LO6

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e9sOZUIopxl-vzSWxTwe6ej8TylaZh75/view?usp=sharing

In Season 1, I had the opportunity to be a part of a local service by the name of Lighthouse motor skills. By involving myself in this service, I was able to learn many new skills and qualities which I was unable to do so in previous instances where I was involved in a service.

Since I had been a part of a local service before, I was aware of the proceedings and what I should strive to achieve during the course of this service. Being a part of the service, it was natural that there were many challenges that I would encounter. First of all, this particular service consisted of visually and hearing impaired children and the main challenge of being a part of this activity was to convey instructions to them because they were not able to follow what we were saying. Hence, it was important for us to communicate via sign language as that was the only way through which they were able to pick up and understand what we were trying to get them to do. In my opinion, the main risk that I took throughout the course of the service was interacting with the kids from the school that we were helping because I was unaware about their likes and dislikes and hence I was also unsure whether or not they will cooperate with me. However, I took that risk and luckily for me it paid off as the children tried their best to understand what I was trying to convey to them without reacting in a manner which suggested that they were not interested in it. Although this was one of the major risks that I took, I still believe that one thing that I was unable to achieve was that of getting all the kids to understand what I was trying to convey as there were a few of them who were in their own world. Hence, I strongly believe that I will be able to achieve the goals that I set before joining this service if I am able to reach out to all the kids and get them to be a part of the activities. Throughout the service, I had managed to develop the skill of patience as it was important for me to remain patient with the kids if they were to gain most out of this experience. Although there were times where I felt like I should not be as patient, I held on and that has helped me significantly.

Since this service involved me dealing with children with special needs, I realised how lucky I was to have the things that I do today and whenever I start cribbing about something, I should realise that there are many kids who do not have access to these and I should feel privileged about what I have and not take anything for granted.

In order to connect with the children in the future, I should focus on making my points clear and communicating effectively. I should also be able to understand and cooperate with them as there will be times when they will be unable to understand what I am trying to convey to them thereby making it important for me to follow what they are trying to convey to me.