Blog 23: Final Lesson Plan Reflection

(1) What I'm most proud of about my senior presentation was that I was very knowledgable about my information and I didn't stutter. I have this tendency to stutter a lot so I was really surprised when my words came out very clear. I also made almost 40 minutes in just speaking about my answers 1,2, and 3 alone. So I was proud of that.
(2)
a.) I would give myself an AE.
b.) I would give myself a P.
(3) What worked well for my senior presentation is that I was always available to do mentorship hours and it was really easy to get to volunteer at the day care I did my mentorship at. There were many opportunities.
(4) If I could go back in time I would've drank tea or something because I was a bit shooken up in the beginning of my presentation. I was nervous at first. I was surprised people didn't notice.
(5) Yes, this project has been really helpful for me. It was helped me also gain social skills that I lack and helped me be more open to others. Also maybe to consider being a behavioral therapist as a career.

Blog 22: Mentorship

Literal 
In total from when I first started in September, I have done 197 hours. My log of specific hours is on the right side of my blog and it is updated. I know we were supposed to do at least 50 hours, but since I did more I hope what applied in the beginning of the year that all our hours for our mentorship counts as community service still applies.
Contact Name: Ariana Nasseri
Mentorship: Amar's Children Center
Interpretive
The most important thing I've gained from this experience is to be more understanding of autistic children. Before I never really understood their struggles and how most of them are bullied until I saw it with my own eyes. Many kids bullied Sergio because he reacted to things differently than the rest of them and that isn't okay.. I think we should all be kind and accept each other for who we are. There is no use in bashing others for things they can not control.
Applied
What I've done has helped me answer my EQ because Ariana is actually in an early intervention program with Sergio. She is trying out 40 different programs with him, I know it seems crazy right. But she has to find out which one is the best for him and which one will help him accomplish more in life. Sergio actually has a mild case of autism but he has been very cooperative the whole time and he seems to understand things the way Ariana explains them.

Blog 21: Exit Interview

1. My essential question is what is the best way to help an autistic child develop better social skills? My first answer is through early interventions which the parents and therapists work together to reach the child's individualized goals and decide which treatment works best for them. My second answer is through family support; autistic kids can receive the comfort and love needed in order to fulfill their goals and undergo all the treatments necessary. My third answer is becoming your own child's expert be very attentive towards their behavior at home and in public. My best answer is through early interventions because my other answers are completely dependent on the family whether or not the autistic child improves so it isn't very effective compared to early intervention programs involving professional therapists that have studied for years and are very knowledgeable in that field.
2. The process I took to arrive to my best answer was being informed by my mentor that early interventions are available for kids around 3 years of age and actually seeing a form of early intervention at the day care. I've seen Ariana (who is my mentor) use Applied Behavioral Analysis on Sergio when she teaches him how to MAND or request something politely. Another one I've seen is Occupational therapy which involves fine motor movements such as cutting with scissors, drawing, writing, etc. From then on I began doing research and I found on various websites that scientists have proven that early interventions actually improve a child's prognosis. 
3. I didn't really face any problems while choosing my best answer since it was pretty clear to me that professional help is in a way more effective than family help. Or to put it in another way it actually brings the family together to get professional help since they feel a sense of responsibility because everyday challenges come with caring for an autistic child. And how I explained, the other two answers focus on just family help and if the family doesn't do their part than it will affect the autistic child's development. 
4. The two most significant sources I used to help me answer my essential question was an article by L.E. Arnold called "Interventions & Treatment Options" and another article by Susan Stokes called "Effective Programming for Young Children with Autism (Ages 3-5)". Interventions & Treatment Options was very helpful because it gave a list of the type of early interventions that are most commonly used and have proven to be effective. Also states why it is better to treat your autistic child right away rather than waiting till they age. Effective Programming for Young Children with Autism was helpful as well because it was very detailed and when giving the goals and objectives of an autistic child and how hard it is to communicate in different situations such as playing toy cars with other kids (just social play in general).   

April Extra Blog Post

It was so crazy to me finding out my cousin from Texas has autism. He was always different and in his own world but I never would've figured. My aunt just recently told me. She told me the symptoms and I knew then that his autism was severe.... It got to that point I figure because as a young kid they never put him in any early interventions or put much attention to him.The good thing is he is in a special program at school that helps him. He is struggling with social skills and cognitive skills. I've informed them of my information and now they are trying to see what better benefits him. I've also told them what they should do at home and what kind of environment they should provide as autistic caregivers now. Just the way they are affected by others at school they are also affected at home. It was just wow to find this out....

March Extra Blog Post INSPIRATION

My mentor Ariana Nasseri really inspires me to be more patient and understanding with kids, not just autistic children, but just kids. Her years at Calpoly really did her good and molded her into the person she is now. She gave me skills that could really help me later on whether it's speaking to the patient's parents or teaching children how to write. She makes me want to be more social because I tend to come off as awkward even with little kids. I have progressed a lot since the first time I have gone to mentorship and now I do way more hands on activities with Sergio and it's exciting. She also taught me how to project myself and explain myself better because I stutter a lot and get nervous in between words. I'm happy that not only is it fun working with little kids but I have learned plenty of life lessons as well! And how I want to raise my child. She gave me this opportunity to learn more and make the best version of myself as I can be. These experiences will help me in the long run in college and when I start a family.

