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Spina Bifida is a defect caused during pregnancy in which the spinal cord does not completely
fuse together. This lack of complete fusion causes the student to experience walking difficulties
and bowel and bladder incontinence. Due to many of the physical challenges that students
with Spina Bifida face such as being wheel chair bound, walking with an assistive device
or the inability to use certain body appendages, we as teachers must do our best to combat
against those issues and work with the student in order to fully engage them into our curriculum
and programs. Students who have Spina Bifida are known to be extremely social students
but may suffer from many Nonverbal Learning Disabilities such as the inability to read
social cues, disorganization, and poor math and written abilities. Students with Spina
Bifida require accommodations to their learning environment in order to stay at pace with
the general population. One simple accommodation includes providing the student with copies
of notes due to slower paced note taking. For students who are physically incapable
of completing written tasks, computerized learning may need to be adapted into curriculum
in order for the student to learn. Students with Spina Bifida are encouraged to use verbal
communication and therefore may need verbal assessments to measure and demonstrate their
understanding of materials. Students with Spina Bifida can participate in a wide variety
of FFA activities regardless of their physical disabilities. Since Spina bifida students
are well adapted to their verbal abilities those students should be encouraged to advocate
for the agriculture industry by becoming involved with the public speaking aspect. Participating
in contests such as Creed, Prepared, Impromptu and Extemporaneous public speaking provides
the student with an opportunity to showcase their abilities rather than disabilities.
Students with Spina Bifida are known to be highly socially and interactive. Capitalize
on that aspect by encouraging increased member attendance and participation at Chapter FFA
meetings and functions. Providing opportunities for students to become social with each other
will increase the overall acceptance of students with disabilities as well as increase the
confidence level that students with special needs require to become successful.