Senior Project Complete!

I am graduating!!! This year was a struggle for me and I think it has been for some of my other peers but we were able to make it together. After all our hard work I do think it was worth it because we were able to master the block presentation. Working at my mentorship was an invaluable experience for me to go through because I was able to learn in great detail what speech pathology was about making it an even more valuable experience because at the start of my project I had no idea what it was. Thanks to all the mentors that I had I was able to form a project that I know I will remember throughout my life.

Blog 22: Senior Project Reflection

 (1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I am proud of making time because I did not have faith in myself that I was going to make it to 30 minutes of speaking time and I actually did make it. I looked at this presentation as a challenge that I had to beat and I felt accomplished at the end of my block presentation because when I first started my freshman year I was not able to present or even stand in front of people, so being able to present for 30 minutes and by myself was a personal growth that I had been waiting to occur for a long time. I am also very proud of the research I did during my senior project because it was complimented by Mr. Pang, and everything I learned through my research was able to help me  when I was explaining my answers.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
I was able to find a mentor that was willing to help me throughout my project and teach me about different things she does to help children with Autism communicate. When doing my second independent component, professor Laubie was more than happy to let me observe her college course and it really helped me because I was able to master how special education works.
(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
I think that if I could go back in time I would want to change my first independent component to doing something on National Autism Awareness Day to promote awareness throughout the school. I think it would have fit in with my answer of integrating a family centered therapy, more than doing more mentorship hours.
(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.
During the course of this project, we had a lot of research checks that we had to do and I think that learning how to find research, not only in google but through the Cal poly database and through books, has helped me learn what is going to be expected of me once I start college in the Fall. Through experience taking college classes I have noticed that most college students do not know how to present in front of a class and I really feel that this presentation has giving me a lift when talking in front of people. This project also showed me to network with people and it could be related to the real world because that is the way people get jobs, the more people you know they more opportunities you  will have. I had to find my mentor through talking to different people. This senior project really is the most valuable project I will take from I-poly! Thank You Senior Team!!

Blog 21: Mentorship

Content:

LIA Response to blog:

 Literal

·     Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties updated on the right hand side of your blog

·     Contact Name and Mentorship Place

• Alexandria Nicks -Speech Language Pathologist 
• Casa Colina Children's Center

 Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• The most important thing I gained from this experience was learning what the role of a speech pathologist is and how much of an impact they have on children with speech impediments. This was a valuable experience for me because I was interested in going into the field of speech pathology and it gave me a chance to actually see for myself I will like working in that environment. 

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

• My EQ is "What is the best way for a speech pathologist to help a child with Autism communicate?" and for my mentorship I observed speech pathologist treating children with speech impediments. A lot of the children that I observed were diagnosed with Autism, I saw how speech pathologist treated them depending on what they were working on. I also observed a therapy session titled "Kid's Crew" where they treat children diagnosed with Autism and help them practice social skills, it has helped me answer my EQ because I have been working with Speech pathologist and observing how they help children with Autism communicate.

*Please do not turn in your mentorship hours to the office.  After we collect the total list from all seniors, we will turn in one piece of paper with all hours for everybody.  It is counted as 50 hours of the 200 you need in order to graduate from I-Poly.  The 10 hours in the summer have already been added to your community service total.

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Grading Criteria (May 13th)

50 hours completed (50 from the academic year)

LIA response (submitted to your blog)

Essential question connection

Blog 20: Exit Interview

Content:

(1) What is your essential question and answers?  What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is "What is the best way for a speech pathologist to help a child with Autism?"

• My first answer was "Group therapy treats challenges in social skills that are present in a child with Autism" My second answer is "A speech pathologist can integrate a family-centered  strategy to help a child with Autism."My third answer is "Enhancing IEP goals depending on  their baseline".
• My best answer is my first answer because through my mentorship got to see speech pathologist using group therapy the most. I was able to form this answer around my mentorship and I felt that it outshines the other answers because I was able to find research and actually see it in action through my mentorship.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
My mentorship consisted of helping out during a group therapy, because of that I felt I had more experience seeing what is done in a group therapy. I also found a lot of research that made me more convinced of that my best answer was my first answer, like an article from the Cal Poly database titled "Teaching Pragmatics to language disabled children" and "An investigation of social Behaviors of primary school aged children"

