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EDPG addressed: EDPG 2 - Learning Differences

Name of Artifact: Immersion Experience


Date of Artifact: Fall Semester 2016
Course in which Artifact was implemented: ED 212 - Teaching Diverse Learners in General
Education Classes

On September 9th, 2016, I went to a long-term care facility to visit some residents. It is
something I had never done in the past. It was definitely an experience that was out of my
comfort zone since I am a very sensitive person and the residents of this facility are all people
with dementia or Alzheimer. I first learned about the difference between those two syndromes
and diseases before going to talk to the residents of this facility. Dementia is a not a disease but
a syndrome. It is a type of brain disorder that impacts performance of daily activities and
communication. Alzheimer is a type of dementia that affects memory, language and thought. I
prepared some questions I could ask them such as how they were feeling, how they like the
facility they were living in, and what story they would like to share with me. Since I had never
talked to people with dementia or Alzheimers before, I really did not know what to expect and if
the residents would want to or be able to talk to me. The director of the facility was very nice.
She is the one who approved my request to go visit them.

The first thing I noticed when I got there is that the six employees I came across while I was
there were all women. Half of them seemed to be in their twenties. They were all very good
with the residents. They asked three of the residents they thought were more open and able to
talk to come meet me. The four of us sat down around a table. I introduced myself and told
them that I was a French American citizen living in the area. One of them was a retired teacher
so I was very excited to meet him and was hoping to talk to him about his experience as a
teacher. I told them I had been hired last month to be a Spanish teacher but that I was also a
student since I decided to go back to school to get my educational license. I was there for about
an hour and at no point did they ask me a question. I started by asking them their names and to
tell me more about them. Harold is the name of the retired teacher. He was also the oldest
person in the group since he was 90 years old. He was actually unable to remember his age, but
he ended up telling us that he was born in 1926. He also mentioned that he was not feeling too
old. Unfortunately, this is the only information he shared with us. He got very quiet once the
other lady, Frances, started talking. Frances was 83 years old. She was raised on a farm and a
retired farmer. She was the person who was the most excited about my visit. Once she started
talking she pretty much never stopped until an employee went to pick them up because they were
going to go for a drive and get ice cream. Even then, she made them all wait because she wanted
to finish the story she was telling me.

She started by sharing a story from high school that really marked her. She said it was very hard
for her to make friends in high school because she was a farmers girl. When she finally made
friends, three total, a girl told her that she could not be friends with one of the girls that she was
friends with, and she threatened her. She said, those town girls were mean. I really do not
know why she told me this story, but it sounds like she was still hurt. I tried to relate this story
with the schools nowadays that experience a lot of bullying. The retired teacher remained silent.
I asked them if it had been easy for them to make friends in this facility. They all looked at each
other with a smile and Frances said it was easy, but it was not the same here. It is not as fun
here, she added. She explained to us why she was not happy to be here. She fell from a chair at
home and ended up at the hospital. The doctor who treated her concluded that she had a seizure
and that was the reason why she fell. She had seizures in the past but she said this had nothing to
do with a seizure. She was able to give us all the details of her accident. When she got out of the
hospital, she thought she was going back home but saw that everything was already out of her
house. She realized what was happening. After arriving to this facility, she cried for three days.
But her daughter told her that this was the best facility in the area. She lived forty minutes away
from here and all her friends are getting too old to drive down here to see her. She agrees with
her daughter and thinks that this is a very nice facility. But she wishes this particular facility was
closer to home, near her family and friends. She belonged to five clubs there and here she was
bored.

