On Wednesday morning, I was anticipating to see my mentor finally return from his trip to Switzerland. I walked in the building, thinking I was early as usual and feeling like I beat everyone to another game of "Who can show up to work the earliest?" Unfortunately, Dr. James was already there. With a kind welcome back, he then gave me some Swiss chocolate as a souvenir from his trip. I was quite surprised, but very grateful (I want to travel to Switzerland one day, or anywhere for that matter). Anyways, I started off with entering more CSBS forms into the SARRC database as usual, since more and more clients come in every week the list piles up.
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| Here is my office space with more CSBS forms |
One that same day, I helped Jennifer, one of the receptionist in the SARRC facility, with some of the work that she needed help on. While she was receiving and taking calls left and right, I was in charge of monitoring the insurance and payments the parents made for specific programs and appointments, inputting specific dates of payments and the programs they enrolled in. It was quite labor intensive, but interesting to learn and do it myself. Though I felt like I was doing nothing very important, it was nice to here that I helped cut Jennifer's workload that she'd been working on for years now.
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| No not really hehe... |
On Thursday, I had a chance to see more of the facility because roaming during lunch hours is fun. I took a little peak into the Beneficial Beans office. It's pretty amazing in there even though I didn't get the opportunity to ask what they really do in there, but here's a picture so you can guess for yourselves.
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| It kind of looks like they were working on a new product for sale |
It gets pretty lonely during my lunch sometimes because no on their is my age, but I've gotten better talking to random strangers that are older than me so I call that a success. After my casual Thursday, I had another opportunity with a diagnostic observation session. It was quite the same and different compared to my first experience. The setup was quite similar, but how the child reacted was quite different. Unlike the last patient who was quite uncooperative and restless, this child was more playful and easy to work with. It was pretty clear that the child had no problems following with procedures, but the only section that was a problem was the speech aspect of the ADOS tests. Since the child hadn't established a foundation of vocabulary words yet, the names of certain of objects were difficult for them to answer.
Starting next week, I'll start interviewing the doctors at SARRC to find what success the found in these early diagnostic sessions, and how has it improved the lives that go through these testings. It'll be quite an adventure so make sure you don't miss it next week. Hope you guys have a wonderful week! Bye!
Hi, Robert. Being social with people you don't know and who are older than you is terrifying. Inputting data about insurance and payment plans doesn't sound that interesting, but learning how to do it is useful. Do you enjoy interacting kids when they are being diagnosed? It sounds like a bunch of games and less like tests from the sounds of it. I hope to hear more and have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia! The tests are quite like playing games. When people here tests or diagnosis, it sounds kind of harsh or cold sounding I think, but really these tests are just like playing and solving puzzles. For this reason, children do scream a lot or sometimes are hard to control. And yes, the things I've learned here will definitely be important to me in the future.
DeleteThanks for the comment!
Though managing insurance payments and programs wasn't too exciting, at least it was a break from entering the CSBS forms (or maybe not)? Plus, at the end of your internship, you'll have been exposed to the variety of tasks a normal intern is expected to do. I can't wait to hear about your interviews with SAARC's doctors! It'll definitely be a great opportunity to practice your interviewing skills. ;) How many doctors will you be interviewing? Will you be asking them the same question (s) or do you have specific questions depending on the expertise of the doctor? Have a nice week!
ReplyDeleteHi Kiri! I'm very excited and nervous as well, but I'm glad it'll help me practice my speaking skills. There really isn't a definitive number because many of them are busy most of the time, so I'll just try to find a time that each individual has a bit of time. The questions I will ask will be similar and standardized, pertaining to the early diagnosis and the signs for autism. Super basic stuff!
DeleteThanks for the comment Kiri!
Hi Robert! I'm so excited to hear about your interview sessions with the doctors next week! That is really cool that you got to work with two very behaviorally different children and specifically identify their struggles and problems. You said that the setups for the two children were similar, but they reacted differently. Do more playful and easy going children usually react better to certain environments? If so, which ones? Have fun eating your Swiss chocolate!
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia! I think it really varies depending on the mood of the child at that time. Because if you remember, my first observation was a failure because the child was lacking in sleep and energy, so the assessment wasn't the best demonstration of his capabilities. If there was a factor to what makes a child cooperative, it would be the time of the day, but otherwise, nothing else is different.
DeleteThanks for the comment Olivia!
Good luck with the interviews! This is kind of random, but you mentioned in the picture caption that they seemed to be working on a new product for sale. Do they make products for children with special needs there, and if so what type of products?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, have fun!
Hi Serena! I'm here for your random questions! The Beneficial Bean doesn't make products that pertain to children, but they make basic products that are sold to raise money for more research for autism. Sorry for the confusion, but at the Beneficial Beans they sell things like mugs with their logo on it, bottles, or t-shirts, basically knick-knacks.
DeleteThanks for the comment Serena!
Hey Robert! I am very happy to see that you are successfully continuing in this fantastic journey! I am also very excited to know about your interviews with the doctors. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Aria! Your support makes all the difference. Thanks for the comment!
DeleteHey Robert. The interview sessions with the doctors seem so exciting! I am craving some chocolate now. Good job so far.
ReplyDeleteHi Joanna! Yeah I'm pretty excited. Chocolate is good (that is my input). Thanks for the comment Joanna!
DeleteHave fun with the interviews! They sound like that could be really helpful to get professional insight. Do have specific questions you will be asking?
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! I have some questions in mind, but I need to flesh it out more before I create a list. But I'll be focusing on very basic questions that pertain to early diagnosis and early indications of autism. I'll hopefully post them up soon.
DeleteThanks for the comment Mary!
It's good that you're getting different kinds of experiences at SARRC. That chocolate sounds delicious! I wish you luck in your interviews. What kinds of questions are you planning on asking them? Looking forward to the next post.
ReplyDeleteHi Fajr! Similarly to Mary's question, I'll try fleshing-out my questions more before I go about asking my questions. But they will focus more on the early diagnosis and early signs of autism.
DeleteThanks for the comment Fajr!
Hi Robert! I wish I got chocolate. I was wondering if you had seen any new observations or patterns after entering even more forms into the database?
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! I unfortunately haven't been focusing on the specific details of the CSBS forms lately because I have to go through hundreds of them a day. But I am getting better at inputting all of the details in a relatively quick pace. However, I did notice that the symbolic sections of the questions seem to be a problem area for many kids.
DeleteThanks for the comment Sarah!
I hear Swiss chocolate is really delicious! Since you have an opportunity to ask the doctors about the impact of early diagnosis for children with autism(or suspected to have autism), what in particular will you discuss? I hope you ask a variety of doctors so you can have more perspectives on the matter, and I'll see you next week!
ReplyDeleteHi Sachin! I'm going to focus more on the early diagnosis and early indication for autism part for the questions. I will hopefully have the questions made for you to see. For now, I'm working on finishing it up.
DeleteThanks for the comment Sachin!
They sure are lucky to have you! What questions have you developed to ask when you meet with the different doctors? How did you come up with these questions?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your next post! Hard to believe you are nearing the finish line. See you on Saturday for the required PowerPoint training. I can't guarantee Swiss chocolate, but I can guarantee pizza.
Hi Ms. Conner! I'm so bitter-sweet that it's almost over, but I'm very glad from the experiences I've had so far. I will try focusing my questions towards the early diagnosis and early signs of autism topic. And thanks to a link from Mr. Witz, he's given me a direction towards what kind of questions I want to ask. I'll have to flesh them out better before I can finalize a list of questions. Additionally, pizza is the best in any occasion. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone once again.
DeleteThanks for the comment Ms. Conner!