So much with the busy...
Hi all,
apologies for the lack of posts - unfortunately the last 3 weeks have been totally insane, and I just haven't had time to sit down and write anything. Today's post won't be anything brilliant... just a bit of a catch up. :)
Today is the last day of clinic. This summer we had clinic plus two classes: Assessment and Dysphagia (disorders of swallowing). Assessment was pretty closely integrated into our clinic process, so it wasn't so noticeable. Dysphagia was totally independent of clinic, and it was tough. I was so unmotivated to learn that I found it hard to pay attention in class. I wound up teaching myself most of the material the weekend before the final. :) Luckily, that works for me! And dysphagia is a disorder area I'd like to spend at least some time working in some day, so I'm glad I got something out of the class.
Clinic itself was a weird experience. The 4 45-minute sessions a week were great. I loved being with clients: both working with them and just getting to know them. The rest of the time was more challenging. There was so much group work, and so many overlapping roles with no clear delineation. There was a lot of paperwork, something I really don't mind working on solo, but something that is very challenging to try and complete with another person. Honestly, who writes reports with two people sitting at one computer? Yet this is how our clinic is structured in many ways, and I found it really challenging. Clinic was also hard because everyone is exhausted from the last 2 semesters of school. Tempers are shorter, endurance is a joke, and minor obstacles become frustrating hurdles to leap. If I could make one recommendation to the program, it would be that they give use TWO weeks in between winter and spring term, and only four weeks between summer and fall.
What makes all of the above worthwhile is the little girl who used to be about 25% intelligible, and is now closer to 55%. Her mum is noticing that strangers understand the little girl better, and the little girl isn't giving up so easily when people don't understand. That's pretty rewarding. And don't forget the older gentleman, unable to write more than a single word in May, who is now writing 3 word phrase to communicate his ideas. He's also added 4 words to his spoken repertoire, and his daughter reports that he's much more confident about trying to get his ideas across. That's pretty rewarding, too.
Other things sort of ground to a halt during clinic. My thesis, while not totally stalling out, certainly slowed in its progress. Luckily I've got fantastic supervisors, and they've kept me working on it a bit at a time, so I've got somewhere to go. My plan is to finish the prospectus this August - we'll see how it goes.
I basically quit running for a couple months there, which was a terrible choice. If anything, I should have been running more, to try and better cope with the stress. Instead, I chose to let the long days at school, the homework and the session planning, and my Robert get in the way. :) Now that clinic's winding down, I've had some extra time, and I've tied on my runners twice this week. It's pretty sad how slow I've gotten, and how low my endurance is, but I'm feeling really, REALLY good about getting out there and going. And with the month of August off, I see no reason that I won't be able to re-establish my runs as habit. Rob's also going to pick up a tennis racket, so we can play together. :) He's more into dangerous things, like rollerblading and mountain biking, so we're working on finding things that both of us enjoy that we could do together. So far, we've got tennis. ;)
Tomorrow is Meg's and my shared birthday party. Her birthday was yesterday, and mine's not til August, but she's going away to Africa for the whole month, so now seemed a good time to celebrate. I'm quite excited - she's hosting a semi-formal afternoon of desserts. I think it's going to be wonderful! The only thing is that I actually need a dessert, and baking is not something I'm feeling up for. I may have to check out a couple of the bakeries in the neighborhood, and see what I can find. :)
I applied for a part-time position, and I should hear back next week. The woman I applied to has actually already sent me an email, but it just said that she was heading out on vacation, and would be in touch. The company is called DriveABLE, and they assess people with cognitively impairing medical conditions. These impairments may or may not render someone unfit to drive, and adults suffering from these conditions need to be screened for whether or not they are safe to be on the road. The job that I applied for is one in which I would do the in-office testing. I'm quite nicely qualified for the position, as it requires assisting adults (mostly seniors) in demonstrating their abilities, even if they're language impaired. We'll see what happens, I guess. :)
And that's all that's new at the moment. I'll try and post a bit more regularly once I've got a bit more time. :)
Love you,
Elizabeth
apologies for the lack of posts - unfortunately the last 3 weeks have been totally insane, and I just haven't had time to sit down and write anything. Today's post won't be anything brilliant... just a bit of a catch up. :)
Today is the last day of clinic. This summer we had clinic plus two classes: Assessment and Dysphagia (disorders of swallowing). Assessment was pretty closely integrated into our clinic process, so it wasn't so noticeable. Dysphagia was totally independent of clinic, and it was tough. I was so unmotivated to learn that I found it hard to pay attention in class. I wound up teaching myself most of the material the weekend before the final. :) Luckily, that works for me! And dysphagia is a disorder area I'd like to spend at least some time working in some day, so I'm glad I got something out of the class.
