[Ohio-talk] Jamaica study abroad.

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

Some of you have asked me to keep you informed of my application to a
study abroad/service music therapy program in Jamaica.  I just had a
follow up interview with the director, and have been accepted to the
trip I was hoping to get.  I will spend ten days in June providing
Music Enrichment to children with disabilities in schools, patients in
an infirmary, and residents of a homeless shelter.  I'll also get to
learn a lot of the traditional Afro-Cuban and West Indies drumming
techniques, live in a treehouse, and get to explore the island.  I'm
very excited!

The follow up interview was interesting.  My professor gave me a
glowing recommendation, however noted that she has not seen my
mobility in unfamiliar places.  This is fair, as she has only seen me
in familiar settings.  The director wanted to see how comfortable I
would be with navigating rocky terrain, getting from point A to B by
myself, etc.  Apparently a blind student from another university
applied last year, but their professor indicated that mobility would
be an issue so the student was not accepted to the program.  I'm glad
that I've had the training in orientation and mobility, as well as
independence skills that will allow me to participate in this
experience.  When I mentioned that I was a counselor at an Orientation
and Mobility camp this past summer, that also helped to set the
director at ease.

I'm so thankful that I've tried to be as independent as possible, and
that I have the opportunity to do this.  In addition to being a great
experience for my future music therapy career, it will also be an
exercise in helping me to become even more independent in a setting
that is very different from the ones I usually travel in.  Music
therapists have to advocate for the profession all the time.  This
will not only help me become a better advocate for music therapy, but
also advocate for blind and otherwise disabled music therapy
practicioners by demonstrating that with some simple modification, we
can perform tasks just as successfully.

-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma