[humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation
Merry Schoch via humanser
humanser at nfbnet.org
Wed May 14 18:08:54 UTC 2014
If you cannot use a doctor chair how about a desk chair on wheels? I have
one I purchased at Walmart for $15. Just another idea.
I hope if there are other music therapists on this list they will also share
their experiences with you. Are you connected with the performing arts
division...they have a great deal of musicians on that list. In music terms
they may be able to help you as well. However, with that suggestion,
please stay with us (big smile).
If you need any other support from this division you let us know how we can
help.
We are supporting you and your determination!
Merry
Merry
-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
Shelton via humanser
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:56 PM
To: Serena Cucco; Human Services Mailing List
Subject: Re: [humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation
Hi all,
Here is a little more information.
The disabilities office has generally not been very helpful. I had an issue
with another music class last semester, and they kind of threw their hands
in the air because they knew nothing about music. The music department has
even contracted out to do my acccomodations (all my braille music is even
handled through them). I think I've finally started to get them to come
around and realize that their job is to advocate for a student whether or
not they are familiar with what they are studying, but it's been a long few
months to get to that point, and two major issues in classes I need for my
major have happened.
Meanwhile, as I said before, all the professors I'll only have once for gen
eds have been fine.
I have a really good relationship with this music therapist. I
volunteered/job shadowed her for four years in high school, and helped out
in some of the group sessions she led. I made some really good observances
of things she does to accommodate herself, E.G, whenever someone comes in
and doesn't remember to say who they are, she asks.
She also has a closet for all her instruments and stuff that is impeccably
organized (and possibly also braille labeled if I can remember correctly),
and those are things I definitely would do.
In practicum, my major issues were seeing movement, and also knowing who was
there. WE had a very large group of 15 to 20 residents to work with. Some
were regulars who came every time, and I formed good therapeutic
relationships with them. I also learned these people's voices because
generally, they were the more verbal members of the group. On the last
session I used a hello song and went around the circle. I had every person
say their name for the group, and I tried to remember at least the general
directions of where everyone was sitting. That was a little challenging
though with such a large group, at least for the majority of the people
there who were not voluntarily shouting out answers to questions about the
music or were contributing to conversation. The hello song method also has
its limitations, because with a group that large it can take a while to get
through everyone, and a hello song ideally should not take a ton of time
because it takes away from the other experiences. Anyway, I did contact the
music therapist to ask her how she handles documentation, and to see if she
has any ideas for knowing who is in the room and where they are sitting if
having them come through the door and announce themselves isn't an option
(We have to drive to the practicum site off-campus, and the group is set up
when we get there so we can make the full use of our half hour). She told
me that the type of documentation I was doing was significantly more
specific than anything she'd ever had to fill out, and that is likely due to
changes in the policies for students made in the past 20 or so years. We
agreed that the issue seemed to be that the professors needed to know how to
have realistic expectations for accommodated documentation, and it would be
great to have them talk with her to brainstorm, which of course was the plan
from the beginning anyway, but now we knew it needed to happen.
J.D makes a good suggestion which I would love to use, however the set up of
the group would not lend itself to that. WWe had the residents positioned
in a semicircle, with our chair for leading the session in the middle so all
could see. Sometimes we'll go kneel down in front of a resident, but
sitting next to them usually isn't available to us.
It all really depends on how they're set up, and moving them would be time
consuming since we would need to call in staff to do it. I could try
talking to the music therapist who works there to see if seating might be
able to be modified, E.G, leave an empty chair between groups of 2 or 3
people, but I don't know if she could even guarantee that to happen every
session.
My mom actually thought of an accommodation I am going to try. I told her
about the movement issue, and she said that the easiest thing to do would be
to ditch the chairs they have us using for a doctor's stool. This way I
could swivel and wheel myself around the group to get close enough to see
movements, but I can be on their eye level and still encorperate foot
movement. Granted, my mom is a pretty creative person and has experience
with modifying things because she's a pre-school teacher, but I'm surprised
that she thought of such a simple accommodation that professionals who are
trained to adapt sessions to individual client needs did not. There is
bound to be a doctor's stool in the nursing home I could possibly borrow,
and if not then I'll gladly buy my own. It was just shocking to her that no
one was really working with me on this, because they do it for their clients
all the time.