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

At the beginning of the year, I changed my topic from health and safety to special education and I had a really hard time finding a mentor that would be willing to help me. I talked to Mrs. Ortega and some of my peers about the problem I had. Xena told me about Casa Colina and I ended up finding that they had a volunteer program. From there I met speech pathologist who worked their and I found my mentor.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

ʺGuidlines for Speech-Language Pathologist in Diagnosis, Assesment, &Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Span.ʺ American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2014
Littleboy, Lynda, Micheal Reed, and Jill Thompson. "Special Educational Needs in Early Years Care and Education". New York: Harcourt Publishers Limited, 2000. Print.

• This article was from the American Speech- Language- Hearing Association and I felt provided me with extensive detail on what a speech pathologist has to be doing when they are taking their patient through diagnosis, assesment, and providing treatment.
• This was a book that I thought was important because the care that speech pathologist can provide in the early years of the life of a child is a big impact that can help a child communicate; especially in a child with Autism.

Be prepared with evidence and specific examples to support any response.  It is also significant to cite sources as you explain.

Independent Component 2

 

 

Content:  

LITERAL
(a) Statement saying: “I, Diana Serrano, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component

Professor Rebecca Laubie helped me complete my 30 hours for my independent component. She taught an Introduction to Special Education at Cal Poly Pomona for the winter quarter. 



(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).  
 It is posted next to my mentorship log.

(d) Explanation of what you completed. 
I observed a college class for a quarter. I participated in the class as if I was part of it even though I was not able to enroll. I gathered worksheets, and PowerPoint's from the class filled with information and put them in a binder.  I kept a binder with all the worksheets and notes that were given to us during the class.

INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.  Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work. 

This was the top of the syllabus of the Special education class. The professors information was on it but I decided to crop it to keep her privacy instead I have emailed it to Ortega. Most of the 30 hours I did were spent in a classroom learning about how special education works and what services are provided to the children.

 

This was a slide from one of the power points and the binder that I put together where all the notes and worksheets that were given to me went. On top of the time I spent in class I spent time at home printing power points and arranging my notes in my binder.

 

This was the power point for the day we discussed communication disorder.

 

 

These were a few worksheet I received in the class I scanned them to be able to put them in this blog post. the original copies are placed in my binder for future reference.

 

 

APPLIED
How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

This independent component helped me answer my essential question because I learned what a child with Autism can go through when they are in school and how a speech  pathologist is important in helping the child with anything that interferes with there education. My third answer to my essential question is that a speech pathologist can help a child with Autism by enhancing the goals listed in the IEP. By taking the class I learned what an IEP, and the process that it takes to develop. For example, I had read about what an IEP was and what it was like but it was a totally different experience having a professor that has worked as a special education teacher tell you what she had to do in being part of the IEP team and knowing the process of it. Reading about it and having somebody tell you about it is a totally different experience and I felt that taking the class was a worthy experience. During the course I learned about different ways special education teachers help children with disabilities and found that some of the strategies were similar to the ones speech pathologist use. Like, PECS (picture exchange communication system),  social stories, and Alternative ways of communicating (ipads, computers).
Grading Criteria 

• Log on a digital spreadsheet
• Evidence of 30 hours of work 
• LIA submitted to blog

World Autism Awareness Day

World Autism Awareness Day has been occurring yearly since 2007. April 2nd is the day when we light it up blue for Autism Awareness. This day is celebrated through unique fundraising and awareness raising events. At the place I volunteer we decorated the lobby to promote awareness.

March Madness

I am finally finished with my second independent component. Taking a class this quarter went by quick before I realized it finals week had already arrived. Dr. Laubie was very kind to have me sit in her lectures and integrate into her class as if I was one of their own. I learned a lot from this class, view the world from a different perspective and have realized a person with a disabilities life is much more than just centered on their disability. There was a lecture where what we learned about was cerebral palsy and we watched a video on how a disability is so apparent to other people that when a person with a disability wants to do something everyone doubts them because of it.
The day Dr. Laubie was talking about Autism she began the lecture by reading us a story called "My Brother Charlie". It was a children s book that explained how a little girl had a brother with Autism and Charlie would not play with her, talk to her or want to be with her; but she knew that things Charlie wanted to say were inside of him but just did not find ways to say it. I thought it would be a good way to start of my senior presentation.

