Yo! It's February!
Just got back from my short getaway trip with family 2 days ago. It seems so short, 4 days are never enough. Desperately want more holidays! At the same time, I want money too.. Don't work get money? Dream la you. HAHAHA. Anyway, this post is not about my trip thingy. Lololol. Sorry ah disappointed you guys. =P
As me being me, I've been really lazy to update my blog, even my Dayre kinda rotting now (very active being a reader, but not for being a writer). -_- Okay la, I can explain. No blogging cause I need to turn on my lappie which I don't need to turn em' on as I got my phone to do whatever things I want to do. Acceptable and reasonable, right? Right. As for Dayre.. Err... It really depends on my mood one. Sometimes very active, sometimes gahhh. HAHAHAHA. Whatever. =P
Plus, I'm always busy also la. Except I got 48 hours a day, then maybe I'll update more often. XD
Okay okay, no grandmother grandfather story.
The reason I'm here to update cause I'm at home again. Yes, AGAIN. Lolol. Don't ask me why.. >.> Been internship-ing for like a month, 2 more months to go! Well, things went so far so good. Learnt a lot of things within this 1 month. To those who don't know what am I intern as... I work as an Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) therapist; dealing with Autistic kids. :)
Supposedly work in centre based, but due to some problem, centre needs to be relocated.
This wasn't a recent news, it's about 1 month ago. But for those who're curious and wanted to know what's happening, please read here for more info: Story on Cheras autism centre’s plight goes viral
As for now, I'm working as a home-based therapist. :)
Before taking up Psychology course, my first intention is to work in children field. Then, across different subjects I've taken, slowly, I've started to gain interest in counseling field. So, I'm confused between these two, which one should I choose? Uhmm.
Honestly, I dislike things go out of my plan. Most of the time, I'd plan things along so that I would follow it or at least I'll have a rough guideline for myself. That's also the reason why I dislike people who always do last minute cancellation a.k.a FFK. But.... I don't know why I never plan for my future. Uhh. Seriously, I don't really have a plan for it, I am like... Whatever comes, I'll just go along with it. Uhmm, funny mindset I have.
As for now, I choose to go back to square, which is in working with children; specifically children with Austistic. The work I'm doing now is to work one-to-one with the kid; basically home-based means I need to travel around. It's absolutely something new for me. I'm so freaked out at first, really. I almost wanted to ask for more training and observation before starting to deal with it alone.
I'm so so so nervous. I really think I would just screw everything up. But, God knows me more than I know myself. He prepared everything for me, one small step at a time. Throughout all the session, I'm so thankful that He is always with me. Also, I wanted to thanks my Monkey for being so helpful and supportive all the times. Whenever I faced any problems, she'll always help me out without hesitation. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :)
Been working with Little E for like about 2 weeks alone and sometimes co-work with Monkey. On my first precious day working with Little E, nervous till I feel to pee in my pants lol. I'm so freaking nervous and reached 30+ mins earlier to mentally and physically prepare myself. ><..
First day was so exhausted. Little E did not listen to my instructions at all. I play with him, attract him with his toys, physically prompt and so on, NOTHING works. He just stands on the chair and faced towards the window. AHHH. Finally...manage to persuade him back to sit on his table and work, but...once I get back to my own place, he started to run away again. Fml. I almost killed myself on that day. T________T..
First day was so exhausted. Little E did not listen to my instructions at all. I play with him, attract him with his toys, physically prompt and so on, NOTHING works. He just stands on the chair and faced towards the window. AHHH. Finally...manage to persuade him back to sit on his table and work, but...once I get back to my own place, he started to run away again. Fml. I almost killed myself on that day. T________T..
On the second day onward, of course I'm still nervous, but thank God things slowly going well. He started to listen to my instruction as I'm more firmed with him as this is what I've been told to. Wow. It really works! Although not all the time, but most of the time. Now I find the joy of being firmed. HAHAHA.
Oh, something significant happened too. Never I would forget this in my life... Little E hit me twice on my neck. -_- I thought I would die from Little E's kung-fu. Lol. Fyi, Little E is not really that little, he's 9 years old and he's also a non-verbal kid btw. Find it weird to called him Mr.E though, hence Little E. Lol.
It just happened in blink of an eye. Out of nowhere, while giving him to do his relaxation board, he suddenly hit me, throwing tantrums and cried. I was like.... OMG. WHAT I DID??? O___o
He cried make me feel like crying too. LOL. Of course I did not, I felt more freaked out than to cry. I felt the pain on my neck. I was stunned. I don't know what to do. I'm so nervous. I'm so lost. :(
As an ABA therapist, we are NOT allowed to scold / punish the kid in any possible situation. And at that point, I don't even feel the slightest angry in me. I'm more concerned on what's happening and how to solve this problem. I know I need to calm myself down. I cannot be anxious as the situation will became worse if I'm nervous. Quickly I prayed and asked for guidance.
WOW! Amazing God is amazing, on the third hour, he's so much better! He's able to do some programs with me although his concentration was kinda here and there. The happiness. :)
I've gain so much knowledge and confidence in handling kids now. Learnt to be more independent too. Being an ABA therapist, we need to give a lot of reinforcement to the kid; especially giving verbal reinforcement.
Honestly, I'm not really good at giving verbal reinforcement. Uhmm, well, I'm never good at saying things in general. So yea.. I'm so nervous till I kept my mouth shut most of the time. It's like there's "GOLD" in my mouth. Lololol.
It's so hard for me to make a step on this issue. I tried so hard to conquer my fear, at last, I was like... I don't give it a damn and just do whatever I should be doing. I want breakthrough! I don't want to let the old me define my future. And yes, I've take a big step this round, I make a move. After few days handling Little E alone, I've become so much more comfortable in doing so. Not saying I'm the best, but I can see some improvements in me and I'm happy for this. :)
These are some of the verbal reinforcement I kept repeating. Heh.
Well done!
Good job!
Beautiful job!
Clever boy!
You're so great!
Amazing!
You're so good!
Fantastic!
Okay, done with this super long essay. Lol. If only I'm always that free and motivated, I'll write more essay. HAHAHAHA. It's pichas timeeee! :)
My investments. Heh. :)
The room that I work with Little E.
Token Board.
When Little E manage to do 1 program, one token will be given.
Accumulate 4 tokens and he'll get his reward. :)
Accumulate 4 tokens and he'll get his reward. :)
Program - Colour Imitation (2 colours)
Left: Me
Right: Little E
Program - Colour Imitation (3 colours)
Left: Me
Right: Little E
Noticed the paper is crumpled? ><..
This was the first time I gave him do the program. I'm still very slow with it and I forget that the paper is still with him, so... he just crumpled it. -_- I swear the next time I take away the paper on the spot. So, it just happened once. Lol.
#lessonlearn
Program - Matching (5 pairs)
Stencils drew by Little E
Program - Block Imitation (8 blocks)
Little E's toys and also his reinforcers. :)
Little E's play time gadget.
iPad. Fyi, this is my personal gadget. Lolol.
Letting him to watch and listen some Nursery Songs.
This song is... O'Mac Donald had a farm. Ee Ya Ee Ya O~
Successfully ended my first case. I started to be more confident in handling it although there are time I'm still a bit lost. But I believe that practice makes perfect! Hehehe. This job does not only require patience, but the most important criteria we must have is PASSION. May Him grant me more confidence and unconditional love to deal with it.
Autistic kids are NOT retarded. They are no difference like us. They just learn things in a different way and express it differently.
Will be assigned to another kid by this week. Stay tuned! :)
Ended my last session with him last Friday.
Gonna miss you. Little E.
I hope you're doing well. :)
