Unfortunately, I was pretty sick for most of the camp =( ... fever/chills, diarhhea, allergic reaction - hives all over, cough, loss of appetite.. all in one week! I guess there is some truth to immune systems crashing after a period of high stress... good thing Bear was there to keep me company while I slept =) Pretty dissapointed that I didn't have the energy to participate all that much, but the talks were good and the skits were really well done.
This past week I was volunteering at Lady Lawley Cottage as part of my activity practicum, which is a home for mentally/physically challenged kids. Some of them were autistic, or had cerebral palsy, or respiratory disorders, or other things that affected normal development.
Some things I learned:
- Patience is essential.. when you're trying to get them going somewhere and they refuse, either by just sitting down and not getting up, or by throwing a tantrum on the ground
- Learning how to make one sided conversations is quite handy with these kids
- Kids can drool a lot!
- It's a miracle how much normal kids learn while growing up... from social skills, to language, to motor, to plain knowledge. The lack of development makes it so much more evidant
- Facial expressions can speak a thousand words. Though most of them couldn't communicate properly, some did know a bit of sign language.. for example a lot of them could sign to tell you they needed to go to the toilet.
- Aside from the tantrums, lack of communication, drooling, kicking, these were special kids. It's great to get a laugh or smile out of them every now and again.
1 comment:
weeeeeeeee, for passing all your exams!! told you that you could do it =) we still need to make a skype date!
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