Group Member Reflection

Throughout our educational years we’ve all had experience being a group member. The dynamics and preconceived significance of the roles within such groups may pose significant challenges and ultimately their effectiveness. Whether our experience was positive or negative, these groups provided us opportunities to learn, improve, and communicate with others. My placements during my college years in the Developmental Services Worker program took this group interaction to another level where the significance of being part of team took on a whole new meaning as I applied my education to real life experiences and grew in knowledge and matured as a person. My team experience working with Autistic children in a classroom situation
I know there will be challenges as an IT within an IBI treatment team but with these challenges comes the opportunity to grow, improve and contribute. I will be working with people on a daily basis and will have to speak out on issues that arise. As I am shy, I will need to work on my communication skills to effectively communicate with team and family members. I will need to look to my team members to guide me in implementing individualized ABA treatment plans as I have no prior experience in this area. I also realize the job may be repetitive and stressful so I will have to watch for the possibility of burnout. My nephew is autistic so I also realize the importance and rewards this field provides.

Teams can help each other by providing feedback, suggest improvement areas, and working co-operatively with each other. Although there may be some fallout along the way, working with a team can be a great learning experience. We all need to put aside our preconceived ideas and assumptions and participate actively for the group to work effectively. This will not just improve our lives but the lives of those we strive to