Many of us have heard of the neurological disorder called autism, and have a general sense of what the term "autism" means and all of the typical behaviors of an autistic child. There are certain symptoms of autism which we can see through the behavior such as: repetitive actions, lack of eye contact, unsociable attitude, no social or emotional reciprocity, delayed spoken language, tantrums, etc. autistic children can not be cured but can be helped. Then the question arises: which are the educational approaches most helpful to children with autism up to five years of age? This paper will present a view of the most recent and the most helpful educational practices used with children who are born this disorder.

Many of us have heard of the neurological disorder called autism, and have a general sense of what the term "autism" means and all of the typical behaviors of an autistic child. There are certain symptoms of autism which we can see through the behavior such as: repetitive actions, lack of eye contact, unsociable attitude, no social or emotional reciprocity, delayed spoken language, tantrums, etc. autistic children can not be cured but can be helped. Then the question arises: which are the educational approaches most helpful to children with autism up to five years of age? This paper will present a view of the most recent and the most helpful educational practices used with children who are born this disorder.

The best educational practice for autistic children (ACs) aged one to Five is that as soon as the child has been diagnosed with autism, an educational plan has to be implemented. Parents have also to be educated by professionals or social workers who specialize in the special education field. It is necessary to educate parents because they will be part also in their child’s education. There are a lot of ways of educating ACs: the best approach is by using an individual educational plan, which means that each ACs has his or her own education based on his or her need. An early, intensive, appropriate treatment program will greatly improve the outlook for most young children with autism. Most programs will build on the interests of the child in a highly structured schedule oconstructive activities. Visual aids are often helpful. Treatment is most successful when it is geared toward the child's particular needs. An experienced specialist or team shoulddesign the program for the individual child. A variety of therapies are available, including: speech therapy (which helps the ACs to develop non-verbal communication, speech pragmatics, conversation skills, and concept skills), and music therapy. “Studies have shown that music therapy has a significant, positive influence when used to treat autistic individuals. Participating in music therapy allows autistics the opportunity to experience non-threatening outside stimulation, as they don't engage in direct human contact. As was previously mentioned, music therapy is made specific to each individual.

This is extremely important, because what may be positively received by one autistic may be negative to another” (Evans, R. The Benefits of Music Therapy for Autism.). Music therapy can improve socio-emotional development, encourage communication, and may encourage emotional fulfillment. Another therapy is occupational therapy, which helps the ACs to develop skills for handwriting, shirt buttoning, shoe tying, and so forth. Sensory integration therapy also may help ACs: “Sensory integration therapy is essentially a form of occupational therapy, and it is generally offered by specially trainedoccupational therapists. It involves specific sensory activities (swinging, bouncing, brushing, and more) that are intended to help the patient regulate his or her sensory response. The outcome of these activities may be better focus, improved behavior, and even lowered anxiety” (Rudy, L. J. (2007). All About Sensory Integration Therapy and Autism.). Nutrition is also important for the development of ACs, there are research which shows that Vitamin/mineral therapy offers additional help, for example DMG.

“Dimethylglycine (DMG) is a food substance and is most often used Vitamin/Mineral Therapy. DMG is found, in small amounts, in brown rice and liver. Its chemical make-up resembles that of water soluble vitamins, specifically vitamin B15. DMG does not require a prescription, and it can be purchased at many health food stores. There are no apparent side effects. Reports from parents giving their child DMG indicate improvements in the areas of speech, eye contact, social behavior, and attention span. Two weeks after starting on the DMG, B6 and magnesium can be added. Studies have shown that vitamin B6 may help control hyperactivity, and improve overall behavior. Although improvements vary considerably among individuals, other possible improvements are: speech improvements, improved sleeping patterns, lessened irritability, increased attention span, decrease in self stimulation, and overall improvement in general health” (http://www.autism-pdd.net/treaforme.html#Higashi. retrieved May 25. 2010).

