I can’t believe that it’s almost midterm. Have you ever looked back upon the past month and you find yourself not remembering one thing about it? That’s what I did this weekend. I started thinking about September and I couldn’t remember anything about what had happened in school, at work, in my personal life…nothing. I guess that means my life is for the most part pretty uneventful, but I guess that’s not such a bad thing. Here we go…

I am continuing to manage my time wisely in this class, although we didn’t have hardly any assignments this week. This week, I set out to give my project some deep thought. Little did I know that I would be troubled by some research that I would soon run across that would force me to do just that (think deeply about the MRP). I also set out to begin drafting some of my genres. Although I didn’t quite get around to doing this, I thought that it would help me in the weeks to come (in case I have other assignments/projects/exams in other classes). This will have to be an objective of mine for next week, seeing how we are required to begin this as part of the weekly assignments. Who knows? I might have done it anyway (or, maybe not). As I had mentioned earlier, I am doing a good job in managing my time, so this I will try to continue to do in the weeks to come.

Oh content, content, content. What happened (or more appropriately, what did I learn) in this class this week. Well, I finally changed the colors in my blog (aren’t they nice?). Actually, I really don’t like them. I like the green, white, and yellow together but the red title kind-of looks Christmasy. I’m going to have to play around a bit (an objective for next week!). I also liked practicing with Powerpoint on Wednesday. I kind-of knew how to set up Powerpoint and some things that you could do with it, but I have never actually done it. It was neat. It was nice to reflect back upon all of that evaluating we did last week with the websites (Assignment 2.2.3 “Web Evaluations ‘n Me”). Geneva said some really profound things about web evaluations in her assignment. She kind-of got my wheels turning about the whole process (thanks G!!). I also found some really good articles in the ERIC and PsycINFO databases this week. I also talked with Mrs. McComas about my MRP. I had to have a little heart-to-heart with her about something that I found out (discussed in process portion). I always feel better after talking with her.

The processes…were not so much abundant as they were significant. I came to a new place in my thinking this week while I was doing research. I began reading different articles; some stuff on ABA and DTT and some articles by Amy Weatherby (courtesy of Mrs. Laura Thomas). What I found was well, rather dumbfounding. I think Dave Matthews said it best in the first few words of his tune “Seek Up”. He said:

“Oh life it seems a struggle between what we see and what we do…” ,

(notice how I have Dave lyrics for everything—that’s why I think he’s so awesome…he speaks to me). Well, I encountered this struggle this week and as a result, I have come to a new place in my thinking. I found that something I have been doing for almost a year now is not something that I agree with well, completely. I clearly see a division between knowing something and doing it…they are completely different. While doing Discrete Trial Training (DTT) with an autistic client, I was doing it because it’s what I had been told to do. I began reading about this technique (which I should have done in the first place), really researching it and you know what? I discovered that I don’t really care too much for it. I don’t really like the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approach either (well, fully). I think that these approaches work very well with behavior endeavors (such as aggressive behaviors, noncompliant behaviors, etc.); however, in terms of functional communication, I think these approaches extinguish it. As Mrs. McComas said, “One size doesn’t fit all”, and frankly, I couldn’t have said it better myself. How frustrating it is and yet how wonderful at the same time to have your thoughts turned upside down. I’m still researching, I want to know more. I can’t help it; I just need to know more. I’m the type of person that has to believe something; I have to have something to hold on to. The only way that I can get there is through research…and lots of it.

The above thought process was probably the most noteworthy this week. Other processes that I used this week include looking up the html color chart in order to change the colors in my blog and I began thinking about my Powerpoint presentation. Wednesday’s lab session really got me thinking about how I wanted to present my stuff. I began thinking of what my backgrounds might look like and what images I might use. Believe it or not, I’m beginning to get excited about adding all of these personal touches to my MRP. As I mentioned earlier, Assignment 2.2.3 really got me thinking about the work that I want to do. I want it to be credible and accurate. I want all of the work that I put into this project to look like I put a lot of work into it and like I know what I’m talking about (God forbid I do something like that elephant article!!). Anyway, I think that’s all of the processing I did this week (unless I’ve succumbed once again to that not remembering the past week phenomenon that I mentioned earlier!!).

Of course I just mentioned the new place that I have arrived in my thinking. Overall, I feel that I’m on to something. What is that something? To be honest, I haven’t a clue, but I do know this: it’s not the answer. It may not even be an answer. One thing’s for sure though, I’m probably close to getting to that point where I say, “Ah ha. This is exactly what I was looking for.” Until then, I will continue to do what I have always been doing with my client and why shouldn’t I? Even though I don’t necessarily completely agree with the DTT technique, it’s what my client’s parents think works for him. I can’t argue with that and I really respect that. From a Speech-pathologist’s point of view, this technique isn’t necessary a good thing; however, I’m not a parent, especially a parent of an autistic child. I can’t even fathom what that must be like. In my opinion, most of these parents desperately seek something to decrease the occurrence of behaviors associated with autism, and rightfully so. When they find something that works in terms of behaviors (including aggressive behaviors), they latch onto it. I am not criticizing here, because I imagine I would do the same and at all costs. I guess it comes down to this: sometimes you have to sacrifice some things (functional language) to get to what really matters most (a child who is mostly under control and whose behaviors are minimized). Sometimes, people do what they have to do and I think that I just worked through the problem that I had with these approaches in the first place. Thank goodness for journaling!!

I have no questions at this time. I think that I have found some answers to my questions from last week (see last paragraph of Week 5 Online Journal). I have found some things on different aggressive management techniques used by SLP’s. I’m in the process of looking over these articles. Also, I think that I’m going to stick with my genres that I presented in my project prospectus, unless I get a good idea that fits with something else (INDECISIVE—that’s my middle name). More next time…

Heather P.