A Chicago Photo

A Chicago Photo

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Today...

Ross and I ended our lives of leisure today... we had our first day of orientation at Elim! The day went well, and of course had plenty of associated paperwork. We also began our CPI (Crisis Prevention and Intervention) training. We will learn how to physically protect ourselves/other students and restrain and redirect students with physical behaviors. It is a last resort to use, but definitely something that is needed at Elim. Don't think that all students are violent, but some do have that tendency, and some may occasionally respond that way if something is irritating them and they don't have the ability or skill to resolve their feelings appropriately.

Our training group consists of about 25 people, and it was nice to meet others with whom we will be working. I was able to talk some with a nurse and a COTA, and we both met several paraprofessionals. Ross and I will be working in separate areas of the school. He will be in the ACE program for students with autism, and I will be in the cross categorical program for kids with mulitple needs. The whole staff will be training next week, so we will meet the onslaught of the 300 or so staff members at Elim. Students will then start the Thursday before Labor Day. I won't start treating that first week. The PT staff and I will split the caseload, develop treatment plans, etc. Ross learned more about his role with the 18 and 19 year olds. His classroom is kind of a new development with life skills, and will involve a separate lunch room, the Wii, and various community outings, along with some "regular" school components. All in all, I think we are both excited about our jobs.

So our exploring will be slightly diminished as we begin work, but we do hope to continue biking along some of the local trails, and maybe downtown as well. Last Thursday we brought the bikes downtown and rode along the lakefront--which was amazing. The city of Chicago is accomodating for bikers, but the suburbs are still less than ideal. We did invest in a new bike lock after a Chicagoan informed us that he could cut our current one with fingernail clippers.

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