I cannot believe I'm almost done with my internship...and college in general. In the past few weeks I have had to start saying goodbye to some of our clients, because we sometimes don't see them for a month between appointments. I have enjoyed the process of observing my clients, reading their files, teaching them, and finally seeing some progress. I have one client who was very nervous about her mobility. She would have to be heavily encouraged before she would cross a driveway or a parking lot in her apartment complex. Now she crosses with confidence. When I first met her, there was always one sidewalk that would confuse her and she would stop and get very disoriented. Now she breezes by it as if it doesn't even exist. On our route to the bus stop, I just stand back and let her go. In our last lesson I did not prompt her once on our walk home from the stop. I've also worked with her on building confidence. She used to always phrase things as a question "this is the bus stop..?". Now she says things with determination "This IS the bus stop". I've also watched her self advocacy develop. During our bus trips she has had to independently ask the drive to announce the stops, assist her in locating her gate at the plaza, and even once informed the driver that the first seats on the left are reserved for people with disabilities.
At F.S.D.B. I was proud of my students when they successfully washed the dishes or wrote a check. I never thought I would feel this proud of an adult. It's a different kind of pride with mobility lessons. This is why I love O&M. What I am able to teach these clients and students can give them back one of the most basic abilities, the freedom to move safely. Whether it be riding the bus, or getting around their home, it's so important to building their confidence and being independent. I feel like when teaching O&M the results are more concrete, and yet can be applied in so many situations and aspects of life.
I love teaching O&M (and I hope I'll get to do a lot of it in my new job in Denver!)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
firsts
I have experienced a lot of firsts this week. I have a client who is prone to seizures and is on a lot of medication to try to control her condition. Yesterday I was traveling with her in the mall, working on trailing and two point touch. All of a sudden she just stopped walking and turned toward me as if she was going to ask a question. He husband was with us because he happened to have the day off and wanted to observe what we were teaching her so he could help work with her at home. All of a sudden he stepped up and suggested that she grab his arm and follow him to a nearby bench. That’s when I realized he was seeing something I wasn’t. As we walked around the corner, about 10 feet from the bench her body went limp and she collapsed. It was really scary to see someone who had just been walking and talking and laughing just drop to the ground. I’m sooooo glad her husband was with us, he had to grab her under her arms to keep her from hitting the ground when she blacked out. He was able to gently lay her on the ground and turn her on her side. I know during my internship I’ll never be alone with a client, but say in 2 months when I’m working on my own, if this had happened to me I have NO idea what I would have done. I have no upper body strength what so ever, if I tried to catch her we both would have gone down. Several people in the mall began watching us and asking if they should call security. If I had been alone, I guess the best thing to do would be to ask for help from people around me. So anyway, she was lying on the ground convulsing and twitching with her mouth open. To be honest, it really freaked me out. Amanda was right there with the client’s husband, making sure she didn’t hit her body on anything. I was stood and watched, and after about a minute I sat down because everyone else was sitting and I felt awkward just standing over them looking like I had no clue what was going on. Less than 5 minutes later she regained consciousness and began talking. She was very disoriented and asked us repeatedly what we had done in today’s lesson. She could not remember what skills we worked on or how long we had been at the mall. That’s when I knew the lesson was over for sure, even thought I was pretty sure as soon as she hit the ground that we were done for the day. I had been telling Amanda how nervous I was about seeing someone have a seizure, but it was not as bad as I had imagined. I was glad to be able to kind of sit this one out and just observe.
I also had a student this week who is learning cane skills and wanted to be blindfolded to practice his skills because there is a possibility he may lose more vision in the future. It seemed to scare him to put the blindfold on, possible because he was facing his fear and experiencing what it would be like to have no vision. During the lesson it felt like I was back in the Williams building teaching David. I was able to help my client identify environmental information that helped him stay oriented. Once the blindfold was off, he said he felt better now that he had tried it and experienced that he could do it. I know there is a debate over whether to use or not use blindfolds in mobility and I thought this was a perfect example to sum up my feelings on the matter. My student was anxious about using the blindfold, but he was willing work thought his fear to gain more self confidence. This was his choice alone and we did not encourage him either way. Because he chose to and we didn’t make him, he was willing to work hard and keep trying even after being frustrated. I would never force a student to wear a blindfold if they didn’t want to. Of course I would mention it as an option for those clients’s whose vision is not stable, but that’s all it would be, an option. I feel that if you force a client to do something that terrifies them, they will not be learning.
