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Blanche Colley In a manner of speaking, every teacher is a special education teacher, according to JSU’s Blanche Colley, instructor of special education and advisor to the Council for Exceptional Children. “In the classroom there is a mixture of students, and as a teacher you have to know what to do when you have a child who has difficulty comprehending or a child with auditory or visual processing or with dyslexia. There are no perfect classrooms,” she said. For more than 25 years Colley has been working to improve educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and also gifted individuals. “When we speak of children with exceptionalities, we mean children who are learning disabled, mentally retarded, autistic, and children identified as having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-Activity Disorder), speech impairments, and multiple handicaps, and also children who have on-going health problems like being diabetic or having cancer. Special education is a whole array of exceptionalities. “The beauty about what is going on in special education now is that most of the children are in the regular classroom. The regular classroom teacher and the special education teacher are working together as a team trying to meet the needs of those students who have been identified as special education candidates. “The beauty of both (regular teachers and special education teachers) being in the classroom is that they can work together to meet the needs of children having academic difficulties. QUESTION: What is the Council for Exception Children all about? COLLEY: We encourage all of our education majors to become members of this international organization, which serves as advocates for children with special needs. We are also advocates for governmental policies. We are also visible in the community. We often work with The Ark in Calhoun County. We are in the process now of collecting books for children. Just recently, we sponsored an autism workshop on campus. Periodically we sponsor workshops to help children and would like more people to be involved. We want the children to be the best they can possibly be when they leave Jacksonville State University. QUESTION: How is the Council for Excellence connected to the community? COLLEY: We volunteer in the schools and volunteer for Special Olympics when they are in the area. We try to make ourselves very visible because most of the students will hopefully become teachers in some of the surrounding schools. QUESTION: What activities have you planned for this year for the Council? COLLEY: We are planning food drives in November and in December. In the midst of these activities we are also planning a book drive to collect books. One of the goals of the Council, especially at the international level, is to encourage reading. Some of the children do not have books in their homes, so our students are collecting books for them. We are involved in activities one would not normally associate with a council for children. Don't be surprised to see us doing a variety of activities here on campus. For more information about special education or the Council for Exceptional Children, contact Ms. Colley at 782-5183. |
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