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''Excerpts from Service Learning Journals'' | '''Excerpts from Service Learning Journals''' | ||
With this experience, I was able to see more of an interaction between the roommates and so was able to get a better feeling of their different personalities. One woman seemed very sarcastic and liked to tell jokes, while the other two women seemed to like to tease her. They all were very interested in each other’s lives and held conversations similar to the ones that I have with my friends. This suprised me because as a cultural assumption, I thought people with disabilites did not really have personalities, as if that was beyond their capabilities. I was also suprised because all of the women that I have talked to, say they have a boyfriend. At first I assumed that meant someone that they hang out with on a daily basis, hold hands and go on dates with, etc. but now I think their idea of a boyfriend is a male who they see a few times a year. It is like a young child, who mimics what her parents do and so call a guy friend her “boyfriend” because that is what society decides is normal. These women watch tv and movies and look at magazines and see what they “should” be doing and so because of this, ask one of their guy friends to be their boyfriend. But on the other hand, maybe they do become more intimate when they are with one another. I also felt that this group of people was less isolated and in a happier atmosphere and so I felt less depressed for them. They seemed to be more competent and communicative. I was able to carry better conversations with them than with the people that lived in the previous group home. However, it was still a conversation that I would have with a young child. Even though we could discuss different topics, they were not able to transgress from what they had experienced or how they were feeling. It was not like we were trying to talk about abstract ideas, but if I tried to talk about something in my life, I could tell they were not listening and then for example, if I made a comment about my boyfriend, they would not ask a question about him to me, they would either say something totally irrelevant or a response about their own boyfriend. Through this visit, I was able to view people with disabilities, more as an individual with a distinct personality. I also realized that a lot of their interests are the same as mine, because of the influences of society. Those interests are merely on a different level of understanding and maturity. | With this experience, I was able to see more of an interaction between the roommates and so was able to get a better feeling of their different personalities. One woman seemed very sarcastic and liked to tell jokes, while the other two women seemed to like to tease her. They all were very interested in each other’s lives and held conversations similar to the ones that I have with my friends. This suprised me because as a cultural assumption, I thought people with disabilites did not really have personalities, as if that was beyond their capabilities. I was also suprised because all of the women that I have talked to, say they have a boyfriend. At first I assumed that meant someone that they hang out with on a daily basis, hold hands and go on dates with, etc. but now I think their idea of a boyfriend is a male who they see a few times a year. It is like a young child, who mimics what her parents do and so call a guy friend her “boyfriend” because that is what society decides is normal. These women watch tv and movies and look at magazines and see what they “should” be doing and so because of this, ask one of their guy friends to be their boyfriend. But on the other hand, maybe they do become more intimate when they are with one another. I also felt that this group of people was less isolated and in a happier atmosphere and so I felt less depressed for them. They seemed to be more competent and communicative. I was able to carry better conversations with them than with the people that lived in the previous group home. However, it was still a conversation that I would have with a young child. Even though we could discuss different topics, they were not able to transgress from what they had experienced or how they were feeling. It was not like we were trying to talk about abstract ideas, but if I tried to talk about something in my life, I could tell they were not listening and then for example, if I made a comment about my boyfriend, they would not ask a question about him to me, they would either say something totally irrelevant or a response about their own boyfriend. Through this visit, I was able to view people with disabilities, more as an individual with a distinct personality. I also realized that a lot of their interests are the same as mine, because of the influences of society. Those interests are merely on a different level of understanding and maturity. | ||
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''Samples from Post-Service Reflections'' | |||
== ''Samples from Post-Service Reflections'' == | |||
The problems the people who utilize CPARC face in “normative” society are those similar to the problems the elderly face. People tend to see them without really seeing them. In other words, people will notice that they are in public, but not openly acknowlege their presence. People tend to treat them as a nuisance instead of an active part of society. Because they look, speak and behave differently from what is expected, the clients of CPARC have difficulty blending in to “normative” society. They have problems performing the most basic of activities, such as making dinner and remembering to take their medecine or to taking a walk without a cane or wheelchair. Unfortuntately, this makes them conspicuous enough in public for people to take notice and then pretend that they are not there. | The problems the people who utilize CPARC face in “normative” society are those similar to the problems the elderly face. People tend to see them without really seeing them. In other words, people will notice that they are in public, but not openly acknowlege their presence. People tend to treat them as a nuisance instead of an active part of society. Because they look, speak and behave differently from what is expected, the clients of CPARC have difficulty blending in to “normative” society. They have problems performing the most basic of activities, such as making dinner and remembering to take their medecine or to taking a walk without a cane or wheelchair. Unfortuntately, this makes them conspicuous enough in public for people to take notice and then pretend that they are not there. | ||
