Week 6

Sept. 16-20, 2013

This week, we had a meeting for the entire visual impairment department of the county held at an administration building (I think). The meeting went well and I learned a lot about what I don't know and still need to learn. It seems like the majority of a TVI's career is spent swimming in paperwork (which is rapidly changing at the speed of lightning). This part of the career made me a little more apprehensive about doing my TVI internship next semester. Then again, I'm almost half way through this thing! Wahoo!

This week, I also learned about the importance of teaching the students about the term, mirror image. When Bryan was working with one of the students, she squared off on one of the building's doors while he walked over a connecting bridge and stood at the opposite building's door. He explained to her that he too was standing and squaring off at a door across the way that looked entirely like the one she was at.

I also got to observe Karlos for the first time in the community. This student is becoming one of my favorites. He is so adventurous, not afraid of anything, and good on his feet (given his eye condition). He has high myopia, retinal detachment in the right eye and significant loss of field restriction in the left eye. He has remarkable coordination, considering his eye condition. He uses a telescope, which he currently lost and cannot find (Ugh!) and receives vision and O&M services (bi-weekly). Bryan is helping me more with the development of goals and objectives for the students before and after we work with them. For this specific day, Karlos referred to cardinal directions, manipulated lighted intersections, parking lot negotiation, use of telescope (borrowed from Bryan), maps, self-advocacy, cane skills, and route planning. I loved this lesson and I was mostly inspired by Karlos' abilities.