Hello, my name is Erin Ryan. I am a senior Psychology major at Canisius College with minors in both Clinical Counseling and English. After I graduate in May of 2007 I will be taking a semester off so that I can prepare myself for the GRE's, the specialized Psychology test and apply to graduate schools offering PSY.D programs. It is my aspiration to one day become a child psychologist and run my own private practice.

At the beginning of this semester, I decided that I wanted to contact People Incorporated, which is a Non-profit Human Services Agency that offers both paid and unpaid internships working with children, adolescents and young adults. Some of the programs and services that they provide include: Day Treatment Centers, Disabilities Prevention Programs, Family Support Services, Guardianship, Home Health Care, Primary Health Care, Recreation Programs, Senior Services and Vocational Services. I chose People Inc. because I really enjoy working with children, adolescents and young adults and I thought that it would be beneficial for me to get some field experience so that I would be better equipped to know if clinical counseling is the career path that I want to travel down for the future. So, I contacted People Inc. and set up an appointment with Colleen Boles, a Junior Staffing Specialist and Canisius College graduate, on September 20th, 2006. During our meeting she informed me of a program at Canisius College called the YALT program, or the Young Adult Life Training program. I thought that it sounded interesting and also along the lines of what I wanted to do after I graduted. Then, I filled out some paperwork because the program is supported through People Inc. and got the contact information for the progam.

After my meeting with Miss Boles, I contacted Ray Alvarado, the director of the Canisius College YALT program and set up a meeting with him for September 27, 2006. The location of the YALT program is on the second floor of the Richard E. Winter Student Center. During our meeting he told me that the individuals who attend the program are college-aged students with special needs and certain physical and mental disabilites. The main goal of the program is to have the students learn life skills like budgeting, self-advocacy, money skills, job skills, proper hygiene, etc. so that they may one day be able to live on their own and have their own jobs. When the meeting was finished, Mr. Alvarado told me that I could start in about a week and that is just what I did. I began my internship on October 4, 2006 and the entries that follow are all about my experiences with the Canisius College YALT program.

Ray Alvarado: 888-5800
Canisius College YALT program Director

Today was my first day working at the Canisius College YALT program. When I first arrived there, I was able to hang out and meet some of the students that I would be working with. One of the girls in the program, TS, came up to me, shook my hand, and introduced herself. She seemed like a very nice girl and we chatted for a little while about the music she liked to listen to, the things she did at the YALT program, etc. Another student that I met, LB, came up to me and started talking to me like I was one of her best friends. She wanted to know everything aboout me; like, what I did for fun, where I lived, if I liked rap music, etc. Both girls made me feel extremely welcome on my first day.
Next, I met some of the staff I would be working with. Besides Mr. Alvarado, there were five part-time employees that worked with the students daily. I also learned that there would be caseworkers coming in every so often that I would get to meet and help out if they needed me. All of the staff that I met was very nice and seemed very eager to help me or answer questions when I was unsure about how things were run.
The rest of the time that I spent there I was assigned various office duties to complete. I made copies of worksheets for the students to fill out and I also made copies of forms that needed to be filed in the students' confidential binders. Another thing that I was assigned to do was organize this shelf and throw out anything that looked like it could no longer be of use in the program.
All in all, I would have to say that it was a pretty good first day. Even though I didn't get to work with the students that much, I did get to meet and learn a little bit about a couple of them. My first day made me excited and eager to see the kinds of things that I will be doing next with the program.