So it’s been a busy week. Dining in the dark was amazing, I was a seater and the very first thing I did once I walked into the blacked out ballroom was stick my fingers directly into someone’s salad dressing. Joking aside, it was a humbling experience that I think helped me to relate more to my clients. During O&M 1 and 2 I could always take my mindfold off, I know we weren’t supposed to, but knowing I had the option was comforting. In a room where it is pitch black and you can’t make it go away, it felt like I couldn’t escape the darkness. My eyes for straining for some bit of light and there was nothing. Overall I had a blast, and learned a lot for working at the event.
I also had a student this week who is learning cane skills and wanted to be blindfolded to practice his skills because there is a possibility he may lose more vision in the future. It seemed to scare him to put the blindfold on, possible because he was facing his fear and experiencing what it would be like to have no vision. During the lesson it felt like I was back in the Williams building teaching David. I was able to help my client identify environmental information that helped him stay oriented. Once the blindfold was off, he said he felt better now that he had tried it and experienced that he could do it. I know there is a debate over whether to use or not use blindfolds in mobility and I thought this was a perfect example to sum up my feelings on the matter. My student was anxious about using the blindfold, but he was willing work thought his fear to gain more self confidence. This was his choice alone and we did not encourage him either way. Because he chose to and we didn’t make him, he was willing to work hard and keep trying even after being frustrated. I would never force a student to wear a blindfold if they didn’t want to. Of course I would mention it as an option for those clients’s whose vision is not stable, but that’s all it would be, an option. I feel that if you force a client to do something that terrifies them, they will not be learning.
So it’s been a busy week. Dining in the dark was amazing, I was a seater and the very first thing I did once I walked into the blacked out ballroom was stick my fingers directly into someone’s salad dressing. Joking aside, it was a humbling experience that I think helped me to relate more to my clients. During O&M 1 and 2 I could always take my mindfold off, I know we weren’t supposed to, but knowing I had the option was comforting. In a room where it is pitch black and you can’t make it go away, it felt like I couldn’t escape the darkness. My eyes for straining for some bit of light and there was nothing. Overall I had a blast, and learned a lot for working at the event.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Week 6&7
Week 6/7
I know I haven't been keeping up with my blogs the past couple of weeks. A lot has happened and I have been so busy. Every night before I pass out I think "oh no I didn't write my blog...again". I know how happy new blog posts make Mickey, so I'm sorry.
Weeks 6 and week 7 were a little choppy. I felt like one day we would have clients from 7am to 7pm, and then the next we would have nothing. Clients have continued to cancel on us at an irritating rate. Now we are making sure we call people a few days before to remind them, and then within 24 hours of their appointment. We have caught a lot of early cancelations this way, instead of traveling out to their home to learn they can't meet. I'm still really enjoying my time at the Lighthouse and even though the schedule is erratic I like, it keeps things fresh and interesting.
I have really started to notice a difference in teaching teens and adults. I know I have stated this before, but recently it’s been really bad. I have several clients in their 20s who do not want to work on O&M skills. I have one student who gets disoriented, so I check his orientation by asking him where one of his landmarks is. When he is way off I correct him and he immediately snaps at me saying "I know, I know." After hearing that so many times it's tempting to say 'if you know, then why are we here?’ That would be very unprofessional so instead in this last lesson when he stated giving me the "I know" I simply let him go, using all of the things he thought he knew. This reminded me SO much of our mobility class. One of us would act very stubborn and convinced we knew where we were going, so Mickey let us go. I got the same result with my student as I had in the mobility class. My student slowly realized what he thought he knew was incorrect. At this point I prompted him to throw away what he thought he knew and use what the environment was telling him (I think it was a direct quote from Mickey). This is a skill I am so glad I learned, not the simple understanding of what a technique is and how to teach it, but an understanding of how to step back, and rebuild orientation based on environmental cues. It's something I use with my client's almost every day.
I have been at the lighthouse long enough now that I have seen some client's several times, and now I'm beginning to enjoy watching their progress. I have one student who rode the bus this week virtually alone. I rode the bus with her, but sat far away from her and did not provide any information or reminders while riding the bus or transferring at the plaza. I'm excited that I have been responsible for her bus lessons and now she's basically ready to do it alone.
I worked on street crossing with a cline this week who was totally petrified to cross streets. In our most recent lesson she did so well, and I could see her confidence and enthusiasm grow.