I am glad I decided to take this class as my second independent component. I do beleive that the time I spent in the class was qualitative and helped me learn a lot of valuable information that can help me with my project.

Blog 18:Third Answer

Content:

Just like you did for answer 1 and 2 post your:

• EQ - What is the best way for a speech pathologist to help a child with Autism?
• Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
• Enhancing IEP goals for the child depending on their baseline.
• 3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)
• Autism has 3 different levels and each has different goals that needs to be set for each. For example, a child who is diagnosed with high functioning Autism will not have the same goals as a child who is diagnosed with severe Autism.
• Goals are individualized for every patient. For example, a set of goals that are set for one child who are in the same level of Autism are not always the same because one patient may have trouble with attention span and another may have trouble coming up with words to express their emotions.
• Goals should be reachable for the patient. For example, the speech pathologist should set baby steps to help the child with autism work little by little to achieve something bigger, also so it could make both the child and the speech pathologist feel like they are progressing over the therapy sessions.
• The research source (s) to support your details and answer
• Source # 23f They gave examples of what goals can be determined based on the assessments that are made.
• Concluding Sentence
• Enhancing adequate goals for a child with Autism is the best way a speech pathologist can help a child because it sets what they are working on in therapy.

*Write your answer like you would write a thesis statement.  Please don't give us one or two words or start your sentence with "by".    Thanks!

Blog 17: Fourth Interview

Content:

Post 20 open-ended questions for approval you want to ask an expert in the field of your senior project.  The focus of your questions should be on your many answers.

If you have already interviewed someone two times, you aren't allowed to interview that same person without House teacher approval.

The interview itself is not due till Friday April 11 to turnitin.com.   However, we want to give you as much time as possible, so we are asking you to complete the blog now. Remember that in addition to turning in the interview, you also need to turn in the verification sheet to your House teacher.

1. What is a family-centered therapy?
2. How does a family centered therapy help a child with Autism?
3. When a speech pathologist integrates a family-centered strategy into therapy, how is it done?
4. Tell me about a time when you used a family-centered strategy for one of your patients?
5. When treating a child with Autism in a one on one therapy, what do you usually work on?
6. What type of therapy do you find most effective when treating language challenges in a child with Autism?
7. Tell me about activities you do in a one on one therapy session to help with language challenges?
8.  Based on your experience, what is your opinion on hands-on therapy?
9.  Can you provide me with an example of a time you used hands-on therapy and you found it effective?
10.  What challenge in  Autism can hands-on therapy help a child with?
11.  How do you help a child with Autism who has challenges with attention span?
12. Would behavior and emotional regulation challenges best be treated with group therapy or one on one therapy? Why?
13. Do you find an instructor led therapy effective when treating a child with Autism? Why?
14. Based on your experience and knowledge, do you feel group therapy does an effective job in treating the social challenges in children with Autism? Why?
15. What do you think is the most important thing when providing a therapy session?
16. What other therapies can you provide a child with Autism?
17. Based on all the therapies, which do you feel best meets the needs of a child with Autism?
18. How do you determine the goals a child with Autism has?
19. How often do evaluations occur? What occurs during an evaluation?
20. When you diagnose a child, what is the process you go through?

Almost Done With the Quarter!!

Going to my college class every Monday for 4 hours straight is painful but I've learned a lot. Professor Laubie has been a great help to me she has provided a lot of support and has been willing to help me out with anything. Things might have been a lot easier for me if I had met her before I started mentorship because she knows a lot of special education teachers I could have done my mentorship at. I think she could be a really good resource for future seniors that want to do their senior project on special education. For her class, students are required to complete 12 hours of observing a teacher. Since the class is a requirement for everyone in the credential program to take there is both special education teachers candidates and general teacher candidates. At this current time my independent component is made up of exactly 30 hours and I still have two more weeks until the quarter ends. The class really consists of going through a disorder and how special education plays a role, we then do case studies and present to the class to show we have some sort of idea of what we are doing.

