Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
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.
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.
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