I was also really proud of another student this week. We are working on bus travel with her too, and normally we try to motivate the younger clients to use the bus by finding a location that interests them. I suggested going to a pizza place, the mall or fun station. The student very maturely suggested she learn a route from her home to her counselor's office instead. I was struck by her maturity and drive to better herself.
I had one terrifying moment with a student this past week. This student is a bit impatient, and thinks that crossing the street in front of her home is 'no big deal'. I've tried telling her that it is a pretty big deal, cars come around a curve in the road just before passing her home, so they cannot see her until it's almost too late. It is a reasonably safe location to cross in a small residential area, but she has to make sure it is totally silent in both directions. She typically will approach the road, listen for about 2 seconds and declare it's safe. However, several times there are been cars approaching. I'll point out the car, then she says she hears it and as soon as it passes her she says it's safe. Many times another car is coming, but she thinks what she's hearing is the sound of the car that just passed her. This is why I stress total silence. Last week she approached the road, identified a car and as soon as it passed her said it's safe and IMMEDIATLY stepped out. Normally she said its safe, then I confirm, and only then do we step out. I think this morning she was feeling grumpy and irritated we were doing another early lesson, so she stated it was safe and didn't wait for me to confirm. I was double checking to confirm it was safe when I saw the car come around the curve in the road and head straight for the student. I yelled 'no!' and put my hand on her shoulder and puller her back. The car saw her and had slowed down, and she really was no more than 2 feet into the road, but still it scared me so bad. I firmly told her how important it was to listen for total silence and that while she is still working on the skills to wait for me to tell her to go. She blew it off and acted like I was over exaggerating. I wanted her to truly understand how dangerous what she just did was, so I told her several times that she could have been seriously hurt or even died. She eventually said she understood and would try to listen more. Street crossing can be so frustrating. I have clients like this one who think nothing of it to step out into traffic, and then others who would wait thought 50 light cycles before crossing. It's my job to get them somewhere in the middle.
This week I worked with an adult client who is learning cane skills from scratch. I got to give her her first cane and show her how to grip it. It felt like a rite of passage, like there should have been some kind of ceremony. She was so eager to learn, we covered the basics of diagonal technique, going up and down stairs and two point touch. She did very well with everything. Two point touch was challenging for her, but after walking to and from her mailbox I noticed her pausing and correcting when she was out of step. I was so proud of her I wanted to give her a hug or a high five. We told her to practice so I'm very excited to see what her skills are like next week.
Things are going good. This coming week will also be a little crazy because I'm going up to D.C. for an interview. I'll do my best to keep this updated!
I know I haven't been keeping up with my blogs the past couple of weeks. A lot has happened and I have been so busy. Every night before I pass out I think "oh no I didn't write my blog...again". I know how happy new blog posts make Mickey, so I'm sorry.
Weeks 6 and week 7 were a little choppy. I felt like one day we would have clients from 7am to 7pm, and then the next we would have nothing. Clients have continued to cancel on us at an irritating rate. Now we are making sure we call people a few days before to remind them, and then within 24 hours of their appointment. We have caught a lot of early cancelations this way, instead of traveling out to their home to learn they can't meet. I'm still really enjoying my time at the Lighthouse and even though the schedule is erratic I like, it keeps things fresh and interesting.
I have really started to notice a difference in teaching teens and adults. I know I have stated this before, but recently it’s been really bad. I have several clients in their 20s who do not want to work on O&M skills. I have one student who gets disoriented, so I check his orientation by asking him where one of his landmarks is. When he is way off I correct him and he immediately snaps at me saying "I know, I know." After hearing that so many times it's tempting to say 'if you know, then why are we here?’ That would be very unprofessional so instead in this last lesson when he stated giving me the "I know" I simply let him go, using all of the things he thought he knew. This reminded me SO much of our mobility class. One of us would act very stubborn and convinced we knew where we were going, so Mickey let us go. I got the same result with my student as I had in the mobility class. My student slowly realized what he thought he knew was incorrect. At this point I prompted him to throw away what he thought he knew and use what the environment was telling him (I think it was a direct quote from Mickey). This is a skill I am so glad I learned, not the simple understanding of what a technique is and how to teach it, but an understanding of how to step back, and rebuild orientation based on environmental cues. It's something I use with my client's almost every day.