In conclusion, this paper has covered in some detail some of the best educational practices for ACs available today. However in the developing countries like Indonesia, There aren’t enough special schools or therapy centers for children with autism. Therewere a large number of people in the country, children in particular, living with autism although the exact number is yet to be determined. Autism occurs everywhere, including in remote areas, Children there remain undiagnosed only because many parents can’t afford to take their children to the doctor. A lack of proper access to education for autisticchildren has also made it difficult for them to explore their abilities.

References
Evans, R. The Benefits of Music Therapy for Autism. Retrieved May 25. 2010.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Benefits-of-Music-Therapy-for-Autism&id=432566

Rudy, L. J. (2007). All About Sensory Integration Therapy and Autism. Retrieved
May 25. 2010. http://autism.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/a/allaboutsi.htm

http://www.autism-pdd.net/treaforme.html#Higashi. retrieved May 25. 2010

Best Educational Approaches for Autistic Children

Many of us have heard of the neurological disorder called autism, and have a general sense of what the term "autism" means and all of the typical behaviors of an autistic child. There are certain symptoms of autism which we can see through the behavior such as: repetitive actions, lack of eye contact, unsociable attitude, no social or emotional reciprocity, delayed spoken language, tantrums, etc. autistic children can not be cured but can be helped. Then the question arises: which are the educational approaches most helpful to children with autism up to five years of age? This paper will present a view of the most recent and the most helpful educational practices used with children who are born this disorder.

The best educational practice for autistic children (ACs) aged one to Five is that as soon as the child has been diagnosed with autism, an educational plan has to be implemented. Parents have also to be educated by professionals or social workers who specialize in the special education field. It is necessary to educate parents because they will be part also in their child’s education. There are a lot of ways of educating ACs: the best approach is by using an individual educational plan, which means that each ACs has his or her own education based on his or her need. An early, intensive, appropriate treatment program will greatly improve the outlook for most young children with autism. Most programs will build on the interests of the child in a highly structured schedule oconstructive activities. Visual aids are often helpful. Treatment is most successful when it is geared toward the child's particular needs. An experienced specialist or team shoulddesign the program for the individual child. A variety of therapies are available, including: speech therapy (which helps the ACs to develop non-verbal communication, speech pragmatics, conversation skills, and concept skills), and music therapy. “Studies have shown that music therapy has a significant, positive influence when used to treat autistic individuals. Participating in music therapy allows autistics the opportunity to experience non-threatening outside stimulation, as they don't engage in direct human contact. As was previously mentioned, music therapy is made specific to each individual.

This is extremely important, because what may be positively received by one autistic may be negative to another” (Evans, R. The Benefits of Music Therapy for Autism.). Music therapy can improve socio-emotional development, encourage communication, and may encourage emotional fulfillment. Another therapy is occupational therapy, which helps the ACs to develop skills for handwriting, shirt buttoning, shoe tying, and so forth. Sensory integration therapy also may help ACs: “Sensory integration therapy is essentially a form of occupational therapy, and it is generally offered by specially trainedoccupational therapists. It involves specific sensory activities (swinging, bouncing, brushing, and more) that are intended to help the patient regulate his or her sensory response. The outcome of these activities may be better focus, improved behavior, and even lowered anxiety” (Rudy, L. J. (2007). All About Sensory Integration Therapy and Autism.). Nutrition is also important for the development of ACs, there are research which shows that Vitamin/mineral therapy offers additional help, for example DMG.

“Dimethylglycine (DMG) is a food substance and is most often used Vitamin/Mineral Therapy. DMG is found, in small amounts, in brown rice and liver. Its chemical make-up resembles that of water soluble vitamins, specifically vitamin B15. DMG does not require a prescription, and it can be purchased at many health food stores. There are no apparent side effects. Reports from parents giving their child DMG indicate improvements in the areas of speech, eye contact, social behavior, and attention span. Two weeks after starting on the DMG, B6 and magnesium can be added. Studies have shown that vitamin B6 may help control hyperactivity, and improve overall behavior. Although improvements vary considerably among individuals, other possible improvements are: speech improvements, improved sleeping patterns, lessened irritability, increased attention span, decrease in self stimulation, and overall improvement in general health” (http://www.autism-pdd.net/treaforme.html#Higashi. retrieved May 25. 2010).

