Sorry haven't posted for a while! Busy, Busy, Busy.....
I arrived yesterday in Chicago for my usual 3 month summer visit, where i get 6 weeks of rest (!) and then work at a Conductive Education summer camp for 6 weeks. Last time i visited ( Easter) I went to visit the Center for Independence in Countryside where i met the fabulous Patti Herbst and observed a system of Conductive Education, quite unlike anything i had experienced before, yet interesting and unique way of combining multi-disciplinary techniques with Conductive Education.
I plan whilst i am here this time to go and see some other centres (or centers!) such as the one in downtown Chicago and the summer camp held in Lake Zurich.
The ACENA conference is also being held in Chicago before i leave (very convenient!) although my camp is not due to end till the Friday and the conference begins on the Thursday so I will have to see what I can do!
I am actually looking forward greatly to this, should be good networking for myself and from looking at the scheduled talks, a lot of them appear interesting.
Anyway - off to enjoy the American sunshine! - yippee!
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Friday, 23 May 2008
End of year......
Today is the student barbecue at the institute for the current third years....
Congrats to you all - oh my god - that will be me next year!
Congrats to you all - oh my god - that will be me next year!
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
I got an A, I got an A, I got an A!!!!!!!!!!
In case you didn't get the message - I got an A!
My practical exam was today in the Early Intervention group for the Individual/Standing programme, and i seriously nailed it!!!
I think not only did i shock quite a few people with this result (my individual programme leading has sucked in the last couple of weeks!)
But i have proven to myself that WOW - i can actually do this and i'm also pretty good! (smug!)
practical has always in the past 2 years (aside from first semester, second year - when i very nearly quit - story for another day!) been my strongest point. I fair okay in assignments, tend to rarely speak in lectures, but when put in a practical situation, i seem to actually be fantastic!
LOL, i sound really conceited but am just so so happy and proud of myself that i got an A!!!
My practical exam was today in the Early Intervention group for the Individual/Standing programme, and i seriously nailed it!!!
I think not only did i shock quite a few people with this result (my individual programme leading has sucked in the last couple of weeks!)
But i have proven to myself that WOW - i can actually do this and i'm also pretty good! (smug!)
practical has always in the past 2 years (aside from first semester, second year - when i very nearly quit - story for another day!) been my strongest point. I fair okay in assignments, tend to rarely speak in lectures, but when put in a practical situation, i seem to actually be fantastic!
LOL, i sound really conceited but am just so so happy and proud of myself that i got an A!!!
Student Quiz
Well - i have just got home after me and Taale (my fellow second year) hosted a quiz to raise
money for Conductive Education. We raised over £140 so we are happy about that!!!
We are raising money, as we came up with the crazy idea that we would climb up the highest mountain in North Africa (in Morocco) as way of a crazy notion and way of beginning our third and final year as students of Conductive Education.
Tonight was the best night the pub could offer for the monthe of May - (before we leave for the summer) and so today - the day before my practical exam in the Early Intervention group for the Individual Programme, we held a quiz, which as quizmaster involved me settling my nerves in the way that is easily imaginable for a pub quiz!!
So, how will i fair tomorrow - well i hope - the amount of sheer work i have put into this one programme has amazed even me - so fingers crossed everyone - not that i pass - cause i know i will do that (!) but that i do as well as i believe is certainly acheivable!
And for anyone (hint hint!!!) that would like to sponsor a very worthwhile cause and sponsor me and Taale as we torture ourselves(!) please visit our website at www.justgiving.com/jane_and_taale
It would be very much appreechiated!!!
money for Conductive Education. We raised over £140 so we are happy about that!!!
We are raising money, as we came up with the crazy idea that we would climb up the highest mountain in North Africa (in Morocco) as way of a crazy notion and way of beginning our third and final year as students of Conductive Education.
Tonight was the best night the pub could offer for the monthe of May - (before we leave for the summer) and so today - the day before my practical exam in the Early Intervention group for the Individual Programme, we held a quiz, which as quizmaster involved me settling my nerves in the way that is easily imaginable for a pub quiz!!
So, how will i fair tomorrow - well i hope - the amount of sheer work i have put into this one programme has amazed even me - so fingers crossed everyone - not that i pass - cause i know i will do that (!) but that i do as well as i believe is certainly acheivable!
And for anyone (hint hint!!!) that would like to sponsor a very worthwhile cause and sponsor me and Taale as we torture ourselves(!) please visit our website at www.justgiving.com/jane_and_taale
It would be very much appreechiated!!!
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Justification for research...
