Communication is still going well – I was unable to come to my internship on Thursday, since I had an orchestra competition.  However, I was able to notify my mentors plenty ahead of time, so there was no confusion or chaos due to my absence.  Also, the letter-writing to Felise, who supervises my paperwork projects, is going swimmingly.  She writes about her son’s new words (such as “no”), her experiences at the Bothell location, and any new projects she wants me to tackle. 

            My work with the twin girl today went even better than last week!  We had to use some problem solving this week when working with her – we are trying to break her out of dependence upon the comfort of holding our hands at all times.  Whenever she tried to grab my hand and lead me to another toy, I instead was told to walk directly behind her – so closely that she could even see my feet in her peripheral vision if she turned her head slight from facing forward.  Every time she paused, I would say “I’m right behind you!”  She appears to understand nearly everything we say, as she follows directions and makes choices when offered.  However, it truly was the most gratifying when she ran about the motor room, shrieking with laughter and actually interacting on some level with the other kids.  (I was also told again today that I did a good job with her!)

            I usually am not upset about examples of teamwork – I suppose “upset” is the wrong word.  The twin girl and I were forming a great relationship and she was connecting to me very well – however, we had to be mindful of my impending absence because of the competition, so I had to give the care of the twin girl over to one of the specialists towards the end of the class, so that we could ensure that she would be able to work with the other specialists.  I did not want to leave her in the middle of class after all of the progress we had been making, but I did understand why it had to be done.  This could be categorized as gracious professionalism, although a different kind than I have previously employed – this involved giving up a rewarding job, rather than taking up a tedious job.

            This week, I had to write two very detailed reports on the kids – I usually only write one report each day, so this was a bit of a time crunch.  I suppose this falls under time management, although there really wasn’t a way to make writing the reports more efficient, as they were so detailed.  I ended up writing everything as fast as possible without making the notes illegible, and gave myself writer’s cramp. 

            My goals for next week are to once again spend as much time as possible learning about the twin girl’s abilities – my long-term goals are still to make a permanent difference in the lives of these children in what ways I can.