In conclusion, this paper has covered in some detail some of the best educational practices for ACs available today. However in the developing countries like Indonesia, There aren’t enough special schools or therapy centers for children with autism. Therewere a large number of people in the country, children in particular, living with autism although the exact number is yet to be determined. Autism occurs everywhere, including in remote areas, Children there remain undiagnosed only because many parents can’t afford to take their children to the doctor. A lack of proper access to education for autisticchildren has also made it difficult for them to explore their abilities.

References
Evans, R. The Benefits of Music Therapy for Autism. Retrieved May 25. 2010.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Benefits-of-Music-Therapy-for-Autism&id=432566

Rudy, L. J. (2007). All About Sensory Integration Therapy and Autism. Retrieved
May 25. 2010. http://autism.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/a/allaboutsi.htm

http://www.autism-pdd.net/treaforme.html#Higashi. retrieved May 25. 2010

A Cross-Cultural Pilot Study

A Cross-Cultural Pilot Study

A study was designed to measure the attitude towards attitude about and belief on mentally retarded

children in two cultures, Belgian and Indonesian. The attitudes were measured by a questionnaire formulated by the investigator. It was predicted that the Belgian would show a more positive attitude than the Indonesian.

In a paper written last may (Nindyantoro 2010), on best educational practices with autistic children, concluded that in developing countries in the world this diagnostic is not fully understood. In the western world, autism has been studied extensively at least over the past twenty years. Since the present survey study is cross cultural and involved cultures unfamiliar with autism, the research question was changed from autism to mental retardation, and asked for a comparison between the Belgian and the Indonesian (the home culture of the investigator) cultures. A hypothesis was formulated that the Belgian culture will have more positive attitudes and beliefs about children with mental retardation because people from that culture have more knowledge about and experience with such children as well as means to support their lives. The circumstances under which the study which carried out limited the number of subject to five from each culture; therefore, this survey study is a pilot study will not yield result that would be applicable to entire cultures.

Procedures

Subject

For this cross-cultural pilot survey study the investigator sent ten consent forms (Appendix 1), half to Belgian adults and half to Indonesian adults, assuring them of total confidentiality. All ten subjects invited to participate responded positively. Therefore, the study has ten subjects divided equally between the two cultures. All subjects come from a convenient population personally familiar to the investigator due to the circumstances.

Materials

The investigator developed a tool to measure attitude towards children with mental retardation. The tool is a questionnaire which consists of twelve items distributed as follows: four “positive” statements, i.e., statements which support the hypothesis if the subject agrees to them (e.g., “Mentally retarded children have the right to complete health care”.); four “negative” statements, i.e., statements which support the hypothesis if the subject disagrees to them (e.g., “Mentally retarded children should not be allowed to play with normal children”.); and four “distractors”, i.e., statements that are neutral with respect to the hypothesis (e.g., “Mentally retarded children like to be alone”.). The order of the items was scrambled in order to keep from the subjects the exact purpose of the study and not influence them in their answers. The questionnaire (Appendix 2) was distributed to the people who agreed to participate in the study with the instruction that they had to choose one of the five answers (“strongly agree”, “agree”, “somewhat agree”, “disagree”, “strongly disagree”.) for each items.