I am not going to sue the school, because I think that is the last thing
that I should do to get my professors to help me, but I am really irritated
by the fact that I'm trying to have my needs met so I can demonstrate proper
documentation, and they throw it in my face that I didn't advocate well, and
they don't know how to teach me professional standards in a way that is
accessible. To me, that seems like a crutch to try to avoid taking
ownership for their failure to follow up where they said they would. I am
also irritated that I will need to stay in school for a fifth year, but that
is a side effect of all of this, and it could get even worse if something
isn't done to help it.
On 5/14/14, Serena Cucco via humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Failing you for the semester is a bit harsh, even though the
> university felt your performance was worse than the other students.
> At Rutgers, where I got my MSW, practicum is pass/fail and there
> something called a marginal pass for practicum only. A margianal pass
> means that the student's performance was below that of the other
> students, but the internship instructor and, more important, the
> university, realized the student still tried his/her best. This would
> allow you to still pass the course, while letting the university
> believe your performance was below other students'. I would hate for
> you to have to retake the practicum! Also, this would give the
> university an out, making it not as necessary for you to feel like you
> want to sue them!(maybe slightly exaggerating your feelings, but I'm
> sure you see my point.) Of course, the university didn't do right by
> you by not talking to the blind music therapist and not giving you the
> confidentiality form until it was too late. J.D. makes a good point
> about talking to the disability services office about the situation.
>
> Serena
>
> On 5/14/14, JD Townsend <43210 at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>
>> Sandy makes an excellent suggestion. In family therapy I often
>> change chairs to sit next to one family member or another to lend
>> support or relate
>>
>> especially to one or another. Of course I do need to know well the
>> chair arrangement and where each is sitting!
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Sandy
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 11:08 PM
>> To: Human Services Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation
>>
>> Kaiti,
>>
>> Sorry you have had a hard practicum. This reminds me of way back
>> when I was studying elementary education, and my advisor (also head
>> of the
>> department)
>> kept sending me to yet another practicum, stating I needed to do more
>> than my peers, especially since I was working toward elementary
>> education (able to teach k-6th grade). He didn't want to know of any
>> other blind teachers cause they either lost sight later in life, had
>> more sight than me, didn't know Braille, whatever. Please don't let
>> your situation get to this point!
>> I think you would do well to speak to the blind music therapist for
>> specific techniques, and do this whether the college person decides
>> to speak to her or not. Also, could you take turns during a session
>> sitting by each resident to better monitor movement?
>>
>>
>> Best and keep at it,
>>
>>
>> Sandy
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "JD Townsend" <43210 at Bellsouth.net>
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 10:35 PM
>> To: "Human Services Mailing List" <humanser at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation
>>
>>>
>>> Hello Kaiti,
>>>
>>> Do not let this experience faze you. I would suggest that you
>>> consult with the Dean of the program - it is under her direction
>>> that the professers work. At your university there is, most
>>> usually, an office of
>>>
>>> disability services, perhaps someone from that office might help in
>>> this regard. Some folks have invited a representative from the NFB
>>> to such a meeting as well. The more folks you can pull into the
>>> discussion, including the Dean of Students, the better.
>>>
>>> This is not about your skills and abilities, but about how best to
>>> identify the participation of your clients during sessions. I know
>>> of one
>>>
>>> blind music therapist who handed out different types of bells as
>>> wrist or
>>>
>>> ancle bracelets so each client made a different sound. It will be
>>> your challenge to determine what answers your unique needs, try out
>>> a few solutions with friends or family, determine what works for you
>>> and next semester you will fly through the internship.
>>>
>>> JD
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Kaiti Shelton
>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 12:57 PM
>>> To: humanser at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I saw Renee's thread, which coincidentally raised some similar
>>> questions to those I have been forgetting to ask on this list.
>>>
>>> I am a music therapy student who has just completed my sophomore
>>> year, however this year I have ran into some pretty major issues
>>> with my degree program professors. Most of the issues seem to be
>>> related to my blindness.
>>>
>>> First, let me preface this by saying I have excellent self-advocacy
>>> skills, and have never really had a problem with professors until now.
>>> All my gen eds thus far have worked out well, and even the more
>>> strict or less open-minded of those professors I have for only a
>>> semester have come around and been willing to cooperate with me to
>>> make things work. However, I have taken most of those classes
>>> before, or classes very similar to them, so it is easy for me to
>>> say, "I'll need all printed materials converted into an electronic
>>> format or braille," because I know that is the drill and what works.