Today I met more of the students within the program and got to learn more about them. One of the students I met, PP, was sitting by himself so I decided to go over and introduce myself. He is a very quiet kid, but once you get him going on a topic that he is interested in or knows a lot about, he doesn't stop talking. PP is very nice and seems to enjoy the YALT program a lot. Another student that I met, DF, likes rap music and from what I am told, he always walks into the program with a CD player listening to rap music. I also like rap music so I asked him what his favorite artist was and we talked for a little while about our favorite rap songs.
Next, the students divided off into their designated groups and I was assigned to help M's group, one the part-time employees. All of the students in her group were working on math skills, like adding and subtracting. After I had helped a student who got stuck on one of the problems, I was called into Ray's office because he needed some clerical work done. So, for the rest of the time that I was there I made copies, filed important documents and labeled binders.
I had a pretty good second day because I am starting to get the hang of the schedule at the YALT program and I am also getting comfortable with how to do things around the office. Also, I was very excited because I got to work with some of the students for a little bit and it made me feel good about myself. I enjoy helping people out when they get stuck on things and I think that I really helped this student to better understand how to do those types of math problems as a whole.

Today was my third day at the YALT program. As soon as I got there, Mr. Alvarado called me into his office and asked me how things were going, if I liked it there, and if I had any questions for him so far. I told him that things were going pretty well and that I felt like I was starting to get the hang of how things were done around there. He said that he was very pleased with how I had been doing so far and told me that I would start to work more with the students some time next week. Mr. Alvarado said that he had me doing a lot of clerical work because it had been building up and he figured that it would be good for me to understand how things worked around the office before I began doing work with the students. I told him that I was fine with doing clerical work and that any time I got to work with the students was an added bonus.
Next, I met a few more students, KS, HH and NF. HH is another student that likes rap music and he comes in every day singing the same rap song. I asked him why he always sang the same song and he said it was because it was his favorite. He makes me laugh every time he sings that song because he knows/understands more of the words than I do!
The rest of the time I spent there I did more clerical work. I made more copies of forms that had to be filed into the students' binders. Another thing that I did was highlight these forms for every day that the student attended the program. I don't mind doing clerical work at all, in fact, it helps me to get to know the YALT staff better because I am able to talk to them about the program and the students.
I believe that I did a good job my first few days at the program. Every day I met some new students, found out what the program was all about and got to know the staff better. I know that I am really going to like working here and I can't wait until I begin working with the students more!

Today I went to work at the YALT program even though the rest of Canisius College was on Fall Break. I learned that the YALT program basically follows its own schedule and that it doesn't have the same breaks that the rest of the college does. So, Mr. Alvarado said that he was happy that I came in because the rest of the students who worked with the program had all gone home for the long weekend.
I met some more students today, AW and CW. They had not been at the program while I had been there so I introduced myself to them and found out that they don't come in every day because they have jobs or other things to do. CW is very friendly and AW is very shy, but when you ask him questions he answers very politely and with a smile.
Also, I got to work with some of the students on their money skills. I helped them to complete these worksheets that dealt with recognizing the different coins and dollar bills. The students also had to make change and know the different amounts that they had by looking at pictures of different types of money. It was fun to finally work with some of the students for an extended period of time. I got to know more of them better and learn some of the things that they needed help on and some of the things that they did well.
Moreover, I got a better feel of how the students' day runs because I could stay for more than a few hours due to the fact that Canisius didn't have any classes. Their day is pretty structured and they work on a set number of things within a certain time period. The staff is there to teach and help them complete their tasks. Thus, the setting is kind of like a school, but more laid back and focused on each individual's needs.

Today the students had a safety skills workshop. The staff gave them information on what to do in case of a fire, what you need to do when someone gets hurt, the types of supplies that you need in case of a storm, etc. During this workshop the students were able to ask about anything that they had questions on regarding safety and they were also told to make a list of the things that they already knew that they should do in case of an emergency. The students seemed to know a lot about what to do in an emergency and some of the reponses that they gave made me think about what I would do if there was ever an emergency.
Another thing I got to help them with today was a fire drill. Each student needed to be timed for the drill. Before this happened, the staff and I had to physically show them the escape route that they were to take and then let them practice it a couple of times. We also showed them how to get out of the building another way if the route that we had showed them was blocked. During the fire drill I got to pretend that I was a fire in front of both of the doors of the Student Center. I would alternate sides so that each student would go out a different way than the one before them. The majority of the students made it out under the time that was allotted, which was 2 minutes. I was glad that they all made it out on time, especially those students that were physically handicapped.