Blog 18: Interview 4 Prep

1. When first meeting an autistic child, what obvious symptoms did you or would you notice?
2. Which techniques do you find more suitable to help an autistic child gain social skills?
3. In your own words, how would you describe the way autism disorder affects others
4. Do all autistic children act alike?
5. Are there other diseases that have the same symptoms as autism?
6. What is sensory integration therapy?
7. What are some tips for parenting kids with autism?
8. How can a parent make their home safe for an autistic child?
9. What is a great way to spread autism awareness?
10. How does a child develop autism?
11. How severe are behavior problems in people with autism?
12. How does Asperger's syndrome and autism differ?
13. How is early intervention more convenient for an autistic child than taking interventions later on as a teenager?
14. Is autism being diagnosed more commonly now or are people barely becoming aware of it now?
15. Can autistic children grow to be full functioning adults?
16. Since there is no cure, what medical advances are being made for autism?
17. Can an autistic child become a danger to others when trying to control their behavior?
18. Is it more difficult to cope with an autistic child that is an introvert or extrovert?
19. If diagnosed with autism as an adult, can it be more difficult to cope with?
20. Will a person with autism always need a therapist or family member helping them throughout their entire life?

Blog 17: Third Answer

• What is the best way to help a child with autism develop better social skills?
• A great way to help a child with autism is for the parents to become their own child's expert.
• 1) Simply sitting down with them and give them extra attention getting to know what they don't like and what they like. 2) Looking up research on which effective treatments can be done at home to help your child. 3) Make a calendar set up with goals and ways to help the child reach them.
• Stokes, Susan. "Effective Programming for Young Children with Autism (Ages 3-5)." Autism Papers-- Pg 1. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2012. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.
• Being able to understand your child's perspective is very important. Since every child with autism is on a different spectrum level, you have to figure out which treatments work for them and which ones don't. Providing a warm environment and improving their cognitive skills is the best way.

Feb. Extra Blog Post

One of the articles that really caught my attention this month and surprised me was an article from Fox 4 News about a middle school boy with autism almost getting bullied to death. That really got to me, the fact that at such a young age kids bully others with disabilities. The 12 year old boy from Liberty Middle School was attacked by another boy because he asked him to move out of his seat. He was beaten till he blacked out. It's quite emotional how the parents describe the scene.... People should be more aware of children with disabilities and educate them about it. Whether a child has autism or not, bullying is never okay, but children should be aware of other kids that are different than they are. Therefore, they might have a different perspective and react differently than a normal child would.

 (a picture of Blake, 12 year old boy 

                                                                             bullied to death)

Blog 16: Answer 2

1. My EQ is: what is the best way to help a child with autism develop better social skills?
2. Through early interventions which the therapists and parents work together to reach the child's individual goals.
3. Family support is essential for the child to grow healthy and feel safe.
4.  -The parents are responsible for providing the child with the therapy and help they need if the child has a disability or developmental delay.
     -Parents cooperate with the therapist to help the child in any way.
     -Parents must accept and help their child with autism grow, learn, and fill them with love.
5. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/magazine/the-kids-who-beat-autism.html?_r=2
this supports my answer because it is a story of what the parents had to undergo and learn for the child with autism.
6. http://www.autistichoya.com/p/introduction-to-autism-faqs-of-autism.html
this also supports my answer because it has 15 sections and in one it explains how parents tie into their child's health.
7. Everyone needs family support in order to grow wiser and filled with love. Whether the child is autistic or not, they need their parents. That is the most important I believe.

Blog 15: independent component 2 approval

1) For 30 hours I plan on taking a calpoly class on psychology where I can see how the brain works and what triggers people to react a certain way, such as an autistic child. And what difference is their brain from a normal brain.
2) To show evidence I can show my homework or tests from the class.
3) This component will help me better understand what goes on in the brain and how or why people communicate and feel differently.

Independent Component

LITERAL
(a) I, Jennifer Pulido, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) Smith, Melinda. "Autism Symptoms & Early Signs." What To Look For In Babies, Toddlers, & Children. UCLA Center, July 2014. Web. 21 Aug. 2014.
(c) Senior Project Hours are updated
(d) For my Independent Component I completed 38 hours.

