Statement of Intent
Section A
The ability to communicate clear and concise thoughts and ideas is the most important skill one can possess. Without effective communication, a message can turn into misunderstanding, frustration, or error by being misinterpreted or poorly delivered. I know first hand how difficult it is to deal with disfluencies in communication. Growing up, I struggled with a severe stutter. Subsequently, I am drawn to helping people with debilitating impairments. I was not able to receive speech therapy due to my family’s circumstances, however I wish I had. My stutter caused me to be self-conscious, timid, and socially isolated. It was very difficult for people to understand me, and I often found myself repeating words and …show more content…
As a behavioral interventionist, I work with clients of varying levels of challenging behaviors and skill deficits. Working with children with autism and other disabilities requires patience and resilience. I work in an in-home setting where I deliver Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) services to children with special needs. One of my 5-year-old clients with autism is very aversive to change. She refused to eat anything other than white, soft foods, such as mash potatoes or spaghetti. Using the behavioral technique of shaping, carrots and celery were successfully incorporated into her diet over the course of two months. Together with my BEST team and the support of my supervisor, we collaborate to ensure that we are able to cater to and foster behavior modification techniques and communication skills as an intervention that matches the child’s immediate daily functioning needs. Not only do I serve as a therapist to my clients, but I also lend my therapist skills in the training of parents and entry level treatment staff on behavioral methods that promote developmental skill acquisition and that reduce maladaptive behaviors that include self-injurious behavior, aggressiveness, rigidity, non-compliance and tantrums. The combination of patience and resilience I displayed while assisting my clients and their families are powerful qualities that will allow me to overcome any …show more content…
Over the course of the semester I was not only able to learn about the implementation of therapeutic methods, but I was able to actually implement them in the therapy room. I had the opportunity to work with a 7-year-old client who was severely delayed in his articulation skills. Prior to meeting him, I reviewed his screening and diagnostic in order to choose the effective baseline procedure. I administered an articulation screening that I created, followed by the Expressive Vocabulary Test, Second Edition (EVT-2). The baseline procedures showed that his expressive language skills were within normal limits, whereas his articulation with /s/ and / ʃ/ were very delayed. Collaborating with my clinical supervisor, Michele Linares, and applying knowledge gained from my phonology class I decided to use Van Riper’s traditional approach to articulation. Due to my client’s beliefs, it was imperative that I maintained creativity and conformed my lesson plan in accordance with his religion. I couldn’t use any pop culture references or positive physical reinforcement, such as a high five, so I instead kept him motivated with competitive articulation games I created just for him. As stressed in my diagnosis class, persistence and adaptability are necessary virtues. I intend on contributing to the communication disorders community with the
Section A
The ability to communicate clear and concise thoughts and ideas is the most important skill one can possess. Without effective communication, a message can turn into misunderstanding, frustration, or error by being misinterpreted or poorly delivered. I know first hand how difficult it is to deal with disfluencies in communication. Growing up, I struggled with a severe stutter. Subsequently, I am drawn to helping people with debilitating impairments. I was not able to receive speech therapy due to my family’s circumstances, however I wish I had. My stutter caused me to be self-conscious, timid, and socially isolated. It was very difficult for people to understand me, and I often found myself repeating words and …show more content…
As a behavioral interventionist, I work with clients of varying levels of challenging behaviors and skill deficits. Working with children with autism and other disabilities requires patience and resilience. I work in an in-home setting where I deliver Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) services to children with special needs. One of my 5-year-old clients with autism is very aversive to change. She refused to eat anything other than white, soft foods, such as mash potatoes or spaghetti. Using the behavioral technique of shaping, carrots and celery were successfully incorporated into her diet over the course of two months. Together with my BEST team and the support of my supervisor, we collaborate to ensure that we are able to cater to and foster behavior modification techniques and communication skills as an intervention that matches the child’s immediate daily functioning needs. Not only do I serve as a therapist to my clients, but I also lend my therapist skills in the training of parents and entry level treatment staff on behavioral methods that promote developmental skill acquisition and that reduce maladaptive behaviors that include self-injurious behavior, aggressiveness, rigidity, non-compliance and tantrums. The combination of patience and resilience I displayed while assisting my clients and their families are powerful qualities that will allow me to overcome any …show more content…
Over the course of the semester I was not only able to learn about the implementation of therapeutic methods, but I was able to actually implement them in the therapy room. I had the opportunity to work with a 7-year-old client who was severely delayed in his articulation skills. Prior to meeting him, I reviewed his screening and diagnostic in order to choose the effective baseline procedure. I administered an articulation screening that I created, followed by the Expressive Vocabulary Test, Second Edition (EVT-2). The baseline procedures showed that his expressive language skills were within normal limits, whereas his articulation with /s/ and / ʃ/ were very delayed. Collaborating with my clinical supervisor, Michele Linares, and applying knowledge gained from my phonology class I decided to use Van Riper’s traditional approach to articulation. Due to my client’s beliefs, it was imperative that I maintained creativity and conformed my lesson plan in accordance with his religion. I couldn’t use any pop culture references or positive physical reinforcement, such as a high five, so I instead kept him motivated with competitive articulation games I created just for him. As stressed in my diagnosis class, persistence and adaptability are necessary virtues. I intend on contributing to the communication disorders community with the