A Re-Evaluation

Week two of my first clinical outplacement has ended and the thought came to me that a reflective journal would be a nice memoir of my initial introduction to life as a speech-language pathologist. I went out and bought a rather nondescript, hipster journal from Brookline Booksmith to write down my musings, but I figure an electronic copy would be nice as well. All in all, I wish this motivation had come to me in my first year of grad school, but these things take time, and I'm pretty sure all I would have had to offer the world was a muddled and incorrect look at language theory from the speech perspective. Honestly, in these past two weeks, I feel as if I've grown an exponential amount, not only in terms of academic knowledge, but also in terms of a realization of personal value. Or maybe I'm just making this up because I feel guilty that I didn't start writing in my blog again earlier. Oops.

Let me first start off by quoting something that has resonated in me, for some unknown reason, from a reading I had to do for my counseling class. "We are reminded it is personhood that is important, not abilities." Maybe this shall be my new motto, cheesy as it is, because I really think this is something we all need to remember.

So, as I was saying, week two of my first clinical outplacement has come to an end. Currently, I'm placed at two day habilitation sites working with adults with developmental disabilities. I feel like the biggest thing that I have come away with these past two weeks is a re-evaluation of what it truly means to be able to communicate, of what it means to respect an individual, and of what it means to live a meaningful life. Day habilitation, while it involves no blood and gore, is not for the faint of heart; nor is it for the callous cynics that no doubt exist in this field. As I watch the individuals who have never spent a day unconfined from the entrapment of their wheelchairs, who depend on the kindness of once strangers to give them their basic human needs of food and water, who rely on their ever so slight changes of stoic facial expressions and seemingly mindless babble to have others interpret their wants and needs, I wonder what it must feel like to have a body so uncooperative with the soul. I wonder why there are those that are scared of their harmless actions and I wonder how they must feel to be looked upon with doubt and reproach by strangers who judge them in their innocently incapacitated state. Some people might believe that nothing can be done for these individuals, but I know that they are wrong. Everyone has the ability to grow and expand their horizons - it's just that what may seem insignificant for others becomes the milestones of these individuals' lives. Besides, who is to say that one person is more deserving of our time and attention than others? Communication is the cornerstone of our lives, something that everyone deserves and needs to have. I truly believe that this placement is helping me to remember why exactly I came into this profession - because everyone deserves a voice - young or old, big or small, able-bodied or not. Thank you, day habilitation, for what I'm sure will be an amazing and humbling experience.