[nabs-l] Accomodating in experiential learning courses

Greg Aikens gpaikens at gmail.com
Sun May 4 21:58:56 UTC 2014


Hi Kaiti,
I’m so sorry to hear you are having to go through this. It sounds as though you did all the right things. You provided your professors with a resource they could consult to determine what is reasonable. You made them aware of your difficulties throughout the semester and sought their input on solutions. Did they give you any warning before the end of the semester that you might not pass the course? In my opinion, it is unacceptable for them to fail you for this when you clearly did your best to come up with strategies and solutions to compensate. It sounds as though their rationale is that they can’t give you a passing grade because if you can’t make accommodations in their class, you won’t be able to be a competent professional in the field, all this without really having a good grasp on what appropriate accommodations might be. 

That might sound logical, but the reality is that as a professional, you will have more control over your environment, caseload, etc. than in a practicum setting. This was true for me and student teaching. There were things I definitely failed at during my practicum hours and student teaching semester, but as long as I reflected on why what I had tried didn’t work and came up with new strategies to try next time, my supervising professor was satisfied that I would come up with the best method in time. As a teacher, I structure my lessons, classroom, and schedule to avoid situations in which I will be less successful. Making non visual accommodations will be different for each setting and each client you interact with, and it’s something you will improve at over time. 

The having to take an extra semester or year to complete your degree is the part that really makes it worth fighting. I would get the Learning Center involved. Even if they don’t really know what accommodations should be appropriate, their job is to work with professors to figure that out. I would try to set up a meeting with your professors, the Learning Center, and hopefully the music therapist where you can present your case. Show them how you grew and learned as a professional throughout your experiences. Reflect on the strategies and accommodations you made, whether or not they were successful, and accommodations you plan to try next. Make the case that gaining information about non verbal behavior is not a trivial task for a blind music therapist, but it can be done through creative problem solving and constant adaptation on your part. Show that you have done these things so far in your practice and that it is something you will continue to work on because you know it is core to being a competent professional in your field. If they are still not satisfied because you did not have success with these tasks during the semester, see if they will let you complete some extra practicum hours, probably no more than 20% of the total number you had to complete already (but I just made that number up). Extra hours is not ideal, but it sounds better than having to retake the entire course and perhaps pay for another semester or two of school.  

Best of luck as you decide what to do. Feel free to contact me on or off list if I can be of any assistance.

