[humanser] Questions about practicum and documentation

[Sandy via humanser]

Kaiti,

I, too, did an extra year cause I went against the social work field work 
director by looking for my own internship, and also spoke out to give an 
internship supervisor a poor evaluation.  The field director and my advisor 
then claimed the woman was the best they had.  She had a total of 3 of us 
and, while the others, claimed to like having free time, I didn't.  The 
woman did tend to tell them to do filing while she attended and ran meetings 
with residents herself.  Well, I wasn't the right one to play with files, so 
I did go visit some people she assigned me to and did some learning in that 
way.  As some courses ran concurrently with the internship, it set me back 
when I was told I did not have good use of self in that I looked for a 
placement and gave my opinion on my internship supervisor.  Well, I answered 
a questionaire to evaluate her!  I will never, never dare to be so honest 
again! I went to the Dean, but went to late.


Sandy    say

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Kaiti Shelton via humanser" <humanser at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 12:55 PM
To: "Serena Cucco" <serena.c.cucco at gmail.com>; "Human Services Mailing List" 
<humanser at nfbnet.org>
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
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> humanser mailing list
>>>> humanser at nfbnet.org
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>>>> humanser:
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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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