I am so, so sorry that I waited so long to post!  My next journal will in all likelihood be up a couple days after this, but let's just pretend it's been a week, shall we?
Okay, here it is!  Week 2:

Character development comes in all forms – this week, mine came in paperwork.  I’ve always believe that I’m a patient person, and I suppose that in a way it is true.  But I am patient when doing things that I love doing.  For example, I will be incredibly patient when making a teddy bear from scratch as a birthday present.  However, paperwork was another story.  I was introduced to Kindering’s filing system, and although my mentor for this part of my internship is possibly one of the sweetest people alive, and although filing is relaxing for a while…it gets tedious quite easily.  However, I am actually very thankful to be able to find out now that I am not as patient as I used to believe, rather than later.

            Problem solving had a role in my time on site this week as well.  The classroom I was working in had too high of a ratio of adults/caregivers to children, making the children feel crowded and overwhelmed, while the adults were constantly worried about smothering the children.  As the intern, I became more of a floater, since I did not have any specific predetermined jobs to carry out, like the speech and motor therapists – I was meant to emulate them.  However, Kat, my wonderful friend who was lucky enough to get an internship at Kindering as well, has to leave, due to her father's weakened immune system -- it's probably not a good idea for her to work with kids so often.  Anyway, much as I am sorry to see her go, her classroom has almost twice the number of kids than mine, our mentors have come to an agreement – when there are too many adults in my original classroom, I will take Kat’s place in the other classroom.

            Job specific skills were, again, required this week. From my time teaching three-year-olds the basics of karate, I learned how to help a child move without hurting them.  This skill was required when working with a new student, a twenty-month-old girl.  This girl wears splints on her feet and walks with a walker.  Needless to say, she is far more comfortable crawling, and she frequently attempts to lie down or crawl when she is supposed to be trying to walk.  When this happens, I was often the one who had to help her back onto her feet and hold her gently when she tried to twist out of my grip.  I had to be a bit more careful with her because of her age and her difficulties using her legs than I did with the kids in kinderkarate, but it was the same in essence.

            Communication plays a great role in this internship as well, not just with the staff members, but with the children.  A couple of the children are echolalic, meaning that they might repeat what someone says to them, but will not really comprehend what is being said.  For example, a parent might ask “do you want some raisins?” and the child, regardless of whether or not they want raisins, or even whether or not they are hungry, they might repeat “do you want some raisins?” or perhaps just “raisins,” which would cause the adult to believe that the child actually does want raisins.  Part of the job at Kindering is understanding what the child is actually trying to say.

            My goals this week are fairly similar to last week’s goals: to learn as much as I can about each child’s disorder, as well as how I may help to treat them. My long term goal, as last time, is to see marked progress in each child’s abilities during my time with them.