I had the opportunity to spend my service learning hours with an amazing young lady by the name of Paige. Paige is 25 years old and has a twin brother and a younger brother who she recently lost to suicide. She came into this world prematurely, 3 months before her due date and weighed 1 pound 12 ounces. From birth Paige had complications she almost lost her life and required open heart surgery at 3 days old. Throughout her life she has needed 19 surgeries on her legs, back and arms. Paige has Cerebral Palsy. Paige is a very quiet person, she prefers to keep to herself and does not care much for conversation. I have noticed throughout the years that when first meeting Paige people tend to take this offensive but she gets intimidated and …show more content…
Seeing the smile on her face and the happiness in her voice makes my battles worth it. She wore a smile so big I think her cheeks probably hurt! She has not have much to smile about lately so it was exciting and special to me to have this time with her. I enjoyed seeing her get out of her house and experiencing life. While at the Kitty City she expressed an interest in volunteering at shelter, so we talked to a staff member and got some information for her to take home and think about. As our time came to an end we had to say our goodbyes but before we part ways her brother brings me a bag telling me it was from Paige before they drive away. She had bought me a thank you gift and I had no idea that she had. It was an unnecessary yet very sweet gesture. Some of the concepts I learned while spending time with Paige is that people with disabilities are amazing. They have so much to offer and teach others if they were just allowed to. Society needs to realize that people with disabilities feel the same, think the same, and have the same needs and desires as people without disabilities. However, until society gets over its fears we must educate and bring an awareness to the abilities that people with disabilities have to offer. Paige and I have already planned our next girls weekend and I have a little surprise in store for
Being given the opportunity to intern with the staff at the Family Resource Center in the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) has been a tremendous learning experience thus far. The opportunity has truly surpassed my expectation of what I imagined the journey of internship would be like and how it would help me to evolve into the professional arena as a social worker. I see myself transforming and viewing the community in which I live, the clients served, those deprived, and the tremendous job that we as social workers are tasked with to advocate for those in need from a more open-minded perspective. By enhancing and developing my personal and professional skills, such as active listening, observation, and professional comportment, I will be
The theory used for this case study was effective, because it was able to get P to recognise that change need to occur so the support that she received would be effective. Reflecting on action the outcome of the assessment and intervention that was applied to P’s case I used supervision and to discuss concerns I had regarding this family with my PS. Supervision helped me establish my concerns and areas I required further support in application to theory in evidence based practice ‘blind self’.
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2012). Understanding generalist practice (6th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Working with others and improving own learning and performance are highly essential skills in social work. In this essay I will reflect on how well I have developed these two skills and what I need to do to improve them.
I contacted the Department of Social Services in Wilson, North Carolina to set up an interview with Riley Hottovy, who is an Alternative Services Social Worker with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). The building was fairly easy to locate, and it was not far from Barton, on Gold Street. It is a large brown and tan building with a generous sized parking lot and walkway up to the building. I walked up to the front desk with a notebook and pencil in hand. I explained to the woman working behind the desk that I had an appointment with Mr. Hottovy, and we talked a moment about the reason for the visit (she noticed I was carrying a notebook and guessed I was a student). She then took my information and asked me to have a seat while she called Mr. Hottovy.
Today, many single mothers are dependent on the welfare system, and low wage employment as a source of earnings to help support their families. It is very hard for some of these mothers to survive and make ends meet within this critical element. Some of these mothers do not only depend on assistance from welfare to feed their families, and the income that they receive from the government is usually not enough to support their basic needs and their family’s needs. Some mothers also have sick children and Medicaid that they receive does not cover all their health expenses.
“All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others,” said Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. That concept inspires people daily to do better for others. Some people are so passionate about helping others that they make a career out of it. Family social work is one of the most well-known jobs for helping people. Being a family social worker provides not only self-satisfaction through helping others, but also helps many families overcome their problems.
This approach has much future promise particularly in the context of economic challenges and resource constraints. Since the African continent has problems with lack of resources it is wise that countries adopt this approach and move away from the remedial one which is costly. The developmental approach is highly friendly with social work’s historical values and commitment to achieving social justice and human rights (Midgley & Conley, 2010). However, there are limitations facing the developmental approach in social work.
