I think my internship site embodies many different disciplines, most notably education and psychology. In my educational psychology class, we discussed internalized and externalized learning. Internal learning is when students desire learning on their own terms, while external education could be classified as learning certain subjects due to things like grades. In my internship site, the clients are students and are most likely influenced by guardians to attend the sessions. Either way, they understand that attending these sessions benefits them in the real world which makes these clients more internal learners.
In a psychology class, we discussed the possible causes of autism. It is interesting to interact with children suffering from autism and their guardians because they seem to not let it interfere with their lives in a negative way. A lot of people believe that autism is a result of a child's vaccinations and some believe it is a result of genetics. Although I haven't discussed these theories with the parents of children suffering from autism, I can see that they are not blaming anyone or anything for what their child is going through, but instead, they are making the best of the situation and simply moving forward.
In another education class, we have discussed the self-fulfilling prophesy which would be described as acknowledging the restraints of people in the same situation and falling in the trap of these stereotypes. The entire speech pathology clinic is getting rid of the self-fulfilling prophesy because these families and clients are not giving up on their situation, and instead, they are taking steps to make their lives better. They are refusing to allow the stereotypes associated with their mental disorders to slow them down to lead the most rewarding lives possible.
And lastly, in one of my psychology classes, we discussed the social learning theory which is a result of learning in a social atmosphere. The speech pathologist does provide an essence of fun while teaching. When we do activities, everyone is involved and the client doesn't feel an intense amount of pressure. The client can also see that everyone is or has learned this information, and the client isn't learning this information for no reason. The activities are things like the game "memory", so it's actually fun for all of us participating.
2 comments:
Hi Christie, this is Michelle Johnston here. I discussed part of the social learning theory in my post as well! I think it is interesting though, especially in a group setting, how much students learn from their peers. I think if in the education system we can figure out a way to integrate it more into the classroom, it would be a great benefit. It was fun to read your post. What an interesting internship for you!
Hi Christie! This is Kelli DuVall. It sounds like your internship is something you are really enjoying. I was especially interested in your discussion of autism. I know that a lot of people think that autism is caused by vaccinations and that is so scary because I have a seven month old son who is receiving his vaccinations every couple of months. I have done some research on it, and it is my opinion that not only is autism not caused by vaccinations, but that the diseases that a child can come into contact with if he/she is not vaccinated are lethal; therefore, it is better to take the chance of having an autistic child by vaccinating them than to sit back and watch your child pick up a lethal disease because you didn’t get your child vaccinated.
It is so inspiring to work with people who have been dealt such hard circumstances, and make the absolute best of it. A lot of times families that have a child with a disease/disorder, they consider it an absolute blessing to have a child with special needs because they see the world in entire differently perspective than other people do. I have always found that to be so interesting and admirable.
I thought it was interesting to read how you have observed social learning theory at your internship. It is actually one of the theories that I was going to include in my week five post. I think that anyone that is in any educational setting probably would have been able to include social learning theory in this discussion.
It was great to read your blog, and good luck with the rest of your internship!
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