Advertisement
Published: June 12th 2015
Edit Blog Post
For starters, Caitlyn and I made it to work on time the rest of the week! Hooray! Working at PALS has been amazing and I've only completed five days. The staff are all very friendly and the kiddos are the sweetest. The program runs in the following order: play, individual therapy, circle group time, play, lunch, individual therapy, play, group speech time, play, and store and goodbye time. Play, behavioral and speech goals are worked on throughout the day, but the group and individual sessions are where it is broken down into specific step by step programs to help each child. The children, as you can imagine, are small, never ending balls of energy! In addition to their schooling five days a week, many of them are potty training and in the after school social skills which runs once per week. I love hearing how much each child has progressed from the beginning of the school year in September. Most of them had no social skills, kept to themselves and were nonverbal to the point where some couldn't make a single sound. Now, it's hard to stop the little chatter boxes and separate them from playing together. PALS has already taught
me multiple new skills such as the great ways to handle behaviors through both positive and negative reinforcement. I think it is extremely wonderful that this company truly aims for the best long term goals for the children. The programs are run in a way that will set up the children for positive outcomes in reality. From this short time alone, it is easy to tell that the kiddos are able to apply what they've learned into most every setting. This seems as though it is common sense, but there are early intervention programs where what is taught is only applied in the classroom. It is great to know that this curriculum is a success!
My coworkers are hilarious! We like to question each other on the American versus Irish English. Many Irish say the following things (and all examples were things the kiddos said):
1. Craic - This is pronounced as "crack" and means fun. Example: "I went to the park and it was good craic."
2. Pop - Instead of "go". Example: "I need to pop into the bathroom."
3. Me - Often used instead of the word "my". Example: "At me house me
mom makes my lunch"
4. Half three - Half is used when talking about the time when it is thirty minutes past the hour. Example "Is it half one yet? I want story time."
Everyday after work I did a whole bunch of walking around city center trying to memorize the streets as I walked in and out and around every store. Yes, I'll admit that I brought and ate gelato for the second time this week BUT it was at a different Gino's and if I hadn't gone, I wouldn't have discovered this unbelievable, three story Disney store! It was complete with a marvel/star wars level, a classic Disney level, and a princess level. My roommates and I sat down at the tea party table made for six year olds and sang along to "A Whole New World." It was a glorious experience. I went to Grafton Street multiple times and as of now it is probably my favorite area so far. There are always musicians, artists, mini farmer's markets, flower markets, dancing, etc. It is always changing! On Thursday night, a bunch of us went to see Jurassic Park at the IMAX theater. Not only did
we want to see it because we all grew up with Jurassic Park, but mainly we went because we now have bragging rights over the USA as it came out a day earlier in Europe. The CGI was phenomenal and awesome to watch on such a large screen. On our way back from the movies, we sprinted around the block to catch the very last bus home. When we got back to campus and were on the home stretch, I noticed some people in the grass. The appeared to be struggling so we went over and asked if they were alright. One was completely wasted and the other two were at least coherent. They spoke broken English but I eventually managed to get them an Uber to wherever their home in Dublin may be. I'm leaving out a lot of details, but just imagine three loopy, stumbling 21 year olds and I hope you are laughing just as I did.
I ended the week this evening with a spaghetti dinner with my roommates, ordering tickets to see Mama Mia later this month, and watching the season premiere of Orange is the New Black with Emily. I know that I
am a lame college kid because it's a Friday night and this is what I chose to do, but, the weekend is going to be crazy packed and starts at 5am Saturday morning. I'm starting to forget what the term "sleeping in" is...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.133s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0698s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb