January Field Period
Written on January 29th, 2009 at 09:41 am by Brittany Bridenbaker.I wanted to share experiences about my current field period site. I am completing my third field period at the Onondaga County Department of Mental Health Cedar Street Day Treatment Program in Syracuse, NY. This program is for students ages 5-12 years old who have been labeled with varied mental health diagnoses. These kids cannot function in a local public school, they perform better in a well-structured classroom with one-to-one help. I have been placed into a classroom of five boys ages 5-7 years old. These boys have been labeled as emotionally disturbed and have diagnoses such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Attention- Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Anxiety Disorder, to name a few.
These kids are very damaged emotionally. They often have breakdowns and tantrums throughout the day. There has to be a 3 kid to one adult ratio. In the classroom I am observing, there is a teacher, child care worker 1 and child care worker 2. If you did the math, only 9 kids max would be allowed in the classroom.
It is amazing how much they really do with the kids each day. Upon arrival, the kids are to brush their teeth and get to breakfast. After breakfast, depending on the day, they will either go to art, gym or swim. After activities, they have a series of subjects to complete, like a regular classroom. The kids have scheduled times with a Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, and Psychologist. Lunch, group therapy, and social skills are scheduled during the day as well. The main goal for treatment is for the student to be able to control anger, work together with classmates, and follow directions. When a student is able to complete these tasks without any fuss, they are evaluated and placed back into a public school.
Overall my experience was a definate eye opener. I got to see first hand how drugs, alcohol and mental health have split homes and damaged kids. My heart goes out to these kids and all they have had to go through and they are only 5-7 years old.
