Day 8

Lunch at the beach!

Today was definitely an eventful day! I started out at Isla Bonita school, where I did a few student observations; unfortunately, because it is report card day, teachers were unable to leave their classrooms to attend my professional development, so that did not occur. I left there with Dr. Catapano to observe a student at ACES but he was out sick. Fortunately, I had the chance to talk briefly with the Principal who shared that they do have a few students who have gone through the NARCIE process for referring students (no other school has students who have gone through the entire process). After a student has been referred by the teachers and paperwork has been filled out by the parents, a representative from the Ministry of Ed. comes into the classroom and conducts an observation and does an assessment on the child. Unfortunately, unlike the U.S. this is where the process ends. In this particular case, they did not even give recommendations, they just told the school that they were already doing all they could and that was it. They do not actually identify students with disabilities, as this would lead to them having to provide services (which they don't have) and create goals (with no one to implement them). This is an area that I am very interested in further exploring.

Lexi & I on the water taxi 

Following this is when the adventure began. Dr. Catapano and I stopped at the water taxi and got tickets for Lexi and I to go to Caye Caulker to visit a homeschool with children with disabilities. We found that there was one leaving in about 30 minutes so I rode my bike to the school to get Lexi early; on the way back, her skirt got caught in the chain of her bike and I could not get it out! Fortunately, two men were passing by and helped us and we made it to the water taxi in time. We took the water taxi out to Caye Caulker (about 30 minutes) where we had a great lunch at a restaurant on the beach that had swings for benches! Next we had to take a taxi to the homeschool, which our driver did not really know where he was going but we made it there! I had been sent to observe one little girl in particular, she is 4 years old and Autism is suspected; I found that she did have some language delays (just starting to speak) and a few behaviors, but they seemed mostly immature tantrums when she didn't get what she wanted and she maintained eye contact and socialized with the adults. Speaking with mom was heartbreaking. She told me that when  her daughter was born, they told her that something happened and she didn't get enough oxygen to her brain and her legs were "twisted". Mom has done everything imaginable over the past few years working with her and her legs have since "straightened out" and she is able to walk; she also works on academics with her and mom noted that she can recognize many words. She shared that she tried to put her daughter in preschool but they would not let her stay due to her behavior and told mom that she would have to be homeschooled, which mom asked my thoughts about; I told her that I would love to say that the school would provide the support to her that she needed but I can't guarantee that as it's so different from the U.S.- she could definitely attend in the U.S. Mom also shared that her daughter frequently has seizures but has taken her off the medication because it makes her very aggressive; they have never seen a pediatric neurologist (they would have to go to Mexico) but no one has ever recommended that to mom so she is unsure of who to see or what to ask for. What she really needs is an advocate; she needs someone who can help her find out what she needs and how to access services (which is what all parents here really need)- she shared with me that she stays up late researching every night of ways to help her daughter.

Beautiful sunset

Our conversation was going so well that we lost track of time; at 2:20 Lexi reminded me that we needed to head down to the water taxi to catch the 2:45... unfortunately, it was really at 2:15 so we had already missed it. We enjoyed the beach for a while until the 3:45 water taxi arrived and we walked right on. I was very surprised that it was early/on time, since that's rare here. About 35 minutes into the ride, Lexi said that she thought we were heading to Belize City instead.. I asked a woman next to me and she confirmed that was true; they added that they didn't think there was another water taxi leaving for San Pedro that night so we might be stuck there and offered us a place to stay. So, we arrived at Belize City (which is in the total wrong direction) at 4:30 and as soon as we got off, I went to talk to one of the workers there who said that there were two more water taxis, one at 4:30 and one at 5:30. Fortunately, we were there in time to catch the 4:30 (it was late...of course) and the workers were very nice and didn't make us buy another ticket (but they did enjoy a few laughs at our expense I'm sure!)! The woman from the boat even offered to buy us our tickets if we needed, which was so generous of her! Fortunately, we were able to catch a great sunset from the boat!

So, after another 90 minute boat ride, we did arrive back in San Pedro. Lexi and I grabbed dinner in the square at one of the food vendors- I had the shrimp burger again and it was delicious! We finally returned to the hotel (where Dr. Catapano was very concerned) about 6 hours later. We finished the night with trivia (our team almost won!) and some great conversation!