BIO 241 - Service Learning
30 May 2017
Organization: L’Arche Noah Sealth
Volunteered: May 18, 2017; 5 hours
Supervisor: Alice Burgess | asburgess@aoil.com
Purpose: L’Arche is a global organization that provides homes for people with developmental disabilities. Among the three houses at L’Arche in Seattle, there are assistants (home care aides) who come from all around the world to assist those with developmental disabilities (also known as the core members of L’Arche) to perform their daily tasks of living and to be a friend.
Photos were taken by home care aide Jessica Takara.
Every Thursday, L’Arche holds a community gathering night where all three houses come together for a prayer service, activities and a meal. I volunteered at the community gathering by coordinating activities, giving company to the core members and helping the assistants provide night care to the core members.
Reflection: This experience affected me because it made me appreciate just how fortunate and gifted my life is. In life, we take a lot of things for granted. There is always someone out there who doesn’t have the same opportunities or abilities to perform every day at their potential. A lot of those with developmental disabilities do not receive the necessary care or attention to perform daily tasks. While participating in activities at L’Arche and providing company to the core members, I found that they were people who were very focused on the present. I find that a lot of people are either living in the past, distracted with the future or filled with immense stress. In this time, we let life pass us by, but while spending time with the core members I learned to appreciate being in the moment. While volunteering, I did a lot of questioning on genetics and mutations and why they occur. In science, the underlying cause of developmental disabilities is unknown but there are many different theories. Majority of the core members suffer from autism, Down syndrome and other impeding physical disabilities such as being blind or deaf, or not being able to control body movements. Biology is an interdisciplinary subject because you cannot study biology without paying attention to other sciences. For example, psychology and biology are interconnected and should be used together to be able to look at a whole person. By being able to look at the lifespan of someone and the different experiences involved, one is able to incorporate biology on how different stresses and risks play a role on the developmental aspect of a person. Another way that biology plays an important role is through molecular genetics. The new innovations and discoveries in biology help to alleviate some of the problems regarding those with developmental disabilities. Researches are able to study certain behavioral patterns to understand the symptoms and dangers to look out for with those with developmental disabilities. Research in biology has provided many tools to help those with disabilities function and perform their daily tasks by either creating helpful equipment or the creation of new drugs to help reduce certain symptoms. Another way that science plays an innovative role is based on Human Anatomy and Physiology. Understanding the anatomy of the human body and the different nerves and functions provides us with greater knowledge on where in the body we see something that is considered abnormal or different and hopefully discover how to counteract or cure the problem.
Questions
1. How easy is to for those with developmental disabilities to be financially funded by the government?
2. Majority of those with developmental disabilities are not meant to be left alone at L’Arche because they are too vulnerable in society, how can we grant those with developmental disabilities more freedom and safety in society?
3. Do employers pay minimum wage to those with developmental disabilities even if they may not be able to perform at the maximum of someone without developmental disabilities?
4. There is a lack of employees working at L’Arche due to low salaries, how do services address this problem to acquire more funds?
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