Valerie Baker
Daily Journal
People Inc. Intern
Day One:
2/19/11
Today was the first day of Training/Orientation for my internship at People Inc. I really enjoyed each of the presenters; they were very enthusiastic and friendly. I met a few people who will be working at the same location as me, so it made me feel less nervous. Today’s presentations/general overviews made me feel more prepared for what I have in store for me. They talked about their mission statement, ethics, rights of the individuals, and circumstances of abuse, among other things.
I have to admit, when I first walked in for my site-interview last Wednesday, I was a bit shocked. I knew that I would be working with individuals that had physical/mental disabilities, but I don’t think I quite understood how severe these disabilities were until I saw the individuals first-hand. When I got back into my car, I was very upset and emotional. I was not sure if I could “keep my cool” or emotions in check for the rest of the internship. But after today’s first day of training, I’m already feeling better and more prepared. I’m sure once I start my internship at my location, everything will fall into place and I will do just fine.
(Side Note)- In case you care, they performed Tuberculosis tests today on each of the new employees at Orientation, and I had a classic Vasovagal response to the needle injection. I felt like I was going to pass out and die; it sucked! But other thank thinking my life was going to end for ten minutes, the rest of the day was good! The only bad news is that they’re going to have to do more of those tests the next time I go back in… yikes!
I have to admit, when I first walked in for my site-interview last Wednesday, I was a bit shocked. I knew that I would be working with individuals that had physical/mental disabilities, but I don’t think I quite understood how severe these disabilities were until I saw the individuals first-hand. When I got back into my car, I was very upset and emotional. I was not sure if I could “keep my cool” or emotions in check for the rest of the internship. But after today’s first day of training, I’m already feeling better and more prepared. I’m sure once I start my internship at my location, everything will fall into place and I will do just fine.
(Side Note)- In case you care, they performed Tuberculosis tests today on each of the new employees at Orientation, and I had a classic Vasovagal response to the needle injection. I felt like I was going to pass out and die; it sucked! But other thank thinking my life was going to end for ten minutes, the rest of the day was good! The only bad news is that they’re going to have to do more of those tests the next time I go back in… yikes!
Day Two:
2/22/11
Today was the second day of training at People Inc. We basically learned SCIP-R. So, if I get attacked or need to bring someone to the floor, I know how! I learned more about the specific needs of the individuals I may be working with. Today was a lot of hands-on experience with the other people at orientation. There is one more orientation day left (this upcoming Saturday) and then I will be moving on to my site!
Day Four:3/4/11
Today was the first day of my ACTUAL internship at People Inc. Respite Opportunities on Delaware Ave in Tonawanda. (I decided to skip writing about day three because it was just more training/orientation!) So, today I spent 5 hours at the Respite Center. I was really nervous going in, but two other employees were starting the same day that I met at training, so it made me feel better. We all took turns reading the health/needs profiles of the individuals in the program. Two experienced employees were there with us the whole time, telling us important info about the individuals. They told us basically how things run on a daily basis (snack time, bathroom procedures, etc.) I learned that every individual that comes to People Inc. has completely different needs and special skills. My favorite individual there was a 24-year-old male with severe MR. He happened to know sign language (though he was not deaf), which was really cool because I got to utilize my signing skills. He was always positive and happy; and he got really excited when I signed his name with him. Overall, my first day as an intern was a lot better than I thought it was going to be!
Day Five:
3/5/11
Today I spent 7 hours at the Respite Center. Some of the same individuals came in as yesterday, but a lot more came today. There were 13 individuals total, all with different specific needs. Some like to be talked to while others do not. Some prefer to just watch movies while others want to color, listen to music, play with sensory items, or listen to others. It’s interesting to open my eyes to a world that I did not know much about before. One of the girls, about 13 years old, uses a touch-screen computer device to speak for her. She touches pictures of different things to make sentences. I was sitting by her, talking to another boy and addressing her in the conversation as well, though I did not expect her to say much. Suddenly, her computer said, “Valerie, you have a pretty hair thing.” It was the first thing she said all day and it made me so happy! I think I’m really going to like interning here.
