THREE

PLACEMENTS IN
16 MONTHS
My journey to becoming a CYC Practitioner

1st Internship:
Transfiguration of Our Lord
I worked in a grade 2 class. My main focus surrounded 2
children who were diagnosed with autism and ADHD.
I created programs to help them and to assist the class.
These programs/systems will be illustrated throughout this
presentation.

Sticker chart
system
I created this system for the entire class, simply
because I did not want to separate my two focus kids
because of their mental diagnoses.
Stickers can be received after a major task was
completed; time was taken to help a peer or
completing an assignment before anyone else. Those
are just a few examples that I rewarded
After filling a row, a prize was given initially. I
eventually changed that to giving them 5-10 minutes
to utilize however they wanted, such as painting or
drawing. I also would give out awards for the kids to
take home to show their parents the hard work
theyve demonstrated.

Visual
Schedules

Visual Schedules were created to assist the two

students.
It was taped to their desk and treated as a bingo game
For every time a task was completed. For example
hanging up coat and bag they are to place a bingo
part on the picture.
After receiving 10 in a row which normally comes after
partaking in at least 10-20 minutes of a subject the
students would be able to take a 5-10 minute break to
utilize various art supplies.
I designed this chart to ensure the two children can
only receive 10 in a row when theyve completed
certain amount of class time.
A timer was paired with this schedule, where it were to
be independently set for the beginning of each subject
for about 15-20 minutes. When 10 in a row was
reached or a subject was completed 5-10 minute of
break time was given.

Building team work

and relationship
The class needed assistant in developing
proper team work skills.
I did an activity where they were placed in
groups. They were encouraged to work
together to paint an image, but this image was
to be created without speaking.
This challenged their patience and ability to
trust their peers.
Another activity I did was a self reflection
piece. Where they were given a face and on
one side they reflected on how they perceive
themselves and on the other side peers wrote
positive characteristics.

Social Stories
One of the student I was working with,
had various outbursts that we worked on
throughout my time there.
One way we worked together to come up
with alternatives to not having a
aggressive moments included a social
story.
This social story proved successful as he
would remember what the boy did in
situations that made him upset. The skills
taught in the story were stopping and
taking deep breathes; walking away and
seeking help from adults.

2nd Internship: Hincks DellcrestResidential

At this placement I worked with youth between the ages of 1316.

The first two months I worked at the Jarvis location in the

residential setting. I took part in the classes and various
programming.

The last two months was at the Farm in Collingwood. Being in

such an open environment gave me the opportunity to excel
even more than I did in the city.

My relationship with the teens changed and became even

stronger, as I was able to therapeutic relationships which
benefited their emotional and social development.

Mindfulness

A key component of this program was mindfulness.

It was a way for teens and staff to reflect and bass in their
emotions.

I learnt the importance of being in the moment and something

simply as breathing in a control manner.

Words without lines: Poetry/rap

program

This program allowed teens and staff to

look into their thoughts and to focus on
their emotions within the moment and
then safely share with others without
there being judgment.

This program could be ran within 10

minutes and up to an hour.

Gives everyone the opportunity to

understand each others mentality and
touch on concerns that may be similar.

I designed this program for teens who

express a lot of anxiety, anger, sadness
and who have gone through bullying;
rape; invasive medical procedures and/or
difficulty with parents.

This program allows for various topics to

be addressed in a creative manner

My guitar was utilized to create a tune to

their piece.

Girls group: Body image

The focus for this girls group was

established due to the negative
perception the females had about
themselves.

Throughout the program the girls were

encouraged to write about their progress
and their change in how they viewed
themselves

This documentation was done in a book

provided to the girls at the beginning of
the program.

On the first page they were to write down

their strengths and positive perception,
which they were encouraged to reflect
back upon

Healthy eating and exercising was

encouraged to assist the girls with self
love and being able to see themselves in
a different light.

3rd placement: Syl Apps Youth

Centre

Work with multiple professions, such as psychiatrist and psychologist

in order to create the best management plan for each youth

Working with teens of both genders that have been diagnosed with a
mental illness

Youths may be admitted through CFSA, YCJA or criminal code of

Canada, giving me an opportunity to work with youths who have
various behavioural problems

Each youth have differing emotional, physical and mental capacities

The youths age varies from 14-18.

Have written multiple management plans

Short term girls group

For this program I am working alongside a psychologist.

I utilized the ideas I had for my girls group program that I did at
my last placement

This program is intended to run for 6 weeks.

we started the program in cottage 2, which are with girls who

have been at Syl Apps for a longer period of time.