Our Last Monday....

This past Monday was my last day with Jane Doe. We had a wonderful practice and even add another piece to the dance she had been learning. I was so happy that we were able to end on a good note since the practice before that one didn't go so well and because she was going to have to start practicing without me there if she wanted to continue to Irish dance. For our last day I made Jane Doe a Booklet filled with diagrams and instructions on how the original dance went and how all the progression went. Irish Dance Packet..by clicking "Irish" you can see the packet that I made for Jane Doe. The packet that I gave to her came out really nice, I printed it on card stock and made it look like a book. I think that she really appreciated my gift to her and I was happy to see that I made her happy. I was sad that it was my last day because I had been working with her since last Spring semester, but I hope that she continues she practice her Irish dancing by using the packet and the videos her mother took of our practices.

I met again with Jane Doe last night. It was a rough night for her because she's had a few changes in her schedule, thus she was a little stressed by the time I arrived at her house by 4:30. I also believe she's a little stressed because next Monday will be my last day with her. When I got to Jane Doe's home we began with the dance we left off with last week and she did well flat footed so I tried to move her onto her toes. When we did that she did really well but happened to get a little caught in her jeans and stumbled a little. This got her frustrated and she walked out of the room. I'm used to this because Jane Doe this often when she's frustrated or about to cry. She's not quite sure how to handle it so she walks out of the room. I always give her a few minutes to collect her thoughts and then I go to where ever she is and bring her back to practice. I tried getting her on her toes on last time but seeing the frustration on her face I decided to that we would continue practicing the dance only flat footed.

I feel that sometimes you can push someone and some days they are just stressed or frustrated to be pushed. I felt that pushing Jane Doe to practice the dance on her toes wouldn't have done any good. She would have just became more and more frustrated and shut down. I hope that next Monday will be a better day for us. Stay tuned!

Ups and Downs thats how life goes....

Every Monday since the spring 2010 semester I have worked with a young lady who I will call Jane Doe. Jane Doe is a 16 year old lady with aspergers syndrome, who a professor referred me to as a volunteer opprotunity. My first meeting with Jane Doe I was nervous cause I wasn't sure what she would want to do, and the informality of just her and I working together made me a little uneasy. When I met with Jane Doe we discussed what she would like us to do everything Monday for the hour we were going to be together, she wanted to learn how to be a glass maker, which I knew nothing about and how to Irish dance. YES! I thought something I know how to do and something I love. Every Monday since that day Jane Doe and I have been working on an Irish dance. I have modified the dance so that we learn a small set of movements and when she masters then we add other pieces that I know she will be able to perform. Her and I have come so far since the first day we met. We have gone through 5 progressions of the same dance because she is practicing on her own now and she's progressing faster then I ever thought possible. When Jane Doe does well I get so excited for her, she becomes so happy knowing that she is doing something she has always wanted to do.

Her mother and I had talked about all the things Jane Doe had previously brought up to her mother about doing but never seemed to work out. Her mother is so happy that Jane Doe has found something she wants to do so much, she remembers to practice with out being prompted.

Anyway...now that the background is out of the way let me discuss the last time Jane Doe and I had. Not all our practices of easy and not all of them are good days. Her and I work through days were she can't just seem to get the steps right even though she knows what they she be. The last meeting was one like this. Jane Doe is very aware of her disability which is sometimes why she gets so frustrated. Sometimes when she doesn't get the steps right she knows it's because she either didn't practice or for some reason she and I don't know shes having a bad day. These days are the days that I test me as a teacher. I need to keep her frustration level low so we can still have useful practice. These are the days when we go back to our basic dance. Before Thanksgiving Jane Does mom taped our practice so that when Jane Doe practice she could watch the video to make sure she was practicing the steps right. Jane Doe and I believe that this will be a wonderful way for her to master our latest dance moves.