I truly cannot believe my internship has come to a close. It is crazy how the end of the school year tends to fly by. I finished up some projects this week, one was making a "SGM" braid which stands for 'story grammar marke'r. It is a tool to help kids visualize different aspects of the story. Each bead or string represents an aspect to the story (like character, events, and ending). I made 5 braids and 5 kits for kids to make their own. The final product is pictured below.
Although I feel ready to graduate and go to college, I am sad to be finished interning. As I work on my presentation in the following few weeks, I can only hope that I am able to spread the knowledge of how important OT and ST are and maybe inspire someone else to intern at ICCD. CAPS has been incredible!
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This week I had to get back in the swing of things after April break. It ended up being very productive! I was at ICCD for a full day, 11:30-5:30, on Tuesday which was fun. I really love getting to see all those kids. When I wasn't observing, I did my usual intern projects. I typed up some documents my supervisor needed, scanned papers, and made a craft kits for the speech director. On Saturday, I observed speech therapy. It was a great day for all of those kids, they all seem to be making such great progress. One boy is learning the names of colors, another is learning prepositions, and a few kids are working on social skills.
I am reading a book that my supervisor recommended to me. It is called The Out of Sync Child. I wanted to share I quote that I really love and I think it illustrates the purpose of OT. "The brain and mind are beautifully interwoven. Our feelings, thoughts, and actions can only occur through the complex actions of the brain ... Professionals can no longer understand the psychology of the mind without understanding the biology of the brain. What is equally true that parents of children and adolescents with modified or "faulty" wiring of the brain cannot fully understand their son or daughter without fully understanding the underlying changes in the brain and the impact these changed have on the mind" -Carol Stock Kranowitz. Next week is my last week interning, I can not believe how fast this has gone by. This has been a great way to spend the last few months as a senior. This week was April break. I was preoccupied with college visits and working so I was too busy to intern. This ended up working out perfectly because many kids at the ICCD were on vacation so it was a week of low attendance. Plus, many therapists have less hours this week so there wouldn't have been many office jobs for me to do.
I have missed the kids! I am excited to see them again when interning resumes. This week I switched working Mondays to Tuesdays. This means I got to meet a bunch of new kids! Tuesdays are much busier and my supervisor thought it would be better for me to experience a more typical OT day. I loved meeting the children, they are all super sweet and I look forward to getting to know them better. I got to put together a sensory bin that I have been working on for a while. The end result is pictured on the right. Sensory bins are great for exposing kids to texture and helping executive function through play.
One day in the gym I was playing with a girl, pushing her on the swing, etc. This was the first time I was independently doing some OT work on a whim. My supervisor told me I'm a natural! It was such a nice compliment and really boosted my confidence. It is always nice to hear some positive reinforcement when your out of your comfort zone.
I have mastered the copy machine. This week I had a few projects-scanning multiple tests or children's reports/IEPs and emailing them to the speech director. Copy machines are really big and intimidating but I figured it out :) One of the speech therapists, and friendliest person I have ever met- guided me through it happily. Im glad people in the office trust me and feel comfortable asking me for favors. All around it was a great week! Week number six went by relatively slow. Ive had a lot of school work this week so it has been kind of tough managing school and interning. I observed the usual OT appointments, and they all went smoothly. One girl has expressed an interest in drawing and coloring, so we usually spend the whole appointment at the table instead of the gym now. She is getting to know me better too, as I become more involved in the sessions. I usually color with her, talk about our favorite colors, etc. It is really nice to be forming bonds with some of the kids.
Saturday I usually have a marathon of speech appointments. 4 out of the 6 kids cancelled since the usual speech therapist I work with was out, leaving a sub to take care of the clients. The substitute was super nice and I enjoyed working with her, but I saw how tricky it is for someone to go into a therapy session without knowing the kid yet. So much of therapy is dependent on the relationship between the client and therapist. From about 9-11 I worked on my intern projects. I finished laminating the speech cards, and now my job is to scan a bunch of testing packets and email them to the speech director. People in the office have been asking me for favors lately which makes me feel really good! I am the youngest person in the office and it is nice to have adults see my competence. This was a really great week. I definitely feel progressively more comfortable in the office the more I intern. Lately, on Mondays I observe two different OTs so Ive been getting to know a couple more kids. On Wednesday, I put together and laminated an 'engine check' chart for a parent. Engine checks are a way for kids to address the way they're feeling, as pictured below: Saturday was my day in speech. Im definitely connecting more with Speech Therapy, I just find it so fascinating. Many of the kids can't communicate easily, they use a device to help them communicate. The therapist has been working on colors for a few weeks with one boy, she would show him a puzzle piece to try to prompt him to touch the right color on his device. We quickly realized he was having trouble scanning the device, which just means searching for the matching color. After rearranging and simplifying the color page on the device so they were easier to find, the child significantly improved in identifying the colored puzzle pieces. All in all, it was a good week and really cool to see such great improvement!
