Cookies

Journal #7

Today I learned how to make no bake cookies. The recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of milk, ¾ peanut butter and 3 cups of quick oats. You mix together in a cooking pan the butter sugar and milk in a pan. You then continually stir the pan until it comes to a boil. Next you boil it for 1 and ½ minutes. Then you remove from the heat and add the oats and peanut butter. Next you put them on wax paper and let them set and cool. Enjoy. It was a very good experience since I have no baking skills. It was simple but effective.

2nd Incident

Journal #6

Another incident happened today at the house. There was a lot of screaming but this incident was shorter than the previous one. This time I remained calm. I was shocked by the nature of why the incident occurred but I wasn't scared. I know I have talked about this before but I am in my 7^th week of practicum so I am more familiar and comfortable in the house. I learned that I knew exactly what to do and helped keep the residents calm. I was very effective in keeping the residents away from the person having the incident and keeping the other residents safe. I actually told one of the residents to sit down and enjoy his video game instead of going out to where the incident was happening. He listened to me and I felt very proud of myself for taking charge.

Meltdowns

Journal #5

All the residents at the ARC home can have very emotional moments accompanied with physical upsets. Recently I witnessed a resident experiencing a lot of emotional distress.  This particular case was when a resident was asked to perform an activity and he chose not to cooperate.  As a result of his decision he did not receive his reward for accomplishing the duty as asked.  He started screaming and swearing so loudly that he could be heard throughout the house for approximately an hour. I completely froze, I didn’t know what to do, and I felt scared and my own heart was beating very fast.  I made a decision to just sit and observe his behavior. The staff on duty attempted, without restraining him physically, to be contained in a limited area so that the rest of the residents would not get hurt. The staff needs to allow him time to cool down, but they are also required to follow his behavioral plan.  There is a plan already in place that is a specific behavioral plan just for him when he begins to act out.  There is also a clause that allows the resident’s advocate to go against the behavioral plan.  This is discouraged because if the advocates, in this case his mother, gives in to what the resident wants and this is not positive reinforcement. After the resident finished acting out and calmed down the staff recorded the incident, as required.  They describe what happened, who acted out and the report is than sent into the State of New York. A copy of this report is also filed within the resident’s personal file.

 

 

Diet

Journal #4

 Every resident has a preplanned diet regimen every day that strictly regulates their calorie intake. This is done to help regulate to make sure they do not get overweight. Staff at the home prepare and serve enough for approximately five people. The dinner includes a food item from each of the food groups that included a meat, fruit, vegetable, grain, dairy, and a fat. Some of the residents have special food requirements in their diet and that is included in the calorie control plan. For example, some residents need low fat foods, fewer carbohydrates, gluten free, added salt, lower concentrated sugars, or the food maybe need to be served cut into bite size pieces so they will not choke. The residents are allowed treats such as a soda, but they are limited to only one per day. Later in the evening, just before bedtime, they are given a snack if they would like one.  The snack can include cookies or chips and they are allowed to take turns one-by-one and walk to a nearby store and buy the snack if a facility worker is with them.

Where Will You Sit? See World Hunger in a New Way

Did you know that in 2010 it was reported that 925 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger every year? Malnutrition is the number one leading cause of child mortality, approximately 1/3 of children under the age of 5. Why do so many people in the world suffer from hunger? In the United States we have enough food to feed the world but many people think that hunger is about having too many people and too little food.  In reality hunger is about power and therefore those who are fortunate eat and those who don’t will not. Its’ roots lie in the inequalities that permit the rich to access resources and opportunities and closes doors to others. Many of the 3^rd world countries do not have access to clean water, but billions of dollars each year are spent on bottled water in the United States alone. Tons of food is wasted in the United States every day.