Today was Book Club Day. The students divided off into their designated groups to read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I was told to look on with TS because there wasn't enough books for me and to help her out with the words that she didn't know how to say. Each student had to take a turn reading aloud except for this one boy who couldn't read at all. I felt really bad for him because he had trouble concentrating on the story and he couldn't really follow along while the others took their turns reading. However, I found it interesting that even though he couldn't read, he could still repeat some of the things that the others had read aloud back to me when I asked him what was happening in the book.
All in all, today was a good day because I got to help out some of the students with their reading skills. I also enjoyed asking them their opinions about the book because in the English classes that I take, we analyze every book that we read to death. It was nice to just simply discuss a book for once without trying to read too deeply into it.

Today I did some more office work. I made a lot of copies of forms, worksheets and calendars. After I was finished with that work I helped a group of students with this packet on laundry. The packet basically taught the right way to separate ones clothing, what cycles to use on the different types of clothing, when one should use bleach on clothing, etc. Helping the students fill out this packet enabled me to learn about how to do laundry properly. I also think that learning how to do laundry the right way will be beneficial for them when and if they are able to live on their own. Also, I think that it was important for them to know that having clean clothes is essential to getting and/or keeping a job, having friends and feeling good about one's self As it said in the packet, no one wants to be around someone that smells.

Today was the first day that the YALT program was running after the freak storm that hit on Friday, October 13th. However, many of the students were still out because they live in Williamsville and other areas in the Northtowns that still didn't have any power. So, it was a very relaxed day. A lot of the time I spent talking with the students and getting to know the ones that I hadn't had a chance to socialize with. I really enjoy all of the students in the program. They are all very unique and they all have different mental, emotional and/or physical disabilities, yet they all seem to get along so well. All of them look out for one another and if one of the other students is having a problem that we don't know about they tell us. For example, KS was acting sad and withdrawn from the group and two of the other students noticed it and told the staff so that we could find out what was going on with her. I really admire their unity and sense of loyalty to one another because those ideals seem so hard to find in people today.

Today most of the students were back at the YALT program. We all briefly chatted about what the storm had done to their houses, their neighborhoods, whether or not they had power on yet, what they did with their days off, etc. Many of them seemed happy to be back at the program with their friends while others still wanted to be at home sleeping. TS came back today and told me that she had missed talking to me. It made me feel really good about myself because I had realized that at least one of the students felt connected to me and appreciated my presence at the program.
The rest of the time I was assigned to help TS work on her vocabulary words. She has trouble pronouncing words, spelling them, and knowing their definitions. So, she had made flashcards of over fifty common words that she struggled with and I had her say the word aloud, spell it and then read the definition of it. By the time I was done going over the words with her, she had about 20 of them that she could say, spell and give the definitions of.

Today I spent half of my time in the office doing work and the rest of my time working with the students. While I was in the office, I was assigned to go through this large shelf with individual slots for the students' work to be kept in. I was told to throw out or shred any old papers that had a person's name on it, except for the work that the students had done. It took me a lot of time to organize each student's work in the program because there are around 15 of them and a lot of their slots were so messy!
The rest of the time I spent going over job interview skills with a small group of students. First, we generated a list of ideas that we thought were necessary in order for a person to have a good interview. Items on this list included dressing in business attire, i.e. suit, dress, skirt, dress shirt, tie, etc., making good eye contact with the interviewer, showering before going, brushing your teeth, and many more. Then, we went over a packet and filled out a few worksheets about things that you should and shouldn't do during a job interview. I have to say that even I learned some things about how to have a successful job interview. For example, I had no idea that you should show up at least twenty minutes before a job interview. I thought that you were just supposed to show up on time for an interview. Every day that I am here I learn something new and I absolutely love it!