Revision as of 19:15, 2 May 2005
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Samples from Pre-Service Reflections
Excerpts from Service Learning Journals
With this experience, I was able to see more of an interaction between the roommates and so was able to get a better feeling of their different personalities. One woman seemed very sarcastic and liked to tell jokes, while the other two women seemed to like to tease her. They all were very interested in each other’s lives and held conversations similar to the ones that I have with my friends. This suprised me because as a cultural assumption, I thought people with disabilites did not really have personalities, as if that was beyond their capabilities. I was also suprised because all of the women that I have talked to, say they have a boyfriend. At first I assumed that meant someone that they hang out with on a daily basis, hold hands and go on dates with, etc. but now I think their idea of a boyfriend is a male who they see a few times a year. It is like a young child, who mimics what her parents do and so call a guy friend her “boyfriend” because that is what society decides is normal. These women watch tv and movies and look at magazines and see what they “should” be doing and so because of this, ask one of their guy friends to be their boyfriend. But on the other hand, maybe they do become more intimate when they are with one another. I also felt that this group of people was less isolated and in a happier atmosphere and so I felt less depressed for them. They seemed to be more competent and communicative. I was able to carry better conversations with them than with the people that lived in the previous group home. However, it was still a conversation that I would have with a young child. Even though we could discuss different topics, they were not able to transgress from what they had experienced or how they were feeling. It was not like we were trying to talk about abstract ideas, but if I tried to talk about something in my life, I could tell they were not listening and then for example, if I made a comment about my boyfriend, they would not ask a question about him to me, they would either say something totally irrelevant or a response about their own boyfriend. Through this visit, I was able to view people with disabilities, more as an individual with a distinct personality. I also realized that a lot of their interests are the same as mine, because of the influences of society. Those interests are merely on a different level of understanding and maturity.
When I realized that we were going to the same group home we visited last time I was a little worried because as hard as conversation is sometimes, already having exhausted some issues would only make it harder. Fortunately it turned out that this wasn’t the case. I really enjoyed our talk with Stacey and Rachel. It flowed pretty smoothly and there were hardly any of the awkward pauses that seem to happen often. I thought it was interesting that at one point Rachel expressed her annoyance over Stacey repeating things she had said before and which were completely off topic. It was rather annoying I admit and I may have done something similar in a conversation with someone without a mental disability, but just didn’t feel right saying anything in this case. Spending time with Shelly drove home the fact that those with mental disabilities are all unique persons with different personalities just like everyone else, which I’ll admit to forgetting. While most residents, especially Stacey seemed really excited that we were visiting, Shelly seemed like she couldn’t care less. Her attitude once again was something along the lines of “you can come in and talk to me if you want but I’m not going to change how I spend my time in any way. I think I liked that though, some of the residents seem like little kids so often, but Shelly can and will do her own thing. It was a bit of refreshing independence.
Eric Barth, Group Home 4/11/2005
Samples from Post-Service Reflections
The problems the people who utilize CPARC face in “normative” society are those similar to the problems the elderly face. People tend to see them without really seeing them. In other words, people will notice that they are in public, but not openly acknowlege their presence. People tend to treat them as a nuisance instead of an active part of society. Because they look, speak and behave differently from what is expected, the clients of CPARC have difficulty blending in to “normative” society. They have problems performing the most basic of activities, such as making dinner and remembering to take their medecine or to taking a walk without a cane or wheelchair. Unfortuntately, this makes them conspicuous enough in public for people to take notice and then pretend that they are not there.
I realized a day or two after my experience that I while I was at the apartments, I had been like just about every character Lionel meets in Motherless Brooklyn: I assumed that those with disabilities are less intelligent or aware than they actually are and was made uncomfortable by unexpected behavior. Prior to being introduced to Beth, Runner informed me that she likes to know other peoples business and asks incredibly personal questions. The staff are trying to teach her to not ask these kinds of questions and so he asked me to not answer anything that was too personal for me. After we spent some time together with Beth, Runner left the room to shovel the sidewalk and reminded Beth several times as he left to not ask prying questions. During one, he subtly winked and nodded at me, I believe with the intention of making sure I understood not to answer her questions. I assumed she didn’t notice. But as Runner turned to walk out, she stopped him and asked what he was up to. He played innocent, but Beth said she saw him wink at me and wanted to know why. I had assumed she had missed the wink and just wasn’t capable of noticing or interpreting it. It took me by surprise and the 15 minutes or so I spend with Carol afterwards were the most awkward of the day.
Eric Barth, Cluster Apartments 3/6/2005
