The topic I want to explore is how I can assist my students with special needs outside of course content. I know that a fair number of special education students struggle making friends and need social skills help. One resource that I mentioned in my first blog that I know a fair amount about is the organization Best Buddies.
They help students make one to one friendships and I was a part of this club in high school. I want to know though how you get a chapter started and what other resources they offer for students. For instance, they have an international conference each year in Indiana at the university there that I attended but I do not know if students with special educational needs can attend on their own. I know it could definitely be beneficial if they could because there are a lot of awesome resources, people, and speakers there. Besides clubs at schools Best Buddies offers integrated employment and leadership opportunities which I want to learn about in addition to the history of Best Buddies like how it was started and grew to the size it is today. Something that would also be useful to learn is how to assist my special education students with their social skills, like with a one on friendship through Best Buddies.
To lean more about Best Buddies and their mission please click the video below to watch a short, fun, and engaging video about Best Buddies.
To learn more about Best Buddies Wisconsin click the link below
To hear about a friendship through Best Buddies clink the link below
Additionally, I what to know what other programs or resources are out there for children and adolescents with special needs specifically in the Milwaukee area. These programs could be for socializing and making friends, getting and keeping a job, or day programs for students that are transitioning to life after high school. I want to know too how you access these programs, what they look like, and what they have to offer to clients.
To learn about Club Curative which is a day program in Milwaukee for adults ages 18-29 with a developmental disability clink the link below.
https://www.curative.org/Curative/Services/Adult-Day-Services/Club-Curative.htm
To learn about a job service for people with disabilities clink the link below
Emily's Currins 545 Blog 
Hi Emily,
I completely understand your focus on teaching social skills. I have met individual students that are able to handle day-to-day tasks, but are seemingly unable to understand social context. Currently, I’m working with an individual that tries so hard to make “friends,” but goes about it in a manner that doesn’t work. When the other children around him react negatively, he becomes frustrated, angry, or sad. Even when things are explained to him afterwards and he seems to understand why his words and actions are bringing an undesirable outcome, he struggles to change his behaviors. It will take time. Your work and the work of Best Buddies are the additional supports some students need to learn the skills for making social connections (family, friends, peers, teachers, etc).
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hi Emily!
Im really interested in the best buddies work and how much you support and stand with this plan to help students through this lens! I can see how you care for this program and want your future students to succeed with it and i admire that so much! you seem very hands on and that’s a great quality to have in the field of education because i think having that physical encouragement is just as important as the verbal and i can see that you really want your future students to succeed!
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Emily,
This is a fascinating topic. How we create supports for children and adolescents with special needs is a particularly salient topic. In addition to social support, I also keep wondering about transition – both of my little brothers have gone through this process and it was handled so well, but I know that isn’t always the case. I’m looking forward to what you find out as you work through this inquiry!
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