 On February 21^st, 2013 the Oxfam Hunger Banquet was held in the Allegany Room at Alfred State College.  Everyone that attended was given a different colored ticket. The 1^st world was blue, the 2^nd world was orange and the 3^rd world was white.  Once the tickets were handed out, the groups sat together based on the color. The 1^st world had waiters and was served pork chops, salad, fries, broccoli with cheese and a fruit cup for dessert.  The 2^nd world was served rice and beans. The 3^rd world was served no food at all just water. This banquet provided a whole new meaning to world hunger. It was a very realistic hands-on scenario demonstrating worldwide hunger.  

The Oxfam organization has a campaign called GROW. It brings people together to create solutions for food, fairness, and the future of our planet. It helps to build a better food system that feeds a growing population and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive. The GROW campaign aims to increase the productivity, self-reliance, and economic prosperity of small scale farmers by increasing their access to resources like water and land.  This ensures fair competition for resources, increases farmers preparedness in the face of natural disasters, modernizes food aid programs so that they are more effective, efficient, and fiscally responsible. These actions improve the response to natural disasters and holds government and businesses accountable for the impacts of their policies/practices on the global food security. Oxfam strives to end poverty and injustice.

Are you ready to change the world, do something meaningful, spread the word, or raise money for world hunger? It’s simple, work online at the Grow web site which is Oxfam.org, or at your local school. One person can have a powerful influence and never underestimate your ability to change the world.

Goals

Journal #3

       Everyday each resident that lives in the home is given a certain goal to accomplish. Each goal is designed to assist them to development more in a specific skill area.  Every month the residents, their guardians, house staff and board members of the ARC meet to review the goals.  Together they discuss what could be accomplished, what has been accomplished and adjust goals as needed. The number of goals and the level of difficulty that each resident completes each day depend on their disability and their level of functioning. The resident is highly encouraged and expected to complete the goal, but they are not forced.  Each resident is given reinforcement by the house staff as needed, to be successful.

      My observations are that each resident does what is asked of them and they are not too resistant and will eventually complete what has been requested from them. When the residents are working towards accomplishing the goal the staff member who asks them to complete the goal can assist them to enhance their success. The goals can range from helping the resident with language pronunciation to improve language skills to demonstrating how to do push-ups or sit-ups to enhance their flexibility and health.  After each goal is completed the staff records the goal.  Each goal must be documented in a very specific and detailed manner within the program outline that has been designed for each resident. 

Autism

Journal entry #2   

      Kyle, my supervisor, informed me about the different disabilities that the residences in the ARC home in Alfred, New York experience. The majority of the residents have the diagnosis of autism. There are three types of autism mild, severe, and profound.  Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life and it affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. It is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain, but the exact causes of these abnormalities are unknown. Most specialists agree that it caused by a combination of factors. Genetic factors are thought to probably have an impact. Other possible causes that have been suspected, but not proven are diet, digestive tract changes, mercury poisoning, vaccine sensitivity, and/or the body's inability to properly use vitamins and minerals.     

      Most parents of autistic children suspect that something is wrong by the time the child is at least 18 months old. Children with autism typically have difficulties in: pretend play, social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication. They can be overly or experience low sensitivity in sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.  They have unusual distress when routines are changed.  Any disruption can cause repeated body movements, unusual attachments to objects, inability to start or maintain a social conversation, communication using gestures instead of words, and may develop language slowly or not at all. They cannot make friends easily, do not play interactive games, are withdrawn, may avoid direct eye contact or do not respond to eye contact or smiles. They may treat others as if they are objects, prefer to spend time alone, rather than with others, show a lack of empathy, may find normal noises painful and they may hold their hands over their ears.  They may withdraw from physical contact because it is overly stimulating, rubs surfaces, place objects in their mouths or licks objects, and seem to have a heightened or low response to pain. They do not imitate the actions of others, prefers solitary or ritualistic play, show little pretend or imaginative play, act out with intense tantrums, dwell on a single topic repetitively, have a short attention span, have very narrow interests, are overactive or very passive, can how aggression to others or self, indicate a strong need for sameness, and use repetitive body movements.