>>> I have never taken anything with experiential learning like a
>>> practicum before, so this is new territory for me. I feel like I
>>> don't really know what I don't know in terms of accommodating in
>>> this type of situation, and my professors have obviously never had
>>> to work with a blind student either.
>>>
>>> I was hoping that my professors and I would be able to work as a
>>> team, and collaborate to find reasonable acomodations for course
>>> requirements. Additionally, I know a blind music therapist from my
>>> hometown, and she agreed to consult with my professors by telephone
>>> so that we might be able to have the best of all three worlds
>>> working for a solution---the student who knows their personal vision
>>> issues, the professors who know which standards need to be met and
>>> where I'm lacking, and a blind professional who has been
>>> successfully practicing for years. At first, my supervising
>>> professor seemed very eager to call the music therapist to seek her
>>> advice, and she even said she knew of another MT-BC who was blind as
>>> well who could be of assistance. I went into the semester and the
>>> first weeks of my practicum thinking everything would be great, and
>>> as I started to get more confident in sessions I thought I was doing a
really good job.
>>> The feedback about my interaction with the nursing home residents in
>>> our session s was getting better, and I was getting stronger
>>> musically as well.
>>>
>>> However, an area where I had issues was in the documentation. I was
>>> really unsure of how to do it, because a lot of our residents did
>>> not really talk or make much noise. Obviously I thought to use
>>> auditory cues for evidence, but there were still some issues in
>>> specificity. I might say, "The residents participated in the receptive
experience,"
>>> and struggle to say much more because I didn't know what they were
>>> doing visually. My observations were significantly limited during
>>> this particular experience, because they were just moving to
>>> pre-recorded music, and the movement is what is important to
>>> document in order to judge whether or not range of motion has improved.
>>>
>>> What was frustrating was that I had to walk a fine line between
>>> advocating for my needs and being annoying to my professors. I
>>> backed off in my advocacy efforts because they seemed annoyed that I
>>> was pestering them to call the music therapist I knew to get her
>>> input so much. I trusted that if they were that annoyed with my
>>> reminders that they would do it. I was wrong, and only received the
>>> family education rights and privacy act (FERPA) form to sign on the
>>> last day of the semester. By that point, there was nothing that could
really be done.
>>> I The forms which would have allowed me to give my professors
>>> permission to speak to this other woman were not served to me until
>>> it was too late, and I still wonder why they were given to me at all
>>> since the professors could have talked to her in general terms
>>> without breaking confidentiality laws. I would have much rather
>>> have had that happen and been a little fuzzy on what was said, and
>>> had professors that had an idea of what to do or some way to help
>>> me, than to not have anything happen at all. The worst was that as
>>> a result, I was given a failing grade on the practicum for the
>>> issues I had in my documentation, and I was told "The difficulty for
>>> us lies in reconciling your accomodations with professional
>>> standards," by one of my professors.
>>>
>>> I really am unsure of what to do next. Having to take practicum
>>> again will keep me in school for an additional year, which I have no
>>> clue how I am going to pay for, and I am now scared that the same
>>> thing might happen again. They don't want me to remind them, yet
>>> they don't follow through with their end of helping to come up with
>>> accomodations. When I do come up with my own accomodations, there
>>> is always something clinically wrong with them. For example, to
>>> allow me to see what the residents were doing one day late in the
>>> semester, I decided to lead movement while walking around the group.
>>> My documentation was a lot better that week, however I was told that
>>> by standing up I was no longer on eye level with the residents, and
>>> I failed to encorperate foot movement, because I needed to use my
>>> feet to stand and walk around. I don't want to annoy my professors,
>>> because I need them to be in my corner and willing to help, but I
>>> obviously can't leave them to their own devices and expect they'll
>>> do as they say they will as evidenced by this past semester.
>>> Furthermore, I feel like I'm being held back because my musical
>>> skills and interpersonal skills have grown significantly, and I
>>> think in those areas I am more than ready to go on to subsequent
>>> practicum courses.
>>>
>>> Has anyone had experience in practicums? How did you accommodate
>>> for visual information in documentation, and what accomodations were
>>> helpful for you and your supervisor to use? Any suggestions at all
>>> would be appreciated.
>>> --
>>> Kaiti
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> JD Townsend LCSW
>>> Helping the light dependent to see.
>>> Daytona Beach, Earth, Sol System
>>>
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>>
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>> JD Townsend LCSW
>> Helping the light dependent to see.
>> Daytona Beach, Earth, Sol System
>>
>>
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>
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--
Kaiti
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