(no subject)
1/25/05 (Tuesday)
Today I went to Quincy for a seminar about motivating job seekers. Cheryl was 1.5 hours late because of the snow so I waited in a Chinese café for her. I had really good honey lemon tea and read my packet for Karen’s class on community. Finally we got to the seminar. There weren’t many people there - it was Cheryl, Jim (who works for “MH”-mental health individuals), 3 other people, and me. They were all really welcoming. I especially liked the skits we had to do because it was good clinical practice. I had to convince people to either move up to management or stay in their positions because they weren’t ready for management. After the seminar we were blocked in by a huge bulldozer so we sat in the parking lot for a while. Eventually we made it to a Chinese restaurant and had lunch there (because the snow caused so much traffic). With Cheryl being late, the bulldozer in our way, and the time-consuming traffic, the snow caused so many frustrating problems today.
When we got back to Waltham, Cheryl gave me the dates of my trainings (CPR and behavioral prevention) and let me go home. On the way home I met Michelle at the bus stop. She is associated with WCI. She works for the Marriot but now does phone books, etc. She was so much fun to talk to for the time she was on the bus. She’s very independent-she takes a train and two busses to get to Common Street. I started to have flashbacks of camp because on the bus Michelle was talking loudly and everyone was listening to us and watching how I interacted with her. I felt like I was on display because it was apparent that Michelle had MR and people were intrigued/curious/nosy. I could tell that these two girls across from us wanted to know how I knew Michelle. I hate getting those stares, but at the same time I like knowing that people are watching me because I can tell that they are interested. I think that if they could see that I had a somewhat normal conversation with Michelle, maybe they’ll be more willing to accept her differences-or someone else’s differences-if they see that people with MR aren’t scary or sketchy or gross. They saw that I was comfortable with her, so maybe they’ll be less judgmental next time.
It felt just like camp because I worked with kids, ages 7-16, who had cancer, HIV, cerebral palsy, and other critical illnesses and disabilities. More than a third of them were in wheel chairs. Whenever we went on trips in public (amusement parks, boat tours, ice cream shops) people would watch us in awe. Nobody could understand what it was like to work with those kids unless they actually had that experience. The stares the kids and the counselors received were so obvious that they almost seemed rude. However, at the same time that I wanted to scream at these people, a part of me also wanted to be on display for them so that they could see what it was like to interact with kids who had special needs. I wanted them to see that we could still have fun, still laugh and joke around, and have real conversations with them. Their lives are not all about their disabilities. They are normal kids with normal problems such as having crushes on boys, being homesick or getting bad grades in school.
I know that this internship is going to be like camp in some ways. People do not completely understand individuals with MR, or who are blind and deaf. That’s why they stare. That’s why they pay extra attention to these individuals when they are present-because maybe they want to learn about them. Maybe their curiosity gets the best of them. They don’t make me angry when they stare. They make me feel as if I am teaching them the value of giving everybody a chance.
Today I went to Quincy for a seminar about motivating job seekers. Cheryl was 1.5 hours late because of the snow so I waited in a Chinese café for her. I had really good honey lemon tea and read my packet for Karen’s class on community. Finally we got to the seminar. There weren’t many people there - it was Cheryl, Jim (who works for “MH”-mental health individuals), 3 other people, and me. They were all really welcoming. I especially liked the skits we had to do because it was good clinical practice. I had to convince people to either move up to management or stay in their positions because they weren’t ready for management. After the seminar we were blocked in by a huge bulldozer so we sat in the parking lot for a while. Eventually we made it to a Chinese restaurant and had lunch there (because the snow caused so much traffic). With Cheryl being late, the bulldozer in our way, and the time-consuming traffic, the snow caused so many frustrating problems today.
When we got back to Waltham, Cheryl gave me the dates of my trainings (CPR and behavioral prevention) and let me go home. On the way home I met Michelle at the bus stop. She is associated with WCI. She works for the Marriot but now does phone books, etc. She was so much fun to talk to for the time she was on the bus. She’s very independent-she takes a train and two busses to get to Common Street. I started to have flashbacks of camp because on the bus Michelle was talking loudly and everyone was listening to us and watching how I interacted with her. I felt like I was on display because it was apparent that Michelle had MR and people were intrigued/curious/nosy. I could tell that these two girls across from us wanted to know how I knew Michelle. I hate getting those stares, but at the same time I like knowing that people are watching me because I can tell that they are interested. I think that if they could see that I had a somewhat normal conversation with Michelle, maybe they’ll be more willing to accept her differences-or someone else’s differences-if they see that people with MR aren’t scary or sketchy or gross. They saw that I was comfortable with her, so maybe they’ll be less judgmental next time.
It felt just like camp because I worked with kids, ages 7-16, who had cancer, HIV, cerebral palsy, and other critical illnesses and disabilities. More than a third of them were in wheel chairs. Whenever we went on trips in public (amusement parks, boat tours, ice cream shops) people would watch us in awe. Nobody could understand what it was like to work with those kids unless they actually had that experience. The stares the kids and the counselors received were so obvious that they almost seemed rude. However, at the same time that I wanted to scream at these people, a part of me also wanted to be on display for them so that they could see what it was like to interact with kids who had special needs. I wanted them to see that we could still have fun, still laugh and joke around, and have real conversations with them. Their lives are not all about their disabilities. They are normal kids with normal problems such as having crushes on boys, being homesick or getting bad grades in school.
I know that this internship is going to be like camp in some ways. People do not completely understand individuals with MR, or who are blind and deaf. That’s why they stare. That’s why they pay extra attention to these individuals when they are present-because maybe they want to learn about them. Maybe their curiosity gets the best of them. They don’t make me angry when they stare. They make me feel as if I am teaching them the value of giving everybody a chance.