Data analysis

Once the questionnaires were returned, the distractors were thrown out, and the remaining eight answers for each subject were scored as follows: all the “strongly agree” answers to the positive items and the “strongly disagree” answers to the negative items were awarded a score of five; all the “agree” answers to the positive items and the “disagree” answers to the negative items were awarded a score of four; all the “somewhat agree” answers whether to the negative or positive items were awarded a score of three; all the “agree” answers to the negative items and the “disagree” answers to the positive items were awarded a score of two; all the “strongly agree” answers to the negative items and the “strongly disagree” answers to the positive items were awarded a score of one.

Then the resulting scores were added up by culture and within the culture by type of item i.e., “positive” or “negative”. Finally percentages were calculated for each culture. The data are summarized in tables one to two. The bold face numbers represent the Belgian (table 1) and the Indonesian (table 2) supporting the hypothesis.

Table 1: Belgian Scores on Positive and Negative Items

Answer	Positive		Negative
	Scores	Percentages	Scores	Persentages
S/A	50	61%	0	0%
A	24	30%	6	8%
L/A	3	3%	12	16%
D	4	5%	24	31%
S/D	1	1%	35	45%
Total	82	100%	77	1oo%

The results show that 83.5% of Belgians subject support the hypothesis.

Table 2: Indonesian Scores on Positive and Negative Items

Answer	Positive		Negative
	Scores	Percentages	Scores	Percentages
S/A	45	57%	0	0%
A	16	19%	10	14%
L/A	12	16%	12	17%
D	6	8%	28	40%
D	0	0%	20	29%
Total	79	100%	70	100%

The results show that 72.5% of Indonesian subject support the hypothesis.

Result and Discussion

The hypothesis at the basis of this study was that Belgians would show a more positive

attitude towards children with mental retardation than Indonesians the data analysis

confirms the hypothesis 83.5% of the 40 observations coming from 5 adult Belgians are

in support of the hypothesis, and only 72.5% of the 40 observations from the 5 adult

Indonesians are in support. Therefore, the hypothesis is confirmed by an 11% difference,

which is a strong difference from a pilot study.

In spite of the fact that the hypothesis was highly confirmed, one has to be aware of the

limitations of pilot study in general, and in particular of a study such as the one repeated

here. The limitations of this study start with the small number of subjects selected from a

convenient population and end with the fact it was carried out in English with subjects

whose knowledge of the language may have been less than perfect.

If the further study proves the hypothesis, steps need to be taken in educating the

Indonesians about children with mental retardation. The investigator as a Brother of

charity is in a best position to carry out such an education in his country.

Belgian and Indonesian Attitude and Beliefs Towards Mentally Retarded Children

A Cross-Cultural Pilot Study

A study was designed to measure the attitude towards attitude about and belief on mentally retarded
children in two cultures, Belgian and Indonesian. The attitudes were measured by a questionnaire formulated by the investigator. It was predicted that the Belgian would show a more positive attitude than the Indonesian.

In a paper written last may (Nindyantoro 2010), on best educational practices with autistic children, concluded that in developing countries in the world this diagnostic is not fully understood. In the western world, autism has been studied extensively at least over the past twenty years. Since the present survey study is cross cultural and involved cultures unfamiliar with autism, the research question was changed from autism to mental retardation, and asked for a comparison between the Belgian and the Indonesian (the home culture of the investigator) cultures. A hypothesis was formulated that the Belgian culture will have more positive attitudes and beliefs about children with mental retardation because people from that culture have more knowledge about and experience with such children as well as means to support their lives. The circumstances under which the study which carried out limited the number of subject to five from each culture; therefore, this survey study is a pilot study will not yield result that would be applicable to entire cultures.

Procedures

Subject
For this cross-cultural pilot survey study the investigator sent ten consent forms (Appendix 1), half to Belgian adults and half to Indonesian adults, assuring them of total confidentiality. All ten subjects invited to participate responded positively. Therefore, the study has ten subjects divided equally between the two cultures. All subjects come from a convenient population personally familiar to the investigator due to the circumstances.

