“The kids who most need social interaction this summer won’t be getting it.” H. Levine, The New York Times
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key
Credit- Keith Negley, NYT
Excerpt: As the Country Opens Up, Children With Disabilities Are Getting Left Behind, By Hallie Levine, The New York Times
“My 12-year-old daughter, Jo Jo, blossoms over the summer. For her, it’s a time for camp, pool trips with friends, bonfires… Last summer, she began going to the salon for monthly manicures…These events are a rite of passage for any preteen, but they’re particularly important for Jo Jo.
She has Down syndrome, which means she has an extra 21st chromosome that has led to overall developmental delays. For her, these regular social interactions are crucial. But this summer will be dramatically different. Like all kids, she’s been stuck at home since mid-March. Over the last couple weeks, many of those kids have started venturing out, meeting up for bike rides and beach excursions or other outdoor activities. Their parents talk about sending them to day camp, and setting up unofficial ‘quarantine bubbles.’
But Jo Jo and her two neurotypical brothers — Teddy, 10, and Geoffrey, 9 — remain at home, probably for the rest of the summer. Jo Jo is at high-risk for Covid-19 complication… Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled intellectual disability as a high risk condition for flu.
An intellectual disability itself isn’t a risk factor for Covid-19 but kids with developmental disabilities often have other underlying medical conditions that could be… In addition, many kids with intellectual disabilities depend on in-person physical, occupational and speech therapy year round to prevent regression. For example, Lisa Kinderman, a psychologist in Seymour, Ill., is grappling with whether it’s safe to resume physical therapy for her daughter, Lija. A 6-year-old with cerebral palsy, Lija cannot walk or talk and has been hospitalized twice in the last year for respiratory ailments…Unfortunately, there’s no way to gauge a child’s risk of Covid-19, especially as we’re still learning so much about this disease in kids, stressed Brian Skotko, M.D., director of the Down Syndrome Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.But there are a few things parents can do to get a ballpark sense of risk.
He suggested using your child’s past experience with infections as a guide for how they might experience Covid-19. If a child like Jo Jo has come down with flu or pneumonia in the past but recovered without urgent medical care or hospitalization, then ‘you should feel more comfortable gradually re-entering the community, he said. For each step, talk it over with your pediatrician…Social distancing can be equally tricky. ‘Wearing masks, staying at least six feet apart from others, being able to tolerate a Covid-19 test — these may all eventually be required for kids to resume school or other activities,’ Skotko said. These are challenging for any child, let alone one with intellectual disabilities. One way to teach these concepts is through social stories, individualized short stories that pair simple language with pictures often used for children with social-communication disorders such as autism.
Skotko also recommended teaching social distancing through color coded circles for older kids. For example, red for strangers, orange for people you would normally wave to, green and yellow for casual and close friends, and blue for people it’s OK to hug, like parents or siblings.
“I have almost a blind faith in crisis in the American people getting it right” ~Democratic Presidential Leader Joe Biden~
Latest Presidential General Election Polls 2020:
“Joe Biden’s lead against Trump in the 2020 election is growing wider, polls show — With the 2020 election now less than five months away, polls show former Vice President Joe Biden pulling further ahead of [Trump].” Kevin Breuniger, CNBC June ,2020
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.
Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.
Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.
NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.
Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.
Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and improving oral skills. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.
I. Pre-Reading Activities
Stimulating background knowledge: Brainstorming
Directions: Ask students what they already know about people with disabilities. Next, have students generate ideas or words that may be connected to the topic of the article. Students can use a brainstorming chart for assistance.
Colorful Brainstorming chart from Live It Magazine
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.
- Monthly manicures are a rite of passage for any preteen.
- The author’s daughter has Down syndrome.
- Some children are born wth extra chromosomes.
- Kids have started venturing out, meeting up for bike rides and beach excursions or other outdoor activities.
- Studies suggest that death rates from pneumonia were up to 5.8 times higher in 2017 among those with intellectual disabilities.
- Some kids like JoJo take medicine that suppresses their immune system.
- The immune system is vital to every person alive.
- It’s very tough for the author to gauge if any activities — even outdoor ones — are safe for Jo Jo or her brothers.
- Many physicians will meet with medically fragile kids first thing in the morning.
- Parents of intellectually challenged children must grapple with explaining the COVID-19 to them and why it prevents them from doing fun activities.
Grammar Focus: Structure and Usage
Directions: The following groups of sentences are from the article. One of the sentences in each group contains a grammatical error. Students are to identify the sentence (1, 2, or 3 ) from each group that contains the grammatical error.
I
- C D C has labeled intellectual disability as a high risk condition for flu.
- A typical virus hits her hard.
- This winter she test positive for the flu.
II
- Gone to the salon for monthly manicures is fun.
- For her, these regular social interactions are crucial.
- But this summer will be dramatically different.
III
- We have to brought the world to her.
- Unfortunately, there’s no way to gauge a child’s risk of Covid-19,
- There are a few things parents can do to get a ballpark sense of risk.
Reading Comprehension
Identify The Speakers
Directions: Have students read the following quotes from speakers in the article to see if they can identify the speakers.
- “Weighing when, and how, to re-enter the community without putting your child at risk is so much harder.”
- “What’s just a mild cold for a typical kid lands Lija in the I.C.U.”
- “Unfortunately, there’s no way to gauge a child’s risk of Covid-19, especially as we’re still learning so much about this disease in kids.”
- “That doesn’t mean you should neglect routine medical care, especially with underlying medical diseases that need to be monitored. In addition, “the usual childhood diseases are still around.”
- “Masks can be particularly challenging, because many kids with intellectual disabilities have sensory processing issues that make it hard for them to tolerate a mask on their face.”
- “You don’t want to make this all about the child with the more complex medical needs, because you don’t want to ramp up anxiety, or even resentment.”
III. Post Reading Activities
WH-How Questions
Directions: Have students use the WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.
Who or What is the article about?
Where does the action/event take place?
When does the action/event take place?
Why did the action/event occur?
How did the action/event occur?
Discussion Questions for Comprehension /Writing
Directions: Have students discuss the following questions/statements. Afterwards, students share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the topics mentioned.
- Dr. Brian Skotio names some things parents can do to tell if there are risks for infection for certain activities. What are they?
- What is one activity that JoJo’s mom won’t let her do right now? Why?
- Name one thing that doctors cannot check virtually with a patient.
- In what ways can the concept of social distancing be taught to children with intellectual disabilities?
- According to Leah Booth, why is wearing a mask a special problem for many kids with intellectual disabilities?
1-Minute Free Writing Exercise
Directions: Allow students 1 minute to write down one new idea they’ve learned from the reading. Ask them to write down one thing they did not understand in the reading. Review the responses as a class. Note: For the lower levels allow more time for this writing activity.