This experience showed me that sometimes the children you least expect are the ones that need the most help. When my group first walked into the center a girl came up to me and gave me a big hug. I thought this was going to be the child that I would spend the most time with and have become my buddy. As the week progressed, I realized she did this with every group that came into volunteer. She was this kind to every stranger that volunteered. I also talked with another girl that was in a horrible accident when she was younger. She was quieter than most of the other children in the facility. She had scars on her face, and was not good at sports or other physical activities like everyone else. This girl reminded me of myself. I have a scar on my face from when I was younger also. It makes me sad that I did not take the time to get to know her as much as I should have. I did not realize she was my God sighting until it was the last day for us to be at this location. I wish I could meet with her again and see how she is doing. On the last day, as our group was leaving for the last time, I told this girl that she was beautiful no matter what anyone said and I gave her a bracelet of mine. Her face lit up and she gave me a hug. This is something I will never forget. I enjoyed working with these
The article that stuck out to me the most from this week’s readings was Naming Privilege in a Justice-Centered Social Work Practice. My main career goal is to work in an adult psychiatric or crisis ward in a hospital, so the experiences discussed in the reading seemed to speak to me more than I imagined readings on diversity would. I feel like part of being a social worker is to be empathetic and helpful to all people, even when we are aware that a client may line up with a bias that we understand we hold. The way the student in the article spoke about the man who came into the ER appalled me. A social worker should not hold judgment, and actively discriminate against, their client. I understand that no one is perfect, and venting about the
The field of social work is one that requires much self-reflection on the part of the worker. In doing so, it helps the worker better understand his or her own emotions and the thought processes that these emotions come from. The goal of this paper is to provide my own self-reflection, relating it to my own emotional intelligence in the domains of relationships, tolerance, flexibility, self-management, and emotional awareness, and my future plans and goals in Widener University’s MSW program.
families, and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social workers are change agents and because of that, they aim to help people develop their skills and abilities to use resources provided to them to strengthen and improve their lives and communities to resolve problems. One of the main goal of social workers is to improve the well-being and lives of the most vulnerable populations, fight against poverty, unemployment, domestic violence and the underserviced population by emphasizing on the person-in-environment and social justice model. The social work profession, considerers the individuals’ internal and external struggles, while working with the individuals to examine their relationships, family, work environment, community, and other things that might impact them and identify ways to help address problems and challenges.
The end of the semester has arrived and with it comes time for reflection. This semester has had many ups and downs. However, one thing is for sure: it was a fantastic first semester of college.
I have always grown up in a more ‘normal’ setting and seeing people with disabilities was something that was rare to me. When I was younger, my thoughts on people with disabilities were that they could only be physically seen, nothing else (mentally, intellectually, etc.). As I reached middle school, I realized how broad the world is and how many ways people were affected by disabilities. Some of them led a more normal life and some have a harder time adjusting. Just seeing and reading how so many are affected and how harder it is for them really opened up my mind and allowed me to have a wider perception of how broad things are in the world.
The first time I ever picked up the Bible I remember reading about Adam and Eve. They were the first humans ever created by God. They were in nature “pure”. God told Adam before Eve was created that he was not to eat of the tree of good and evil. After that, God warned that in the day he did eat of that tree man would surely die. After Eve was created Satan changed into a serpent to tempt her. He told her that God had lied to her. He said that she wouldn't die, in fact, she would become like God. She would know everything, just as God does. Eve allowed herself to be deceived. After she took that bite she sealed the fate of all mankind. However we were not doomed yet. Even after being kicked out of the garden we still had God on our side. He gave us Jesus Christ. Who went through so much pain and torment in order to save us for the mistake Adam and Eve made. I know so much pain and suffering in the world and I wonder where it originated. How do I escape from the sin of the world and be safe. The answer came in the healing and powerful words of the bible. My pastor read me my favorite scripture of the bible a long time ago. I will never forget it. “And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him and help meet for him.” (Genesis; chapter two). I wondered was alone in my struggle. I had figured that I would be fighting alone. God would never leave or forsake us. I learned this the hard way.