Week 8- Final Reflection

Working as a habilitation provider has really helped me take a closer look into what goes on inside the home of a family with a child with special needs. As I have stated before, I have worked in a high school special education classroom for the last two years, and now I have a deeper understanding of what it's like to teach and take care of a child with disabilities round the clock. I have worked in and out of the classroom now and with a different age level, from high school students to a six year old boy. I believe this exposure has been extremely beneficial to my future career with Child Protective Services as a social worker. I have been able to learn the different special needs services, therapies, support groups, and types of doctors and medicines that are offered to a child with disabilities by the state. I feel this information and experience in working with children with disabilities also helps with furthering my knowledge of the human development. As a Family & Human/Child Development major, obtaining this work experience only benefits my knowledge of the process in the human development as it pertains to the disabilities aspect. I am also a sociology major so working with students with autism at the various age levels and environmental differences really helped me to better understand the social disorder aspect of autism.

As a habilitation provider, I would help take care of a families child who had autism for a few hours a day after he attended summer school at a private school that was also the same agency that hired me out to this family. This was only a summer position as the family uses the rest of their habilitation hours during the regular school year towards the private school's tuition. I was offered this position for the same family next summer allowing me to believe they were happy with my services as their habilitation provider. Unfortunately this isn't something I would want to do for the rest of my life, however it was something that I used as a tool to further my career in social services. I learned how to develop the kind of patience I never knew I had working with this child. In the beginning, I had a hard time getting him to want to pay any attention to me or follow any of my directions, but as I worked with him daily and followed his mom's helpful tips in gettin him to sit still we eventually developed a mutual respect between us that allowed him to want to listen to what I had to say and gave me the patience to work on our communication skills together as a team.

This job allowed me to learn how to record important developmental and academic data that pertained to his goals in his Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that he uses year round. For instance, one of his goals that he struggles with his to be fully potty trained. This may not be an academic goal, but he has many behavioral and social goals that he needs to work on and will continue to work on while he is in school. This data is recorded and than sent to the L.I.F.E., the agency and private school, where the team of professionals transfers the data to his IEP that he will work on at school as well. The child has a certain percentage to meet for each goal and if he doesn't meet his goals during the school year than he has may qualify for free summer school since he regressed in his goals. I have also learned the proper skills and techniques in working with a younger child with autism. In comparison to working with the high school students I normally work with during the school year, working with a six year old boy is a lot harder than working with students in the age range of sixteen to twenty-two years old. A younger child with autism is more hyper and physical than the older autistic students. He also seemed to have a harder time sitting still for longer than fifteen minutes at a time, but that could also be more of his age than the actual disorder. Children without any disabilities have a very short attention span as it is, so I think that had a lot to do with it.

I found my position as this families habilitation provider to be a positive experince, and it truly helped give me the full experince of what it's like to have a child with autism. I cooked meals for a child with many allergies and on specific diets. He was picky, yet always hungry so I did what I could to meet his needs. I would sometimes attend outtings to the groceries store or doctor's appointment to see what it was like to take him out on an everyday errand. I discovered how hard it really was to make sure this child's routine wasn't effected in a way that would change his mood and make him have a bad day. The temper tantrums he would throw were nothing like that of a child without autism. I commend his parents for holding the family together, and they are doing a great job in involving both of their children in play time and family time. I feel like this job has made me grow as a person in the sense that I have a new respect for parents with children with disabilities, and that I feel more close to understanding how autism works. I have a new found patience that I can apply at any work place as well as in my own personal life. Now when I'm working for CPS, and I'm speaking with a parent of a child with special needs, I will be able to better relate to what they are talking about and going through and will know the services that are offered by the state to families with children with disabilities.

Week 7- Improvements

My internship is a little different than most of everyones. I don't neccessarily work in an office or at a job site. I work in a family's home where I was placed by the agency. I have only been to the agency's location in the beginning when I had to take some training courses. An area of improvement in this situation would actually be that they should offer not only more training but continuous training updates , that would be a nice refesher course or give a chance to ask questions about what we've been doing instead of always calling or e-mailing someone down at the school. My mentor is the one who turns in my hours to the agency so I have little ocntact with them. She is even the one to turn in her son's progress sheets, so I really have little communication with the agency after my training is complete. They offer other positions in special education, and I think that if I was actually working on the job site in the actual school, than maybe I might get more attention from the people down at the office.

I feel like if the school required more out of their prior to being hired than maybe they'd have more qualified employees working for them. Not to say that I'm not qualified, but after meeting a few of the future employees during training I'd like to say most of them were in the wrong field of work. A couple of them didn't even know what the more heard of disabilities were and what to expect our of the students. This position does not require a college degree or even a high school diploma, and I feel like an education is important when you're basically teaching another person their academics. Also understanding the various disabilities are important in working with a child with special needs. This job is not what I want to do in the future nor was it ever an option for me. I took this job, because I felt that it would help me to better understand what it's like to be inside the home of a family with a child with special needs. I now have a better grasp of what goes on in the home and I have a better understanding of what kinds of services are offered and provided by the state to families with children with disabilities.