Today was Book Club Day. Every Wednesday the students spend the day reading the assigned book, which is The Giver, in their designated groups. So, today I sat with KS and looked on with her as the group read the book aloud. She did very well reading and only needed my help on how to pronounce a few words. After the group read about 4 pages, one of the members of the staff and I had the students tell us in their own words what was happening in the book. I can safely say that many of the students knew exactly what was going on. At least half of them could tell us a couple of the major events that had happened within the pages that we had read about twenty minutes before.
I am enjoying reading the book and I am glad to see the improvement in their reading skills from week to week. Last week TS seemed to struggle with many of the words she read, however, this week she struggled a lot less and took her time while she read. It's awesome to see that some of the students are getting more comfortable with the book and the type of language that they are reading.

Today I primarily worked in the office. I spent a lot of time organizing the students' confidential binders. Each binder was divided into different sections with different types of important and confidential information. Any information that Mr. Alvarado told me to get rid of I had to shred because of People Inc.'s Confidentiality Policy. I was honored that Mr. Alvarado trusted me enough to handle this type of information. As soon as I had all of the binders organized I put them back on their designated shelf in alphabetical order.

Today I worked primarily with the students because I had spent all of my time yesterday in the office. One of the staff members had to leave so I took over her group during the time that I was there. In her group there were four students all doing independent work. One of them was working on vocabulary skills, another one was working on her GED book, the third student was completing a math packet, and the fourth student was working on his money skills. So, I went around to each individual student and worked with them all for a while. However, the student that was working on his money skills really needed my help. The majority of the time I spent working with him on the value of each coin, how to count change, and what each different bill is worth. He really struggled with his money skills and you could tell that he was getting frustrated. I told him that he was doing a good job and that it takes a little practice to be good at knowing about money and how to use it. He seemed to relax a little bit after I told him that and by the time I was done working with him he could at least identify what a penny, nickel, dime, quarter and dollar are and what they are all worth. It was a start and I think that with more practice he will be able to add and make change on his own.

Today I worked in the office again for some of the time. I completed some paperwork for Mr. Alvarado on some of the students, then I made some copies and organized the staff's log binders. The rest of the time I worked with students on comparison shopping and money skills. Unfortunatley, today was the first day that I ran into a problem with one of the students. Half of the group was working on comparison shopping while the other half was working on money skills. I had been helping the students with money skills for a bit and then I returned to help the students with comparison shopping when I noticed that KS's comparison shopping packet had disappeared. I asked her where it was and she said that she couldn't find it. However, when I left her she was working on it, but slowly because she didn't know how to figure out some of the answers and she wouldn't ask for help. I told the staff about the incident and they said that it wasn't the first time she had done something like that. So, they told me to give her a new packet and have her start over again. This time I sat right down with her and helped her understand each individual problem. Needless to say, I was kind of frustrated because I don't like being lied to, but I didn't show KS that I was frustrated. I pretended like nothing had happened and continued to help her as well as the rest of the students.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Today we did some fun Halloween things with the students. I took a group of them and played Halloween Bingo. One of the staff members had found these cool Halloween Bingo boards on-line and printed them off for the students to use. The winners got a fun sized candy bar. They all loved the game! When they got tired of playing Bingo I got called into the office to do some more odd jobs, like cleaning it up and moving around the furniture in order to make the office easier to get around in.

Today I made some copies and did some more office work. Also, the YALT program had two nurses come in and talk to the students about First Aid. These women were sent over by People Inc. to educate the students on what one should have in a First Aid kit and what to do when someone you're with gets hurt. When the nurses posed the question to the students, What do you know about First Aid?, I was surprised at how many of them knew what was in a First Aid kit, how to use the things inside of it properly, and what to do in case someone got hurt. They all knew enough to get a staff member or call 911 if the person that they were with was hurt that bad.
After the nurses left I helped DF with his reading comprehension. Since it was Wednesday, it was Book Club Day. However, some of the students had gone on an outing with some of the staff members, so only a small group of them was left. So, I was assigned to work with DF on The Giver. I basically read the book aloud to him and every few pages I would stop to ask him questions about what I had just read. For the most part he knew what was going on in the book, however, at the end of each chapter I had him write a chapter summary so he would be able to look back on them and remember what we had read.

