My overall experience at the Seabeck Deafblind Camp was absolutely fantastic. There was so much that I learned in my work and training during that week, and I left with a sense of confidence and a lot of epiphanies in working as an intervenor for people who are Deafblind.
The first day consisted of training by the Deafblind camp leaders on how to use pro-tactile with Deafblind people. The leaders emphasized the importance of touch with a deafblind person and never leaving them isolated – having a connection as well as respect for the Deafblind persons. We got a better understanding of what it feels like to be deafblind through simulation during breakfast. When teamed up with another hearing-sighted partner, I found it extremely problematic …show more content…
At the same time, I was also paired with another Deafblind person who was completely reliant on their walker and their intervenors due to mobility issues. For that person, I was paired with another intervenor. However, on the first day with that person, the camp leaders had decided to send them home because it was noted that the camper’s health seemed to be deteriorating. So I ended up having the first half of my week off. It was a little bit annoying to me because I went to Seabeck expecting to work and ended up not being able to do enough. On my free time though, I went to their PTASL workshop and participated in the activities there. It was at the workshop where I learned about mapping on the Deafblind person’s back, on their arm, on their thigh or their hand. I’ve learned that setting up a map and having a reference point is vital for the Deafblind person to understand what is taking place around them. Similar to how hearing-sighted people rely on sound for information and how Deaf people rely on vision for information, Deafblind people rely on touch for information. Hence the reason pro-tactile is a necessity for communicating with Deafblind people. While I was off from intervening, I also took a bit of time to meet up with the campers I would be with the last half of the week ahead of time so they knew who I was and I could be informed …show more content…
So we met up at their room door at 6:30am and moseyed on over to the grocery store to read the news. One strategy I applied in reading the news was paraphrasing; I would read the news to myself first, and then give a summary of what the story was about to the Deafblind camper I was with. One recurring story that came up often in the news each day was in relation to the presidential election. The camper I was with gave their commentary of their political views and I did not want to impose my own bias onto them, so I responded to each comment with OH-I-SEE and INTERESTING. Their commentary occurred again with a couple of the stories I relayed to them, and I continued to remain impartial. Though it was a little bit tempting for me to share something that I disagreed on with them, I had to withhold my tongue (or in this case, “my hands”) and keep in mind that I am there to work, not to be an acquaintance. One day when I was out at Kitsap Mall with this particular camper, we were looking around at a bookstore for magazines. On our way out, I failed to look around at any obstructions and accidentally had the Deafblind camper bump themselves into a table of books. They were in pain, and I was embarrassed at myself because (a) I was not careful enough to look around my space, (b) everyone in the bookstore gazed our way once the accident happened, and (c) the Deafblind person was
The first day consisted of training by the Deafblind camp leaders on how to use pro-tactile with Deafblind people. The leaders emphasized the importance of touch with a deafblind person and never leaving them isolated – having a connection as well as respect for the Deafblind persons. We got a better understanding of what it feels like to be deafblind through simulation during breakfast. When teamed up with another hearing-sighted partner, I found it extremely problematic …show more content…
At the same time, I was also paired with another Deafblind person who was completely reliant on their walker and their intervenors due to mobility issues. For that person, I was paired with another intervenor. However, on the first day with that person, the camp leaders had decided to send them home because it was noted that the camper’s health seemed to be deteriorating. So I ended up having the first half of my week off. It was a little bit annoying to me because I went to Seabeck expecting to work and ended up not being able to do enough. On my free time though, I went to their PTASL workshop and participated in the activities there. It was at the workshop where I learned about mapping on the Deafblind person’s back, on their arm, on their thigh or their hand. I’ve learned that setting up a map and having a reference point is vital for the Deafblind person to understand what is taking place around them. Similar to how hearing-sighted people rely on sound for information and how Deaf people rely on vision for information, Deafblind people rely on touch for information. Hence the reason pro-tactile is a necessity for communicating with Deafblind people. While I was off from intervening, I also took a bit of time to meet up with the campers I would be with the last half of the week ahead of time so they knew who I was and I could be informed …show more content…
So we met up at their room door at 6:30am and moseyed on over to the grocery store to read the news. One strategy I applied in reading the news was paraphrasing; I would read the news to myself first, and then give a summary of what the story was about to the Deafblind camper I was with. One recurring story that came up often in the news each day was in relation to the presidential election. The camper I was with gave their commentary of their political views and I did not want to impose my own bias onto them, so I responded to each comment with OH-I-SEE and INTERESTING. Their commentary occurred again with a couple of the stories I relayed to them, and I continued to remain impartial. Though it was a little bit tempting for me to share something that I disagreed on with them, I had to withhold my tongue (or in this case, “my hands”) and keep in mind that I am there to work, not to be an acquaintance. One day when I was out at Kitsap Mall with this particular camper, we were looking around at a bookstore for magazines. On our way out, I failed to look around at any obstructions and accidentally had the Deafblind camper bump themselves into a table of books. They were in pain, and I was embarrassed at myself because (a) I was not careful enough to look around my space, (b) everyone in the bookstore gazed our way once the accident happened, and (c) the Deafblind person was