       The second most common diagnosis is intermittent explosive disorder.  This disorder is demonstrated by repeated episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or even angry verbal outbursts. Road rage, domestic abuse, throwing or breaking objects, or other temper tantrums may be indicators of intermittent explosive disorder. When people experience this disorder the eruptions usually last less than 30 minutes and often result in verbal assaults, injuries and the deliberate destruction of property. These episodes may occur in clusters or be separate events. Episodes may include irritability, increased energy, rage, racing thoughts, tingling, tremors, palpitations, chest tightness, and feeling of pressure in the head.  Depression, fatigue or relief may occur after the episode. The cause of the disorder is unknown, but it may develop due to a number of environmental and biological factors. Most people with this disorder grew up in families where explosive behavior, verbal and physical abuse were role modeled and common. Being exposed to this type of violence at an early age makes it more likely that the children will exhibit these same explosive traits as they mature. Other theories are that there may be a genetic component or differences in the way that serotonin in the brain works in people with intermittent explosive disorder.

Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Welcome." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 09 June 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

ARC History

History:

The Allegany ARC was founded in 1961 by the efforts of a group of parents determined to give their children with developmental disabilities get a better life because no services were available. It started as a TREE workshop. TREE stands for training, rehabilitation, education, and experience. The ARC is a non-profit organization. The main goal of the ARC is facilitating every one’s right to fully participate in community life, recreation, and leisure and self- advocacy so they can lead richer lives.

Budget:

The annual budget for the ARC organization is 1.5 to 2 million dollars. The money comes from Medicaid, SSI, donations from charity, and grants. Fees for the residential home in Alfred come from the residents. They have to pay for rent, utilities and groceries.

Staff:

The Staff includes 325 individuals that are all trained in CPR, first aid, fire safety, and the use of adaptive equipment.

Policies:

The organization does have an approved policy manual. Some policies include the person-first language is to identify the individual as a person, a human being, in every reference to that person. It may be easier to focus on a certain characteristic or disability than on the person who possesses those things, but when we focus on the diagnosis, disability, or characteristic, the human being is being moved into the background and becomes somewhat dehumanized. The most current and detailed information may be found on the OPWDD Internet site in The 624 Handbook. Part 624 regulates the way in which executives, administrators and supervisors are made aware of problems and respond to those problems through corrective actions in order to minimize the potential for recurrence of the same or similar situations. By regulating these processes it is believed that individuals will be protected from harm and physical or mental abuse. In addition, the quality of services provided will remain high because incidences and accidents can be prevented. Responsibility l: Recognize and stop all forms of abuse immediately. Responsibility 2: Protect the individual from further danger and harm and seek medical attention if necessary. Responsibility 3: Report incidents as soon as they occur or are discovered. Recall that failure to report is considered abuse as well. OPWDD takes its responsibility to support staff that follow policies and procedures when reporting incidents very seriously. It is expected that staff will be honest and accurate when providing information within the context of an investigation. It is important also, that staff avoid breaching; confidentiality by refraining from discussing" the incident with co-workers; friends,-or-people, outside of 'work. Even a casual mention in a text message, in the parking lot, or on Face-book or other social media, must be avoided. Jonathan's Law was put into place to govern the way in which information and reports of investigations are shared and with whom. You may be asked for information by family members or advocates about the investigation progress or your involvement. You should refer the person requesting information to your supervisor so that the appropriate people share information with those who have a right to know. Allegany ARC is committed to a work place free of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, age, sex, nation or origin, disability, status, as a veteran, or any other, protected status.

Clients:

 Eligibility for the organization is children and adults who have a documented developmental disability. Developmental disabilities include mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, and neurological impairments. The services are free for Medicaid. The ARC provides vocational services. This helps them to become more successful members in the workforce. Some programs include school to work programs, paid and unpaid internships, community and vocational assessments, job placement, supported employment, and on –site stimulated job training experiences. The ARC provides family care, therapy, residential alternatives, and supportive apartments.

Supervisor:

Kyle Mills is the current supervisor. His position is the Direct Support Professional. My experience is going well. He has been very helpful. He talks to me frequently.