Clinic itself was a weird experience. The 4 45-minute sessions a week were great. I loved being with clients: both working with them and just getting to know them. The rest of the time was more challenging. There was so much group work, and so many overlapping roles with no clear delineation. There was a lot of paperwork, something I really don't mind working on solo, but something that is very challenging to try and complete with another person. Honestly, who writes reports with two people sitting at one computer? Yet this is how our clinic is structured in many ways, and I found it really challenging. Clinic was also hard because everyone is exhausted from the last 2 semesters of school. Tempers are shorter, endurance is a joke, and minor obstacles become frustrating hurdles to leap. If I could make one recommendation to the program, it would be that they give use TWO weeks in between winter and spring term, and only four weeks between summer and fall.
What makes all of the above worthwhile is the little girl who used to be about 25% intelligible, and is now closer to 55%. Her mum is noticing that strangers understand the little girl better, and the little girl isn't giving up so easily when people don't understand. That's pretty rewarding. And don't forget the older gentleman, unable to write more than a single word in May, who is now writing 3 word phrase to communicate his ideas. He's also added 4 words to his spoken repertoire, and his daughter reports that he's much more confident about trying to get his ideas across. That's pretty rewarding, too.
Other things sort of ground to a halt during clinic. My thesis, while not totally stalling out, certainly slowed in its progress. Luckily I've got fantastic supervisors, and they've kept me working on it a bit at a time, so I've got somewhere to go. My plan is to finish the prospectus this August - we'll see how it goes.
I basically quit running for a couple months there, which was a terrible choice. If anything, I should have been running more, to try and better cope with the stress. Instead, I chose to let the long days at school, the homework and the session planning, and my Robert get in the way. :) Now that clinic's winding down, I've had some extra time, and I've tied on my runners twice this week. It's pretty sad how slow I've gotten, and how low my endurance is, but I'm feeling really, REALLY good about getting out there and going. And with the month of August off, I see no reason that I won't be able to re-establish my runs as habit. Rob's also going to pick up a tennis racket, so we can play together. :) He's more into dangerous things, like rollerblading and mountain biking, so we're working on finding things that both of us enjoy that we could do together. So far, we've got tennis. ;)
Tomorrow is Meg's and my shared birthday party. Her birthday was yesterday, and mine's not til August, but she's going away to Africa for the whole month, so now seemed a good time to celebrate. I'm quite excited - she's hosting a semi-formal afternoon of desserts. I think it's going to be wonderful! The only thing is that I actually need a dessert, and baking is not something I'm feeling up for. I may have to check out a couple of the bakeries in the neighborhood, and see what I can find. :)
I applied for a part-time position, and I should hear back next week. The woman I applied to has actually already sent me an email, but it just said that she was heading out on vacation, and would be in touch. The company is called DriveABLE, and they assess people with cognitively impairing medical conditions. These impairments may or may not render someone unfit to drive, and adults suffering from these conditions need to be screened for whether or not they are safe to be on the road. The job that I applied for is one in which I would do the in-office testing. I'm quite nicely qualified for the position, as it requires assisting adults (mostly seniors) in demonstrating their abilities, even if they're language impaired. We'll see what happens, I guess. :)
And that's all that's new at the moment. I'll try and post a bit more regularly once I've got a bit more time. :)
Love you,
Elizabeth
posted by Elizabeth @ 09:53
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home