I have been at the lighthouse long enough now that I have seen some client's several times, and now I'm beginning to enjoy watching their progress. I have one student who rode the bus this week virtually alone. I rode the bus with her, but sat far away from her and did not provide any information or reminders while riding the bus or transferring at the plaza. I'm excited that I have been responsible for her bus lessons and now she's basically ready to do it alone.
I worked on street crossing with a cline this week who was totally petrified to cross streets. In our most recent lesson she did so well, and I could see her confidence and enthusiasm grow.
I was also really proud of another student this week. We are working on bus travel with her too, and normally we try to motivate the younger clients to use the bus by finding a location that interests them. I suggested going to a pizza place, the mall or fun station. The student very maturely suggested she learn a route from her home to her counselor's office instead. I was struck by her maturity and drive to better herself.
I had one terrifying moment with a student this past week. This student is a bit impatient, and thinks that crossing the street in front of her home is 'no big deal'. I've tried telling her that it is a pretty big deal, cars come around a curve in the road just before passing her home, so they cannot see her until it's almost too late. It is a reasonably safe location to cross in a small residential area, but she has to make sure it is totally silent in both directions. She typically will approach the road, listen for about 2 seconds and declare it's safe. However, several times there are been cars approaching. I'll point out the car, then she says she hears it and as soon as it passes her she says it's safe. Many times another car is coming, but she thinks what she's hearing is the sound of the car that just passed her. This is why I stress total silence. Last week she approached the road, identified a car and as soon as it passed her said it's safe and IMMEDIATLY stepped out. Normally she said its safe, then I confirm, and only then do we step out. I think this morning she was feeling grumpy and irritated we were doing another early lesson, so she stated it was safe and didn't wait for me to confirm. I was double checking to confirm it was safe when I saw the car come around the curve in the road and head straight for the student. I yelled 'no!' and put my hand on her shoulder and puller her back. The car saw her and had slowed down, and she really was no more than 2 feet into the road, but still it scared me so bad. I firmly told her how important it was to listen for total silence and that while she is still working on the skills to wait for me to tell her to go. She blew it off and acted like I was over exaggerating. I wanted her to truly understand how dangerous what she just did was, so I told her several times that she could have been seriously hurt or even died. She eventually said she understood and would try to listen more. Street crossing can be so frustrating. I have clients like this one who think nothing of it to step out into traffic, and then others who would wait thought 50 light cycles before crossing. It's my job to get them somewhere in the middle.
This week I worked with an adult client who is learning cane skills from scratch. I got to give her her first cane and show her how to grip it. It felt like a rite of passage, like there should have been some kind of ceremony. She was so eager to learn, we covered the basics of diagonal technique, going up and down stairs and two point touch. She did very well with everything. Two point touch was challenging for her, but after walking to and from her mailbox I noticed her pausing and correcting when she was out of step. I was so proud of her I wanted to give her a hug or a high five. We told her to practice so I'm very excited to see what her skills are like next week.
Things are going good. This coming week will also be a little crazy because I'm going up to D.C. for an interview. I'll do my best to keep this updated!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Week 5 - Brand New Client
This week was busy! I have just now found the time to write this blog...applying to jobs, writing case notes, coaching a soccer team and trying to finish my comps paper by tomorrow a 5pm, I'm getting very good at multi-tasking.
Anyway, this week flew by. I feel like there is no down time, if we are not seeing a client then we are either driving some where to see a client or doing paperwork about seeing the client. The paperwork is getting easier, and now I am really beginning to see the benefit of it. Now when we go to see an existing client I can go back and review what we did last time to see what they had trouble with. To me this is much more relevant that a graph or table showing the percentage of objectives met. We do rate the client on a scale of 5, one score for over all performance in the area, and one number for their skill level at the end of this particular lesson. These numbers can be charted and analyzed, but seeing the number "3" does not remind me that this was the lesson where the client completely lost their orientation when a big truck drove by, or that this was the first time they crossed at a light controlled intersection.
I am very excited about a new client we went to see this week. She is an woman in her 40s who lost her vision a few years ago, and has never had mobility training of any kind. Right now she is using a non-mobility support cane, like the kind you could buy at a drug store. She is very eager to learn. She showed us some of her current methods of getting around her home, and her "cane" technique on stairs was way better than some clients I've seen who have had years of formal mobility training. I'm excited that I get to spend the next couple of months with this woman, introducing her to all the techniques and strategies of mobility. Normally we are teaching a route and fine tuning the mobility skills of a client who was taught by someone else. I'm excited I get to be the one to teach her everything from scratch. I hope I don't mess her up! I know Amanda wouldn't let that happen... We will try to see her fairly often and I'm interested to follow her progress. She also informed us that she has seizures on a regular basis. I've never seen someone have a seizure and it kinda scares me. I'm afraid it will happen during a lesson and I won't know what to do. I'm glad Amanda will be there, she has a lot of experience with client's with epilepsy.