I have to hand in my research proposal next week, for what i want to spend the next year worrying about, fretting over, and generally probably hating - so what have i decided to torture myself with :
the perceptions and opinions of professionals of Conductive Education and the Bobath method of Physiotherapy.........
am i going to regret this choice...... possibly....... but i'm sure whatever i had selected as my topic choice i will end up wishing i hadn't
so i am writing my justification for research - and how do i justify this choice - because i'm crazy.....actually not a bad justification!
the perceptions and opinions of professionals of Conductive Education and the Bobath method of Physiotherapy.........
am i going to regret this choice...... possibly....... but i'm sure whatever i had selected as my topic choice i will end up wishing i hadn't
so i am writing my justification for research - and how do i justify this choice - because i'm crazy.....actually not a bad justification!
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
What is Conductive Education?
Well, an interesting title for a blog posting - an even more interesting title for a presentation that we will be presenting tomorrow morning!
At 9 am me and 2 of my classmates will be standing up to give our views on what exactly is Conductive Education. It is actually a very interesting assignment - we have picked a target audience and using our imagination will be speaking to a group of prospective students about the course of Conductive Education (easy to imagine our lecturers and fellow students as 17 or 18 year old adolescents!)
For part of our presentation we have made and edited a short movie in which we interviewed 1st and 3rd year students, asking them questions such as 'what do you plan to do when you graduate' and what do you like most about the course'. Needless to say their answers have been very interesting, funny and have perhaps widened my own views towards the overall benefits of this course. The first question we asked was 'what is Conductive Education' and I find it so very interesting that the answers to this are so wide and varied. I myself find that when i give a definition of what Conductive Education is, it is dependent on who i am talking to for what my answer is and that even 2 years into this course i do not have a straightforward and standard answer to the question 'what is Conductive Education'.
At 9 am me and 2 of my classmates will be standing up to give our views on what exactly is Conductive Education. It is actually a very interesting assignment - we have picked a target audience and using our imagination will be speaking to a group of prospective students about the course of Conductive Education (easy to imagine our lecturers and fellow students as 17 or 18 year old adolescents!)
For part of our presentation we have made and edited a short movie in which we interviewed 1st and 3rd year students, asking them questions such as 'what do you plan to do when you graduate' and what do you like most about the course'. Needless to say their answers have been very interesting, funny and have perhaps widened my own views towards the overall benefits of this course. The first question we asked was 'what is Conductive Education' and I find it so very interesting that the answers to this are so wide and varied. I myself find that when i give a definition of what Conductive Education is, it is dependent on who i am talking to for what my answer is and that even 2 years into this course i do not have a straightforward and standard answer to the question 'what is Conductive Education'.
Saturday, 19 April 2008
More about me.....
Well, day after tomorrow isn't too bad for my second posting!
I guess to understand a little more about how i have reached this point so far in training to be a Conductor - you need a little background on my life before CE...
As stated before I am 26 years old, and I grew up in Cannock - about 20 miles from the Institute in Birmingham with my mom, dad, 2 brothers, 1 sister, a dog and plenty of tropical fish!
My eldest brother has complex disabilities - he doesn't really have one specific diagnosis - he was born with mild Spina Bifida, and began to have seizures a few days after birth which caused extensive brain damage. He doesn't speak, is tube-fed, (due to Barrett's Osophegus), is doubly incontinent, has contracted limbs, windswept posture, uses a moulded wheelchair insert, but the majority of the time is very happy.
He is 31 years old - has always lived at home - and until recently has always been looked after by my parents alone.
But I wouldn't change anything of this situation for the world... this may shock some people, but anyone with a sibling, child, parent or other family member who has a disability, will understand the joy that my brother brings into my life and the way that this experience has helped shape the person that i am.
After A' Levels at school, i went to University and studied for a degree in Food and Consumer Management (I know - totally different!) When i finished this, i decided to go to America to work as an Au-Pair. I particularly stated on my application form that i did not want to work with Children with disabilities - I felt that i had had enough experiences with this and that my year would be more enjoyable to work with non-disabled children - how wrong was I!!!
I got a call and email with photos from a family in Chicago and within about 5 minutes was completely sold to go and work with a family with 4 childen, the youngest who had a Hemispherectomy at 18 months for seizures, and so has no left hemisphere resulting in paralysis to his right side, plus plenty of complex problems - including being diagnosed with Leukaemia 20 months ago...
Anyway, I enjoyed my time so much that i stayed for 2 years (!) and during this time was introduced to Conductive Education, by Szilvia Mark, a Conductor, who began to do private CE in the home, twice a week.
So that was my first introduction to Conductive Education and after the very first session I was straight on the internet searching exactly what CE was, and imagine my suprise when i discovered how very close to my home the training centre was, and so the application was completed, mailed in and i was invited for an interview..........
Will write more soon, i guess my first few posts will be getting up to where i am now - and then they can become more about the present...
And by the way - my oral exam was fine - have actually impressed myself with how much i do know about Conductive Education, but still scares me how much there still is to learn..........
I guess to understand a little more about how i have reached this point so far in training to be a Conductor - you need a little background on my life before CE...
