Special Needs

 Personal Thoughts

Havsalt √ Havesalt --> Doesn't Exist 

I'd like to start this entry by sharing some random thoughts about this topic. First of all, I must admit that i just recently found out how unconnected I was with the topic until I began my Special Needs lessons at the university. In fact I didn't have any knowledge before about the topic until I attended and observed some learning support lesson during my teaching practice. This made reflect on what the meaning of having special needs is, or at least what it meant to me. Well, I tried to come up with my own definition by thinking in personal experiences. And I can tell you, that I'm not too far away from having a special need. Am I diagnosed with a special need? No, I'm not. Do I have any relative having special needs? no, I don't. Have I ever felt different from everyone else? yes, for instance I'm left-handed and I struggle a lot doing crafts especially when I use scissors because most of the crafting tools on this earth are made for right-handed people. Therefore, it takes more time for me to cut a piece of paper than everyone else. It might sound silly for some people but for me it's an issue and actually it can be frustrating.  Do I experience things in my daily life that make me feel different from everyone else? yes, I do. For example, When I attempt to speak Danish and nobody understands me. Last week, for example, I went to three different stores asking for sea-salt (havsalt). No one seemed to understand what I was asking for. I did my best to use proper and well pronounced Danish. Therefore, It didn't make any sense that no one could tell me where this basic product could be found. However, I didn't realise what it was really happening until I went to the fourth super market and a sweet lady approached me and explain to me that I was mispronouncing the word sea-salt in Danish. She said that I was saying garden-salt (havesalt), instead of the right word seasalt. The two words for me sound very similar in Danish, that is why I have a hard time memorising new vocabulary.  So, I can tell you that not being fluent in a language is indeed a special need. It changes the way one perceives the things that surrounds him. It changes as well the way one approaches people and how one interacts with them. In other words, having a special need is directly linked to the circumstances that you made you feel that you can't cope with things that for others might be normal or basic. My perception of being disable has changed completely, because I have come up with the conclusion that everyone has a special need, everyone behaves and acts differently according to the context they're in.