[humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation

Wed May 14 21:37:34 UTC 2014

Hi,
Kaiti is right; it’s the professor's responsibility to communicate issues 
and make some attempt to work with her. I think she is a good  advocate and 
after all she has had little accomodation issues with other gen ed 
professors.
You say its up to you as the student, but in a practicum, its not exactly 
your choice as to the setup of the seats or how long you can work with the 
participants. You are really limited and have to follow the professor's 
guidelines where as in your own practice, I believe you have more 
flexibility  to set up things you want to set up. You will also have more 
time to talk to your clients and get a sense of body language via other 
means by talking to them.
Kaiti could touch them with permission to see how they're moving I suppose. 
I do hope the next practicum goes well because from what I've understood, 
they simply put roadblocks in her path.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ericka Short via humanser
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 2:15 PM
To: Human Services Mailing List
Subject: Re: [humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation

Sandy is right.  You need to spend time with each one.  I used to work at a
nursing home in activities.  Though I have more sight thanyou, I can't see
at a distance.  In group activities I would walk around and  interact
directly with them.  I worked often with  residents who had dementias or
speech issues.  If you are able --some don't want to be touched, You can can
use your hands over theirs to help them do an activity.  This gives you some
idea of what they are capable of.  If they have stressed muscles or are slow
to move then you know they are able to do some part of the  movement.  I
remember in your message some part where you walked around thus the
residents didn't get feet movement.  Can the residents be in a circle or
semicircle instead of a group exercise class?  We had residents in a semi
circle and they could see what was going on plus I spoke what I was doing so
it was able to be understood by those who couldn't see my actions.  I was
chewed out a few times in the beginning, but I ignored them and went to
certain residents and did actions with them, making the resident the
"assistant". This allowed me to know what they could or couldn't do.   I had
had all abilities in my group exercise class which it doesn't sound like you
did.

I can understand why you feel it is the professors' responsibility but in
the end your success is determined by what youdo, not what they choose to
do.  For this next  practicum, talk to the music therapist directly.  This
is a great resource because she has done it before.  You are very blessed to
have this  role model and person to  bounce ideas off.  I've never had that
.  I did my internship in social work twice too.  In the first situation I
was not given  any direction or responsibility so I learned nothing.  I
learned more from the two days I worked with the activity director.  The
supervisor at the nursing home didn't want me there because the other person
was  on maternity leave and didn't want a disabled person to train.  She
just wanted someone to dump work on without worries.  Disabled Student
Services did nothing to help me nor did myprofessor.  It was awful and I
felt abandoned.  At that time I didn't know anyone in the NFB to call.  My
second one was better because I did it in my hometown where people already
knew me and supported me.  I spent some days with the adut day program and
the rest  at the county aging department.  In WI each county has an Aging
and Disability resource center.  I  spent the days with the county  going on
home visits and helping create the ADRC for my home county.  I also  helped
update the  resource directory.  It was a much better situation all around
and I  did much better because I had people who wanted to work with me.
They  didn't  really know what I could or couldn’t see, but they realized  I
was a person with a heart for the job.  I hope  the people you work with
second time around think of you as a person first.  It makes a big
difference!  I like JD's suggestion of having a NFB rep there at the meeting
with the profs.  I also think you need to meet the  director of the program
you do your practicum with  beforehand.  Get a feel for what you will be
doing and what she/he expects out of you.  This would give you both time to
get advice from the  blind MT, but also allow you to advocate for doing more
than the bare minimum.  You want to know all of the typical days
responsibilities and try them out there.  If you don't you will be miserable
doing your internship.  I've also been through elementary ed practicums and
I can sympathize with  Sandy's comments.  The only thing I did well was with
the preschoolers.  The second time I was in a middle school LD resource
classroom and again wasn't given anything to do.  The teacher didn't want me
there. It was just awful. Advisor or teacher would talk to me.  I tried to
meet with the advisor at least because I wasn't asked to do anything.  He
wouldn't.  This was way before I found my advocacy voice.  I never had
trouble with teachers until then either.

You will get through the second with flying colors!

Ericka J. Short

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13
"No hand is too small or too big to do good in this world." EJ. Short

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