Reflection: Children with Asperger Syndrome Often Live in Fear of Teasing, Bullying

After reading this article, I do have some of my thoughts to share. What people with Asperger syndrome really need is more attention while communicating, acceptance, and understanding. If people adhere to these qualities, there will be no concern of these people getting bullied, or not being accepted in society. Of course, however, the world is never that perfect. People come from different cultural backgrounds and recieve different kinds of education.
After interviewing the caretaker of Kanner foundation, an association responsible for providing various services to people with Asperger and other syndromes relating to autism, the caretaker told my friends and I a lot of important information. First of all, again echoing Mr. Conroy's statement that there is no correlation between asperger's and violence, the caretaker told me some people with autism cannot effectively communicate. In letting other people understand, autistic people would tend to repeat what they say, so they may seem very intrusive. However, they are no more prone to violence than we are.
At the Kanner foundation, I got to meet many autistic people. Similar to the case of the boy with Asperger syndrome who loves skiing, I met an autistic person in 11th grade who was repeatedly bullied physically and verbally by his own classmates. As a result, he was afraid to talk to me because he thought that I could be a potential threat. His parents had reacted to the bullying by telling their case to his teacher, but after that, the bullying got even worse. Finally, her parents decided temporarily take him out of school and put him in the Kanner foundation.
From the case above, I come to two conclusions. Firstly, some people just do not understand, or try to understand autistic people. I believe one of a parent's greatest wish is to see that their autistic child is accepted in society. Why is that so difficult? The answer lies partly in people's ignorance.  Due to the unique behavior of autistic people, they can become prime targets for bullies. Lastly, the I believe that "failing up" is not always the best choice for autistic people. With unsupportive classmates and surroundings,  people who suffer from more severe forms of autism should really seek what type of education is suitable. Although special education for the autistic is more expensive, putting an autistic person in an unsuitable educational environment could potentially bring a negative effect, like the autistic person I met who was afraid of me because he thought that I might bully him. Also, as each autistic person would have different needs, there is no perfect formula for educating the autistic. There is just what is more suitable, and what is not.

Reflection: A Hundred Years of Multitude

A hundred years ago, America has expressed its resentment of over immigration. The Willingham Commission set many solutions to immigration problems: keeping out the poor, limiting immigration quotas for different countries, and even barring a few races - such as the Japanese. The author expresses his distaste for racial discrimination and lawmakers who are against immigrants, furthermore, he also expresses that one cannot judge by the races of immigrants, but can only worry about newcomers' poverty and education. I completely agree with the author's opinion on immigrants in this passage. The modern world now link people with one another through means of technology, and it has become more international than ever. Unlike a hundred years before, to judge someone by their race would be like putting yourself in a box, not wanting to see what the world has become. No single race dominates the world, as the world today gives more opportunities to all kinds of people compared a hundred years before.
It would be natural, however, that America would set limits to over immigration. America's society is multinational, so it heavily relies on its immigrants. With too many poeple coming from underdeveloped countries, it would seem fit for America to try to encourage more people to come from developed countries, and limit those coming from underdeveloped countries. Just by putting yourself in America's shoes, one would undertake the same measures for the benefit of one's country. From this, we can see that it is not just racial discrimination that causes America to set limits on over immigration, it is also simply because it is impossible for America to put itself on the same level with other underdeveloped countries. Their differences are just too great.

Interesting martial arts video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJgpnHP10XM
This video talks about different tactics of three disciplines: muay thai. silat, and ninjutsu.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Edward. This blog is based on my progress on my English class. Assignments, reflections, and other documents will be posted on the blog, which makes sharing personal works more convenient.