6-17-08

6-17-08

Although Tuesdays are not my usual days to work, I came in because Amanda is gone at a conference. I like working when Amanda is gone just because I feel I get more responsibilities and am usually in charge of more things. When Amanda is here I feel I always have to ask which activities to do, and what she wants me to do next. I still feel like a new student just following her around. When she is gone I often have a choice of which activities to do, and I lead the group most all of the day unless I need something from Pam. I feel like I work harder and am treated like an employee. I also actually feel needed when Pam is in charge, whereas when I work with Amanda I feel like I am just in her way.

As I usually start the day I ran canteen, made the sign in sheet, and started progress notes. The first group I facilitated was about self care skills. We went over a paper together as a group about doing laundry. I would pose each question to the group and everyone would give different answers about how they did things. The first question was when doing laundry how do you sort your clothes into piles? Each person had different ways of doing their laundry, sorting by whites, darks, colors, towels, sheets, and even lights, blacks, delicates, etc. Then we talked about the proper was to do a load of laundry and whether to use hot, warm, or cold water.

When I first started here at Hoosier House I did not have a good perspective on the consumers’ abilities to do what most people consider ordinary daily activities. I quickly learned that I took most people’s daily skills for granted, just assuming that they were able to do things I was used to. I learned how running canteen is considered a way for the consumers to learn daily living skills like money management, or how sticking to the posted schedule helps them learn time management skills. Prior to starting here I would have just assumed the consumers would know how to start a load of laundry, but at this point I know not to assume anything. When I asked the consumers how or where they learned to do laundry many said from the directions on the back of the detergent bottle.

For nutrition group we did a quiz style worksheet about the consumers’ eating habits, and whether they make healthy choices with their food intake. I was able to discuss with the consumers how to make healthy choices when given different opportunities, and how to stay aware of their nutrition and health with daily eating habits.

Next was lunch, then current events where we read newspaper articles. Pam ran the last group of the day while I cleaned up the kitchen and got thing ready for the consumers to go home. I am still not completely used to staying until 4:00 everyday, but I like feeling like I put I a full day’s work. I also like that by working two extra hours a day I am going from 15 hours per week to 21 hours. I feel like I am able to gain a lot more knowledge from Pam than any other employee here, maybe because she just finished school last year and can relate a lot better to me and my role here. During lunch and at other times I like sitting and discussing things she has done, seen, and experienced. She gives me her perspectives on the clients and other things throughout Cummins or our profession.