In other news, I have an interview with a school district in Denver in a few weeks! Hopefully I am meet up with David. I'm excited and anxious...the real world is sneaking up on me.
Anyway, this week flew by. I feel like there is no down time, if we are not seeing a client then we are either driving some where to see a client or doing paperwork about seeing the client. The paperwork is getting easier, and now I am really beginning to see the benefit of it. Now when we go to see an existing client I can go back and review what we did last time to see what they had trouble with. To me this is much more relevant that a graph or table showing the percentage of objectives met. We do rate the client on a scale of 5, one score for over all performance in the area, and one number for their skill level at the end of this particular lesson. These numbers can be charted and analyzed, but seeing the number "3" does not remind me that this was the lesson where the client completely lost their orientation when a big truck drove by, or that this was the first time they crossed at a light controlled intersection.
I am very excited about a new client we went to see this week. She is an woman in her 40s who lost her vision a few years ago, and has never had mobility training of any kind. Right now she is using a non-mobility support cane, like the kind you could buy at a drug store. She is very eager to learn. She showed us some of her current methods of getting around her home, and her "cane" technique on stairs was way better than some clients I've seen who have had years of formal mobility training. I'm excited that I get to spend the next couple of months with this woman, introducing her to all the techniques and strategies of mobility. Normally we are teaching a route and fine tuning the mobility skills of a client who was taught by someone else. I'm excited I get to be the one to teach her everything from scratch. I hope I don't mess her up! I know Amanda wouldn't let that happen... We will try to see her fairly often and I'm interested to follow her progress. She also informed us that she has seizures on a regular basis. I've never seen someone have a seizure and it kinda scares me. I'm afraid it will happen during a lesson and I won't know what to do. I'm glad Amanda will be there, she has a lot of experience with client's with epilepsy.
In other news, I have an interview with a school district in Denver in a few weeks! Hopefully I am meet up with David. I'm excited and anxious...the real world is sneaking up on me.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Week 4 - Improv
This week I experienced that being a mobility instructor requires a lot of imporv and sometimes a little 'cover up' (I know that sounds strange). Bus routes can be confusing, and finding a certain bus stop that in theory should exist, but for some reason doesn't, can be very embarrassing. This week I worked with a client in downtown Tallahassee. I know the area well from working it in my O&M II class, but I didn't really pay attention to the bus stops. So the client gets off the bus, I instruct her on how to get to our destination. Later she reversed the route perfectly, she knew what streets we were crossing, and at this point I'm feeling like a pretty good teacher. Then I realize the inbound bus stop I want just isn't there...it just does not exist. I was nervous because this is my second time teaching this client. In our last lesson I took her on a bus going the wrong direction out of the FSU stadium and ended up building some great rapport while we rode the bus full circle, which wasted about 45 minutes. So here I am with this client again, and I messed up the bus route, again. I froze, I didn't want to wander around, and I wanted the client to be involved. So that's when I had the idea to turn my mistake into a teachable moment. I explained to her that this happens sometimes, and we can't just freeze or wander around until we are lost. I asked her if she had any ideas. She suggested we call the Star Metro info line. I had given her the phone number on our last lesson. It was perfect! She was able to call the bus info line, and with some mild coaching she asked questions and lead us to a bus stop. She made a mistake when asking one of the questions, she forgot to mention we wanted an inbound bus. This was just another opportunity for her to learn something, and build her confidence. Hopefully now if she ever gets lost and we are not there, she'll know who to call and exactly what to ask. The idea of her being more empowered to get around independently really made me happy. I have another bus lesson with her in 2 weeks, I'm looking forward to see how she feels about it. Other than that, it was a fun week! I'm working hard and getting those hours!
Friday, September 10, 2010
week 3 - Lake Ella
This week my main supervising teacher was out so I got to work with another COMS at the Lighthouse. I am glad I got the opportunity to see another person's 'mobility style'. They are both excelent, caring teachers and I'm happy to be able to observe them.
