[nabs] Houston, we have a problem - Please Read

Tue Oct 4 21:12:35 EDT 2011

Caitlin,

I can see why this would be intimidating for you.  It might be possible 
to wander the halls and ask groups of people "do any of you know where 
so-and-so is?"  And really, as long as you're not asking for a sighted 
guide to every single person, would it matter whether it was staff or 
clients who answered you and said "Oh, he's ot back."  Because you could 
go out back and ask around more?

The thought of doing this alone makes me anxious.  The one thing I would 
clarify with your supervisor is if he thinks that you're relying on 
staff to much, or if he is just making sure that doesn't happen in the 
future.  Also, is wandering around looking for people more professional 
than having staff help you out with a little verbal direction?

My two cents, for what it's worth.

On 10/4/2011 7:48 PM, NABS Treasurer wrote:
> Wow, this is a good question. one pointer i have is that I volunteered
> at an agency where the staff members called out the names of clients
> on a regular bsis because they didn't always know who the different
> clients are. from what you describe the atmosphere might lend itself
> to that since the clients are busy doing other things a lot of the
> time, but i'm not sure.
>
> On 10/4/11, Rhonda Partain<201park2011 at comcast.net>  wrote:
>> Would it be possible to update information via telephone or does it have to
>> be face to face?
>> Rhonda
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Alicia M. Starner"<astarner at charter.net>
>> To: "'Discussion list for NABS,National Alliance of Blind Students.'"
>> <nabs at acb.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 2:01 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs] Houston, we have a problem - Please Read
>>
>>
>>> Caitlin,
>>>
>>> You have a quite challenging problem on your hands. I can understand the
>>> supervisor asking you to do your job independently, but it seems to me
>>> that
>>> he is asking a little too much for you to find these clients completely on
>>> your own. Is there a schedule of when these clients would be in class or
>>> on
>>> the campus? You could use that schedule to determine where your client is
>>> going to be at a certain time and do one of a couple of things (1) you
>>> could
>>> tell the instructor or staff member in that session that you need to talk
>>> to
>>> your client (give the name) and see if he or she would send that client in
>>> your direction by telling them at the end of the class that his or her
>>> records need to be updated, or (2) go to the class at the end and see if
>>> the
>>> staff member that is leading the class would let you intervene for a
>>> moment
>>> to find a client. I don't know if either of these ideas would work, but
>>> they
>>> are worth a try. I think your supervisor is further disabling you by not
>>> allowing you to get help from your other coworkers. It would seem to me
>>> that
>>> with a little teamwork, you can play an active role in these clients'
>>> treatment, and can provide the agency with a positive experience for you
>>> and
>>> you, your coworkers, and your clients. Good luck. I hope you find a
>>> solution.
>>>
>>> Alicia
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-bounces at acb.org [mailto:nabs-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf Of NABS
>>> SecondVP
>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 11:09 AM
>>> To: nabs at acb.org
>>> Subject: [nabs] Houston, we have a problem - Please Read
>>>
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>    If I may, I'd like to draw on your collective wisdom and
>>> experiences. I have a bit of a quandary. Here's the set up.
>>>    As I have mentioned before, to get my MSW I need a student
>>> internship. I'm interning at a facility that provides therapy,
>>> housing, employment, and other sorted services to people who are
>>> mentally ill, or who have a dual diagnosis of mental illness and
>>> substance abuse. This is my second full week there, and I think I have
>>> a pretty good understanding now for the lay out of the building.
>>> Yesterday, I met with my supervisor and we talked about the different
>>> roles I'll be filling at the facility. Because I'm new, he wants me to
>>> get acquainted with as many participants as possible, which I am so
>>> happy to do. To do this, I'll update their personal data in the
>>> computer system, which is totally accessible to me (WOOO!).
>>>    Yesterday, I met with one of the individuals on my list to update
>>> his data. My supervisor helped me locate this man; the supervisor
>>> guided me to him, introduced me, and then me and the participant went
>>> off to do the updating of his file. My supervisor gave me a list of 33
>>> participants that I have to review their files. Great, fine,
>>> wonderful, whatever you want.
>>>    The problem comes in with locating the participants. Some
>>> participants come five days a week, some come Mondays/Wednesdays only,
>>> some come only Tuesdays and Thursdays, etc. I'm only there on Mondays
>>> and Fridays, and have no idea which participants attend programs each
>>> day. My supervisor told me I could ask a staff member to tell me from
>>> my list what participants were around that day, which is fine. But
>>> then he said he wants me to locate the participants independently.
>>> Actually, he said that I needed to develop a "professional persona" at
>>> the agency. He said that the staff was willing to help me however I
>>> needed, but I couldn't rely on them all the time, and that he
>>> certainly wasn't going to lead me to every person on the list. I got
>>> the feeling he was intimating I was relying on the staffs help for too
>>> much...I didn't know I was, but may be I am, who knows? He said that
>>> the other staff is there to help me, but that isn't their sole
>>> function (well, duh) and that at every job I'd have to develop ways of
>>> doing things to compensate for my blindness. This, I totally agree
>>> with, of course. It sounded like he didn't want me to use the staff to
>>> seek out participants with me. THis is very concerning because I don't
>>> know these participant's voices, so I can't just wander around the
>>> facility shouting "hey, Lorraine, I hear you, let me interview you!"
>>> or barging in on a conversation if I hear Mark's voice.
>>>    Let me explain to that between classes the participants wander all
>>> over the building. Some are out back smoking, others hang out and play
>>> pool, watch TV, or socialize in the massive room where there are
>>> chairs and tables for meetings. I have no clue how I'm supposed to
>>> seek out these people without sighted assistance. I won't know if the
>>> people I'm looking for are in a group/class, hanging out, or out back
>>> smoking. It doesn't sound like he wants me to utilize the staff to
>>> help me find them, so the only other thing I can think to do is go up
>>> to random people in the hallway, hope they're participants and not
>>> staff, and ask them if they've seen Person X or Y. But I'm not sure if
>>> this is creative or goes along with helping me build a professional
>>> persona.
>>>    This whole thing is giving me a tremendous amount of anxiety and I
>>> have no brilliant ideas to resolve it that might appease my
>>> supervisor. My fiance, who is sighted, said that me doing the activity
>>> entirely by mself would be like me walking around, poking people to
>>> see if they're breathing and asking them if they were John or Hilda;
>>> entirely ridiculous, but maybe he's right.
>>>
>>>    So my question, oh wise group members, is can you think of a
>>> solution for me? Am I being entirely over reactive about this? And
>>> what can I say to my supervisor, if anything, because I'm not sure if
>>> I should let him know how entirely freaked out this makes me.
>>>
>>> Please and thank you for any help you can give,
>>> Caitlin
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