Hi, I'm Annie. I'm a junior and a psychology major with a minor in school psychology.
The ares of psychology that I am interested in are children and school psychology.
My career goals: I plan on attending graduate school for School Psychology and
becoming a school psychologist.
Psy498PracticumLog
Psy395Fall2005
CategoryUsers
The following 1 pages belong to AnnieCoseo:
I am currently involved in a practicum at Ripen with Us Child Care Center on Kenmore Avenue in Buffalo. Ripen is a branch of Bornhava preschool in Amherst. Both child care centers deal with children with a variety of mental difficulties and deficiencies. Their main focus is to treat social, behavioral, emotional and learning difficulties that the children are facing. There is also a focus on parent and family involvement and interaction. While all of Bornhava’s children have some special need (most have Down syndrome) Ripen differs by having an inclusion classroom. Here the children with disabilities are placed in a room with general education children so they can learn not only from the teachers and therapists but also from the other children.
Week 1: My first day was great and very educational. I met my supervisor who was extremely friendly and helpful. She placed me in the inclusion classroom and I met all the children there as they slowly came into the classroom that morning. The kids were very welcoming and as soon as I sat down on the floor they were asking me who I was and if I would play with them. It was very cute!
It became very clear to me that some of the children had serious mental and behavioral disorders. One little girl has Down syndrome. Another boy acts out frequently and tests the patience of everyone in the room. Another little boy had very little language abilities and few occupational skills that a normal pre-schooler should have. Other children did not come across with obvious disabilities. This is a testament to how well the program works, because two of the children who are labeled with a disorder in the classroom I could not detect.
One of the little boys with the obvious delay in speech and behavior mentioned above, “Jimmy” let’s call him, really made my week. My supervisor came in and asked me to do an OT task with the kids. I had a table set up with two poster boards. One had a large apple and the other had two A’s in block letter form. The task was to ask the children to rip pieces of red paper into small pieces and glue them on the apple and the A’s. Some children did very well, were others did not. I worked with “Jimmy” to help him because as he began the project he was twisting the paper instead of tearing. I finally helped him to perform the ripping motion all by himself! We were both gleaming with pride! That made my week!
Week 2: This Week I was placed into a different pre-school room. This room was also a universal Pre-K room. The children in this room have more visible problems than the first classroom I was in. Two of the boys have Down Syndrome. One little girl has very little verbal skills and her speach sounds like babble. However, she does understand things you tell her and follows directions very well. Another little girl has a twin in the other classroom, "Jimmy" from the example I mentioned last week. She also has the same problems but her speech is much more developed. A fourth child has Autism. What is so interesting about him is that my supervisor told me when he first came that all he did was parrot and run around the room in circles. He had no social abilities and little language outside of parroting. Now, he speaks clearly and can converse with us and his classmates. However, he still has a hard time sharing. For instance, when he sees someone with something he wants he grabs the toy from the child and says "Gimme!" The children of course do not respod well to this. So as you can see, more social skills need to be developed.
Week 3: As the weeks go on there is so much more that I am noticing and observing in the universal Pre-K room. First, one little boy "Conner" has a very obvious problem dealing with anger and his emotions. He frequently displays bursts of anger and temper tantrums when things do not go his way or he is repremanded for doing something wrong. He cries and stomps to his "time-out chair" and then puts his head down and grunts. The interesting thing about "Conner" is that he has no mental disabilities other than this anger problem. He is a bright boy and enjoys playing (although his play is a little too aggressive at times) and reading books. When I was reading him a counting book and praised him for counting correctly he gave me a large smile and was very proud of himself.
My supervisor came up to me and said that "Conner" needed help with this anger problem and she was contemplating developing a social story for him. In this social story, "Conner" would be the star and the book would present certain problems and display positive ways in which "Conner" could deal with them. Also, this story would be read to him at home by his parents for further reinforcement. My supervisor stated that she has had great success with these in the past and the children truly enjoy them. I thought that was extrememly interesting. I came across Social Stories when I was doing research for our School Psychology Class in the Spring of 2005. I was researching Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children and social stories was offered as a coping mechanism.
