Wow what a long day! After having one student out all last week and only two students on Thursday, I was beginning to get a little bored and restless. All of my students were back today and Steve was out sick too. When a mobility instructor is out, the other teachers are supposed to pick up the slack.
As my schedule is now, I have students during periods 2-6 out of 7 periods in the day. Steve's new student started first thing today, and he needed to be given his schedule and shown where all of his classes are. So after a quick Monday morning staff meeting, I met this student and started talking to him about his schedule.
[Sidebar] Every two weeks the schedule at the center changes. This allows students to enter new classes or drop out of other classes as necessary and also makes room for new students in the schedule. On the Friday before the new schedule change, the residence staff are supposed to give each student his or her schedule for the next two weeks. This was done, but the schedule was actually changed this morning. This meant that virtually no one knew where they were supposed to be and when, and I seemed to be the only person with the correct schedule.
So while I was trying to teach SM the route to his classes, my other students were coming up to me and asking me where they're supposed to go (this also happened many times throughout the day). Did I mention that SM uses a guide dog and wears hearing aids? Whenever I left him for more than a few seconds, he was headed off in the wrong direction. I felt bad by the time I was done with SM because he was clearly very bewildered and disoriented. I reassured him though that there would always be people nearby on campus to help him if he gets lost.
SL and I have been working on street crossings, and somehow cardinal directions have become a major part of this. She really struggles with cardinal directions (tends to think North is always in front of her), but today she was on it and even getting a kick out of keeping track of the direction she was facing. Very good news for her!
MK has been getting a refresher of the campus. She seems to have difficulties developing mental maps and she also needs a lot of practice to remember routes. She also tends to pay attention to her cane more than anything (i.e. not so much sounds or echolocation). She does fairly well with problem solving but definitely needs to work on her memory.
Steve seems to think there is a cognitive issue going on and wants me to find out what it is, but I'm not sure what the purpose of that would be. MK also walks with somewhat of a blind gait (toe out, waddling side to side), but she can move pretty quickly when she is in a familiar area. Steve wants me to address this too, but I feel like if this is the way a person has been walking for two decades, I'm going to be hard pressed to change it. And isn't this an issue for a physical therapist?
Speaking of, he also wants me to address the gait and posture of another student (TM), who has more pronounced issues. I've seen her reading print, and she will literally double over all the way down to within inches of a page, which has surely contributed to her rounded upper back. Will I be able to just tell her that she needs to stand up straight, point her toes straight forward, and walk heel to toe, and it will magically happen? I doubt it.
CH has been working on her cane skills, rather reluctantly. She was wearing closed-toe shoes and always has her cane with her, but she doesn't even want to use her cane during mobility. I think it's a case where she doesn't want to identify herself as being as "that" visually impaired (like some of the other students).
This week and next week I am leading a discussion on the Hadley Guide Dog Course. It is only three students, but it's a fun group. The students ask a lot of questions about guide dogs that aren't in the readings, which makes it more interesting. JD is one of my own mobility students that's participating in the group, and he is a riot. He's very confident and learns quickly. He's also my only student who argues with me, but it works because it challenges me as a teacher and him as a student. And at the end of the lesson, we still respect each other's opinions (unless it's non-negotiable of course!).
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