I really enjoy being able to minor in 2 different concentration areas with the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree. I feel like I was able to study 2 different areas that I was interested in and couldn't quite make up my mind. Therefore witht his program I was able to explore more options and not get bored with 1 type of class. Studying both sociology and family and human development has really given me the knowledge I need in order to be successful in my career in social work. I feel more well rounded than I would have if Iwould have only been able to major in 1 specific field. In sociology, a theory that can be applied to my internship is the Social Learning Theory. According to this theory, behavior is learned by being rewarded for our actions and by observing and imitating the behavior of those around us. There are interventions offered based on the social learning theory and can teach appropriate relationship skills within the family or wherever needed. In my situation where I feel like the agency could have a little more contact with their off site employees and offer continuous training to all staff. Not so much that I need to relearn what I first learned in the initial training courses, but more of a time to make sure I'm doing my job right or to ask questions about how I could improve or better solve a problem. They don't exactly go over every scenario possible in the initial training courses, and I could have possibly learned a few more things if they would have applied the social learning theory in continuous courses if they were offered. If everyone used the social learning theory than everyone would learn and follow after each other. We could be each other's role models in the work place and have more respect for each other's ideas if their was a mutual observing and imitating of each other's behaviors. With a better communication system always leads to a better chance of success in whatever the situation may be. The social learning theory should be integrated in the workplace no matter what your position is or what your degree may be in.

Week 6- interview

I shadowed my mentor who is also the mother of the child with disabilities that I do habilitation for. She does not get paid to do what she does, nor was it a choice. Her son was diagnosised with autism at 3 years old, and now he will be 7 this year. The challenges she faces as a mother with a child with disabilities are endless. She and her husband have been to various support groups, government funded agencies for children with disabilities, numerous doctors, specialists, therapists, and many other professionals who are available to special needs children. This family has had to really do their research on these individuals and agencies in order to find the best help and support for their child. After speaking with both the mother and father, I have found that they are in need of this extra help the agency I work for offers to them. During the interview they reminded me of how much they appreciate the work I do with their child, and let me know that if it wasn't for the respite and habilitation that are provide by the agency they would never get a break. My services really do help this family and offer the support this family needed with the extra help in taking care of their special needs son.

My mentor found it hard to admit any dislikes in her position as a mother of a child with special needs. After awhile of reassuring her that it didn't make her a bad mother to admit that raising a child with special needs was harder than the average child she openly discussed her weaknesses with her son. She admits to having several nervous breakdowns while home alone or with the children and has recently started taking anti-depressant medication. It was sad to hear her tell me how much she loved her son and how perfect he was yet with one minor detail, he has autism. And the struggle of raising a child with autism is only growing in their case. This family recently found out that he has tested on the lower end of the IQ test and was considered to have a mild to moderate form of mental retardation on top of the autism. This news was devastating to their family and they are still coping with this latest finding. I find it extremely beneficial for my future profession as a social worker with Child Protective Services to listen and experience what this family I intern for goes through on a daily basis. I have now had first hand experience with both in and outside the classroom as well as both in and outside the home of a child with disabilities.

My mentor finds it difficult to separate her personal from her professional life, because this is a different type of situation. This isn't someone who chose to work for this job or is getting paid to take care of this child like I do. She is the mother of this special needs child and is raising him the best she can with the most help she can find. I more than understand now why she needs the extra help at home. She can't even run a simple errand with her son so I stay home with him while the parents take care of things outside the home. I help fix dinner for both children, even though the other child does not have special needs. I help the child with his homework since he is in summer school and we work on his IEP daily. His mother has been doing this for the last 7 years and will ocntinue to do this possibly for the rest of his life. The children I worked for in the high school were either living in a group home or going to move into a group home after they graduate high school. He may not be able to ever live on his own or take care of himself without the help of another person.

My mentor has taken a few college courses but has no college degree. My situation is a little different compared to others, in the sense that my mentor is not a paid employee, she is the mother of the child with disabilities and helps give me a first inside look of what it's like to raise a child with autism. I will use this knowledge and experince with CPS and have a better understanding as to what it's like to raise a child with special needs as well as be more aware of the services offered by the state to the family with a child with disabilities. My mentor models her behavior with a child from the professionals she met within the support groups for parents with children with disabilities. They were given advice and classes on how to work with their child and what types of educational programs work best for their child. When I asked her who she respected the most, I was taken back by her answer. She replied with me and the other individuals who spend their day with her child and help make her day just a little bit easier and to help change his life for the better. She thanked me for the line of work I wanted to go into, and that tghis world needed more people like me who wants to help other people. I was really touched by her response and thought that was a good place to end the interview.

