Lessons from a CFY: Week 7 and 8
The last two weeks were jam packed, and it was Labor Day weekend, so I took some time off from blogging to enjoy time with my friends and unplug! I am combining weeks 7 and 8 into one post.
This week, I finally started to incorporate the gym into my routine. It can take a long time to really get established in a job and have a consistent schedule, especially when the day to day tasks and therapy sessions are so varied. That being said, here’s the lesson I learned about making a routine.
CFY Lesson 7.1: Managing my Routine
There are so many things I want to have incorporated seamlessly in my routine:
- Organizing my planner and to do list for the week
- Working out
- Cleaning my room
- Cleaning my car
- Working on the blog
This is just a small portion of the list. Out of those 6 things, I can confidently say I’ve done… 1 and a half of them. It started to really stress me out seeing all the things I wasn’t doing. So, I just decided to tackle one at a time. With time, I’ll slowly build up my routine and find time for the other things I need and want to do. For now, I am putting my physical and mental health first and focusing on a more consistent sleep and workout schedule. Even if I just do a 30-minute yoga video somedays, I just want to get myself up and moving. Accomplishing that this week was my main goal. Setting “smaller” goals can often be more rewarding because they are achievable. What is your goal to incorporate into your free time for this week?
I am doing the same thing with extra projects I want to do at work. This week, I made word lists for one of my kiddos who needs extra practice and carryover. Next week, I’ll pick another project so that I can really dedicate my time to it and make it quality work instead of rushing through 3-4 of my projects.
CFY Lesson 7.2: Different Patient Profiles
This week, I realize that we can have so many different profiles of people we serve. I knew this, of course, on the surface, but I feel much of my course work and work experiences focused more on serving people with more severe challenges. In my work, I have many people who are much more advanced, with areas of need that are harder to identify, but are still very much there. I think the same can go for the school system, where many students who still face challenges may not qualify for services. These are some of the students I am seeing now, and it’s been a great challenge for me to figure out how I can make the appropriate level of goals and providing the best services for them. It is much easier to make goals when the deficits are clearer on the assessments we administer, but now I am working on being more nuanced in my observations and digging a little deeper.
CFY Lesson 8.1: Independence and Teamwork
As a person, I am very independent and always have been. I do well in a team and enjoy being a part of one, but sometimes get caught up in my own work. Even if I have my own caseload, it is important for me to engage with my coworkers and team. My goal for next week is to make time for creating coworker connections and engaging with them, even on a more personal level, so that I can be a supportive coworker. Part of teamwork is not just completing the necessary tasks, but creating trust, rapport and support just like we do with the people we serve.
CFY Lesson 8.2: Broader Goals
Sometimes, if you’re not sure where to go with goals, it can help to make them more broad and patient centered. My coworker gave me this advice this week and it resonated with me. Some workplaces have more flexibility with goals and the plan of care, which is something I love about the field compared to graduate school. This isn’t always the case, but I do like being able to have a little more leeway with goals versus a fixed hierarchy of goals. A hierarchy can be great in many situations, especially with a developmental delay where there are clear goals, but as you work with people with multiple or higher level needs, it can be better to make flexible goals. For example, you may focus on a self-advocacy goal, like “XX will self-report situations of self-advocacy at least three times throughout the semester.” This may not be the best goal I’ve ever written, but it does leave room for self-advocacy to have many definitions and does allow it to be patient centered and is relatively easy to track. Did they do it, or not?
CFY Lesson 8.3 Assertiveness
Sometimes, as an SLP I do focus on making sure my patient is comfortable, especially working with the autistic population. However, sometimes I think I am accommodating a lot to their preferences, which can be due to inflexibility. I also want to be a person who challenges my patients, while also making the room a safe space for them. But, at the end of the day, they see me for 2 hours a week. Others they interact with may not be patient, lenient or respectful of their needs. I know I want to work on being more assertive and pushing my patients out of the comfort zone so they can succeed in their every day life and grow to be more independent.
Those are my CFY lessons from the last two weeks. I hope you learned something. What have you been working on in your CFY this week?
