At last, Friday, and a day off from school even!! Guess what I am doing?? That’s right...HOMEWORK!! Why do they call it Fall Break when they know good and well that we will probably be doing homework the entire weekend. I didn’t even get to sleep in!! I am so bitter. Well, anyway, check out what went on this week…

Last week, I set out to draft some of my genres and to start thinking deeply about the MRP. I have succeeded in that this week. I drafted the poem and some journal entries and am thinking about what genre I want to draft next. This week, I also set out to do more research into my topic. I did this because I feel that I have sort-of neglected this for awhile, or should I say that I have been putting it off? I decided that it was high time to begin looking more closely at articles and websites, so that my MRP will be realistic and thought-driven. Last week, I reported that I had struggled with some info. that I found during my research. This week, I set out to not let that affect the way I present my project. Even though I don’t agree with some of the techniques that I have researching, that does not mean that I can’t inform others about them and incorporate them into my genres. In fact, doing so will probably help me to see why they are used in the first place. Also, I am continuing the time-management struggle, but have found it to come more easily now that I have a set routine.

Lots of content this week (even though we only had a few assignments). I found five more interesting articles through Academic Search Elite and ERIC digests. I am in the process of having them sent to me via the IDS services here at MU. I have also been paying closer attention to the discussions that are going on in my mailing list community. Most of them have given me some great ideas for my MRP. I’ll let everyone in on what is discussed later on next week when we have to report on them. I also drafted my first two genres (other than the webliography) this week. I’ll discuss them in more detail in the process section. I read the article about the three R’s of inquiry. I found it to be a very interesting (yet long) article. I went back and looked at some Powerpoint graphics, too. I’m beginning to get ideas about how I want my presentation to look.

To be quite honest, I didn’t use that many processes this week for completing my work and if I did, then I wasn’t paying much attention to them! I guess I didn’t really have to because all assignments were pretty cut and dry. I thoroughly searched through the databases for articles and I decided to use Academic Search Elite this week since I used both ERIC and PsycINFO last week. I also tried new keywords this week during my ERIC search and I actually came up with some good results. I decided to have them delivered to me via e-mail so that I can give them a closer look. When it came to drafting two other genres, I found the processes to be rather simple. I have read so much about aspects of my topic and I also work with an autistic individual, so it was rather easy for me to do. In writing the poem, I tried to envision my client (in real life) and people’s reactions to him when we go out in public. Most of the time people know him and don’t give his disability a second thought, but others do stare, and it makes me so angry. You would think that by now people would get some sense and realize that we aren’t all the same and that yes, there are people out there that have disabilities. It fascinates me that in a world where we all claim to celebrate differences and that we have come a long way from our old ways of thinking, people can still stare at and whisper about a child who has an obvious disability. Anyway, I also envisioned myself being a parent of an autistic child (which I can’t even begin to fathom) when writing the journal entries. It came to me easily because I thought about my client’s parents and the struggles that they sometimes go through. I also incorporated some of my mailing list discussion material. Some of the parents that use this list bring up some interesting stories about their children’s behaviors. So far, this list has been pretty helpful. In regards to the prompt that we were to write for this class (the article about the three R’s of inquiry), I read the articles (over a period of three hours—it was too long for my attn. span!) and found one statement that really stuck out. I developed my prompt from that statement.

This week’s work has really made me think about what it’s really like for the families of autistic children. I kind-of already had some idea (even though I don’t think I’ll ever know) because of my working with an autistic child and seeing the struggles that his family faces. I have also come to the conclusion that even though I don’t like some of the discussions that are taking place on my discussion list (e.g.—Discussing how some SLP’s that work with some of these people’s children aren’t doing a good job at implementing the ABA programs), I have found it to be quite helpful when drafting my genres. Finally, doing this work has really made me see how close-minded people can be. I guess I have experienced this with my client (when taking him out in the community), but I have never really sat back and thought about their reactions to him. This really surprises me, because I am usually very reflective and analytical. Perhaps I just didn’t want to think about it, because honestly, it disgusts me. No matter how far we claim we have come from old ways of discriminatory thinking, there will always be very ignorant people in the world. It makes me sad. It frustrates me and it angers me; however, I know that not all people are this way and perhaps that’s what matters in the long run.

Currently, I have no questions. I looked back and found that I really didn’t have any questions from last week. I am sure that some questions will arise between now and say, tomorrow, so I will send them via the class list to be answered. Until next week…

Heather P.