Days Six and Seven:3/11/11-3/12/11
This week, I really tried to get to know the individuals. Since different people come each day, I learned that this could be a slow process. I would like to talk about the different individuals, so I am going to replace their actual names with fake ones. One girl, Angela*, has moderate mental retardation and she is also blind. She likes to sit with the staff and play with uncooked noodles. She enjoys the way the noodles feel and sound. She’s extremely hygienic. After eating, she insists on going to the bathroom to wash her hands and face multiple times. She knows everyone in the room by name (though she is blind with MR) and she enjoys singing songs.
The 24 year old male I mentioned before, let’s call him Josh*, really enjoys when Angela sings. He often asks her to sing certain songs, and she will. This sometimes upsets the other individuals who do not like all the noise. Josh likes spelling words in sign language. He also enjoys playing Uno and having books read to him. He was not able to color appropriately when given a coloring book and crayons. I found this interesting because he can point out objects in books I read to him, but he did not understand how to color inside coloring pages. When talking to him, he often gets distracted and will say certain phrases that he enjoys. He likes saying things like, “Dark is after dinner,” “I am a person,” “Hey Buster,” and “Don’t touch his food; He’ll be mad.” He says phrases like this in places where they do not make sense. He is very responsive to what staff members say and is easily redirected to appropriate behaviors. Josh is extremely friendly and always seems to be happy and relaxed.
Another one of my favorites is Daniel*, a 21 year old male with Mild MR. He has such a relaxed personality and is not bothered by much at all. He is usually a quiet guy, but if you address him multiple times in a friendly tone, he might respond. He definitely hears and understands what you’re saying; I just think he is too shy to respond sometimes. When he builds up the courage to answer, he will blurt out loud, rapid responses. Sometimes it is difficult to understand him, but he is always encouraged when he speaks. One day, I actually had him in a pretty long conversation, which he was very excited about. He is just one of those people who puts a smile on your face when he’s in the room.
There are many other individuals I could continue on about. I am definitely learning that each of these individuals are extremely remarkable in their own ways. They may not have all the mental or physical capabilities of you or me, but they bring something worthwhile to everyone who meets them. Simply put, some are just so happy all the time! It makes me wish I could be that happy every second of my life. Others are extremely emotional and the smallest gesture or sentence could set them off into tears or outrage. Each time I intern, I learn new, important information about each individual. I also learn more about myself. I remember being timid the first day, but now I am fully prepared to handle whatever situations may arise.
The 24 year old male I mentioned before, let’s call him Josh*, really enjoys when Angela sings. He often asks her to sing certain songs, and she will. This sometimes upsets the other individuals who do not like all the noise. Josh likes spelling words in sign language. He also enjoys playing Uno and having books read to him. He was not able to color appropriately when given a coloring book and crayons. I found this interesting because he can point out objects in books I read to him, but he did not understand how to color inside coloring pages. When talking to him, he often gets distracted and will say certain phrases that he enjoys. He likes saying things like, “Dark is after dinner,” “I am a person,” “Hey Buster,” and “Don’t touch his food; He’ll be mad.” He says phrases like this in places where they do not make sense. He is very responsive to what staff members say and is easily redirected to appropriate behaviors. Josh is extremely friendly and always seems to be happy and relaxed.
Another one of my favorites is Daniel*, a 21 year old male with Mild MR. He has such a relaxed personality and is not bothered by much at all. He is usually a quiet guy, but if you address him multiple times in a friendly tone, he might respond. He definitely hears and understands what you’re saying; I just think he is too shy to respond sometimes. When he builds up the courage to answer, he will blurt out loud, rapid responses. Sometimes it is difficult to understand him, but he is always encouraged when he speaks. One day, I actually had him in a pretty long conversation, which he was very excited about. He is just one of those people who puts a smile on your face when he’s in the room.
There are many other individuals I could continue on about. I am definitely learning that each of these individuals are extremely remarkable in their own ways. They may not have all the mental or physical capabilities of you or me, but they bring something worthwhile to everyone who meets them. Simply put, some are just so happy all the time! It makes me wish I could be that happy every second of my life. Others are extremely emotional and the smallest gesture or sentence could set them off into tears or outrage. Each time I intern, I learn new, important information about each individual. I also learn more about myself. I remember being timid the first day, but now I am fully prepared to handle whatever situations may arise.