Today I spent my time at the YALT program working with a group of students on their money skills. One of the staff members had given me a set of money flash cards with the various coins and different amounts on each one of them that the students had to recognize and then count up. First, I made them tell me what each individual coin was named and its worth. Then I had them add up the change starting from the largest coin and ending with the smallest coin. I found that it was very helpful to have scrap paper so that they would be able to physcially add up the amounts themselves. Most of them were able to recognize the coins pretty well, but a lot of them had trouble adding up the total amount that was given on the cards.

Today I worked with a group on how to tip. They were preparing to go on an outing to Bob Evans with one of the staff members that worked there and the staff member that was taking them there figured it would be beneficial for them to learn how to tip. So, as a group we read over this sheet on what tipping is and when and how one should do it. Then, we completed a couple of worksheets on figuring what to tip a person if the bill was a certain amount of money. I think that the whole tipping concept was a little confusing for most of them. Only a couple of the students really understood why it was important to tip and how to do. One of the students who worked in a restaurant understood the concept very well and tried to help the others understand it too. I feel that the more the students are able to go out to eat at restaurants the more they will understand about how to tip. Some things you just need to practice in order to understand and I think that tipping is one of those things.
After the group I had worked with on tipping left, I talked to some of the students that were still there about their plans for the weekend. TS said she was going out with her boyfriend and AB said she was going shopping with her mom. I enjoy socializing with the students because they are so funny to talk to and a lot of the things that they want to talk about I know about, so I can help them or answer questions for them.

Today Mr. Alvarado asked me if I would put together a new computer training program book because the one they had was old and had a lot of information that was out-dated or they didn't use it any more. I threw out an entire garbage bag full of information because a lot of it was out-dated, didn't belong in the binder or was from students who had graduated from the YALT program. It took me a long time to do this because after I sorted out the information that was still needed I had to make new sections and then divide the information up into the appropriate sections. Even though it took me a while to do, I think that it turned out very well and it will be very useful to the rest of the staff members.
After I had finished putting together the book, I organized each staff member's group logs. I had to hole punch the papers and then put them in order according to the month and year. As soon as I was done with this task I joined one of the groups who was talking about the significance of voting. The staff member gave the students a little history on voting and then exaplained the importance of voting to them. He also had them fill out a voter's registration card so that they would know how to do it if they ever wanted to vote. Most of the students seemed very interested in learning how to vote and why it is important to our country.

Today I worked with M's group on their money skills. First we completed a packet on being able to recognize money, especially the different types of paper money, and what each bill is worth. Then, we played a game of monopoly in order to reinforce the things that we had just learned. I noticed that most of the students could recognize the money and say how much it was worth, but when they didn't have the exact amount they had trouble telling you if and how much change you should give them back. I do have to say that the understood and followed the rules of the game pretty well. Many of them bought up a lot of property, which they knew was key if they wanted to win the game. I believe that I went bankrupt in the end because one of the students had bought so much property that everywhere I landed I was paying him money. He absolutely loved the fact that I had to pay him all the time. I even think that he had a little victory dance!

Today was a light day. I made some copies for Mr. Alvarado when I first arrived and then I worked with some students for the rest of the time. It was laundry skills day. We had to complete this rather large packet on the correct way to do your laundry. I have to say that the packet wasn't very easy. It was rather complicated and difficult to understand. I do my laundry all the time and some of the things that the packet was saying you had to do I had never even done before, yet my clothes still came out clean and fresh. So, I tried to simplify the packet for them. I basically told them that you have to separate your clothes into different piles according to their color and what they are made of. For example, whites should be washed in cold, dark colors in warm water, silks and underwear in the delicate cycle, etc. I believe that they got more out of me talking them through how to do laundry than they did from working on the packet.

