1. EEX 2010
Amanda McCrae
amccrae@knights.ucf.edu
December 7, 2011

2.  The Conductive Education Center of Orlando (CECO) is
located in Winter Park Florida
 Non-profit organization which offers services and programs
to children with motor disabilities.
 CECO was founded in 2001 by Joe and Vicky Raymond.
 CECO’s mission is to combine physical and social
educational methods to meet the unique needs of children
with motor and cognitive disabilities.

3.  Conductive Education Summarized by
Conductor, Virag Czibok
Conductive Education is a developmental
method to teach everyday life skills to
children and adults with motor disabilities. It
teaches the participants in the program how
they can use and improve their skills to
achieve their maximum abilities and take an
active part in life. It is a lifestyle.
Conductive Education covers all aspects of
human development—
physical, cognitive, communication, language
, social and emotional. It is based on
motivation.

4.  CECO reaches out to the community by providing
services to children and their families.
 Children are attending a school that meets their
specific needs.
 Parents get the opportunity to watch their children
grow physically and academically.
 I had the opportunity to work with a student one on
one in different task such as stretching and massage
which prepares the student for the physical tasks of
the daily programs. I also helped with a lying program
which is designed specifically for children with
Cerebral palsy who have difficulty with muscle
control of their limbs.
 CECO’s school day last 6 hours. I volunteered 3
separate days.

5. I found out about CECO in 2010 from a friend and I
immediately wanted to work there.
I had the amazing opportunity to work at CECO for
the 2010-2011 school year. It was by far the
greatest job I have ever had. The kids at the
school actually urged me to change my major to
Exceptional Student Education.
Unfortunately I was unable to work at CECO for the
2011-2012 school year due to conflicts with my
school scheduling but I did not hesitate to go back
and volunteer my time with them and see some
familiar faces.

6.  Students at CECO range from 5
years old to the age of 21.
 CECO is made up of a diverse
student population of 28
students.
 The majority of the children
are diagnosed with Cerebral
Palsy. But a few students are
affected by the Autistic
Spectrum.
 From my service hours I
worked with a different child
each day I volunteered, so I
served three different child
with disabilities to fulfill my
hours.

8. Before getting involved with
CECO I could never imagine
myself working with children
with special needs. I thought
it would be a sad experience
and I would feel sorry for
these kids and their families.
But those thoughts and
feelings definitely changed.
Once I witnessed how happy
these children were and how
excited their parents were
with their progress from day
to day I then realized I could
make a difference in the
lives of children with
disabilities
.

9. I am completing this Community Partners project for class EEX 2010
I have gained more knowledge about Individualized Special Education
Programs (IEP) which is covered in Chapter 2 of our text Introduction to
Special Education. An IEP is designed specifically for each student
emphasizing the goals that the parents and teachers would like to see
the student reach. At CECO one of the conductors went over a sample IEP
with me so I could see how it is set up and what kind of goals are
reasonable for each child.
Another topic that I gained more knowledge about was Speech and
Language impairments which is covered in Chapter 4 of our text. Speech
and language impairments can cause many obstacles when it comes to
communicating with your students. At CECO I was shown different hang
signals that students have learned either and home or at school. It was
really rewarding to be able to communicate with the students by using
hand signals.
One last topic in which I gained more knowledge about due to this
project was Physical and Health Disabilities, Chapter 9 in the text.The
majority of the students I worked with at CECO were wheeled into in
wheelchairs. But at CECO once the students are in the door they are
transferred to walkers or other types of assistant walking devices. I
learned a lot about the mobility obstacles that the children are faced
with and realized that the stretching and massage that is performed at
the beginning of the school day is very helpful to the students. It helps
loosen their tight muscles and helps them perform better throughout the
day.

10. I better understand the lives of not only the children and their
families but also the individuals that work with children with
disabilities. This experience has been eye opening and has shown me
how rewarding working with people with disabilities is.
These experiences will help me with my future professional work in
many different ways. I will not be uncomfortable working with or
talking with children with disabilities. I will be confident while
speaking with them and now I know that I can talk with them just
like I talk with anyone else. Communicating may be hard at times
but I have learned different ways of communication in this class and
was able to put them to use out in the community.

11. Being civically engaged and volunteering doesn’t only help the
community but it also help you grow as a person and gain knowledge.
It is awesome to volunteer and to lend out a helping hand.
Volunteering plays a huge role in society for everyone especially
citizens with disabilities. For people to have a kind heart and to help
and give to those that are in need is incredible. We all will need help
someday. The purpose of volunteering is to reach out and HELP.
Service learning as a method of teaching is very effective. Service
learning puts students out into situation where they will one day be
and can help determine if they want to continue their education in
the field or change to a different field.
This experience definitely motivated me to be more engaged in the
future. It made me very excited to finish my degree so I can be a
teacher to those with disabilities and make a impact in their lives.
I would highly recommend service learning to teacher and students
in the future. It is fun and also gets students engaged in real life
situations that can be eye opening.

12. Ireally enjoyed working with children with
disabilities. It was a fun and rewarding opportunity.
Iplan to continue volunteering at CECO while I
study at UCF to get my degree in Exceptional
Student Education. I want to work with children
with disabilities in public elementary schools.
 CECO Video