Week 4: Another discussion I had with a Born Hava teacher at Ripen was about a boy I mentioned earlier, "Manny," who I thought displayed autistic type behaviors. This teacher approached me and said "You are going for psychology right?" I said yes and she asked me why "Manny" was so defiant. So I asked her if he had autism. She said he was undiagnosed, even though he came from Born Hava. I asked her if they did not diagnose him because they wanted to avoid a label for this child. Her reply was, " No. They like to do it as early as two." I was confused by this.
She also went on to say that he needs a behavior program and they are so relaxed with him here. I, as well as others, have noticed a huge improvement in "Manny." He no longer parrots or runs around the room in circles, screaming.
This discussion and the one from the week before about "Conner" makes me realize how important a school psychologist is. Furhtermore, it is obvious that it takes a team of people to diagnose, assess and come up with a plan for improvement.
Week 5: This week I had a couple of discussions with my supervisor and some of the teachers about a behavioral plan for two down syndrome boys in the classroom. One little boy "Jacob" has down syndrome and often looks as though he is "spacing out" and not in tune to the things that are going on around him. This is especailly true during circle-time. Here, we have a calander helper, a flag holder and weather boy or girl each day. The children are to still in a circle, listen to their classmates and teachers and participate in songs, counting the days on the calander and reciting the pledge. Obviously, children in pre-school need to be reminded on how to act and what is appropriate. "Jacob" however, seems as though he is zoning out. He never stands or sits when the other children do, even with sign language is used to show him what to do. As a result, his aide, or myself end up standing him up or making him sit. What we found out (an aide and myself saw him do this) is that it is reinforcing for him. He was actually smiling as the aide pulled him back to his spot on the circle. Therefore, his behavioral plan now is to ignore this behavior and to praise other children next to him for doing the correct behavior. At first, we expect a behavioral burst from "Jacob" but eventually he will voluntarily join in with us.
After I did a painting project with "Jacob" I signed to him that he did well, he was "all done" and that he could go "play." Well he just sat there staring past me. So I left him and went to talk with another child. Within a few moments, "Jacob" had gotten up to play. So, hopefully it is already working.
The second child in the room with down syndrome, "Timmy" is a very energetic and playful little boy. He loves to test your patience and your ability to discipline him. I love working with him because he is such a challenge and it is so rewarding when he does something right! However, it is a game to him when you discipline him. He wants to do the opposite of what you tell him to do. However, the dilema is that you cannot ignore him because he is a danger to himself and to the other children in the classroom. We have also noticed that he likes the sensation of dumping out buckets of toys. So we have to make him pick up every toy one by one. He is a real challenge, so a behavioral plan is still being developed for "Timmy."
Week 6: This week I was able to spend some time in the other Universal Pre-K room at Ripen. One major observation I made involved a little boy, "Shawn." A week or so ago, I learned that he had been taken to Children's Hospital for an evaluation. His teacher refered him, thinking he may be diagnosed with ADHD. Also, a psychologist came in to observe Shawn, which was very interesting to witness.
Some of Shawn's behaviors are: running around the room, knocking over toys (including blocks his classmates have just built up), using poor, inappropriate language, knocking other children down in his path and inability to sit in his "time-out chair." One thing that I noticed about Shawn was that he did not think about his actions before hand. He does not take the time to think about how his actions will affect others. Once he sees a child on the ground crying, he stops, offers his hand and says "Sorry." It just seems as though he cannot control his energy. Time out is ineffective, since he cannot stay where he is and enforcing that is hard with so many children. I also am under the impression that aggression is encouraged in his home. He talks about watching Nascar at home with his father and wrestling around on the ground with him. Shawn also expressed that he cannot wait for his baby brother to grow up so he can "beat on him." Many children wrestle with their father, however he cannot wrestle with other children at school, and Shawn is incapable of seeing the difference.
