I think my internship is going well and I couldn’t immediately put my finger on something I would change other than getting up so early! But sometimes I feel that the parents or guardians should be more a part of the therapy session that my mentor engages with the client. I think sometimes the child may go home and not be practicing the right information or practicing the right skills that are necessary to supplement the lesson at the speech pathology center. I know many parents are not formally educated about their child’s illness or disability and how to help their child overcome the speech obstacles they encounter daily. I think it may be a good idea to go over activities with parents to practice with their child between visits with the speech pathologist. I think informing parents about various seminars or having a private session once a month or so to sit with the parents and explain what kinds of obstacles the child still faces and also the progress the child has made. I think this will help the parents understand what the speech pathologist is doing for their child and appreciate it more.
My mentor goes to conventions occasionally to learn about new ways to teach children with certain speech problems. I think after these conventions she should either make a newsletter for her client’s parents or have some sort of meeting with them to inform them of the highlights from the convention.
Overall, I think this is just one way that this organization could improve, but I am extremely happy at my internship site and I know that my mentor is happy with the way her business is going and the reward she gets from knowing she is helping a person everyday. She is helping a child have a more promising future and a more rewarding life.
4 comments:
Hi Christie, my name is Meaghan. I could really see your enthusiasm for your internship and area of study from your posting. Your ideas are very perceptive. I think another idea you could explore would be to evaluate the parents and their satisfaction. Maybe that would give you more feedback on how well your mentor is addressing the needs of the families or where their interest in learning or helping lies.
Good luck with the end of your internship!
I would hope that all parents would be active in their child’s lives, especially if their child has a disability. Your idea to educate the parents while education the children sounds like a great idea. The only advice I could give you would come from my organizational communication class that I am currently taking. Any organization can have a huge impact on its community through planning and communication. If you’re passionate about your idea and try to reach out to the parents I am sure they will respond.
Hey Christie, its Kathleen Sena. Christie, your post this week reminded me of my internship. A few of the kids I mentor have behavior problems, causing them to be disruptive during my class. It’s frustrating when progression occurs in the class, but not at home. We as mentors can only do so much. Responsibility lies within the parents to carry on the lessons. After meeting some of the parents, I discovered this behavior is learned. I completely agree with your solution. We should train the parents to be as encourageable as we are. In psychology, I have learned the best method of approach to solve a problem, which is communication. Parents who neglect social problems are only prolonging the rehabilitation process for their kids. We all know ignoring problems doesn’t get us anywhere. Those parents need to support their kids by being involved, actively participating and rewarding their progress.
Hi Christie, this is Nick. My suggestion for you would be similar to what I had also suggested to Anna, as she would also like to see participation and communication from parents increased. Perhaps if there were a website that were set up that parents could access on their own time, that would allow them to be a bit more interactive with their children, as they can make themselves aware of their child's progress as well as new things the therapist is wishing to try. When returning from the seminars you spoke of, the teachers could post their findings online and then the parents could read about them when they have time, whether at work or school. I would assume that parents of special needs children have extremely complicated and busy lives, so this might provide them a way to be more aware of what is going on during the day with their child. Online they could also sign electronic permission forms for field trips and things of that nature. One of the reasons that many people take online courses in college is that it fits into their schedule much better, as they are working people often with families. This would be the same concept.
Post a Comment