Transition Summer Program Day 1 Grocery Shopping

Today was the first day of the summer transition program that I will be getting some hours from. There are about 10 kids, all upper middle school to high school aged. The kids arrived and the teachers reviewed the rules, a point system to earn rewards, and then everyone introduced themselves. After that we talked about making lunches and how this first week we will be making sandwiches. The kids made a grocery list of all the foods they needed to make sandwiches. Then we were off to Wal-Mart. We stayed in one large group, which turned out to be very difficult to do. Everyone wanted something different, some people were voicing their opinions while others stood way in the back of the group not paying attention. Some kids really tried to make sure everyone was in agreement with what we were buying, but because our group was so large things were chaotic. I was trying to observe mobility skills, and most of the kids did very well. Only one student out of the 10 was using a cane, but she walked sighted guide through most of Wal-Mart. The other kids were all low vision and they were able to get around without any problems. A few times they bumped into other shoppers carts, but I think this was really because they just were not paying attention. The only real issue I noticed from the group as a whole was the way they walked around in the parking lot. They were all over the place, both sides of the parking lot lane and cars were waiting for them to move. The kids either couldn't see the car or just didn't care.

I think there is a lot of group mentality going on. Some kids are acting out because they want to show off in front of others. It makes me wonder if that's why they just walked right out into the parking lot without looking. I also think their mobility was so good because many of them are familiar with the general lay out of all Wal-Mart stores. I think when we spend more time outside, or when we are in new unique locations their mobility needs will start to show.