Practicum week 2 - Part 2

The second half of week two Ms. W and I went to a very small town about an hour away to see Q. Q is a 30 year old woman who has very little vision, uses a cane, and lives with her family. Ms. W stated that she has the impression that Q wants to do things on her own but her family does not allow her to. Q has been through all of the courses at the agency, but her family still assists her in many daily living activities. We started with Q in a near by parking lot and worked on walking down a sidewalk along a busy street, crossing some driveways as we walked. Q uses a long cane with a roller tip, which she slides back and forth across the sidewalk. Q was doing her best to hold her cane in the center of her body at first, but seemed to slowly let her arm drop to her right side, which caused her cover on the left to get smaller. Ms. W would remind Q every once in a while to make sure her arc was consistent and wide enough on each side. When it came time for Q to cross a drive way she easily identified the area where the sidewalk ended and the road began. She waited for there to be silence, and Ms. W reminded her that she could also cross with the cars if she felt comfortable. When Q cross she veered toward the street, and Ms. W stopped her to have her feel the dip down of the gutter next to the road. Q said she could feel the difference. Ms. W also reminded her that because the road was very busy next to her, that when she gets to the curb she needs to immediately step up and get out of the road. With every correction Q seemed more focused and determined to fix her problems. On our way back she veered into a parking lot and began walking into it. Ms. W pointed out the sounds of the cars, and the grass line. This was interesting to me, because in our O&M II class I have done this, and watched Katie and David make this mistake several times. The way Q got out of it and the way I've seen my classmates get out of it was very similar. It was neat seeing the connection from our simulated blindness and outdoor travel, and someone who really is blind. Every day I realize more and more how much we have learned in our mobility class, and how much I am going to rely on it when I teach.

Along the way a friend of Q's stopped her and asked how she was. Q did not know who this woman was at first, and it threw her off. The woman kept saying "Look at you out here, I knew you could do it girl!" and repeating it over and over. Q did her best to smile and say thank you, but I could tell she was a little annoyed by it. We talked about it later and she told us how people will come talk to her and she has no idea who they are. She then went onto explain how her family has started to get better at letting her know when they are coming into a room near her, or when they are leaving. I really liked Q's attitude, she seems to take everything in stride, and even while telling us about things that have gone wrong she was smiling and laughing like she was telling us a funny story.

Then we went to Wal-Mart so she could practice using customer service help her find items. We talked about the entrance of the store, and where customer service was in relation to the doors. We had her practice getting to customer service a few times, pointing out landmarks and cues along the way. We then role played what Q would say to the customer service workers, and talked about the items she wanted. I was impressed with the amount of detail Q knew about the products she had to get. I'm assuming she has done this before. I took some students from my internship to a grocery store and many of them had things on their list like 'potato chips'. Once we got there we realized just how many options there are, flavors, brands, sizes... But Q was ready, and when she went off with the man from customer service it only took about 5 minutes to go get her items and get back to the front. Ms. W and I followed Q from a distance, it was funny, I felt like we where spying on her. Ms. W told Q that the next time she goes to Wal-Mart with her family that she should use customer service to locate her items and then meet up with her family when she's done. Ms. W also suggested having someone drop her off at Wal-Mart so she can shop and have them pick her up at a certain time. Q seemed very excited about these ideas. On the way home she was beaming with pride. We asked her how she felt about the shopping experience and she said that it was wonderful, it made her feel like blind people can do anything everyone else can do, just in a different way. Maybe she's heard someone else say that, but I'm new at this, and hearing that reminded me of why I love doing this.

The next day I met Ms. W at the agency to work with T. T is an older woman who needed orientation to the new building. Ms. W told me that T's mobility was pretty good, but then she fell and broke some bones and was in a rehab center on on bed rest for a while. Because of her time of being immobile, and her new fear of falling, her mobility skills have dropped. First we went to the kitchen so T could put away some of her drinks. On the way to the kitchen Ms. W pointed out landmarks as we passed them. T reached out to feel the braille sign for the women's restroom and said "oh I guess I'm cheating". Ms. W laughed and told her that it was fine to check out her environment. Once in the kitchen she wanted to know the lay out. Ms. W described the area, the table in the middle, counters and large appliances. T then went around the kitchen feeling everything, and she kept asking what color everything was, which I thought was interesting. She repeatedly said things like "oh I bet thats really pretty I wish I could see it". It made me wonder if she has some remaining acceptance issues, or if this is just a way she deals with her vision loss. We took a break for her to drink some water and talked a little bit about her mobility. At one point she admitted that she doesn't always use her cane the way she should and has hit her head on a few things at home. T said she needed a new talking watch, so we used this need to teach her a route to the supply closet. T was very talkative, and every person we passed she said hello and had many conversations. The time for our lesson was up, and Ms. W had to leave. I tried to tell T the way to some couches so we could sit down. I tried standing behind T and telling her where to go, but she kept turning toward my voice and following me as I backed up to get out of her way. Later I helped her program her new watch and then it was time for me to go.

I had a lot of good experiences this week in a variety of settings. Next week the transition camp will start and I will be helping with mobility when the kids go out into the community. It should be fun! I really liked working with the adult clients, but I have to admit I did miss the silliness that comes with working with young people.

17 hours logged!