As stated before I am 26 years old, and I grew up in Cannock - about 20 miles from the Institute in Birmingham with my mom, dad, 2 brothers, 1 sister, a dog and plenty of tropical fish!
My eldest brother has complex disabilities - he doesn't really have one specific diagnosis - he was born with mild Spina Bifida, and began to have seizures a few days after birth which caused extensive brain damage. He doesn't speak, is tube-fed, (due to Barrett's Osophegus), is doubly incontinent, has contracted limbs, windswept posture, uses a moulded wheelchair insert, but the majority of the time is very happy.
He is 31 years old - has always lived at home - and until recently has always been looked after by my parents alone.
But I wouldn't change anything of this situation for the world... this may shock some people, but anyone with a sibling, child, parent or other family member who has a disability, will understand the joy that my brother brings into my life and the way that this experience has helped shape the person that i am.
After A' Levels at school, i went to University and studied for a degree in Food and Consumer Management (I know - totally different!) When i finished this, i decided to go to America to work as an Au-Pair. I particularly stated on my application form that i did not want to work with Children with disabilities - I felt that i had had enough experiences with this and that my year would be more enjoyable to work with non-disabled children - how wrong was I!!!
I got a call and email with photos from a family in Chicago and within about 5 minutes was completely sold to go and work with a family with 4 childen, the youngest who had a Hemispherectomy at 18 months for seizures, and so has no left hemisphere resulting in paralysis to his right side, plus plenty of complex problems - including being diagnosed with Leukaemia 20 months ago...
Anyway, I enjoyed my time so much that i stayed for 2 years (!) and during this time was introduced to Conductive Education, by Szilvia Mark, a Conductor, who began to do private CE in the home, twice a week.
So that was my first introduction to Conductive Education and after the very first session I was straight on the internet searching exactly what CE was, and imagine my suprise when i discovered how very close to my home the training centre was, and so the application was completed, mailed in and i was invited for an interview..........
Will write more soon, i guess my first few posts will be getting up to where i am now - and then they can become more about the present...
And by the way - my oral exam was fine - have actually impressed myself with how much i do know about Conductive Education, but still scares me how much there still is to learn..........
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Why, Why, Why?
First posting of this blog, so thought i would start off with some answers to the important question of Why.....
Why am i doing this blog....
Well, I don't really know actually... Best thank (or possibly blame!) Andrew Sutton for that. Today's discussion related to the changing world and the new way of sharing information via the new up and coming passion for blogging. Andrew (perhaps purposefully!) mentioned the lack of any blog written by a student about the trials and tribulations we must go through to reach the final destination of becoming a Conductor.
I have never written a blog before, I have tried (and failed) to keep a diary in the past, and am the kind of person who can forget about replying to an email for months and months, so i don't really know how successful this blog is going to turn out to be.
Why am I here?
Well, I guess at this point i should give a little information about myself. I am 26 years old - what you would call a mature student - (ha!) and I am coming very close to finishing my second year of training at the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE). It has been a hard and trying journey to get myself to this point - but one that overall i can tell you has been enjoyable, yet challenging. I am a completely different person now than when i started this course - i have developed in more ways then i ever thought possible - and I am very happy with this transformation and the person that Conductive Education has shaped me into.
There are plenty more why questions that i could and should answer but the most important one right now is why have i started this blog tonight at 10.30 pm, and the answer to that question would be tomorrow i have an Oral exam, which i should be studying for, but for which starting a blog seemed like the more interesting option! So anyway, back to the studying - and I'll post more tomorrow - if i remember!!!
Why am i doing this blog....
Well, I don't really know actually... Best thank (or possibly blame!) Andrew Sutton for that. Today's discussion related to the changing world and the new way of sharing information via the new up and coming passion for blogging. Andrew (perhaps purposefully!) mentioned the lack of any blog written by a student about the trials and tribulations we must go through to reach the final destination of becoming a Conductor.
I have never written a blog before, I have tried (and failed) to keep a diary in the past, and am the kind of person who can forget about replying to an email for months and months, so i don't really know how successful this blog is going to turn out to be.
Why am I here?
Well, I guess at this point i should give a little information about myself. I am 26 years old - what you would call a mature student - (ha!) and I am coming very close to finishing my second year of training at the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE). It has been a hard and trying journey to get myself to this point - but one that overall i can tell you has been enjoyable, yet challenging. I am a completely different person now than when i started this course - i have developed in more ways then i ever thought possible - and I am very happy with this transformation and the person that Conductive Education has shaped me into.
There are plenty more why questions that i could and should answer but the most important one right now is why have i started this blog tonight at 10.30 pm, and the answer to that question would be tomorrow i have an Oral exam, which i should be studying for, but for which starting a blog seemed like the more interesting option! So anyway, back to the studying - and I'll post more tomorrow - if i remember!!!
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