Best,
Greg


On May 4, 2014, at 1:49 AM, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> I'm in a pretty sticky situation, so I would appreciate any feedback
> that can be provided.
> 
> I am a music therapy student who this semester started practicum
> coursework.  For those who don't know, practicum courses involve
> interacting with potential clients, and are used to develop clinical
> skills in young human services professionals.  They're very common in
> psychology coursework, and in other therapeutic diciplins.  Anyway, I
> had a practicum working with some geriatric residents at a local
> assisted living/nursing facility.  I truly loved the experience, and
> developed my skills in terms of interpersonal interaction, meeting
> residents where they are in the moment, and using music to engage
> them.  In these respects, I've managed to learn a lot, and have come a
> long way since I started practicum in mid February.
> 
> However, there were a few problems I encountered related to my vision.
> The first problem was just knowing who was in the room.  We typically
> had 15 to 20 residents at a time, and while some were regular
> participants we had others who would come and go between sessions.
> Sometimes, residents would even leave in the middle of the session.
> It was difficult for me to know who was in the room and where they
> were sitting so I could know where to go to address them, and even
> know who was present so I could say, "Okay, I know so and so has a
> hard time staying engaged.  I need to stay on X side of the room more
> so they can hear me."
> 
> Another problem I encountered was knowing what the residents were
> doing.  One of the types of experiences I had opportunities to olead
> was movement to music.  This typically involved instructing the
> residents in moving to pre-recorded music, often using scarves as a
> manipulative.  Usually, the leader of the movement experience would
> sit in a chair at the front of the room, so all residents in the
> semi-circle around the area would be able to see the movement.
> However, this made it really difficult for me to know what they were
> doing.  Where they following my directions?  Where they not doing
> exactly what I wanted them to, but were still on the beat or doing
> something which demonstrated musical awareness?  Was their range of
> motion improving?  I really was not able to get the answers to these
> questions from where I was sitting, and totally relied on conversation
> with my partners and the debriefings after the sessions to get any
> information about it.
> 
> Unfortunately, these issues showed in my documentation.  I was not
> able to be as specific as my instructors would have liked me to be,
> and did not know how to be so.  I did start documenting things I
> picked up auditorally, such as, "Client C vigorously clapped along
> with the rhythm of the melody," or "Client M made several comments
> with positive vocal infletion."  However, these did nothing for the
> problem regarding my ability to not see their movement.  I got to my
> wits end later in the semester, and asked my instructor if I could
> lead the movement while moving around the room so I would be closer to
> the residents.  She said this was okay to do, however I was concerned
> that I might inadvertently turn my back on some residents while
> observing another, particularly on the edges of the semicircle, and
> they would not be able to see me.  It worked then and there, but it is
> clear to me now that that method was only a temporary fix, and
> something which would not be effective in the settings I want to work
> in.  I grew more comfortable asking residents what their names were,
> but I think a few thought it was odd that I seemingly couldn't
> remember their names from Tuesday to Thursday.  I learned voices of
> some of the regulars too, which helped a lot.
> 
> What frustrates me is that because I failed to document properly, I
> have to retake the course next year and could be as much as a year
> behind in my studies.  It frustrates me because from day one, before I
> even went out into the field, I told my instructors that I know a
> music therapist who is totally blind, and she would be more than happy
> to offer suggestions and consult on best practices for accommodation.
> I truly thought that this MT-BC could be a great resource for us, and
> having seen her work on numerous occasions, I knew she would be very
> qualified to offer suggestions.  I found myself even thinking of how
> she does her work to try to accommodate myself throughout the course.
> About 2 weeks in to the course one of my instructors asked for her
> phone number, and I thought we were moving along.  Then a week or so
> later I asked the instructor in charge of my class if she had managed
> to have a conversation with the music therapist I referred to her.
> She said I needed to sign confidentiality forms so that the woman
> based out of an agency of which I was a client as a child could speak
> to the professors in regards to my accomodations.  I complied quickly,
> and thought everything was ready to go.  Then, on the last day of the
> term I was sent the ferpa form in my email, and was instructed to turn
> it in during finals week.  I was floored that this had not been taken
> care of when I signed the other form so that communication could
> easily go both ways.  All along the music therapist had been able to
> speak to my professors about me, but they were not allowed by law to
> speak to her.  A meeting was called to discuss my lack of progress,
> and I was told that there was difficulty in reconciling my
> accomodations with the professional competencies of my field, and even
> though I had provided my professors with a great resource and asked
> repeatedly if they had contacted the one person who could have
> instrumental in helping all of us at my university through this course
> work, they said I failed to adequately make my needs known.  My
> professor in charge of the course knew the issues I was struggling
> with, and also knew that in spite of these issues I was developing
> musically and establishing rappore with residents.  I was not totally
> making progress, but I was struggling in the areas where vision is
> obviously a factor.
> 
> It isn't a question of whether or not I can perform this job.  I know
> of several music therapists who successfully meet the professional
> standards while compensating for their lack of sight.  I feel though,
> that in terms of advocating myself I am stuck between a rock and a
> hard place.  I feel that if I were uch more relentless than I was this
> semester that I would just annoy the professors who I need to help me,
> and I frankly expected them to do as they said they would by making
> contact where it needed to be made.  On the other hand, even though
> every time I did say something this semester and was told, "I'm going
> to talk to her," I obviously was not advocating hard enough.  I don'
> want to be a thorn in their sides since I need these people to help
> me, but I need certain things to happen on their parts in order for me
> to be successful.  And part of the issue is also that this is a new
> experience for me.  I told the professors the information I had which
> could be helpful for all involved to know, but this is not like an
> English or Math class where I know the specific accomodations I need,
> and the ways that work best from years of experience.  I feel like in
> some circumstances, because this is new to me, that I don't know what
> exactly to ask, or I don't know what I don't know, and I think that
> goes for every student in my major because the point of practicums is
> to learn from the supervising professor.  In my case, however, there
> was a disconnect with some harsh consequences.  I also understand that
> this is a new experience for the professors as well, but I feel like
> more could have been done on their part by making a simple phone call,
> and that they are using my blindness (not advocating well enough) as
> justification.
> 
> What strikes me as odd is that I don't have any of these problems with
> professors I see for one semester.  I have developed good, working
> relationships with professors around the university.  Even when I
> struggled in a math course, the professor and I were both diligent
> about meeting in office hours, talking to learning services, and
> trying to find our own ways to problem-solve.  I don't think I'm
> getting the same sort of team effort here, and it is in the classes
> that are part of my major.  And I feel stuck because I've provided all
> the resources I can to the professors, and said everything I know to
> say, but the result is that I have to take this course again and will
> likely have to tack on at least an extra semester to my time in school
> since the courses can not be doubled up, or taken out of sequence, or
> in different semesters from which they are offered.  And it is
> difficult to involve learning services, because they are the first to
> admit they know very little about music therapy or music in general,
> and the music department has assumed responsibility for my
> accomodations in those classes.  I can't financially afford to spend
> an extra year at school, nor do I want to keep taking classes over
> again.  And I feel like this should be a team effort, but not knowing
> anything else to suggest I'm not sure of how to make it more that way.
> 
> If anyone has done a practicum experience and had success with it,
> please let me know some strategies which were helpful for you.  Also,
> if there are any advocacy strategies I can try I would appreciate
> hearing about them as well.
> 
> -- 
> Kaiti
> 
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