This week I went to a few locations in Tallahassee to try to piece together a route for a client. One of these places was Lake Ella. Our client wanted to get from the bus stop to a near by cafe. Anyone who has ever been to Lake Ella knows that while it is very beautiful, their sidewalks are a hot mess!!! They come together a weird angles because the main sidewalk around the lake it curved. The bus stop is near the cottages, so to get past the cottages to the main sidewalk was very tricky. I thought I had a good route going until I came across a giant log laying in the middle of my path. Also, to get to the cafe from the main sidewalk was difficult because there were no permanent landmarks that I could see, and no sidewalk leading up to the cafe. I was there for about an hour walking aroung and around, taking notes, and looking for landmarks. By far the most difficult thing about this was that I had never worked with this client before. All I knew was that he was totally blind, and had some issues with focusing. I didn't know how good or bad his cane skills were, if he was okay with walking in wide open spaces with no shoreline, how good his balance was, or his orientation. That's when it really dawned on me that what I was doing was almost imposible. Our lessons should always be based on the unique needs of each individual. If I tried to make a "one size fits all" route based soley on the fact that this client is totally blind, it could be a huge waste of time. This is exactly what happened when we worked with the client the next day, he had his own route in mind and was able to travel it fairly well because it made sense to him. I know the job of a COMS is to make sure the cleint safely and efficently gets to where he needs to go. His route was both safe and efficent, so the COMS did not try to make him walk the route she had planned. Instead she tried to make his route smoother by providing information about landmarks and cues. She mentioned the noise of the cars on Monroee St., this helped the man know when and where to turn to get to the bus stop. This was just another example of stepping back, letting the student figure things out, and being there to enhance learning instead of to force learning.
Overall this week was great. I've started doing the paperwork immediatly after wotking with the client, instead of saving it all for the end of the week. This helps because my memory is still fresh, and I'm not overwhelemed on Friday with a pile of paperwork.
This week I went to a few locations in Tallahassee to try to piece together a route for a client. One of these places was Lake Ella. Our client wanted to get from the bus stop to a near by cafe. Anyone who has ever been to Lake Ella knows that while it is very beautiful, their sidewalks are a hot mess!!! They come together a weird angles because the main sidewalk around the lake it curved. The bus stop is near the cottages, so to get past the cottages to the main sidewalk was very tricky. I thought I had a good route going until I came across a giant log laying in the middle of my path. Also, to get to the cafe from the main sidewalk was difficult because there were no permanent landmarks that I could see, and no sidewalk leading up to the cafe. I was there for about an hour walking aroung and around, taking notes, and looking for landmarks. By far the most difficult thing about this was that I had never worked with this client before. All I knew was that he was totally blind, and had some issues with focusing. I didn't know how good or bad his cane skills were, if he was okay with walking in wide open spaces with no shoreline, how good his balance was, or his orientation. That's when it really dawned on me that what I was doing was almost imposible. Our lessons should always be based on the unique needs of each individual. If I tried to make a "one size fits all" route based soley on the fact that this client is totally blind, it could be a huge waste of time. This is exactly what happened when we worked with the client the next day, he had his own route in mind and was able to travel it fairly well because it made sense to him. I know the job of a COMS is to make sure the cleint safely and efficently gets to where he needs to go. His route was both safe and efficent, so the COMS did not try to make him walk the route she had planned. Instead she tried to make his route smoother by providing information about landmarks and cues. She mentioned the noise of the cars on Monroee St., this helped the man know when and where to turn to get to the bus stop. This was just another example of stepping back, letting the student figure things out, and being there to enhance learning instead of to force learning.
Overall this week was great. I've started doing the paperwork immediatly after wotking with the client, instead of saving it all for the end of the week. This helps because my memory is still fresh, and I'm not overwhelemed on Friday with a pile of paperwork.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week 2 - frustrations
This second week went by so fast! We were very busy, seeing about three clients a day. This week we had the whole spectrum of mobility, from cane technique to bus routes and basic orientation. We are also constantly receiving new referrals, I think we added about 5 clients this week! Those case load information sheets have helped me so much. I'm so glad I took the time to dig through each clients files and put all the important info in one easy to find place. It helps with planning lessons and interacting with the clients. Now I don't have to think "oh does this client want to work on street crossings?" and then go back through a mountain of forms and assessments. I have all my clients in a binder in alphabetical order. I'm not the most organized, so I'm really trying to stay on top of things. Constantly moving in and out of the office to my car, or Amanda's car, or sometimes a rental car; just keeping up with all of my things is a challenge.