Materials
The investigator developed a tool to measure attitude towards children with mental retardation. The tool is a questionnaire which consists of twelve items distributed as follows: four “positive” statements, i.e., statements which support the hypothesis if the subject agrees to them (e.g., “Mentally retarded children have the right to complete health care”.); four “negative” statements, i.e., statements which support the hypothesis if the subject disagrees to them (e.g., “Mentally retarded children should not be allowed to play with normal children”.); and four “distractors”, i.e., statements that are neutral with respect to the hypothesis (e.g., “Mentally retarded children like to be alone”.). The order of the items was scrambled in order to keep from the subjects the exact purpose of the study and not influence them in their answers. The questionnaire (Appendix 2) was distributed to the people who agreed to participate in the study with the instruction that they had to choose one of the five answers (“strongly agree”, “agree”, “somewhat agree”, “disagree”, “strongly disagree”.) for each items.

Data analysis
Once the questionnaires were returned, the distractors were thrown out, and the remaining eight answers for each subject were scored as follows: all the “strongly agree” answers to the positive items and the “strongly disagree” answers to the negative items were awarded a score of five; all the “agree” answers to the positive items and the “disagree” answers to the negative items were awarded a score of four; all the “somewhat agree” answers whether to the negative or positive items were awarded a score of three; all the “agree” answers to the negative items and the “disagree” answers to the positive items were awarded a score of two; all the “strongly agree” answers to the negative items and the “strongly disagree” answers to the positive items were awarded a score of one.

Then the resulting scores were added up by culture and within the culture by type of item i.e., “positive” or “negative”. Finally percentages were calculated for each culture. The data are summarized in tables one to two. The bold face numbers represent the Belgian (table 1) and the Indonesian (table 2) supporting the hypothesis.

Table 1: Belgian Scores on Positive and Negative Items


The results show that 72.5% of Indonesian subject support the hypothesis.
The survey shows an 11% difference between Belgians (83.5%) and Indonesians (72.5%)
with respect to attitude and belief about mentally retarded children support the
hypothesis.

Result and Discussion
The hypothesis at the basis of this study was that Belgians would show a more positive
attitude towards children with mental retardation than Indonesians the data analysis
confirms the hypothesis 83.5% of the 40 observations coming from 5 adult Belgians are
in support of the hypothesis, and only 72.5% of the 40 observations from the 5 adult
Indonesians are in support. Therefore, the hypothesis is confirmed by an 11% difference,
which is a strong difference from a pilot study.

In spite of the fact that the hypothesis was highly confirmed, one has to be aware of the
limitations of pilot study in general, and in particular of a study such as the one repeated
here. The limitations of this study start with the small number of subjects selected from a
convenient population and end with the fact it was carried out in English with subjects
whose knowledge of the language may have been less than perfect.

If the further study proves the hypothesis, steps need to be taken in educating the
Indonesians about children with mental retardation. The investigator as a Brother of
charity is in a best position to carry out such an education in his country.

Do you agree that people get disclosed of care due to unhealthy behavior?

Personally, I think that as human being we have to respect the life of others, we have to give maximum care for those who need; we have to do anything necessary to help people to improve the quality of life. But if we see now in reality people are really living in unhealthy behavior, abusing drugs, free sex, cigarette smoking, action that causedobesity, and so on. Can we do something to decrease this behavior? I do not think so, even if we make rule to put people in prison if they are still act unhealthy, I believe that will just make worst situation. The only solution is within the person himself or herself, motivation, that is the word that they have to have in their lives. Unhealthy behavior is not only costly for the person himself or herself but also for the neighborhood, government, and so on. But we still have to give the maximum care for them, do not look at what they do but look them as a person. So for me, disclose care due to unhealthy behavior is not agreeable.

My own definition of health and explaination.

