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The Life of a Behavioral Support Specialist Intern.
This page is dedicated to my experience and time as a Behavioral Support Specialist intern at Hope House Foundation (HHF) !
Analysis of My Internship Experience
During the Summer 2024 semester at Old Dominion University, I interned at Hope House Foundation. Hope House Foundation is a non- profit organization that provides services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities within their own homes. These services include individualized care and behavioral plans, family support, meal planning, and medical care. While interning with Hope House Foundation, I have gained permanently insightful and useful skills to apply towards my Communications degree. Throughout my internship, I had the pleasure of assisting with generating new ideas for behavior care plans and training. In addition, I attended core meetings that included 13 different teams/ locations where we discussed new techniques of introducing positive behavioral support to the people we support. As well as, attending and volunteering at different events such as Ghent Pride and Oceanview Fishing pier. While out on these adventures, I have had the opportunity to connect with the individuals being supported. A lot of these interactions were with my supervisors, who were training me on disorders that could affect one's behavior that occur when they are above baseline. There are many disorders that we assist with such as, PTSD, OCD, Dementia, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia etc. With that being said, Hope House Foundation has been patient and steadily available whenever I have specific questions about certain behaviors or individuals.
Advice for HHF
Since being a part of Hope House Foundation, I have learned that I was their first intern who was not virtual. This was a learning curve for everyone and I understood the aspects that made scheduling conflicting. Although we were working out the kinks, it would have been effective to share calendars. This internship included traveling and weekly meetings with different teams. Sharing calendars would have been viable communication for my supervisors and I too know if we meet up at admin or at a team location. With that aside, I did not have any major issues when it came to my duties within my role as a Behavioral Support Intern.
What would I do differently?
I would take more time to practice time management and not overbearing myself with work. Throughout this experience, I tended to overwhelm and overbook myself when I already had tasks that needed to be completed. This would lead to self- applied pressure and eventually cause me to stress. However, since this realization I have been incorporating the use of digital calendars and checking my calendar before committing to the next task.
SMART GOALS
My SMART Goals
1. Gain knowledge in this new leadership position and apply tactics within the first month.
2. Have the ability to speak confidently over time, in team trainings without using filler words.
3. Obtain my QMHP-A certifications after my internship is over.
I was able to complete two of my goals and exceeded my own expectations of becoming confident in a professional setting. I did go closer into the future when it comes to obtaining my QMHP-A. Since I am Junior while taking this internship course, I would not qualify to receive the certification due to not having my Bachelors degree. As though it may not be a current goal, it is still considered to be my longterm goal for when I do graduate. However, my leadership skills have improved. I've started initiating community outings and setting behavioral goals for the people we support.
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What's next for me professionally?
Professionally, I'd want to continue to expand my knowledge and work my way into family counseling. I am looking forward to more volunteering opportunities and attending person- centered meetings that advocate for marginalized communities. Hope House Foundation has provided me with positive and inspiring perspectives that can be used outside of the professional world and into real world situations.
Work-Based Learning Projects- Mellon
My first project that I completed at my internship was creating a Community Resource Notebook. A community resource notebook includes various activities and community outings that the staff can participate in with the people we support. The purpose is to encourage the people we support to find activities that they took interest in. This was a solo project and my supervisors provided clarification and ideas along the way. My community resources notebook turned out to be 16 pages fun filled activities!During this project, I used Microsoft Doc which is mostly used for my classes and essays. I was not familiar with making columns or how the bullet point system worked, but I figured it out with a couple of mistakes in between. I have realized this will become a useful beneficial for all angles of life. I have more tools to my disposal for my next project and willing to learn more about the intricacies of Microsoft Doc. Below I will attach my community resource notebook as a Doc, so the links are active in case anyone is interested.
The second project is currently active and it's a newer project that has been provided by the team. The Conditions Product List was originated by an Engagement Coordinator who needed assistance looking up useful accessibility items.This project is a spreadsheet of various accessibility devices that will be beneficial with the people we support.Since this was my first time using Excel, it was confusing in the beginning then I gradually caught on to the process. Academically, I could use this format in my future classes or group projects. I found Excel to be great in a collaborative setting and setting up a place for others to easily access needs that pertain towards them. As of now, I am focusing on the Deaf- HoH and Incontinence section which will continue to grow from there. We want to keep the people we support updated with devices that will improve their quality of life.
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