Blog 16: Advisory Meeting #2

Content:

Just like you did for answer 1 and the objectives for Purther's textbook work for answer 2 post:

EQ

What is the best way for a Speech Pathologist to help a child with Autism?

Answer #2 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
A speech pathologist can integrate a family-centered therapy to help a child with Autism.

3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• Establish communication partners - For example, the speech pathologist and parents are able to communicate between each other about the child, new skills they have learnt, and resources that are available for the child to receive.
• Parent Training- For instance, a comprehensive program that is offered for parents of children with Autism, it can include programs from formal to informal support groups .
• Broader based awareness- A family centered therapy will allow families to promote awareness and understanding of the disorder within and outside of their family.
• Family system and preferences are included- For example, during the therapy the speech pathologist can take into account priorities and concerns when planning interventions. Also, the speech pathologist is able to develop assessments and interventions that respects the family's system and preferences.





The research source (s) to support your details and answer

Source #23 a, b, and c 

"Guidlines for Speech-Language Pathologist in Diagnosis, Assesment, & Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Span." American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.< http://www.asha.org/policy/gl2006-00049/#top> .

Concluding Sentence
A speech-pathologist can help a child with Autism by integrating a family-centered therapy because it provides the child with extra support at home.

*Write your answer like you would write a thesis statement.  Please don't give us one or two words or start your sentence with by.    Thanks!

On Friday 2/28 for Advisory #2, you will be presenting what you have from this blog.  The presentation is more like a share-out and should not last longer than 2 minutes. You don't need a visual.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

Content:

Please review the component contract at page 12 of the senior project packet.   The independent component 2 is an opportunity for you to add a dimension of creativity and/or an additional outlet for research.  The goal of the component is for you to explore your answers in more depth.  On Friday April 25, 2014, you will be turning in the following to your blog to prove completion of this component:

·       Log of hours on an digital spreadsheet (with total number of hours included)
·       Evidence of the 30 hours of work (e.g. transcript, essays, tests, art work, photographs) as digital artifacts
·       LIA
 The senior team expects that your log will be on the right hand side of your blog with your WB, independent component log 1 and mentorship log.   In addition to this,  we expect that you will be able to prove the total 30 hours of work by submitting evidence to the blog by the due date.  For this blog post and approval, please answer the following questions.

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
I am sitting in a Introduction to Special Education Course at Cal Poly, but since it is a 400 level class young scholars does not allow me to enroll. I am gathering handouts that are distributed through the class and am taking extensive notes on the lectures.
2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
I will assist every class meeting, the class is held once a week Monday's from 4-8 pm. Since the class lasts for four hours I plan to have my 30 hours count by me going to class and reviewing the material that is being taught
3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.
The class will allow me gain a better knowledge on the process a child with Autism might have to go through when they go to school and what should be expected when they start school.

4.  Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.

Your answers to the questions should be supported with details and examples for the senior team to understand what you plan to do.   Once we review your Blog Post 15, your house teacher will discuss with you the approval of your plan.  If it is approved, please start working on it.  If it is not approved, your house teacher will explain why.  It is your job to address the concerns so you can get your component approved.

Blog 14: Independant Component 1

LITERAL

(a) Statement saying: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

 “I, Diana Serrano, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component

The people who helped me finish my independent component were the speech pathologist who allowed me to observe their therapeutic sessions at the rehabilitation center I volunteer at, my mentor Alexandria and other speech pathologist such as Ellie, Kristen, Amber, and Nikki
(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log

 

(d) Explanation of what you completed. 

For my independent component I completed a little more than 30 hours with my mentor and Kid's Crew

   

INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
I was able to get a print out of the amount of hours I currently have in my whole volunteering at the rehabilitation center I volunteer at 30 of those hours are for my independent component and the rest are toward my mentorship component.

 

 

APPLIED
How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

I was able to receive expert help on learning the basics of Autism and really understand the role and the job of a speech pathologist in both social and communication aspects of their disorder. For example when I would observe therapeutic session the speech pathologist I was observing would explain to me the disorder the child had and what they did in the therapy session to work on it.

I was able to have a field expert helping me and was able to get experience, for example when I volunteer at kid's crew I am able to see different social skills that are taught to children with autism and that helped me with my 30 minute presentation because that is what I based my first answer on and without having that experience I would not have been able to get this far.

