KNR 382 legal aspects
Aaron Wright
818046895
KNR 270
4/26/13
Service Learning Paper
Volunteering at the SOAR agency was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. I will be honest though, when I was first assigned the service hours I was not too thrilled about it. I had never worked with individuals who had disabilities before. I had been around them, but never worked or volunteered with them. Learning about all the disabilities in class was one thing, but actually going out and interacting with the people was another thing. I was very nervous to say the least. But looking back on it, I could not be happier about it. I am glad I got this opportunity. When I was volunteering at the SOAR agency, I had been assigned two different programs. The first one was called Adaptive Learn to Skate and was held at the Pepsi Ice Arena on Tuesdays from February 19th to April 2nd from 4:45-5:50. It was with younger kids from ages 8-12 with different severity levels of autism. Some were very high functioning and some were not. The kid I was assigned with was named Ben. He did not talk at all but I could communicate to him through visual and touch signals. The program hired two ice skating assistants to help the kids learn how to skate. The volunteers were mainly just there to serve as help with the kids posture and balance and to make sure they didn’t fall too hard. The kids were wearing a seatbelt around their waist that us volunteers were holding the entire time just incase one of them takes a tumble. Ben was not the best skater in the world obviously but I can say with pride that we fell down the less than anyone else and their partners! That being said, he was a little on the heavier side. Sometimes it was very hard when I was exhausted or tired to keep him from falling when he would use his whole weight against me. He never said any words to me but as we were skating I continually reinforced him and told him that he was doing an excellent job and to keep it
818046895
KNR 270
4/26/13
Service Learning Paper
Volunteering at the SOAR agency was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. I will be honest though, when I was first assigned the service hours I was not too thrilled about it. I had never worked with individuals who had disabilities before. I had been around them, but never worked or volunteered with them. Learning about all the disabilities in class was one thing, but actually going out and interacting with the people was another thing. I was very nervous to say the least. But looking back on it, I could not be happier about it. I am glad I got this opportunity. When I was volunteering at the SOAR agency, I had been assigned two different programs. The first one was called Adaptive Learn to Skate and was held at the Pepsi Ice Arena on Tuesdays from February 19th to April 2nd from 4:45-5:50. It was with younger kids from ages 8-12 with different severity levels of autism. Some were very high functioning and some were not. The kid I was assigned with was named Ben. He did not talk at all but I could communicate to him through visual and touch signals. The program hired two ice skating assistants to help the kids learn how to skate. The volunteers were mainly just there to serve as help with the kids posture and balance and to make sure they didn’t fall too hard. The kids were wearing a seatbelt around their waist that us volunteers were holding the entire time just incase one of them takes a tumble. Ben was not the best skater in the world obviously but I can say with pride that we fell down the less than anyone else and their partners! That being said, he was a little on the heavier side. Sometimes it was very hard when I was exhausted or tired to keep him from falling when he would use his whole weight against me. He never said any words to me but as we were skating I continually reinforced him and told him that he was doing an excellent job and to keep it