Today I went to the Commuter Lounge, which is located right by the book store in the tunnels. We took a small group of the students there so that they could look up the questions that they had asked about alcohol on the internet. The students had compiled this list of about twenty some questions that they wanted to have answered about alcohol. So, they used various search engines like Ask.com and Google to try and find the answers that they were looking for. I have to admit that I even learned a lot about alcohol; I learned which kind of alcohol had the highest percent of alcohol in it and how alcohol was first made.
After the students had completed their questions we went over some of the answers that they had found and discussed why they had asked that particular question. Then we talked about what everyone was going to do over the weekend and how everyone couldn't wait for Thanksgiving to come. I was getting hungry just talking about it!

Today I had a meeting with the staff about a new student that was going to be joining the YALT program. Then we discussed the schedule for the rest of the day. I had been instructed to work with DF on his money skills. The staff members told me that he still had trouble recognizing some of the coins and their values. I had worked with him before and was basically told that no matter how many times you go over something with him, he forgets soon after and needs to be re-taught on how to do it. So, we did a lot of the same things that I had done when I had worked with him before. We completed worksheets together and went over recognizing coins and bills and their values. Also, we went over how to make change. I also taught him that there were different ways to make up the same amount using different coins and bills. For example, I went over with him how four quarters is the same as one dollar bill. He kind of got the idea after ahwile, but I had to repeat myself numerous times before it began to click in his head
When I was done working with him I made some copies and hung out with the new student. I tried to tell her information about the program and the students that were in it. She seems like a nice girl and I guess some of the students had already known her. They were very welcoming and helpful to her so I think that she will fit in well with the other students in the program.

Today I socialized with the students and staff when I first arrived. One of the students, HH, had brought in two huge piles of baby pictures of himself. He was such a cute baby and he seemed so proud of them when he was showing them off to the rest of the students and staff. After we had talked for a bit, it was time for Book Club. They had switched Book Club Day to Tuesdays because too many of the students were missing and not everyone was at the same place in the book. So, the students had finished The Giver and decided to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton next. I started helping the students out with Book Club until I was called into the office to do other work.
Mr. Alvarado told me to organize the binders with the students personal information, i.e. their medical history, their evaluations in the program, etc. After I was done organizing them I had to make new labels for all of them so that the staff knew who's binder was who's. I have to say I enjoyed making the labels because I got to learn how to use a labeling machine.

Today I helped the staff run a game of Jeopardy for the students. The categories consisted of things that they were learning about in the program, such as self advocacy, money skills, Book Club, storm emergenices, budgeting skills, etc. All of the students divided into three different teams and were told to come up with a name for themselves. The team names were The Beavers, The Sabres, and The Wonder Women. I kept score for all of the teams and helped them out with answering some of the questions. When it was all said and done, The Beavers had won the game, however, it was close between them and The Sabres for most of the game.
I had a fun time keeping score for the game because it allowed me to interact with some of the students that I hadn't spent that much time with yet. Also, I was able to learn about some of their likes and dislikes as well as develop a stronger bond with the students. I felt like many of them enjoyed having me around and trusted me enough to come and talk with me if they ever had a problem.

Today I socialized with the students and talked about what everyone was going to do over their weekend. As I was socializing with the students Mr. Alvarado called me into his office and said that it was really nice of me to come in early and hang out with the students. They just really needed to be able to talk with people other than the students and in the YALT program and see how to act, dress and talk appropriately.
After I finished talking with Mr. Alvarado, I helped the staff put on a social etiquette workshop for the students. Some of the topics discussed included how to act while eating dinner, at a party, on the street, etc. Each student gave their input as to what they thought were things that were and were not appropriate to do during any of those times. Their responses included talking with your mouth full, covering your mouth when you cough, sneeze, etc. This workshop provided them with basic ideas on how to act appropriately in various types of social settings. I thought that it was beneficial for them to know that you cannot act the same at dinner as you would at a party. They are two completely different types of social settings.

