[Community-service] Volunteering with teenagers/Settingyourselfapart as a volunteer

Fri Dec 16 22:28:46 UTC 2011

Hi Ashley and all,

Ashley, you’ve given some really good suggestions here. Thanks. I will definitely think about an activity that I could lead. The group coordinator has actually asked each of my friends and I to lead a different activity during some of the meetings next year, so this would be a great opportunity.

I agree that trying to get to know the kids by name and as individuals is particularly important. That’s one of the things I find most difficult since the group only meets once a month. I can list almost all of the kids in the group, but I can only identify a few of them. How the group works is that one or two volunteers are assigned to a group of three or four kids. Which volunteers are paired up and which kids they are in charge of changes at every meeting depending on which volunteers and kids attend. Before the kids arrive, the volunteers have a short meeting where we are given our group assignments and paperwork containing each kid’s goals (taken from their IEP, I believe). During the meeting, we are supposed to observe the kids and take some notes pertaining to their progress toward meeting these goals. I believe the group coordinator is working on getting the paperwork brailled for those kids my friends and I will be working with each month, but in the meantime, I have just asked the other volunteer in my group to read them to me, which works fine because they are short. The problem has been knowing which kids are in my group while they are all together in large group activities. For any of you who have worked with groups of youth, do you have any suggestions for handling this?

Chris

From: Ashley Bramlett 
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:14 PM
To: Community Service Discussion List 
Subject: Re: [Community-service] Volunteering with teenagers/Settingyourselfapart as a volunteer

Hi,
I had a similar situation. When I was volunteering with upper elementary kids at a nonprofit along with some students from my school Marymount university, I felt like the staff and students wanted to give me help vs me help them.
Its tough since you need to have experience to gain confidence and work out alternative techniques, but you also have to have confidence to get the experience. Hope that made sense.

I think its cool if you relate to them. In fact you want to be in control, but not too much like the big authority figure. Perhaps establish some authority with firm directions and rules. If they want to help, try to say, oh I can do that but thanks for the offer.
Yes its awkward when kids want to help you by guiding you instead. On the other hand, I admit I kind of took it as I did not know my way around well. I can use a cane, but orientation never has and never will be a strength. I did not touch them but I did follow their voice; gee, they would be too small to be a sighted guide anyway.

I don’t know if you need some orientation to the place or whether you know your way and don’t have  a chance to walk around.
I have not tried these suggestions I am  about to give. But I did think about this very issue of getting around and not needing sighted guides
when volunteering in a new setting where you may move from room to room with kids.
Maybe try these:
If you need to get familiar with the place,
1. Ask a staff member to orient you; I mean not formally, but maybe just explain the layout and where the main rooms are. kind of give you a tour. Mentally note landmarks and stuff like that  as you walk around.
2. Explore the place before or after your volunteer shift. I doubt they would mind you walking around.
3. I know some federationists object to placing adaptations in the environment, but
I think it can be helpful if it’s a minor change. If you need a landmark or braille numbers, then place those in the appropriate places.
Like put a sign on doors you need.

4. You said they bring you lunch stuff before you can go and find it. How about 
saying to them nicely before the day starts, “I’d like to go up and get my own lunch food and drink. All I need is for you to give me directions to stand in line.” or state what you need instead. I find it takes us longer to find the food line and food itself. So people just make it easy for us and grab it for us.
Perhaps if the food is set in one place, find out and that can be part of your tour. If it changes day to day, you cannot memorize its location.

5. Try and know the kids by name and as individuals if you haven’t already. 
This helps establish repport and you as a leader.
6. I don’t know much details on the group or its role. So this is a general statement. Can you try and think of something you can do that will set you apart from other volunteers and impress them? I’d give suggestions if I knew what was going on. Are you good at leading a certain activity?
Could you show them something practical  hands on? For instance how to sew on a button or since it’s the holiday time, how to make wreaths or ornaments?

HTH,
Ashley

From: Chris Parsons 
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:56 PM
To: Community Service Discussion List 
Subject: [Community-service] Volunteering with teenagers/Setting yourselfapart as a volunteer

Hi all,

A couple friends and I sometimes volunteer with a group for blind teens that I was a member of in middle and high school. The kids really love when we’re there, and they always have a lot of questions. But something has been on my mind almost ever since I started volunteering with them, and I was hoping some of you might have some thoughts.

Maybe it’s because I was once a member of the group and now have a hard time thinking of myself as a volunteer, or maybe it’s because I’m fairly introverted around most people, but most of the time when I volunteer with these kids I just feel like another member of the group. I think one of the benefits of working with groups where some of the people are close to your age is the ability to relate to them and for them to relate to you. I’ve definitely seen that happen as I’ve worked with this group. But a disadvantage is that I often find it hard to distinguish myself from the group and take on a leadership role. I’ve had kids half my age ask me if I need help getting from one place to another, and the other volunteers often bring me cups of juice or napkins at lunch before I even have a chance to go get my own. All of this leaves me not feeling very volunteer-like to these kids or very equal to the other volunteers. The times when I feel most comfortable are when my friends and I are standing in front of the group doing a presentation/Q and A on college prep or something similar rather than helping the kids with a craft or fitness activity.

So, there seems an obvious solution to this: Be more self-confident. And I know that is something I need to work on, in service settings and in general. I also know that some of it is plain confidence related and some of it is blindness skills related. And now that I think about it, I suppose this isnt really just a question applicable to working with groups of youth. As blind people, in whatever type of service we choose to do, we are likely to come across situations where the others in our group of volunteers and those who we are helping see us as needing help instead.

I’ve been a little nervous to put this forward because, as I said above, on the surface the solution seems pretty clear-cut and something that I need to work on myself. But the article that was posted yesterday about how service can be good for your health if you are doing something that is a good fit for you and something you enjoy finally inspired me to put this out there in hopes that some of you have had similar experiences and might be able to offer some thoughts. I would love to keep working with this group, and the kids really seem to like me and look up to me as a mentor, but I need to figure out how to be an effective volunteer, too.

Chris

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