Week 6: Actually Getting on Track

Well, hopefully. I mean, things seem to be going pretty well, but who knows when life will throw another curve-ball at you...or two... or ten... Okay let's stop thinking about this.

But yes, after yet another week at my internship, the fog around my project seems to be clearing up. If you'll recall from my last blog post, last week wasn't the best week for me in terms of progress. I had no idea , how many people I'd be studying,  who I'd be studying, if I'd be able to study anyone at all, and so on. Considering the fact that my project was supposed to be in the form of case studies, having no one confirmed for observation and studying by five weeks into my project was... a little worrying, to say the least.

But, luckily, I'm surrounded by amazing and supportive people at the clinic who each try so hard to help me, the random high school intern who has no idea what she's doing, with my project. My temporary on-site mentor has jumbled around schedules just to try and fit clients in on the days I'll be at the clinic, and she's even offered to take on one of the clients herself, even though she's quite busy running the rest of the clinic and rarely does work as a therapist anymore, just because he was an ideal candidate for my study who I would have not seen for three weeks if we'd have just waited until my regular mentor returned. All the other therapists have patiently answered my questions, offered to play around with their own schedules to take on certain clients, and more. I feel so fortunate for being in an internship where everyone's so open and willing to help out to the best of their abilities.

So, as a proper update, I've narrowed down my study to five clients, three autistic patients, two other, and I'll be studying all of them starting this week (assuming they all send in their consent forms...), until the last week of the project. My data will mostly be observation-based and in my own personal, off-to-the-side accounts, so I'll be doing little to actually take time from the session. Each week, I'll be observing for things including, but not limited to, attention span, long-term focus, memory building, comprehension of tasks, and problem-solving abilities, and I hope to find some sort of trend between each weekly observation. Unfortunately, due to all the scheduling issues and whatnot that have occurred over the past few weeks, I won't have nearly as many weeks as I'd hoped to use as data, but hopefully it'll all be enough!

What I've Learned
I'm not even going to bother coming up with some sort of introduction. You know this segment, I know this segment, everything's good.

So, this week I have learned...

1. To not freak yourself out over the idea you create of a person you've never met just based on what you've heard about them. No one's really that scary in real life. (Well... probably...)
2. To pick up an instrument, any instrument, and try to play a song by ear. It doesn't matter whether you can play that instrument, whether you're "musically talented," or anything. Just try it. If you get it right, you can feel proud. If you get it wrong, you can laugh and try again. Never restrict yourself from doing something just because you "can't" do it. Just do it; sometimes, the things we never do can be the most calming and enjoyable.
3. That even if you may not think you have an impact on anyone, you do.
4. That quietness can be unsettling sometimes.
5. That if your mom is mad at you, bringing her the DVD of that movie that she's wanted to watch for ages will probably change her mood.