Another week almost over! Today was a busywork kind of day; I discussed progress with 3 out of my 5 students. For new students at the center, their first two weeks here are the assessment period. At the end of those two weeks the instructors meet to discuss the assessment results and the plan/hours necessary to meet the student's goals. Also, there are meetings about once a month to get an update on the student's progress towards his or her plan. I am exiting one of my students this week, so I met with him to discuss my report and his upcoming night mobility instruction (which is contracted out to another instructor).
This week was different from last week; I did a greater variety of things (teaching residential travel where there aren't sidewalks, orientation to a bus transfer plaza, street crossings, etc). One of my biggest challenges this week seemed to be having a strong enough grasp of the information so that I could provide clear instructions/explanations to the students without confusing them. Basically, choosing the right words seemed difficult this week. I'm sure that every time I teach a certain concept/activity, it will be a little easier but it's slow going now.
Yesterday and today were also full of cane-related issues. My new student showed me a blister that has formed on his pointer finger from using his cane. Apparently he is using his cane a lot more now that he was at home. Of course I was wracking my brain trying to figure out why this might have happened; after all, I'm supposed to be the expert here. When he uses his cane, he rolls his wrist rather than bending it, which I think might be part of the problem. Will be addressing that next week.
Another student (with low vision) who has been using a cane for awhile has really inconsistent cane coverage (her arc goes from being really wide to really narrow or to mostly covering her left side). She's another one who rolls her wrist. Overall she just looks really heavy-handed with the cane and it's definitely not going to help her as much in the dark or at night. I put a new tip on her cane and really want to get her a graphite cane (she has an aluminum one) but she's so short that the center doesn't have one that fits her. Argh!
My student who uses a guide dog never got a cane, so I measured him for one today. This is the first time I've dispensed a cane, so I felt a little unsure of myself. However, I had two cane lengths and I asked the student to walk up and down the hall with the two. He is a very fast walker so I went with the longer one and feel pretty confident about my decision.
Last but not least, the student whom I have been working on staying in step with is making definite progress in this area. Today she was in step about half the time and walking very close to her normal pace. I think part of her problem is that she has very little experience in coordinating her movements (ie minimal athletic/gross motor skills). I must say though, when she is walking in step she looks like a very competent cane user.
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