Week 4: My showcase to a prospective employer

Week 4- Career

I am interested in various careers through out the system of social services. I am particulary interested in working for Child Protective Services (CPS). I had to be cleared with a state and federal background check and be approved for a fingerprint clearance card in order to do the work I do now for my internship. I applied for the clearance card that satisfies both my internship as well as for my career with Child Protective Services, and now I have it already thanks to my internship. It was expensive, took over two months to be cleared, and it's good for six years, so now I feel like I have my foot in the door with CPS.
Working with a child with disabilities inside the home right now helps gain family perspective from a different angle. I am learning and understanding what it's like to have a child with disabilities compared to the average child with no disabilities.Working for CPS will require me to understand the basic knowledge of parenting, children of all needs, abused, and every other sort of situation you can think of. I think interning as a habilitation provider helps gives me some insight to the needs of a child with disabilities in and outside the job. My previous job as an Instructional Aide at the high school level also benefited my knowledge in the field of special education. I feel more well rounded now seeing the at home aspect of a child with disabilities as well as a different age range. My child I do hab for now is six years old, and I would say more work when compared to the students of the age range of sixteen to twenty-two.
I do plan on staying with this site for the immediate future, but not as a long term career. This job helps me get my foot in the door with my future career with CPS. I enjoy learning the different areas of the child development, and I feel that working with children with disabilities will help make me more well rounded in the whole spectrum of the development of the child. I wouldn't mind working at a child day care center to gain more perspective on younger children without disabilities. I feel that I am learning some good parenting skills at my current job as well as the previous job working in a classroom. I am learning how to know only work with children with disabilties but I am better understanding their needs as well as legal rights. I also feel that working with the parent really helps my future job with CPS because that will be who I will be dealing with the most, the parents of children.

Week 3- Concepts & Theories

My concentration area, sociology, pertains to my job on a daily basis. The disability of my child I do habilitation for is autism, and that disability really changes the way the individual socializes with people. Social control is a key concept that I've seen being broken this past week. My child has not completely warmed up to me, and according to his mother it takes him awhile to adjust to change, as I am the first habilitaion provider he has ever had. His mother is a stay at home mother while the father works full time. Social control is a process that brings aboutconformity to socity's norms and laws. Informal social control is the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about the consistency to norms and laws. My child has shown his inconsistency to be able to show a sense of informal social control.

Social Learning Theory is a theory used in my concentration area os sociology and is used at my job site everyday of this child's life. In autism, the individual prefers routine and doesn't adjust well to change. According to this theory, behavior is learned by being rewarded for our actions and by observing and imitating the behavior of those around us. I reward my child with a given amount of time to break from school work or maybe even a healthy treat provided by his mother. I am also very reqpectful and nice to him to demonstrate the behavior I would like to see reciprocated. This process I go through every shift is a part of the social learning theory.

My other concentration area is family and human development, and in that field compromising is a key concept I use every time I am at my job site. Compromise is the intermediate style that results in some gains and some losses for each partyand is moderately assertive and cooperative. I have to compromise with my child in order to get him to sit still for a given amount of time in exchange for play time. It is my assertiveness as well as cooperation that get's him to do what I ask. He may not always listen, but that's the disability that I have to be patient with and work extra hard with.

Another key concept that I use at my job site in the field of family and human development is reframing. Reframing is one of the basic communication skills in moderating conflict. It means looking for a constructive way to describe whatever is going on, with the goal of changing perceptions and positions from negative and fixed to more positive and flexible. It helps move the resolution process along by giving and equally true, more positive view of what has been said. I have to reframe certain statements with my child in order to get him to understand why it is important to do the given school work or to use sign language instead of pointing in order to communicate more sufficiently. I have to change the wording for him to better understand what and why I want him to do something. Sometimes I need to change what I've said to sound more positive so that it sounds like somthing he may want to do more so than compared to how I worded it before. Overall, I have seen many key concepts and theories from both my disciplines used daily at my job site.

Introduction

Hi I'm Kristen Kolisar, and my concentration areas are in sociology and family & child development. I chose these concentration areas, because I am very interested in the study of social behavior, the concept of marriage and family, and just people in general. I found interest in these areas a few years ago, and I always knew I would go into a field that not only is in the customer service business but also would have something to do with helping people. After graduation, I plan on working in the field of social work for Child Protective Services (CPS). I would still like to explore a little moreof my options in my career choice. I feel that I've always been the type of person that has a big heart and enjoys making a difference. In the color personality tests I've always tested high in the blue category, which is the caring, loving "teacher" type pf person. I currently work in the special education department at ahigh school as an Instructional Aide, and I enjoy working in a classroom with my special needs students.

For my internship, I am working as a Specialized Habilitation Provider for an agency called Lauren's Institute for Education (L.I.F.E.). What this means is that I work in the home of a child with special needs that the agency placed me in, and not only am I helping with daycare assistance, but I also work on the child's IEP goals. An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan that is made up by the student's case manager and a team of specialists that work together in providing an education plan that is best suitable for that student. Instead of working in a classroom and with high school students like I have for the past 2 years, now I will be working with one 6 year old boy one on one and in his own environment, his home. I hope to learn how this disability can be worked with and maintained enough to live as normal a life as possible. I want to better understand how to work with children with special needs so that I will have a more deepened understanding of more than just the average child. I want to be well rounded in my concentration area of the child development aspect.