Funding Source: Gertrude Albert Heller Memorial Grant

My name is Elena Bien, and this summer I am working at the Village Education Center in Bangkok, Thailand. The Village is a special education school that allows students with a range of disabilities to receive individual support, daily speech, occupational, and physical therapies whilst following an English curriculum.

This past month, I have had the chance to be involved with their summer camp as a support staff for students. As an independently designed internship, I am grateful to be able to shape my experience to best suit the students’ development as well as my interests. 

This summer, I have been involved in supporting classroom activities, running one-on-one sessions with students, shadowing speech language therapies, and assisting with physical therapies. The school has three different classrooms within the summer program, and I have really enjoyed forming relationships with students ages 5-19 years old.

Each day, I lead two or three 30-minute individual sessions with the youngest students in the physical therapy room. Here I am able to get to know the students personally and learn more about their skills, hobbies, and communication styles. My goal with these sessions is to incorporate individual interests with gross and fine motor skill development. For example, one student wanted to play with blocks and loves numbers, so I designed an activity where he had to complete math problems by moving blocks around a number mat on the floor. 

Another student wanted to play with cars, so I created an obstacle course with balance beams and rings where he had to move the cars one by one across the course. I have had to be very creative and patient in these sessions to try to make it as fun and engaging for students whilst still focusing on skill development. Additionally, I have learned to balance getting a student to try to complete a task or pivoting if this is more applicable to the situation.

Another aspect of the summer that I have found very valuable is the opportunity to shadow speech therapy and physical therapy sessions. I sat in on several speech and language therapy sessions for students on a spectrum of communication styles from verbal to non-verbal. I learnt a lot of different strategies for developing communication skills and ensuring comprehension in students, which I have tried to apply to my work. I also spent a week working with the physical therapist and learned about activities and stretches that are specific to supporting different muscle groups for children with physical disabilities (e.g. cerebral palsy and spina bifida). 

I have found that developing personal relationships with students has been the best way for me to understand and work with them. When working with children with disabilities, it is important to learn what they enjoy and what triggers or escalates them. As part of the summer camp we have taken several field trips to science museums, the aquarium, and the beach. I have found it interesting to see how the students react to different environments and how behavioral difficulties are dealt with differently in the classroom compared with outside settings.

My work at the Village this summer has strengthened my passion and interest for directly working with and supporting children with disabilities. The highlight of my internship has been getting to know each student’s interests and capabilities.

Something that I would like to share with others interested in working in education from my experience this summer is the importance of multimodal communication. Engaging students with visual, tactile, and auditory input when teaching can help them interact with information in a more accessible way. Finally, if you are interested in working with an organization that does not have a formal internship program, I would suggest trying to reach out by explaining your interests and goals for your work! I have tried to make the most of the summer by asking to be part of different activities in order to gain exposure in the field and mold the experience to meet my interests. 

As a rising senior neuroscience major at Haverford, this internship has allowed me to learn more about possible careers in education, speech pathology, and physical therapy. Thank you so much to the CCPA and Gertrude Heller Memorial Grant for funding this international summer experience. It has provided me with new insights into a path I am excited to explore beyond Haverford.