I asked them if they felt like they were doing better since they were in this facility. Frances did
not think so. She told me that the doctor said she had dementia and that is the reason why her
daughter had no choice but sign the papers for her mother to be transferred to a long-term care
facility. She also said that her daughter would be put in jail if she had not signed those papers. It
is very confusing to talk to those residents because you cannot tell if what they say is true or not.
But what really tore my heart apart is when I asked them if some of their family members were
visiting them sometimes. Harold turned his head to say no and I could tell it was not a subject he
wanted to talk about. Frances said her daughter and her son were very busy. She told us that her
husband got killed on their farm due to a farm accident, and that her son had been by himself
since then to take care of the 1,800 acre farm. I could tell that she was very sad at that moment.
The third lady who was with us, Jean, the youngest in the group, said that her two sons were
married, so they had their own family and life now. I was very surprised to hear that. I thought
that the residents would tell me that they wished they had more visits. Is that not a sad way to
think? Should not parents want to be part of their childrens lives as long as they live? I do not
know why these questions popped in my head because I should have realized that people who
suffer from dementia or Alzheimer are not able to think at their full capacities.

I guess I had some preconceived ideas about the residents of such a facility. For some reason, I
thought they would be happy to be living with other people and not on their own. I thought they
would all be excited to interact and share with me. The fact that they were not in a hurry to leave
me was positive. I think I probably put them out of their comfort zone as much as I was. There
was one person who was still seated by my table in his wheelchair after the meeting ended. I
asked him if he wanted to talk to me. He ignored me and I figured I should just leave him alone.
Maybe he just wanted to be by people. I asked the employee who was by us what his name was.
She said it was George. I told her I was afraid I was bothering him. She said he was deaf. I felt
really bad and told her that he did not seem too good. She told me that he had not been well
today. I asked her if Harold was ok and had a family. She informed me that his wife was in
another long-term care facility and was visiting him regularly.
The problem is that even if the residents of this facility do have some visitors, most of them
cannot remember they had visitors or cannot recognize their family members anymore. What I
can retrieve from this experience is a lot of sadness because those people are not able to interact
normally due to memory loss or other incapacities. I should have known that it would be a hard
experience but I guess you never really realize what it is until you experience it. I knew what
Alzheimer was but I was unable to picture what this meeting was going to look like. I knew
getting old was not fun, but getting old and not being with your family, or not even
understanding the world around us, is depressing. I cried the entire way home. I wish to never
end up where those people are.

In conclusion, I think it was still a good thing for me to go talk to them. Even though it is not
something I would do every day, it was definitely a learning experience. I learned more about
people that were different from me and about how to interact with them. My preconceived ideas
may not have helped me create the best atmosphere possible during the meeting. I did let
Frances talk because I could tell she wanted to, but maybe I should have tried to do a better job
talking to the two other persons in the group. I did not even realize that I may not have treated
them equally because I thought that Harold did not want to talk to me. He may have just been
shy and I should have tried to find what his interest was to make him talk more. Maybe Frances
was the kind of person I was more comfortable to talk to and without even knowing it, I ended
up letting her talk more. I discovered some of my hidden biases or comfort level about
interactions with people different from me. It is a good reminder that in my classroom, I need to
make sure that I do not have any hidden stereotypes or biases. What would happen if I had
hidden stereotypes that would influence how I see my students? Implicit biases can lead to
imposed identities, and reinforcing negative stereotypes and negative school climates without
even knowing it. Are they factors I consider consciously or not when I first encounter a
student? Do I treat them all equally? Are we supposed to give up on students who are different
because they challenge us too much?

This experience taught me that getting out of our comfort zone is the best way to learn more
about people who are different from me. The most important is to remain neutral and not to
judge people because of their differences. After interacting with and listening to the elderly
residents, I feel like I would be more at ease if I went back and visited them again. They may not
remember me, but the goal is to create a positive environment in which every one is treated
equally, feels at ease, and can express himself or herself. In order to facilitate inclusive learning
environments and offer inclusive learning opportunities, I have to understand that beliefs,
traditions, and values across and within cultures can affect relationships among and between
students, families, and the school community.
Bibliography

The Healthline Editorial Team (July 2016). Dementia and Alzheimer's: What Are the
Differences? Retrieved on September 10, 2016, from http://www.healthline.com/health/
alzheimers-disease/difference-dementia-alzheimers#Overview1

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