Days Eight and Nine:
3/18/11-3/19/11
This week I began to look a little deeper into the files of these individuals. Since I am becoming more and more familiar with each of them, I became more curious about each of their diagnoses. One girl, Noelle*, interested me more than any other individual there. She had only come to the program once before, but had to leave quickly because she got upset. So this week was my first real experience with her. When I asked the other staff members what she was diagnosed with, none of them could seem to remember exactly what it was. When I looked into her file (which I am allowed full access to), I found out why.
Noelle is a 38-year-old woman. She has a very low attention level and is easily diverted from her negative thoughts. If you grab her attention by saying, “Hello Noelle! Hello Noelle!” she laughs and greets you in return. That is just about as far as she can go with conversations before she forgets what she is doing. She never sits down; always paces the room for hours at a time. Sometimes, she will walk up to you. She will stand above you (if you’re seated) and simply STARE into your eyes. Most staff members just let her do it and continue with whatever they were doing. Once, I chose to stare back. We had a staring contest for as long as I could go before I blinked. She makes no facial expressions when she’s staring. It really feels chilling, almost like she’s staring into my soul, trying to find something horrible! She is clearly not bothered by eye contact, as some of the other individuals are. She will also walk around and say things to herself. When she does this, she speaks so quickly and with such a strange accent that it seems like she’s speaking a different language, though she is not. If you tune in very carefully, you can tell she is reciting arguments that happened in her past. The words she uses are vulgar and mean; quite scary! She sometimes uses different voices, making it seem like she’s acting out two people at once. If she’s near you and she’s doing this, she can be easily redirected by saying, “Hello Noelle!!” very excitedly. She’ll smile and stop the reciting temporarily.
I decided to look into Noelle’s file. I found that each doctor that evaluated her came up with a different diagnosis. The most current said she has Autism with Schizophrenic characteristics. Each evaluation write-up seemed like they really had no idea. If you ask me, I would just simply say she has Schizophrenia. To me, someone with Autism tends to dislike eye contact… but she seems to thrive on it. Also, when looking further into her file, I discovered that she had normal brain functioning up until 6th grade. Around this time, she accidentally walked in on her father in bed with another man. This seemed to traumatize her. Almost immediately after that incident, she began to dramatically regress in school. Her father abandoned the family soon after that and moved across the country. She currently has serious trust issues with her loving and caring step-father, as well. To me, this seems more like Schizophrenia than anything else.
After reading all this and more in her file, I really started to wonder. How can one traumatizing experience alter your entire life? Does this happen to everyone? Clearly, this is a very individualized case and we do not have all the details. Also, it is only one theory for her diagnosis. However, it seems obvious in a way that this incident had to be the trigger. She went through elementary school without a problem. It just seems crazy to me. It makes me think that any minute, something could happen that could change the rest of your life. A lot of the individuals I work with seem to have complex developmental disabilities. I am eager to learn more about each of them and how they got to where they are today.
Days Ten and Eleven:Noelle is a 38-year-old woman. She has a very low attention level and is easily diverted from her negative thoughts. If you grab her attention by saying, “Hello Noelle! Hello Noelle!” she laughs and greets you in return. That is just about as far as she can go with conversations before she forgets what she is doing. She never sits down; always paces the room for hours at a time. Sometimes, she will walk up to you. She will stand above you (if you’re seated) and simply STARE into your eyes. Most staff members just let her do it and continue with whatever they were doing. Once, I chose to stare back. We had a staring contest for as long as I could go before I blinked. She makes no facial expressions when she’s staring. It really feels chilling, almost like she’s staring into my soul, trying to find something horrible! She is clearly not bothered by eye contact, as some of the other individuals are. She will also walk around and say things to herself. When she does this, she speaks so quickly and with such a strange accent that it seems like she’s speaking a different language, though she is not. If you tune in very carefully, you can tell she is reciting arguments that happened in her past. The words she uses are vulgar and mean; quite scary! She sometimes uses different voices, making it seem like she’s acting out two people at once. If she’s near you and she’s doing this, she can be easily redirected by saying, “Hello Noelle!!” very excitedly. She’ll smile and stop the reciting temporarily.
