Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

Positive Statement

I'm most proud of the room environment I created. It was designed after a psychiatrist's playroom. To my surprise, the students learned that the toys I had in the room were actually used for autistic children as well as neurotypicals.

Assessment:

• 2 hour presentation: P+/AE (I felt the room environment was more than expected compared to others' and even though there were technical difficulties with my computer, I remained calm and pressod on. Plus, everyone liked my resource table.)
• Overall project: P+/AE (I felt that my science fair journey was exceptional and I did almost 60  hours of community service during the summer alone.)

What worked:

I learned more than I expected to and was able to organize my thoughts in a clear way during my presentation.

What didn't:

My sister's computer didn't work properly during the presentation, butI was able to fix that. Other than that, if I could go back in time, I would have done my science fair differently; maybe I needed more time for it, or just to start out with an easier idea for it so that I could have entered the LA County Science Fair.

Finding Value:

It has solidified my interest in the psychiatry career field. For example, knowing that there is always more to learn about any given disorder such as autism is very important for me. I am easy bored, so knowing that I will always have a challenge in this career field entices me. 

Blog 25: Mentorship

Contact:
Dr. B. John Shahin
909) 938-3134

Yasmin Cardona-Byrne
Parents' Place Outreach Coordinator
(626) 919-1091
Mentorship Log

The most important thing I gained from this experience was making contacts for future endeavors. Being that I will need to do clinical hours in college, I find it beneficial that I already have people that can help me since since they know my work ethic and know I am trustworthy.

Both of my mentors have helped me to answer my EQ. Dr. Shahin gave me great foundation to my topic. For example, from him I learned what support must mean to a therapist. Mrs. Cardona-Byrne gave me valuable resources to back up my answers. I learned of ways to reach out to people and got hands-on experience at the center.

Rainbow Jello-O

May 16, 2013

A great sensory game for children that like to eat everything in sight, even toys. It's okay for them to eat the materials to this game, but they may not prefer it. Click here to read more. 

Dolphin Therapy

May 13, 2013

This unconventional therapy is used for neurologically disabled people. It involves the patient swimming with the dolphins to develop specified skills. This therapy is only used if other common therapies have been ineffective. There has been must debate as to how well this therapy works and if it is a scam or not. Either way, it seems pretty cool. Even if it is proven to be ineffective, it's a nice way for the patients to have fun.

Toys for Autism

May 9, 2013

While working at the Parents' Place, I found these sites online that supplement my findings from the Autism Flyer.

• Beyond Play
• Lakeshore Learning

They use these toys at the resource center to create the environment that is described by one of my answers: create a fun, sensory-friendly, and treatment-based environment :)

Autism Apps

May 9, 2013



Introducing AutismXpress. This app helps children with facial recognition problems, specifically understanding emotions. There are three games in this app called Feeling Finder, Emotion Matching, and Expression Questions.

For more information click here.

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

1) What is your EQ? What is your best aswer and why?

• How can a psychiatrist best support a child with autism?
• Best answer: decide if medications are necessary/administer the necessary dosage
• The other two answers can be applied to a psychologist or any toehr career of a like fashion. However, what sets psychiatry apart is the fact that this is the only mental health career that is allowed to administer medications. Because of this, a psychiatrist must have the utmost discretion and discernment when dealing with prescription drugs and the child. Therefore, it is the best and most unique answer. 

2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• I knew I wanted to focus on the medical field and that I had an interest in mental retardation. I did a few quick searches and discovered that MR is part of a category called Neurodevelopmental Disorders. I found that ASD was included. I chose autism as a focus because it is currently a popular disorder and I could incorporate psychiatry into it.
• Some potential answers I had to my EQ were advocating (which I got from a book called The Everyday Autism Advocate by Areva Martin Esq.) and recognizing the role of support (Shahin). 
• My first solid answer stemmed from a flyer I found called Ten Toys that Speak to Autism: create a fun, sensory-friendly, and treatment-based environment. My second answer, extend therapy to the immediate family, began from a article called by Kate Miller-Wilson called The Impact of Autism on Families. My best and final answer mainly came from my 4th interview with Ariadnet Salcedo. She showed me that sometimes families don't want the child to be on medication and that the psychiatrist must decide if it's absolutely necessary for the child to be on pills.

3) What problems did you face and how did you resolve them?

• The science fair was a rocky start for me. I knew that all the project idea I had were graduate level work. Still, I compromised the focus of it to something I thought was doable. However, after months of reaching out to graduate professors, autism centers, and the like, I couldn't obtain the necessary help/ After receiving an extension I essentially dumbed down the experiment and got it done.
• Another problem I encountered was finding enough mentorship hours. The clinical psychologist I mentored with, Dr. B. John Shahin, was only able to give me up to one hour per week. After a while, I found a facility called the Parents' Place and was able to acquire above the necessary amount of hours. 

4) What are your two most significant sources you used to answer your EQ and why?

• An article called "Medication for Autism" by the National Institute of Mental Health. This article detailed almost all medications used for autism and put them into specific categories. It was clear, concise, and comprehensive.
• A flyer/article called "Ten Toys That Speak to Autism". It was compiled by Autism Speaks, Toys R Us, and the National Lekotek Center. This flyer was important in that it opened the door to my second answer and it gave me insight to companies out there that do interesting things for autism.

5) What is your product and why?

• From this project, I developed a new skill. I was able to recognize significant detail that could change an outlook, diagnosis, or even treatment plan. I learned this specifically from my first Science Fair attempt and interactions I've had with psychiatrists. In the real world, these doctors get to the heart of the problem before attempting to treat it. This is for good reason because they have a heavy responsibility when using medications or misdiagnosing.