for my third rotation, i'm attached to this centre, which provides a lot of services and support to the disabled, and carers. seeing that i have to write an essay at the end of the rotation which basically revolves around reflecting upon this attachment, i figured i might write whatever happened in the blog first.
day 1:
this week i'm under Transition To Work (TTW). what they do is helping school leavers, mostly, prepare for work environment. or work life. although, they are also some who to my mind don't really fit the category "school leavers". yes, that kind of program would be most beneficial for you and i. but no, this is not for the ordinaries. participants are ones with disabilities. what exactly, i have no idea. yet. but as for what i saw, they were somehow mentally challenged, if you like. or maybe mental health issues. they look normal. they act normal. they talk normal. until they start doing work.
today, the task was to design a room and a yard. that's all. the catch was, be specific and practical. you want to put grass in the yard, for example, specify what type of grass. how much will that cost. dude, work -.- and boy they were chatty. for the first two hours, nothing was done. a lot of noise, talking about random stuff. footy, weekend etc etc. playing around. you really have to tell them to do their work for them to start looking up for something on the computer. or start drawing. or start thinking, even. yes, it's a lot like kindergarten. difference is, these are adults we're talking about. some who did actually try to focus on work, got stressed up in like just a few minutes. only because they couldn't find what they were looking for on google. and that was only because they didn't search properly. some started shaking as they were drawing. after that only i realised how this program is important. why this program is needed. they are not capable to do work yet.
and then also i feel very grateful for what i am. for what God has given me.
at the end of the day, work is done, of course. and what can you say, their work was pretty normal stuff. what you and i can do. some came up with very creative ideas. only not so practical. just like what we did in school. designed as per our crazy imaginations.
as for me, i learned heaps. though didn't do much, i got a lot from observation. and yes, i learned stuff about grass, fish, gardening and stuff that i never get to learn before. or now, since i am in medical school. so it's an eye opening experience, i should say. and i'm thankful for being given chance to be here, and met those amazing guys. they are friendly! even friendlier than most people in my batch.
i never look at myself as superior to them. i never look down on other people, which include these people. people with disabilities are people too! they sure know something i don't.
day 2 :
we played quidditch today!! for those who don't know what on earth is quiddtich - like me - it's a sport made famous by harry potter. well, theoretically it can only be played by harry potter and friends (read: crew) since it involves flying broom stick and whatnots. with a little modification though, we manage to play it. so it's the first time for me. not from them.
i didn't really know my limits around them, but somehow i think i have go beyond them? while warming up, we practiced passing the ball to each other. also, threw the ball as to hit one of us. when it's my turn to be the one being thrown at, like how people would react, they will avoid being hit. i think i did really well avoiding the ball. in fact, maybe too well that i stayed in for a quite long time, and this was when i sensed that some people got annoyed. you see, from what i saw, these people's patience is very low. they get stressed and anxious very easily. failing to hit me? yeah that's one of the cause, i reckon.
anywho, game went well, everyone was happy. and tired, after.
day 3:
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