I decided to look into Noelle’s file. I found that each doctor that evaluated her came up with a different diagnosis. The most current said she has Autism with Schizophrenic characteristics. Each evaluation write-up seemed like they really had no idea. If you ask me, I would just simply say she has Schizophrenia. To me, someone with Autism tends to dislike eye contact… but she seems to thrive on it. Also, when looking further into her file, I discovered that she had normal brain functioning up until 6th grade. Around this time, she accidentally walked in on her father in bed with another man. This seemed to traumatize her. Almost immediately after that incident, she began to dramatically regress in school. Her father abandoned the family soon after that and moved across the country. She currently has serious trust issues with her loving and caring step-father, as well. To me, this seems more like Schizophrenia than anything else.
After reading all this and more in her file, I really started to wonder. How can one traumatizing experience alter your entire life? Does this happen to everyone? Clearly, this is a very individualized case and we do not have all the details. Also, it is only one theory for her diagnosis. However, it seems obvious in a way that this incident had to be the trigger. She went through elementary school without a problem. It just seems crazy to me. It makes me think that any minute, something could happen that could change the rest of your life. A lot of the individuals I work with seem to have complex developmental disabilities. I am eager to learn more about each of them and how they got to where they are today.
3/25/11-3/26/11
This week I made some closer ties to some of my favorite individuals at People Inc. I brought my laptop in on Friday and Josh* immediately came over to me and repeated, “sesamestreet.com, sesamestreet.com” over and over again. Naturally, I brought him to sesamestreet.com. He completely knew how to navigate around it to play his favorite video. He was super excited to watch it. I think I played it about 12 times before I put and end to the video for the day. I found it interesting that he knew exactly where to go on the website to find it. I feel like that is somewhat of a breakthrough. If we could get these kids to communicate better with the use of technology and computers, it could make their lives so much easier! He could probably learn to play word games, matching games, etc. He could do it by himself and learn. It almost makes me mad sometimes that people haven’t put an effort toward this before.
I’ll change the subject to Daniel*. He was very, very shy with me at first and sometimes would not answer when I addressed him originally. But, this week, I think he got a lot more comfortable with me and really opened up. It was like I suddenly became his best friend. It made me feel good to be liked and trusted. Wherever I would sit, he would pull his chair up next to me and ask me questions. He would ask what was for dinner, what I was doing, and if I would help him get a snack from the vending machine. He is still quite frightened of one of the other workers. She is very firm and often, in my opinion, rude to the individuals. It was interesting to see how he acted around me versus how he was around her. When talking to me, he would look me in the eyes and ask questions and smile, laugh, and show that he was having a good time. When this other woman addressed him, he would look away and at the floor, pretending he did not hear her. She would repeat, “Daniel, look at me when I am asking you a question!” He would timidly answer her, still looking away and at the floor in VERY obvious discomfort. It was like she was doing it to outsmart him. It made me quite angry. I really wish she would not do things like that. Clearly, what he needs is someone trustworthy and kind to help him advance and grow.
Days Twelve and Thirteen:
3/25/11-3/26/11
This week went very smoothly. I only could stay for 3 hours on Saturday, so it seemed to go by a lot quicker. On Friday, I decided to bring a few of my childhood books in to read to certain individuals. Some of them do not care to be read to, while others really enjoy it. Since the site does not have many books, I brought my own. I brought a few good Dr. Seuss books, Clifford, Mercer Mayer books, and a couple others. I read them to Josh*. He especially loved Clifford; I had to read it a few times. I would ask him questions when we got to certain pages, like, “Where is the grasshopper?” or “Show me the airplane.” He would get it correct most of the time. He seemed to like the questions and finding the appropriate objects. Sometimes, I would ask him to find the spider, and he would point to a butterfly or another insect. I suppose those can be reasonable mistakes. I politely corrected him and moved on to the next question. Josh really likes social activities and games.
On Saturday, I decided to make all of the female individuals beaded bracelets. I found some beads and string in the craft closet and made everyone a personalized bracelet, including myself. They all really seemed to like them and thanked me many times. Another worker painted some of their nails. It was a nice week at People Inc.
