View source for Samantha Messina

<div id="content_view" class="wiki" style="display: block"><span style="display: block; text-align: center">My Internship at Academy Learning Center<br /> </span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">My name is Samantha Messina. This year I completed my field experience requirement while working at Academy Learning Center. Academy Learning Center is a school devoted to special needs students with multiple disabilities. The school is located in Monroe Township. The school caters to students ranging in ages from three to the graduating age of twenty-one years old. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> While completing my hours, I shadowed and observed a speech pathologist. Speech pathologists evaluate and diagnose speech and language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders and provide treatment for these disorders. Speech pathologists can work in a variety of settings such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, as well as private practices. During my internship I observed my supervisor while she conducted sessions with students. I also was able to run my own sessions with her assistance. I worked with children with a variety of disabilities such as different ranges of autism and students with Rett syndrome. I sat in on meetings with teachers, speech pathologists, and parents discussing student’s progress. I also met with other therapists discussing student’s progress along side my supervisor. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">While observing the students I saw many interesting things. I met students classified as low functioning autistic. Some of these students also were diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and OCD and were nonverbal. According to my supervisor, one particular student struggled with placing sequencing cards in the correct order. After months of practicing I was able to see this student place all of the sequencing cards in the correct order by himself for the first time. The excitement on his face and the gleaming smiling was heartwarming and something that I will never forget. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">After seeing some students' struggle with OCD and generalized anxiety disorder, I began to become curious about students with autism and if there was any connection since OCD and generalized anxiety disorders were so common with this population. For my "little piece" project I decided to put together a presentation about OCD and generalized anxiety disorder and the relationship between these disorders and autism. I presented my findings for the principal, teachers and speech pathologists. I really enjoyed researching this topic and my audience really enjoyed learning new facts about behavioral treatments used to help students with these problems, which made this presentation a very rewarding experience and helped me feel that I could contribute something significant to my site. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">This experience has affected my life professionally because before taking this class I was unsure if I wanted to go to graduate school for therapy or speech pathology. I decided to take this opportunity to get hands-on experience in speech pathology since I never really understand the different aspects of the career. I instantly knew that this field was where I belonged. I gained experience that most undergraduate students who are applying to graduate school will not have. While searching for graduate programs, there were actually several programs that required an internship with a speech pathologist, which made me feel confident that my application will stand out. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Personally, this experience has changed my life by giving me the confidence that I can handle any task given to me. It also helped me appreciate my life and the little things. Seeing students that are my age that cannot do the most basic everyday tasks that I once took for granted changed my outlook on life. I am so grateful for this experience and would not change anything about my time spent at Academy Learning Center. </span></div>