Health is metabolic efficiency. Sickness is metabolic inefficiency. Nobody is totally healthy or totally sick. Each of us is a unique combination of health and sickness. And each of us has a unique combination of abilities and disabilities, both emotional and physical. As we grow up, we learn that we are loved for our abilities but hated for our disabilities. This happens at home, at play, at school, and at work. Sometimes, this even happens with our doctors, especially if our disabilities mystify them or remind them of their own disabilities. So, we try to hide our disabilities from people and from ourselves. This charade undermines our relationships and our self-esteem. We learn to fear society and hate ourselves.

Self-hatred is the most debilitating sickness. It interferes with our ability to seek and accept help. And everybody needs help. How do we free ourselves from self-hatred? First, we reclaim our disabilities, whether society accepts them or not. This means that we learn to accept ourselves. Then, we cope with our disabilities. This means that we learn to take care of ourselves.

http://www.organicmd.org/whatishealth.html

For me as a lay person who has no basic knowledge in health field if I can say like that, health is a general condition of a person or people in all aspect such as physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and so on. I am agree with the definition of health which I took from internet mention above, especially on statement which says “Nobody is totally healthy or totally sick” because sometimes we say that we are healthy but suddenly we could not get up from bed because we feel not well, we do not know exactly what is really happening in our body even if we feel healthy. Our emotion, spiritual, conscience, and mental also have influence in our health, we see sometime people who have good physical condition are not always healthy in their inner life, sometime they often get depressed and they do not know how to handle, and if it often happen then they
become psychiatric, it is an extreme example but it not always happen.

Biomedical Ethics

Mrs. X, an 85- year- old resident of a nursing home, was taken to a hospital to receive emergency treatment for her dyspnea that resulted from chronic bronchiectasis. Emergency intubation was provided, and Mrs. X was placed on a respirator. During the period that followed, she was not able to communicate clearly, but she did occasionally acknowledge discomfort and she recognized her family members who visited. The staff was unable to wean her from respirator, and she was transferred to a chronic care hospital. A week later, during another effort to wean her from respirator, her heart stopped. She was resuscitated and then taken to another hospital for intensive care. When she did not regain consciousness, a physician indicated to the family that it would be appropriate to consider withdrawing the life – support system. Over the next two weeks Mrs. X was in a persistent vegetative state.

In this case, I am really confronted with a difficult situation. In reality, I see that there is no benefit for the patient to continue the life – sustaining treatment. In this case in fact we have only two opinions, since the patient has no ability to make choice and to decide. One is the opinions of the care – givers who are in favors of withdrawing the life – sustaining treatment since there is no benefit anymore. And other opinion is from the
family who wants maybe to continue the treatment.

As we know that God has given life to us, and only God is the one who has right to take life, as in absolute ethics theory. And we know in relativist ethics theory, for the better situation, nothing should be prohibited as long as not harming one’s neighbor. For me, I think it is better to combine these two theories. First of all, if we look carefully what is behind the care-giver’s reason, I think it is true that there is no benefit at all to continue the treatment, it is clear that there is no hope for the patient to recover. But of course we have to respect also the family who is the representative of the patient. So I think what we have to do is to continue the treatment and if there is another complication occur, it is not necessary to do new treatment, but is does not mean to let the patient just lying on her bed like that. We have also to prepare the patient in meeting God according to her religion. Most important is we have to respect the person of the patient even if she is in a vegetative state, for example, put on clothes which she likes, and play some music she likes, and so on.

How to adapt what we learned in our cultures

Introduction

After our experience sharing, we notified that we have experience in education from our countries, and we got knowledge here, those knowledge change our attitude accordingly, once we will be back in our countries, we will put what we learned in practice to do so, we have to adapt our knowledge according the local situation.