Today I came in early to socialize with the students and see how their weekends went. Everyone was buzzing about Thanksgiving and all of the good stuff that they were going to eat. Only a couple more days of classes before we were all on break!
After I had talked to most of the students about their weekends, it was time to work on money skills. One of the work study girls and I were assigned to work with a small group of students on their money skills. The group that we had needed more individualized attention and help so that was why we were told to work with them. We worked on recognizing money and counting out the correct amount of money so that the types of things that were being asked on the worksheet could be bought. Then we played Money Bingo with them in order to further emphasize the importance of being able to recognize money, how much it is worth, and then be able to count it up to give the total amount that you have. I think that the students enjoyed playing Money Bingo because it was a break from their worksheets and they got to have some fun while learning too.

Today I organized the binders with old monthly evaluations in them for every student in the program, which is around fifteen. Then I worked with students on their job skills. Some of the things that we talked about included how to find a job, what you need for an interview, what types of jobs they were eligible for given their skill levels, etc. Then we had them look up job ads in various newspapers for a job that they thought that they would be qualified to have. After we discussed the job ads they chose and why they chose them, we had them make up their own job ads in small groups. We told them to base the ads on the kinds of things that they would be looking for in an employee and to make sure that they would also be able to fulfill their own ad requirements. Once the students were done making the ads we had them present their poster boards to the rest of the class. Many of their own advertisements included skills like clerical work, computer skills, good people skills, etc. I believe that this exercise helped them learn how to find a job and the types of things that one should look for when they are deciding whether or not they will be able to do the job/if it is right for them.

Today was the first day back after Thanksgiving break. Everyone sat around and talked about how much food they ate, how their Thanksgivings were and the other things that they did over break. I got a chance to catch up with TS for a bit. She had been away at a job placement for fifteen days and this was her first day back. Overall, she said she had a pretty good experience. TS made some money and got a new boyfriend too. She couldn't stop talking about him!
After she was through talking about her new boyfriend, I helped her work on her vocabulary skills. First, I made her pronounce the word, then I had her spell it and then I had her read the definiton on the back of the flash cards that she had made. It had been awhile since we had done this together, so TS was a little bit rusty and became frustrated very easily. I told her that it was okay, she just needed to take her time and sound out the words. She seemed to become more at ease after awhile and by the time I was done working with her she had been able to correctly identify, pronounce and give the definitions for thirty-five out of the fifty words. I knew that she could do it as long as she stayed focused and didn't get frustrated.

Today I worked with a group of students on the book The Outsiders because it was Book Club day. At first I started working with three of them, but two of them were really struggling so Mr. Alvarado took them and tried to work with them individually on reading the book. So, CW and I were the only ones left. However, after a short period of time Mr. Alvarado came back and told CW to go with another group because he had something else that he wanted me to do. He told me that since TS and DF were struggling so much with their reading comprehension that he was going to try something different with them because what we had been doing in Book Club wasn't helping them become any better at reading. So, he wanted me to go to the library and see if they had The Outsiders on DVD and if there was a large enough place to watch it there. I looked and looked and then asked a librarian, but the library didn't have a copy of it at all. Then, I found out that there was a room that we could book in order for the students to watch the DVD as soon as we got a hold of a copy of one. I informed Mr. Alvarado of what I had found out and he thanked me for trying.

Today I socialzed with the students for a bit and talked to them about the different outings that they were all going on. Some were going to make food at one of the staff member's houses, some were going into Downtown Buffalo and some were going to their internships. Basically, all of the students left and the work study girls and I were assigned to do work around the office.
So, we organized the large cabinet that keeps all of the information for the entire program and made new labels for all of the binders in there because they were falling a part. We also cleaned up the office and rearranged things because it was getting so dirty and it needed a change of setting. I missed working with the students today, but I know that the outings that they are taking are beneficial in developing their social skills and they also help by having them learn how to navigate places on their own.