Hopefully, a behavioral plan can be implemented that will be beneficial to Shawn and the rest of the children. I think it is great that he is being evaluated. His mother was also able to go to Children's for the evaluation, which would give the psychologist a wider view of what is going on.
Week 7: This week a couple of new "specialists" joined our room. One woman is there as a one-on-one aide for "Timmy" (the boy with down syndrome I mentioned above). He seems to be doing a lot better as far as sitting in circle and not running around the room. The aide seems to be working for him so far.
A second woman also comes in and takes a little boy, "Mitchel" out of the room for therapy. "Mitchel" has trouble dealing with other children when they take his toys or try to play with something he is playing with in a different way. He is not a special education child from Born Hava, yet he does seem to have behavioral issues. This woman is proven to be very helpful for Mitchel. He "uses his words" a lot more now, rather than screaming and throwing a fit. He is still very energetic and will refuse to clean up the toys but he is making improvements.
Week 8: This week I had the oppurtunity of witnessing the administration of a test to the
BornHava students (kids with special needs) at Ripen. The test was the Brigance and it is normally used as an indicator of how well a four-year old will do in Kindergarten. My supervisor informed me that she uses it to record the progress of the students from
BornHava and to determine what they need to work on. Some of the first questions that were asked were, "Can you tell me your name?" "Can you tell me how old you are?" and "Can you tell me where you live?" After these the child had to perform a number of tasks. Some of these tasks included: stacking blocks and counting them, copying shapes that were placed in front of them and finding one image out of three or four that does not belong. It was very interesting to watch and see what each child knew. It became increasingly harder with the children with little verbal skills and those with parents who do not speak English at home. My supervisor also informed that these particular tests are not sent to any Kindergarten program the child may attend, but for her own benefit and for the parents as well.
Week 9: We only had three days this week because of Thanksgiving break but I did learn one interesting thing. The little boy "Manny" I mentioned above that one aide claimed had not been assessed, had been, thankfully. He, like all the other
BornHava children at Ripen, has an IEP. Also, as I mentioned earlier he is doing an extremely good job sharing his toys and not becoming attached to one or two particular toys. He is also not saying, "Gimme" and grabbing toys out of other children's hands, he is using words and expressing himself more clearly. This is very important since "Manny" had a difficult time with this.
Week 10: This was my last week! I was so sad leaving the kids because I had been there every morning since September! The people were absolutely great to work with and the kids made the internship so rewarding! These last few weeks, I really saw so much improvement in the children. One child in particular really has made drastic improvements. I mentioned earlier that "Jacob" had a hard time joining in with what ever activity we were doing. We were told to use words to tell him what to do, but not to physically move him. This proved to work and this last week he has been singing and dancing with the other kids. He also does not look like he is "zoning out" anymore. Jacob uses more words now, which is really great. This was a challenge for us to get him to verbalize not only because he has Down's but also because his parents are Indian and do not speak English at home. He says "Me" and "car" and a few other short words.
"Timmy" is doing very well with his aide. The kids also love to help him do things and to encourage him which is great. That is one of the things I noticed about an inclusion classroom. The general education children love to help the
BornHava kids out. Often the kids do not want to listen to us, but they will listen to their classmates or follow their lead.
I really had a great experience and cannot believe it is over. One of the most important things I got out of working at Ripen was the experience with the kids and the teachers. Going into School Psychology I can look back on this experience and remember what the teachers were going through and the concerns they expressed. This will be very beneficial to me especially when I begin to make a behavior plan for a child and remember to keep the teachers and aides in mind. Also, if I do plan to go on to get my
PhD. I have considered looking into inclusion classrooms as a research option. Even though research has been done in this area, not all teachers are convinced that it does not hold back the other children from learning. So, that was another benefit from interning at Ripen.
Hopefully, I can go back and visit. I really enjoyed myself and met great people. Most importantly, I have learned so much and will continue to use this internship as a learning tool in graduate school and in the future.
