"As a final year student in the dying breed of English Language Studies course, I want to make most out of my time at UBD. Having accomplished so much in the last semester, I'm a tad too ambitious this time round hoping to accomplish plenty before graduating and somehow I've reverted back to blogging but for academic purposes, interesting aye? "
Today was a very productive day, We finally got the recording for the SMARTER jingle done! But what I want to address here isn't just the Jingle, it's what happened with our kids that impressed me so much. Here's what happened:
So today we had three lovely boys who have autism voice the jingle that will be aired across Brunei through Kristal FM for the SMARTER MUSICAL 2: ODDY'S QUEST : A JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF A HOME. If you have not yet heard, SMARTER is going to move from its current site in Sengkurong in to a new home and every proceeds from the tickets and merchandise goes solely to building this new home for Individuals with Autism. And at the same time, we are doing our part for charity to raise awareness on Autism as it is a silent syndrome. It is not a disease, is lifelong -has no cure, its not about naughty kids who do not want to behave nor is it the cause of bad parenting. Autism is Not disabled JUST DIFFERENT.
With my amazing classmate Hakeem to help voice the "deep manly voice" part, we were set to record. It took a while to get the kids settled in because they were in a new environment and they loved how the recording studio was. It was sound proof, fully cushioned padded walls and carpeted, it was the ultimate kid's playground. Excited,one of the kid's started walking around admiring the lights, hitting the walls to see if they were soft to lean on and played with the lights -switching them on and off. The other two boys enjoyed toying with the mic and talking through it. It was educational for them going out of the center and experiencing new places rather than at being home or hanging out at the mall and such.
This was important to me as well, educationally as I am a keen observer of the children's behaviour not only for my work but also as a teacher. These three kids were my students during my involvement with SMARTER and I am still learning so much about each one of their characters.(Like What I can do should they have meltdown, how to cheer them up when they cry and such.)
After the recordings, the ETC staff allowed the kids to take a break in their office and let them play with the computers. The ETC staff have hearts of gold! Now whats very interesting here is that, after settling themselves in front of a computer all three of them logged on into Youtube.com ! (they were sitting about two feet way from each other facing back to back). One typed "Mario games" as he happily watched walkthroughs, another child typed "Barney and friends" in the search bar and finally the littlest one typed in "The annoying orange." They were all giggling to themselves clearly in their own world and enjoying every moment of it. I was so impressed that they were very fluent with using the Internet and out of all sites, Youtube! (Usually in the center they would just play games on computers and never asked about the Internet.) One of them even showed me a Mario games website, of which I have forgotten by now.
As a GeN - Last student, I would like to troll on the "Back in my days we didn't even have the Internet for games or even Youtube." Sure the media is changing and all, so are our children -their mindsets on how to learn creatively through digital media and the Internet and not enjoying browsing books in the library or going out side to play with other children. Now they'd rather sit in front of a computer or tablet all day, learning things differently than how we have done so throughout the years. I find this rather amazing - I'm only 22 and still learning the knic knacs of tech savvy gadgets and these kids who are below 10 years of age have extremely more knowledge in the field than I do.( I feel the hardships of old age now. no sarcasm intended) It wonders me how my future children would be like growing up with gadgets instead of physical play with friends outside in the playground. Would he be an outcast if I raised him the traditional way reading with real books than e-books, painting with a real brush and not using Photoshop or MS Paint!?
I am very interested in the advancement of learning especially in early childhood and rather than just observe children who just play with electronics and refuse to share about it as they think you're a busybody, some of the children with autism are more than happy to share their interests if you ask.
And to end last but not least:
We could not thank Azhar, from ETC , enough for his help with the recording and editing and he looked very happy to see the kids as well. Even when the kids made mistakes, he was very patient and smiled all the way, even when the lights when on and off several times. Now I know where to go for future recordings if I need any.
Hakeem Azis, for lending his voice for a good cause. I do believe the children's innocence and care free lovable attitude have touched many hearts today.
and also Ayla and Low Kok Wai for entrusting me with such very important task. I am thankful for the belief you put in me, though I think I might fail.
This entry may pass as a typical blog post, but I feel that maybe if we've learnt something from it, it is still educational.
Next entry will feature "The future of communication"
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