How to Adapt Our Knowledge

• Students
• Teachers
• Context and environment
• Program

Students

• Every children has the right to receive education
• Considering the individuality

Teachers, parents and member of the
society

• Formation and training of the teachers and recycling 
•  Sensitization of parents and member of the society

Context and environment

• Adapting the facility with the situation and condition 
• Working with the expert in art
• Building the environment
• Involve the society in education

 Program

• Principle of Piaget “Developmentally appropriate activities”
• Principle of Vygotsky “Social interaction”

Religions in Indonesia

Indonesia is a country with many religions, but recently the government approved only Islam, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Religion was a complex and volatile issue, one not easily analyzed in terms of social class, region, or ethnic group. Although Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions influenced many aspects of life, the government generally discouraged religious groups from playing a political role. The state guaranteed tolerance for certain religions regarded as monotheistic by the government, including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, but only as long as these creeds remained outside of politics.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, with 88 percent of its citizens identifying themselves as Muslim. And a lot of people consider Muslim as a terorist religion. But actually, not all of the Muslim is bad. Christians and Muslims have collaborated in struggling towards shared political goal in the Indonesian independence movement. We have also many more collaborations such as in fighting against poverty, working together for social and racial justice, for safe-guarding and promoting religious freedom, for resolving conflicts peacefully, for addressing the plight of refugees and displace people and in helping victims of natural disasters in Aceh and in Yogya, and many other areas.

Although Christians and Muslims have lived harmoniously, there are of course conflicts and misperceptions. Some of the sects in Islam like to create Indonesia to be an Islam country. They really did terrorizing the people, killing people, forcing the government to change the constitution.

Regarding on this matter, the government always try to find solution to decrease the conflicts, one of the solution is to organize interreligious dialogue. They organize the dialogue very often so that there will be a new understanding among religions. But of course it is not so easy to sit together and talk about religions, because religions is a very sensitive matter, but anyway I think only by dialogue we can reach a new understanding, we can respect each others and by dialogue we can create a new peace atmosphere.

To Lead Is To Serve

This book is the reflection of Brother General of the Brothers of Charity, Bro. Rene Stockman on leadership, while taking into account his own experiences so far. In fact, he considers himself favored to have been given the opportunity to become the leader of other people. Leaders ought to feel invited to live their own ideals, to realize them, and to, thus, to be examples for others.

Today it is impossible not to refer to prominent personalities from the world of spirituality when reflecting on or talking about leadership. The new jargon is made up of fairly spiritual words: charisma, zeal, motivation, spirituality. The boost that that one’s personal spiritual life can give to a person has been defined as one of the keys to successful leadership. A spiritual life is essential, if one wishes to refine and purify one’s views on the world and on mankind continuously. Every leader will have to make sure that his leadership is rooted firmly in the humus of a religion or a philosophy on the basis of which he can develop his or her personal spirituality.
Leader has to know whom he serves. This is something that Bro. General still finds extremely important: to stay in touch with the people at the basis, to visit and meet confreres in their own environment, and to meet the people that they nurse, educate, and look after.

Leaders are often very paradoxical figures whose authority wins them the respect of other people and whose friendliness puts people at their ease. However, figures from the past can also give directions or become models for the type of leader we would like to become. Peter Joseph Triest, who founded the Brothers of Charity in 1807 and who formulated his mission during his first public performance, after having lived in hiding for 5 years. “I am to be a good example for you. I am to teach you, and I am to serve you.” For many people, Christ was the ultimate model for life, also for those who lead other people. He was a leader who would call himself a shepherd, who knew his sheep by their name, and who abandoned the flock in order to find a lost soul. The gospel is full of phrases and stories that can inspire our leadership. It is in dealing with the Word of God that our leadership is renewed, enriched, reoriented. Christ is the ultimate model for
Christians. With Him, we are in good company.

Of a leader one may expect that he or she identifies himself or herself with the organization that he or she represents. One can only dedicate oneself to a cause when that cause is yours and one identifies oneself with it. And it takes time to get to know an organization, to learn about a certain cause, to grow into it. Leaders as incarnations of an organization culture, that is how one might refer to the particular way in which leaders should identify themselves with the company or organization that they represent. Leaders who identify themselves with the organization completely are usually prepared to devote a lot of time to the organization, all their time in fact.

