Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Ken David Stewart: Education for Persons with Psychiatric Disabilitie...
Ken David Stewart: Education for Persons with Psychiatric Disabilitie...: "Up until the last few months I had the distinct privilege of teaching groups of adults with severe and persistent psychiatric disabilities. ..."
Education for Persons With Severe and Persistent Psychiatric Disabilities part 2
As I mentioned in my previous blog i had the privilege of teaching classes for men with severe and persistent psychiatric disorders. I taught these classes for a little over a decade. during this time I was able to make many observations and was able to draw several conclusions related to providing education for the mentally ill. I will start sharing what I have learned from my work in this field.
When I first started teaching classes for clients with severe and chronic psychiatric disabilities I soon came to realize that I was in many ways breaking some new ground. The more I talked with other mental health professionals the more I was told that they were not aware of too many others who were doing what I was doing. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to me as my background is in education. Teaching is what I do and this came to be my major focus in working with special needs populations.
I soon learned that the major focus in classes up to that time was what is known as life skills training.Life skills training generally involves the teaching of basic self care and social skills. This learning is usually taught in modules such as anger management, personal hygiene, room care, leisure skills, housekeeping skills (chores), medication management, etc. These core courses are all well and good on their own but they need to be presented creatively and enthusiastically to maintain client interest. One must realize that many clients residing in hospitals, institutions and community rehabilitation programs have been taking these types of classes for several years. As with any group of students they are likely to become bored and disinterested from learning basically the same material year after year.
First of all I should point out that my teaching methods are often unorthodox and may be thought of as unconventional. When one considers that persons with severe psychiatric disabilities often live unconventional lives this style of teaching can be very appropriate.
(to be continues in my next blog.)
When I first started teaching classes for clients with severe and chronic psychiatric disabilities I soon came to realize that I was in many ways breaking some new ground. The more I talked with other mental health professionals the more I was told that they were not aware of too many others who were doing what I was doing. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to me as my background is in education. Teaching is what I do and this came to be my major focus in working with special needs populations.
I soon learned that the major focus in classes up to that time was what is known as life skills training.Life skills training generally involves the teaching of basic self care and social skills. This learning is usually taught in modules such as anger management, personal hygiene, room care, leisure skills, housekeeping skills (chores), medication management, etc. These core courses are all well and good on their own but they need to be presented creatively and enthusiastically to maintain client interest. One must realize that many clients residing in hospitals, institutions and community rehabilitation programs have been taking these types of classes for several years. As with any group of students they are likely to become bored and disinterested from learning basically the same material year after year.
First of all I should point out that my teaching methods are often unorthodox and may be thought of as unconventional. When one considers that persons with severe psychiatric disabilities often live unconventional lives this style of teaching can be very appropriate.
(to be continues in my next blog.)
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