Grading Criteria

• Log of digital spreadsheet
• Evidence of 30 hours of work
• LIA submitted to blog

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I am proud that I have been able to get up in front of my class and complete a my presentation successfully. This has been a really big accomplishment for me because its really hard for me to get up in front of people and especially all by myself.

2. Questions to Consider

       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I think I deserve that grade because I met all of the minimum requirements that were given to us. I talked for 10 minutes and my activity lasted 10 minutes as well.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

I was able to organize my information in a way I found to be easy to understand and I was able to find a lot of examples to say about it.

 

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

I need to learn how to be calm before a presentation because I get nervous and start off my presentation speaking really quickly.

 

5. Finding Value

What do you think your answer #2 is going to be? 

I think my second answer will be one on one therapy.

Successful Month!!!

Woot woot!! We are done with January, and to be honest it flew by quick and I have had my moments. Mentorship has been incredible over the month, and guess what? I finished my independent component a week before it is do. I feel very accomplished because I spent my winter break in Mexico and was terribly afraid about not being able to finish my thirty hours but I managed to do it. Looking back I did a lot for my senior project this month and I know it is going to help me with the future of my senior project. I have been preparing for my thirty minute presentation on my answer, that by the way I am terrified for :O!! But this month I also started working on my second independent component and I started taking an introductory class on special education that has been really interesting so far. I have gone to two classes because it is only on Mondays and it was a holiday last Monday. I have learned the importance of having a person first language and have really gotten a deep understanding on what lives of children can be like when they have disabilities. We watched a documentary named "Including Samuel" that really portrayed the life of the child with the disability and how it affected everyone around him. The documentary really struck out to me, it got a few tears out but made me realize the importance of this subject in our lives.

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

Content:

Post 10 open-ended questions for approval you want to ask an expert in the field of your senior project.  The first question should be your essential question and the other nine must be about the foundation of your essential question or help you answer your essential question.

1. What is the best way for a speech pathologist to treat a child with a Autism?
2. What are some examples of goals a child with autism might have?
3. What levels of autistic severity have you worked with and how do they differ?
4. Children with Autism have trouble with keeping their attention span, what do you do to help them with that?
5. How does a speech pathologist help with social problems a child with autism might have?
6. What tools do you use to make your therapy more effective?
7. Tell me about a time where you experienced difficulty in helping a child with autism.
8. When treating a child with autism what are the three most common aspects you treat? And how do you treat them?
9. Tell me about a time where you successfully saw improvement in an autistic child due to the therapy you provided.
10. What type of therapy do you find more effective? Why?

 If you have already interviewed someone two times, you aren't allowed to interview that same person without House teacher approval.

The interview itself is not due till Friday February 21st to turnitin.com.   However, we want to give you as much time as possible, so we are asking you to complete the blog now. Remember that in addition to turning in the interview, you also need to turn in the verification sheet to your House teacher.

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hour Check

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am working in the Childrens Services Department at a rehabilitation center, with Speech Pathologist.

2.   Who is your contact?
My contact is Alexandria Nicks  or Ellie they are both speech pathologist working at the rehabilitation center. I observed several different sessions with them.

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?
I have completed 10 hours with my mentors.

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
I spent my 10 hours of mentorship observing sessions that the speech pathologist had. I also helped with a kids crew program that was held with high functioning Autistic children.

5.   Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number confirming who they should call to verify it.

Blog 10: Senior Project: The Holiday

Content:

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you over the break with your senior project?

During my winter break, I spent my two weeks in Mexico, so I was unable to do much because I did not have access to internet and books. But before I left and after I came back I looked for research that I could use to find more information about helping children with Autism with speech problems they may have as well as talk to a few speech pathologist to really understand how a child is being treated and helped. I learned more about it through the mentoring I did at the rehabilitation center I volunteer at.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

I learned that children with autism struggle with their attention span and speech pathologist try to help children out with that by guiding them through activities that can help them practice staying focused. It was important because I learned about an aspect speech pathologist help a child with.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

I would talk to Alexandria or Ellie, speech pathologist that work at the rehabilitation center that I volunteer at because  they would be willing to help me out with any questions I might have and has provided me with information and knowledge I had no idea of before.