This course emphasized the importance of inclusive education and I was able to learn so much terminology that I did not know before or did not think of. My biggest “aha” moment came through the process of reading a case study and putting a project together with Steven. This case study takes place in a small northern city that is hard to travel to and from and is about a boy named Darren whose teacher, Cassie Nilsson, suspects is affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Cassie has issues controlling/understanding the behaviour of Darren, and multiple outbursts have already occurred in the classroom. Cassie attends a professional development event focused on some of the signs and symptoms of FASD. Here she sees a case similar to that of Darren, and starts to suspect that Darren is also affected, but is unsure of this hypothesis or its severity. A dilemma arises around how to work with Darren and his parents to get him the support he needs. The author uses the terms FAS/FAE but current terminology uses FASD to refer to fetal alcohol related disorders. I have had no experience with FASD before and studying this particular case study in depth has given me so much information to catalogue in my brain and to explore further. I had no idea about terminology changes through time, or that you could suspect a student has FASD just by their looks. I am very thankful for this project and my ability to soak up as much information as I could to take in my future classrooms.
