Internship 2009
Summit Educational Resources, University at Buffalo, and Canisius College
Connections
Week 1 (June 22-June 26)
The first week of the internship took place in the Health Science building at Canisius College. It was spent training for the program. Monday we took an exam that tested our knowledge of the manual. We were also introduced to the “Skills Streaming” program, which is the foundation of Connections. It helped to clarify the information read in the manual. The rest of the week was spent learning the points system, therapeutic activities, and practicing Skills Streaming.
Week 2 (June 29-July 3)
4 of the 6 groups (those who were participating in the Connections program and not the IES program) received their campers and began Skills Streaming right away. I, on the other hand, became a member of the research staff. The first day, I learned how to score protocol such as the SRS and the ABAS II. The rest of the week was spent mostly scoring protocol and filing papers as well as preparing testing packets for parents and staff members. Wednesday afternoon, I babysat the camper’s siblings while the parents were in a parent training meeting. I also was given the opportunity to observe the groups during the board game activities. I also ran fidelity reports on several groups and was able to provide feedback to my fellow co-workers. I also ran kids from their classrooms to their parents at the end of the day. This, as well as lunch time, provided me with an opportunity to interact with the kids and get to know them and their behaviors better.
Week 3 (July 6-July 10)
This week was a lot like last. I spent most of my time scoring protocol and being trained in how to score new protocol (SRS, ABAS II, ABC, STEP, MESSIER, PDDBI). I was also trained in how to administer certain tests. I had the chance to administer the BASC II, CAM and DANVA to 2 children who were participating in the 3-week IES program. I was happy that I had this opportunity because it gave me a chance to see the kids before treatment and spend time with them one on one. It made my definition of Asperger’s a lot clearer especially because one of the kids I tested was considered a clear and true definition of the disorder. This specific child was also one from my group, so I was given the chance to watch his progress. I also did more videotaping of board games for the Connections group which, again, allowed me to have more exposure to the kids.
Week 4 (July 13-July 17)
This week was my first one with my kids. The first day was insane. From the second the kids arrived to the second they left, it was non-stop chaos. The day practically flew by, which I’ve been told is a great thing-the whole “Time flies when you’re having fun” concept. Early that Monday morning, I met my 6 kids; all boys ranging in ages from 7 to 9. From the second I met some, their behaviors and disorders were very apparent, however some of them were a little harder to figure out. I also was thrown right into administering the program to the kids on the first day. I did my first Skills Streaming during the 3rd cycle of the day. I believe my fidelity on it was a 60% (out of 100%) so I obviously had a lot of room for improvement. However, I am proud to say that by the end of the week, my fidelity had reached above 90%. I also experienced one of the first tantrums of the camp. One child, who ended up being our most improved camper, became angry and agitated easily. When this happened, he tended to throw tantrums that involved harmful actions and very inappropriate words. The first time we witnessed it was when I initiated a time out sequence with this particular child. He was so angry at me for giving him a time out that he hit and kicked me while calling me very derogatory names and using words 8 year olds should never use. Looking back, I’m glad this happened to me so early on in the camp because it prepared me for the worse. I was very affected by it too because I had never been put in the situation where I was forced to deal with a defiant child. Believe it or not, in less than fifteen minutes, I was able to matter-of-factly control his behavior and get him to serve his time out without ever raising my voice or yelling at him. I was shocked. The rest of the week was spent getting accustomed to the system and the time restraints of the program. By the end of the week, my co-counselors and I had established the most efficient and effective way for running our group. We handled the criticism our supervisor gave us constructively and ended up showing great improvement just in the first week. At this point, I was proud and even more motivated to work towards further success with the kids in the upcoming two weeks
Week 5 (July 20-July 24)
My second week ran a lot smoother than the first. My group finally established an organized routine to our day. We had a system for everything and were even ahead in some areas. For example, we had all of our social skills written out for the week on Monday morning. At the end of the day, we all participated in entering the points into the database, moving our “monkeys” up the tree (our progression chart of how well each child was doing was a palm tree with monkeys on it-we named our group “The Funky Monkeys”), and even cleaning up. We began realizing each kid’s specific behaviors which made it easier to deliver the program to them. We were able to personalize the program for each kid in order to ensure that they got the most out of the treatment. The end of the week brought us news that we were all shocked to hear- One of our campers did not earn enough points to go on the field trip. This specific child was very hyperactive and had a hard time understanding the point system, therefore he did not get the concept of earning and losing points, which is the core of the reward/punishment goal. When we told him that he didn’t make the field trip, his reaction was phenomenal to experience. It gave me a hands-on experience Asperger’s. After we gave him the bad news, all he did was smile. He tried to tell me that he was feeling sad by saying, “This is how I felt when my mom’s boyfriend went away,” but his facial expression did not match his feelings at all. I tried to help him out by showing him a sad face but he couldn’t understand. It was heartbreaking to see but I knew that the decision was made to help him out in the long run. This was also the day I was chosen by my supervisor, along with another “rookie counselor,” to stay back with the three children that didn’t make the field trip. Though I was slightly upset that I wasn’t going to the zoo with the rest of my campers, I was honored that they picked me. My supervisor told me that it shows that I have the ability to deliver the program effectively and run a group with the help of one other person for the entire six hours that the other thirty-three kids were gone. I looked at this as a challenge. The day went pretty well, however it was very challenging. But it only reinforced the reason why I was there- To help these kids.
Week 6 (July 27- July 31)
For our last week, everything ran very smoothly. It was a shame that we were part of the three week program because we really started to see our kids “turn it around” this week. We made sure the program applied to each kid in a unique and individual way. We even set up a token system for one child so that he better understood the point system. This helped him change so many of his bad behaviors as well. I felt like I was really making an impact on these kid’s diseases. We were also given the freedom to pick our own activities this week which made camp extra fun. We were able to pick the things we knew our kids loved and tried to give every kid a chance and running the activity on their own. It allowed them to use their newly learned social skills in a more practical setting. At the end of the week, we all went to Fantasy Island. Though the day was very chaotic, our kids were on their best behaviors. I’m proud to say, we had no “public time-outs” and that everyone had fun! When we got back to camp, we had an awards ceremony for the campers and their parents. This gave the parents a chance to see what we did with their kids all summer. When this commenced, every single parent of our kids thanked us for all the hard work we put in. This was the first time, out of six weeks, that it had been brought to my attention that I had been “working.” Yes, it technically was a job, but I looked forward to going every morning, and never once dreaded seeing those kids. This experience really helped me solidify what I want to do with my life: continue to work with children in hopes of becoming a school psychologist one day.
