NJ Disabilities Film Festival - 'The Importance of Tying Your Own Shoes'

As teachers we need to be patient, curious and have awareness of what our students say and do. The film ‘The Importance of Tying Your Own Shoes’ is a perfect portrayal of the importance of getting to know your students. Alex gets a job to be the leader of a group of people with disabilities, and although he appreciates every one of them, he never gets to know them the way a teacher should and therefore runs into many problems along the way. The first time Alex encounters trouble is when they go for a walk, and one of his students with Down syndrome climbs up the sculpture and is unable to get down. He did not think this was such a big deal at the time, but then he was approached that the student had a heart condition and he can’t let him do that again. That same student and Alex encountered another problem when the students are playing soccer outside, he kicks the ball to the student with Down syndrome and it hits him right in the face. There are many implications to be aware of when teaching a student with Down syndrome, that if Alex were aware of he may have approached the situations differently. Firstly, people with Down syndrome many times have heart and lung problems. Their blood is not effectively pumped through their heart so they fatigue easily. They also have less aveoli in their lungs, so they can’t take in oxygen, which causes them to have asthma. People with Down syndrome also many times have vision problems, so this is why the student had trouble seeing the ball when it came close to his face. The next problem Alex encounters is he takes them for a bus ride and forgets to do the seatbelt check, so none of the students have their seat belts on. Throughout the movie it was obvious that Leif suffered from what I thought to be anxiety. You see this occur when he was cutting the wood outside, and also when they get on stage to perform Leif stops and is unable to continue. This problem, which seemed very serious never seemed to be addressed by the teacher. Having some knowledge of the implications of teaching students with Down syndrome, I noticed when Alex goes to Kristina’s house to talk to her; he places himself at eye level. Because people with Down syndrome are usually much shorter, it is important when talking to them to put yourself at eye level, this way they don’t always have to look up. This is something Alex was aware of when talking to Kristina. Although Alex really cared about every one of his students, it is important to get to know your students along with certain implications to be aware of when it comes to safety concerns which is something Alex never did.