I don’t know where the time is going at the moment. I’ve almost got a routine, which is nice, but time sure does seem to be flying by (except when I’m at work).
Mondays are school days. I am volunteering at a school in Farnham, More House. It’s an independent Catholic boy’s school for kids with severe speech and language (and other) issues. This week I was in the learning development centre, and also helped in a science class and a maths class. I never thought I’d see the day where I was teaching multiplication (and long multiplication at that) and children would understand me. It amazes me – some of these kids can’t spell their own names (or read it for that matter) and yet when you ask them what is the first stage of the plant life cycle? “Germination Miss”. Some of them are delightful; some of them are little horrors. Each one has their own problems which More House are trying to help them with, whether it’s learning to read at age 16 or knowing that the first question you ask a stranger is not “when were you born?”
Tuesdays are uni days and Stroke Association days. Until recently I’ve been heading off to the library to work on essays, and then going to Archway (N.London) to be a conversation partner (or “Dysphasia Support Worker” to give it it’s official title) to people who have had strokes. This week I was working in the sound lab on my project, where I’ll be until kingdom comes at this stage. I am transcribing conversations between a fluent adult and a stuttering child. It’s long and it’s boring, but there are some interesting patterns in there, so I will have something to write about when it comes to it.
The Stroke Association gig is all in the name of work experience. To support my application for a Speech Therapy degree, I need to show relevant work experience. This can’t be just any work though – it should be with both paeds (paediatrics) and adults. Ideally I need to work in a clinic or a hospital stroke group, but for now, my weekly journey to Archway will do. The same goes for More House, though that is more like what I would be doing as a Speech and Language Therapist. I love it; I enjoy every moment of the school day. It’s hard and it’s challenging, but it has opened my eyes to what SaLT is all about and I’m now sure that this is what I want to do.
Wed, Thur, and Fri are all boring work days. Eventually I’m going to have to give up I think, as a full time MSc and part time work don’t really go together. But the money is good and keeps me ticking over – and will hopefully help me pay for a summer holiday with Phil in June.
4 comments:
hey, wow Mon & Tues sound like the start of an interesting, varied week! (is that Caro's old school or somewhere diff't all together?)
i liked your comment to my post- lol. yeah, despite my aparto being full when i arrived, i have to get rid of EVERYTHING! No charity shops or tips/ dumps in Japan as such, so could be tricky. I'll prob be having dreams/ nightmares about it soon!!
are you still interested in deaf people at all, or is speech language therapy a completely different ball game? (sorry for my ignorance!) if the former & poss the latter, my mum might still have contacts if you need any more work experience/ assistance - shout if you want me to ask her/ put you in touch with her.
H x
it is indeed Caro's old school! It's great :D
Speech and Language is another ball game, though I'm hoping to enroll on a BSL course next year. I realised I wasn't going to become an intepreter in the near future so came up with an alternative plan. Work experience from your mum may well be useful - remind me what exactly she does again??
Your work sounds really interesting. I thought you already had a speech therapy degree though.
Have fun with your brownies. I've offered to flip burgers for a big church/youth club barbecue tomorrow. I'm better at that than at games! At least I hope I am: Husband normally does the cooking at barbecues (I just do all the work!)
Just realised I didn't reply to Liz's comment - my first degree is in Linguistics, and my MSc is in "Human Communication", which to the uninitiated sounds like waving and semafore - I've started saying it's speech sciences which is probably why you thought I already had a degree in speech therapy!
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