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.
No comments:
Post a Comment