Days Fourteen and Fifteen:
4/1/11-4/2/11
This week we told a lot of April Fool’s jokes. We tried to make the time more fun and enjoyable for the individuals. We played games like Uno and CandyLand. It is interesting to see which individuals can make the connections well enough to play the game without help. Some can, and some need assistance each time. Each staff member paired up with an individual for these games to create “teams.”
We also went to the Boulevard Mall on Saturday. I pushed around a woman with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair. It was difficult for multiple reasons. First and foremost, there is not enough space in stores to wheel someone around! I never thought of this before, but trying to maneuver around the many obstacles on display is quite the challenge. Also, it is interesting to see the different looks people give you. Some people, those who are ignorant or too young to understand, just stare. Others, make quick eye contact and look away almost immediately because they don’t want “to stare.” Others, maybe those who have had situations like this in their families, will actually come up to you and say hello. One certain man made it a point to come and talk to the woman I was pushing, along with the other individuals we were shopping with. They all enjoyed it thoroughly. I wish more people could be like that man, because he really seemed to make a small difference. He certainly put a smile on their faces and mine, as well.
We also went to the Boulevard Mall on Saturday. I pushed around a woman with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair. It was difficult for multiple reasons. First and foremost, there is not enough space in stores to wheel someone around! I never thought of this before, but trying to maneuver around the many obstacles on display is quite the challenge. Also, it is interesting to see the different looks people give you. Some people, those who are ignorant or too young to understand, just stare. Others, make quick eye contact and look away almost immediately because they don’t want “to stare.” Others, maybe those who have had situations like this in their families, will actually come up to you and say hello. One certain man made it a point to come and talk to the woman I was pushing, along with the other individuals we were shopping with. They all enjoyed it thoroughly. I wish more people could be like that man, because he really seemed to make a small difference. He certainly put a smile on their faces and mine, as well.
The weekend of 4/9/11-4/10/11 I was out of town.
Days Sixteen and Seventeen:
4/16/11-4/17/11
This week I tried to engage in more activities with the individuals. I worked closely with Josh* doing the alphabet in sign language. He knows all the individual letter signs but only knows a few word signs. I taught him how to say “Now I know my ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me” using word signs. He did pretty well! I was proud of him. I also played catch with an oversized bouncy ball with a few of the individuals. Daniel* thought it was hilarious when I lightly bounced it off of his head, so I did it periodically. Another individual, who I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, has an extremely mild version of Down Syndrome. Let’s call him Jeremy*. He is a pleasure to be around and is always positive and up for games and exercise! I decided to challenge him to a game of wall-sits. We both put our backs up against a wall and went into a sitting position. Usually people have a hard time doing this for a minute straight. We went for over two minutes until I finally collapsed. He beat me fair and square! I later read a children’s pirate book to a few of the individuals. It had a lot of rhyming and it was a fun read.
On the negative side of the weekend, one of the individuals was going into some extreme negative behaviors. He would gag himself, scratch his throat, hit his face, scream, and say he wanted to go to heaven. It was extremely upsetting to see and very difficult for the staff members to calm him down. I’ve learned that when this happens with him, it’s best to divert his attention instead of trying to comfort his emotional state. By asking him what’s wrong or if he wants to talk about it, he gets even louder and much worse. It’s a better idea to distract him by asking for help with something, for example.
The worst part about all of this was that when we called his parents, they took over half an hour to show up, when we know they only live right around the corner. His mother walked in looking angry and annoyed instead of helpful and concerned. It’s really stunning to me how different some of these parents are with their children. Some would do anything in the world to help their son/daughter, while it seems like other parents just want to get away from them. I have no idea what it’s like to have a son/daughter with a developmental disability, but I would like to think that I would be as absolutely supportive as possible with all of their needs and emotions.On the negative side of the weekend, one of the individuals was going into some extreme negative behaviors. He would gag himself, scratch his throat, hit his face, scream, and say he wanted to go to heaven. It was extremely upsetting to see and very difficult for the staff members to calm him down. I’ve learned that when this happens with him, it’s best to divert his attention instead of trying to comfort his emotional state. By asking him what’s wrong or if he wants to talk about it, he gets even louder and much worse. It’s a better idea to distract him by asking for help with something, for example.