We can only talk about ethical leadership when this main objective is attained when concern and attention remain the leader’s priorities. It is always about man and his wellbeing. In order to realize that, a leader need to act virtuously. A virtue is a value that has become a personal asset, thanks to which one succeeds in bettering one’s own life in view of the life of others. There are four main virtues or cardinal virtues: justice, prudence, courage, and moderation. Ethics would be incomplete, if the ecological dimension were lacking. As leaders, we have to be mindful of that dimension as well, in our words and especially in our actions.

Of a servant – leader, one may expect that he is dedicated to the wellbeing of others and that he is willing to go very far in that field. In Christ’s case, the servant – leader demonstrated His willingness to sacrifice his life for others. A Christian leader is someone who is doubly dependent. He is at the service of others and he is at the service of the Lord. A Christian leader also strives for the ideal that is God, who at the same time “ordonne, donne et pardonne” (gives orders, gives power, and grants forgiveness). A leader according to St. Paul’s model should be someone who can control himself and who has pure intentions concerning his task (not avaricious). If we intend to take the gospel in its totality as guideline for our leadership, we had best pay attention to the great values of the Sermon on the Mount, which are fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trust, meekness, Self – Control. All those characteristics are fruits of the Holy Spirit. They can never be the result of one’s own efforts solely. We must pray for them, open up to God’s love and His grace will then give us the strength to give shape to our leadership.

RUBRICS FOR TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM

Excellent	Understand the psychology of the student, open to the students, have a clear vision, mastered the subject, maintains eye contact, voice project well and clearly, well prepared, have interaction with students, regular evaluation of the lesson, gestures.
Good	Simple understanding of the student, open to the students, have a clear vision, mastered the subject, maintains eye contact, voice project well and clearly, good prepared, usually have interaction with the children, seldom evaluation, gestures.
Poor	No attention for the students, not always open to the students, have no clear vision, mastered the subject, little eye contact, voice change and does not project, lack of preparation, not always have interaction, no regular evaluation.

Moral Ethics; The Brophy case

For my statement, I take the case of Paul E. Brophy, who was a firefighter and an emergency medical technician in Easton. He suffered a ruptured brain artery and never regained consciousness after the unsuccessful surgery. He developed pneumonia as well. Mrs. Brophy, his wife, gave the physicians permission for a surgical procedure to insert a feeding tube into his stomach. Later, Mrs. Brophy, a devout Catholic and a nurse who worked part time with the mentally retarded, decided to question the continuation of artificial feeding when her husband’s condition remained unchanged. She consulted with clergy, ethicists and a lawyer before requesting withdrawal of artificial nutrition. In February 1985, Mrs. Brophy asked a probate court for a declaratory judgment ordering the hospital to act affirmatively on her request. A year later, Mr. Brophy was transferred to Emerson hospital under the care of a neurologist who had earlier testified that Brophy was in a persistent vegetative state. Mr. Brophy died eight days after the feeding tube was removed.

When we think about this case, I am sure that we all agree that this case is a complicated dilemma. Personally I do not agree with what Mrs. Brophy did. It is comprehensible that we do not want to see a person whom we love suffer too much. But we have to realize that we do not have the right to decide whether the person has to live or die. Even when the person who is suffering asks us to end his suffering, still we cannot do that. If I were Mrs. Brophy, I would not pull the plug of Mr. Brophy’s feeding tube, even if I know the consequence that he would die by pulling or not the feeding tube. I would rather wait and let him die naturally.

Life is a gift from God, and we need to respect the life of others. Individually, I am not in favor of euthanasia, because obliquely by performing euthanasia, we end the life of others or in an extreme form we kill others. This is not what a human especially as a Catholic is expected to do. What we are expected to do is to respect life, to prepare the terminal patient for death, if we know that the person will live not much longer, but not by performing or supporting euthanasia on this person.