INTERPRETIVE
I chose to do 30 extra hours for my independent component because my mentor said she could help me with different methods on how to help an autistic child with social skills; exactly what I needed to answer my essential question. It was difficult at the time to find a different location to do my independent component and no classes were available. My opportunity was to continue to do my hours in Amar Children's Center. My mentor Ariana Nasseri is a behavioral therapist that graduated from Calpoly and got her bachelor's degree in communications. She is happy with her job because she is a very hands on person and if she were to get promoted to a higher position she would not enjoy it since it is going to involve only paperwork. Everything is very confidential so it would be difficult to take any pictures of my day care in La Puente. Ms. Nasseri allowed me to say her name and of course I knew Sergio's name (autistic child we look after.) If there are any questions doubting my hours due to my lack of pictures, Ariana Nasseri is free to answer the phone to confirm my hours are indeed correct. Sergio is a 4 year old child with autism that has trouble communicating with other kids his age. Ms. Nasseri goes in to take care and teach Sergio Mondays-Thursdays for 2 hours. She has taught me many different methods such as MAND-ing which is basically requesting or commanding. She uses it on Sergio when he is being aggressive she watches over him and waits for him to calmly ask for snacks and if she sees him playing with others she will tell him good job and that motivates him to cooperate positively. She has let me try MAND-ing with him and he sometimes listens and sometimes his eyes wander off at the wall behind me and I have to call his name several times to get his attention. Most of the time he responds politely so it is not a problem. He really likes talking to me about Chucky Cheese's and his toy cars at home. The problem is when he gets grumpy or he is too stubborn to follow directions he loses control and bites the kids including my mentor. I can not interfere because it is illegal for me to touch him so Ariana has to control him herself. At the day care, the kids are assigned to different play stations and Ariana chooses which station Sergio is going to play on depending on his improvement. Ariana and I play the rhyming game with Sergio giving him different cards and asking him which cards go together. One day, I saw Ariana checking off boxes off her paper and I asked her what they were for and she told me they were all programs based on helping Sergio. There were about 20 programs on the paper and she told me there is still a lot more. He is a smart boy and usually gets them all right. Although when it comes to building blocks he has trouble following directions and chooses to do things his way when Ariana tells him they are building something together. Ariana also told me about the journal technique which she uses to write down Sergio's behavior that day and the parents and her exchange the journal back and forth. The parents write to her telling her about how he is doing at home while she writes to them about how he is doing at school. When I am not helping Ariana with Sergio I help other kids on computer programs or making sure everyone is playing safe. After snack time, I always clean up after the kids that leave a mess at the tables. When it comes close to the holidays, I help the teachers decorate and help the kids with activities. For Thanksgiving they made little pilgrim hats and dressed up as pilgrims. For Christmas they made reindeer hats. I've really enjoyed my mentorship and I have learned a lot about how a child's family background affects his/her behavior at school.


APPLIED 
My extra 30 hours of mentorship at the day care helped me understand my topic better because it was a hands on experience with an autistic child. I have to give a big thanks to my mentor because without her I would not be aware of all these methods that will be effective to the kid. Earlier I mentioned MAND-ing and how she uses it when he is either being aggressive or cooperating with others. Because of her I am also aware of occupational therapy and speech therapy and how they specifically help the child in certain fields.

Extra Blog Post: Temple Grandin inspired me

From my presentation I thought it was a great idea to mention Temple Grandin. She is the one who inspired my mentor and I to be more understandable to those children with autism. From her advice and experience, people have more respect and more patience towards these kids. They now know which methods best work and which don't depending on the severity of the child. I think that is very important. Mostly on helping us figure out what treatments best work for those that need help with cognitive skills. If you watch the trailer from her movie, you can tell she was misunderstood. Her parents and others saw her as "dumb" and shoved her around a lot. But she grew to become independent and very intelligent since the beginning but nobody cared enough to notice. It is such an emotional and uplifting movie. I think we all need to learn to have patience and respect others as we would like to be respected.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1. For my Lesson 2 Presentation, what I am most proud of is that I actually made eye contact with the audience and I did not stutter as much as I used to as compared to my first presentation. It is really hard for me to make eye contact with people when I am presenting because I blank out a lot so it was a challenge for me. Stuttering has always been a problem, even when I speak with friends, so it was surprising to me that I did not stutter as much as I would've expected.
2. a) I would give myself a low P      b) Because I did not know I had to bring a prop so therefore I did not bring it with me...
3. What worked well was my activity, it really made sense with my answer.
4. What didn't work was that I should have been more specific in my presentation naming all the articles that I mentioned mostly when I mentioned the story. I mean I did have my works cited but it was different than actually bringing in the articles. Next time I will bring my articles I am mentioning with me, and also bring props.
5. For my answer #2, it is most likely going to be Become Your Own Child's Expert.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 hours check

1. I do my mentorship at Amar's children center.
2. Ariana Nasseri is my contact.
3. I have done 43 hours at my mentorship place.
4. Ariana helped me what therapy techniques to use on children with autism and I socialized and helped out with Sergio and the rest of the children and also helped out the teachers on any excess work.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1. Due to my cousins coming over from Colorado and spending time with my whole family during the holidays, I did not have much time to work on my senior project as much as I should've. And physically I could not volunteer since the day care was closed and my mentor was on vacation as well. Although I did go over all my research and read books as well.
2. The most important thing I learned from what I did was that it is good to overanalyze research and refresh your memory on specific facts essential to your component. I honestly forgot a lot of my information in such little time so it helped me a lot that I went over it. The source of what I learned was that autistic children deserve credit and respect just like any other kid. Most of them have high IQ's and are very good in writing sections.
3. If I were to do a 10 question interview with someone about my EQ it would be Temple Grandin because she was also an autistic child herself and she has plenty of books she has written of children with autism, therefore; very knowledgeable about the topic.