Week number 4 was kind of a slow week at school and in general. On Monday, I saw the usual clients. I also got to make a sample craft that some kids will be able to do. My supervisor emailed the staff to save paper towel rolls for me to use! It was really fun to incorporate creativity into the interning day. Wednesday and Thursday were also pretty typical. After interning for a while, it is interesting to see the changes in the kids. They happen gradually, but they are all building so many skills- handwriting, planning, executive functioning, strength, etc.
On Saturday I had my Speech Therapy day. Two of the kids on the spectrum are learning the words "on" and "in". The therapist shows them a video of her putting a toy pig in/on a cup as a model. Over the past two weeks both kids have gone from not understanding the demonstration and getting frustrated to being able to do it with ease and not even needing the video model. That was a really cool milestone to see. I also did some office work, mostly laminating, in my down time. Week number three has been really fun. On monday, all of the clients cancelled so I got to go to Michaels Crafts to shop for some projects I might make for the kids. I love art, so I am super excited for these crafts. The next time I have downtime at work Ill be able to put some samples together.
Despite the snow days, it was a normal week. The roads weren't too bad on Wednesday, so I went in on for a usual day. I got to see the OT do some testing for two kids. The tests are designed to evaluate gross motor, fine motor, coordination, planning, etc. It is supposed to be a model of their skill set and what they will need to work on. It is pretty clear to me that although these tests are helpful, it is important not let them define the child. We have to keep in mind that test scores aren't always representative of the kid. On Saturday, I had a full day of observing speech therapy. Usually there is a cancellation or two, but we had all 6 clients! It was very interesting although a little busy. The speech therapist I am shadowing would like to incorporate me into the sessions more so I am excited to have some chances to do more than observe. I have successfully completed the second week of my internship! I am already feeling pretty comfortable in the office space. I saw some of the same kids as last week, and some new ones. Every kid that comes through the door at ICCD is working on something and it is so cool to see how much they are learning and growing. I am still mostly shadowing the therapists right now, which is a great learning experience. Shadowing is really valuable, although it is quite different than actually working with the kids. Being a therapist seems to be much easier said than done. From what I have seen, occupational and speech therapists are constantly accommodating for the kid's various needs. They have to roll with the punches. It is also a lot of trial and error, seeing what works and doesn't work for each individual kid.
My supervisor and I have come up with some projects for me to do at the office, Ill most likely be putting craft stuff together next week. I am excited to see how it goes. I was a little bit nervous for the first day of interning, but I eased in pretty quick. I chatted with my supervisor for the most part, going over the basics of the office. Then, it was time for the first OT appointment. The little boy was so sweet and energetic. The beginning of a typical session is in the OT gym, and the remainder is in the office working on handwriting and fine motor skills. On Wednesday and Thursday, there were some appointment cancellations so I had more down time than expected. On Saturday, I shadowed a speech therapist. All of the patients she sees are on the autism spectrum, some high functioning and some very long functioning. This was definitely my longest and busiest day of the week. I have little experience working with children on the spectrum, so this was new for me and a little bit out of my comfort zone. In their sessions, the therapist would try to get them to communicate through play in ways dependant on their abilities. For some, this was tapping what they wanted to do on their communication devices, and for others, this was being able to say certain words out loud. To most of us these seem like minuscule tasks, but to those kids these are milestones. I do miss going to my daycare job everyday since I am so close with the kids and teachers there. I have already learned so much, and I hope as my internship progresses I get to be more involved. Everyone at the office seems very friendly although I’m still getting to know them. I'm excited to see what the next week brings!
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Olivia Eastman//
ICCD Intern |