This was a special week for me. I got a flue on Sunday in the early
morning, but I didn't go to see a doctor hopping that I will be just normal.
But on Monday I was so tired and I couldn't concentrate very well during the
special needs session. Even thought I wanted to participate since I have my own
experience with a special need student. Just before I came to Finland I had a
student who has a walking disability. He had an accident view years ago and he
now walks only with the assistance of handy canes. The problem is that in the
computer department which is a three floors building where I teach there is no
a single elevator. The class rooms are spread all over the floors and the
teacher offices are in the third floor. So whenever he needs to meet one of his
teachers he has to use the stairs. I have noticed this before I had him as one
of my students and I talked to my collogues about it as a big problem. I am
really surprise since it is a new building and it is common now in my country
to have elevators in almost every building. Beside that it is an educational
place where these matters are really taken in consideration. As Mrs. Irmeli has
mentioned sometimes it differs from country to country the determine of a
disability of a person.
By the end of day I had to go to the doctor and she advised me to take a
rest for at least three days, so she gave me a sick leaf for three days. This
is why I had to miss the Tuesday session. But by Wednesday I felt a little bit
well so I decided not to miss the trip to the National Park, and I was happy
that I didn't miss it. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the beauty of nature.
Mrs. Irmeli was so generous and nice to us. She prepared many things for us
such as her delicious pancake. But the problem that I felt sick again and had
to miss the trip to Nokia company on Thursday. I consider this week as the week
of resistant since I have been sick and in the same time I didn't want to miss
any of its classes, but unfortunately I had to miss some classes.
Sometimes we just have to surrender: summer flue can be a tough opponent! It took me over a week to get over it, but now I'm gradually getting better.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me so sad to hear that this student of yours has to crawl up the stairs to make it to the classes! In Finland they some times build a stair lift to old buildings with no elevators. I think that might be a solution you could suggest in your school. Computer science is an excellent area of study for someone with leg injuries: as long as his hands work and mind is receptive, he can work fully in the field. That's why it's so important to make it possible to study the trade, even if one has difficult to walk! (also some other arrangements would help, e.g. keeping this guy in mind when making class schedules and trying to keep his classes in only a few different places, preferably on ground floor).
I hope the walk wasn't too much for you! I remember you telling that you have a tendency to get allergic reaction. It's probably all the pollen this time of year that made breathing hard for you.
As a computer major you probably would have wanted to visit Nokia, but a two hour trip to Tampere and another two hours back would have been too much. I'm sure you made the right decision.
- Irmeli