Volunteering: Motor Activity Clinic

One of the most enjoyable experiences I have had through the Honors College is when I volunteered at the Motor Activity Clinic, or the MAC. Hosted at our IUI Natatorium, children with disabilities from ages 3-15 years are welcome to participate in a variety of physical activities led by students and volunteers. As a volunteer, I got to assist the students with their clients and even got to work with my own client! This is such an amazing program that allows young individuals work on physical activity, fine motor development, and more all while doing activities that are fun to them. Working with them and seeing them having so much fun was a joy to me. We lead so many different games for them in the gymnasium and pool, allowing them to run around, play some games, participate in sports that they like, and enhance their swimming skills! I enjoyed every moment of this volunteering experience!

Click here to read more about the MAC!

Skills Development

When I first started this volunteering experience, I was very nervous. I struggled with my confidence in knowing what to do, how to help the student and the client, or how to modify if needed. For the first couple of days, I decided to be a sponge and soak it all in and observe. I wanted to see how everyone runs things and apply those skills on my own. This really helped me as I started, and it helped me to build confidence. Soon, I was able to participate more with the clients by dancing to music with them as a reward, kicking our legs with them at the edge of the pool to work on swimming, and leading them through obstacle courses. I felt much more comfortable during my last semester of volunteering with the MAC. I was paired with my own client this semester and I was really excited. My client was very fun and bubbly, and we loved talking about cats. We played a lot of volleyball together and found a lot of rings at the bottom of the pool as well. By the time I was working with my own client, I felt way more comfortable and confident in myself in leading my client through fun and productive activities. As I look back, I grew into a very confident, positive, and excited student while working with this population. It has really helped me improve as a person, and I am able to use those skills now at my internship with NeuroHope and in the future as I start physical therapy school.

Reflection

As a new freshman in college, I was nervous and lacked confidence in my abilities to work with young kids, but I was excited to jump into this, especially because it would give me a glimpse into the physical therapy and occupational therapy field. I was unsure of how I would do leading a client through different physical and fine motor activities, but I found myself being able to adapt well to these new skills. I have worked previously with children with disabilities at my own high school, so I had a little bit of experience, but leading them through this program was a whole new world to me. I faced a few challenges but was able to recover quickly and apply what I learned from that for next time. For example, my client was upset and started to run away from me and the other student. I was able to react quickly and catch up to them to immediately direct them back to the dance room, encouraging a reward by playing their favorite song if they were able to do some jumps for us. This worked well for us, and by playing their favorite song, we were able to help improve their mood and have a fun experience. The way I was able to jump in immediately and deescalate the situation surprised me and helped me to see that I do have a little bit of confidence in myself! I felt that my client was able to trust me more as well and that made me very happy. Working with the MAC really helped me become the person I am today. As I work with many individuals with disabilities, I think back to this experience and how glad I am that I came out of my shell and grew my confidence and personality. I hope to continue to improve in these traits as I go into graduate school and my career afterwards!