Today I socialized with the students about what they were going to do over the weekend. Many of them had said that they were going to Christmas shop. No one could believe how fast the time flew by; it was already December! I can't believe that I have been working here for almost two months. Time flies when you are having fun!
Then, we began work on this nutrition packet. We worked on understanding the food pyramid, how many foods that you should have from each group on a daily basis, how many calories you should be consuming in a day, etc. Next, one of the worksheets had us calcualting the amount of calories that each student consumed in a day based on the types of food that they ate. So, the point of this packet was to show the students how to eat healthy if they had not been and ways in which they could improve their diets. I think that all of students realized that they ate way too much junk food and some of them even said that they were going to try to eat healthier by eating more vegetbales and less fatty foods.

Today I met a new employee of the YALT program. On Friday I had learnd that one of the staff members, M, was being transferred to a YALT program at a different college. I was sad that she had to leave, however, this new guy seemed pretty nice.
After I met him, I worked with a student on his money skills. Then, one of the work study girls took over for me while I helped one of the other students with a fractions packet. As soon as I started reviewing her packet, I realized that she really didn't understand how to work with fractions. So, I went over each individual problem step by step. I think that after I explained why her answers were wrong and showed her how to get the right answers she began to understand how to deal with fractions.
Then, I went over a driving skills packet with another student. He didn't have his liscense or anything, but he wanted to learn more about the rules of the road and the proper way to drive. I have to say that it was even beneficial for me because it refreshed my knowledge of proper driving etiquette. The last time that I looked at a driver's manual I was sixteen years old.

Today was Book Club day! We are still reading The Outsiders. So, I took a group of students and worked on reading aloud Chapter Seven. We went around the table and each person took their turn reading aloud a couple of pages. I helped them when they struggled with pronouncing words and every few pages we would stop and recap what was going on in the book so that everyone knew what was going on. Everyone seemed to be paying attention pretty well and was able to tell me at least one thing that had happened in the pages that we had just read.
After I was finished working with the students, one of the staff members commented on how well that I worked with them and how well they responded to me. I was so excited when she told me this because I hadn't gotten much feedback from the staff other than Mr. Alvarado. It made me happy to know that the staff appreciated and approved of the type of work that I was doing with the students.

Today was an extremely light day. I socialized with a group of students the majority of the time about music and Christmas shopping. They laughed at me when I told them that I hadn't done any Christmas shopping yet and they told me that I should get on it right away. Apparently many of them had already completed all of their Christmas shopping. I couldn't believe it! I guess I really did need to start shopping soon.
Then, most of the students were doing independent work, like reviewing their GED book or working on their vocabulary skills. I went around to each student and helped them if they had any questions or couldn't figure out a meaning to a certain word or problem. For the most part, the students worked on their own with little or no problems at all.

During the course of the semester I was able to work eighty-four hours at the Canisius College YALT program. The time that I spent at the YALT program was very interesting and beneficial for me because I decided that I would pursue a career in clinical counseling. I enjoy working with students that have special needs or have mental, physical or emotional disabilities. All of the students in the YALT program had some type of disability that prohibited them from getting a job or living on their own some day. I admire the goal of the YALT program, which is basically to try and prepare each student to be able to function successfully within society. Here, they educate and train them about life skills and how to do things for themselves. Some of the students in the program are fully capable of living on their own at some point in their life and it will be because of the skills and knowledge that they have gained while attending the YALT program.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with many of the students and I feel like they have made an impact on my life. One of the things that the students taught me was to never give up. Many of the students struggled with different aspects of the program, like money skills, budgeting, knowing how to tip, etc., yet they never gave up trying. I admire their strength and their will to persevere even when things get tough. Each student in the program is special and I really think that I made a difference in some of their lives. They looked to me as someone they could trust with their problems and personal stories. I did my best to listen and in the process, I developed a strong relationship with them.
The rest of the time that I have left at my internship, approximately thirty-six hours, I will be strengthening my relationship with the students and the staff members. I look forward to helping the students with more of the skills that they need to be able to live on their own some day. Also, I would like to recommend this site to anyone that enjoys working with those with special needs or aspires to make a difference in people's lives.