                                   Selvin Ralda,
  "I stand in finding ways to help CSU Homeless students, as well as homeless all around me."

Alexis Luis

Maria Sanchez

"No student should have to stress out about being homeless. Their focus should be on educating themselves."

Professor Rose Gaw

"This is an issue that we all should be more aware of. We should try and be of help to end homelessness"

Diana Maldonado

 Below are pictures of what an organization at Cal State LA are doing to help the homeless students in our campus. Many of the students came in on a Saturday morning to make blankets for the homeless students on campus.