This week I taught my first lessons. I helped a student with CP get from his dorm to a dining hall. There was a lot of construction near his dorm so we decided the best way to travel was for him to use an elevated walkway that connects his dorm to another dorm that would allow him to come out very close to the main entrance of the dining hall. The student followed directions very well, he's a fast learner and has great orientation skills so it was easy for me. The only issue that we had was when he tried to enter back into one dorm to take the walkway back to his dorm. His card does not grant him access to the other dorm. I called the housing department to sort this out and was met with some slight hostility. I want to advocate for my clients, but sometimes as I learned, people can be stubborn and are afraid of making changes or exceptions. The man told me because of federal law he could not discuss the matter with me, so when I handed the phone to our client I think he was caught off guard. He then told my client it was a matter of university policy, but he wasn't exactly sure what FSU's policy was because he had just started working there. My client then showed powerful self advocacy skills by telling the housing director that maybe he should learn this universities policies. I was very proud of my client, he was firm and direct without being nasty, even when he had every right to be mad.
I'm glad to have had this interaction. At FSDB all of the teachers, social workers, OT/PT's etc. were on campus, knew each other and the students so there really was little conflict. Now that I'm in a situation where different agencies and organizations are interacting with one another I can see how things get confusing and something very frustrating.
I had another VERY disappointing incident this week because of a miscommunication and lack of a response from another group that works with one of our students. We were supposed to meet at student at his school and ride the bus to a local pizza place. He was excited, we were excited, everything was planned and then we realized he was not officially a client with the Lighthouse because all of his forms had not yet been entered into the system...so we were not legally allowed to work with him. We tried desperately to call people and have something worked out quickly, but it just couldn't be done in time. We had to call our student and cancel, he sounded really let down. I felt terrible, and of course we can't go blaming and name dropping, but I really wanted our student to know that we wanted to see him and we had everything planned on our end, it was someone else who dropped the ball. I worry that if this happened again our student will begin to lose trust in us.
Sorry this post was more a rant about people that are getting in the way of my students instruction, and less about the actual instruction. I am learning that communication with other agencies and schools is a crucial part of my job because it allows me to better serve my students.
This week I taught my first lessons. I helped a student with CP get from his dorm to a dining hall. There was a lot of construction near his dorm so we decided the best way to travel was for him to use an elevated walkway that connects his dorm to another dorm that would allow him to come out very close to the main entrance of the dining hall. The student followed directions very well, he's a fast learner and has great orientation skills so it was easy for me. The only issue that we had was when he tried to enter back into one dorm to take the walkway back to his dorm. His card does not grant him access to the other dorm. I called the housing department to sort this out and was met with some slight hostility. I want to advocate for my clients, but sometimes as I learned, people can be stubborn and are afraid of making changes or exceptions. The man told me because of federal law he could not discuss the matter with me, so when I handed the phone to our client I think he was caught off guard. He then told my client it was a matter of university policy, but he wasn't exactly sure what FSU's policy was because he had just started working there. My client then showed powerful self advocacy skills by telling the housing director that maybe he should learn this universities policies. I was very proud of my client, he was firm and direct without being nasty, even when he had every right to be mad.
I'm glad to have had this interaction. At FSDB all of the teachers, social workers, OT/PT's etc. were on campus, knew each other and the students so there really was little conflict. Now that I'm in a situation where different agencies and organizations are interacting with one another I can see how things get confusing and something very frustrating.
I had another VERY disappointing incident this week because of a miscommunication and lack of a response from another group that works with one of our students. We were supposed to meet at student at his school and ride the bus to a local pizza place. He was excited, we were excited, everything was planned and then we realized he was not officially a client with the Lighthouse because all of his forms had not yet been entered into the system...so we were not legally allowed to work with him. We tried desperately to call people and have something worked out quickly, but it just couldn't be done in time. We had to call our student and cancel, he sounded really let down. I felt terrible, and of course we can't go blaming and name dropping, but I really wanted our student to know that we wanted to see him and we had everything planned on our end, it was someone else who dropped the ball. I worry that if this happened again our student will begin to lose trust in us.
Sorry this post was more a rant about people that are getting in the way of my students instruction, and less about the actual instruction. I am learning that communication with other agencies and schools is a crucial part of my job because it allows me to better serve my students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)