Robin's Early Childhood Studies Blog: PERSONAL ADVOCACY REFLECTION

Saturday, September 15, 2012

PERSONAL ADVOCACY REFLECTION

I have always tried to advocate for others when I could. One incident in particular reinforced the path I have chosen to pursue. This incident occurred with one of the children who were enrolled in my childcare. The basics of the situation are this little boy had been (allegedly) subjected to physical abuse from his mother’s new boyfriend. Because he was only three-years-old at the time and had been diagnosed with high functioning Autism, the investigative worker through DCF (Department of Children and Families) made the statement to me that this child had no voice. She did not see why she should keep the case open since the child’s mother recanted her corroboration of the event which took place. I explained that this little boy did have a voice and that she was getting really frustrated with the system. I reminded her that this was not a good thing since I would be calling her supervisor in order to discuss the situation. Suffice to say this investigator was taken off the case and a case was opened in order to make sure the children in the household were being taken care of and not being subjected to abuse by the mom’s boyfriend. I am happy to say that mom eventually left this guy and the children (from what I hear) are doing great. The little boy in question is now eight-years-old and has been mainstreamed into the regular classrooms at school. I was given a picture of him by a mutual friend and was very happy to see how well he is doing.

I see this situation (mentioned-above) as the reinforcement I needed that I was heading in the right direction with my studies. At this time in my life I was still trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to do now that I was no longer in the role of wife (since my late husband's accident). This situation led to one another and so on. I now have a new confidence that I did not have at that point in my life.

2 comments:

UnknownSeptember 15, 2012 at 11:01 PM
Robin it is wonderfu that you had the courage to speak out for this child and his famialy because sometimes individuals look to agency employees in CPS and Family Service agencies to be trained to be better advocates for children and sometin=mes we are faced with peope like the one you encountered.I am glad to hear the child and family are better.Thanks for sharing such a heart felt story.

Debra
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AnonymousSeptember 16, 2012 at 10:07 PM
WOW what a powerful situation. I hate reading about it happening, but it is important that an advocate was there. We all need those situations that change our outlooks or put us back on track. We begin to appreciate our experience, our education, and what we do. I think this is when we being to look at ourselves as professionals in the field.
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PERSONAL CHILDHOOD WEB

When constructing my personal childhood web I needed to remember those who contributed to a feeling of being loved, left me feeling special in some way, and cared about. This was a difficult task as my memories of my childhood, especially from the years of ten and up, were more of surviving this time instead of enjoyment.

Those individuals who did leave a positive impression in some way during the course of my early childhood and middle childhood are: my maternal step-grandfather; my mother; my father; my sister; and my mother's long-term boyfriend and father figure in later years.

My maternal step-grandfather, Monty Crytzer, was the one person in my childhood that I could always count on the keep me laughing and see the fun part of childhood. Even though we are not biologically related, I attribute my sense of humor and how I look at life to him. When times get tough, I always remember how he taught me the importance of being a kid at heart. One specific memory is of him pushing my sister and me around K-Mart in a shopping cart telling us to yell for our mom and grandmother. We had fun, they were totally embarrassed. I have many wonderful memories of my time spent with him.

My mother, Sarah, had her ups and downs as a parent. Most of my memories are not of fun times but to give her credit she did the best she could under the circumstances she found herself in during my later early childhood and middle childhood years. She took care of the basics in order for us to be healthy. She made sure we ate, had clothes, got up for school, etc... It was in the department of showing love that she had a tough time in. I always assumed she loved us but just did not know how to show it.

My father, Eddie, was a great father when we were little whenever he was around (which was not often because of work). He was very interested in technology and I credit him with my interest in all types of gizmos, gadgets, and computers of any type. The times I remember the most fondly were spent in his workroom as a young child being instructed on how to use his Ham Radio setup. Unfortunately, he slowly disappeared out of my life when I was around ten or so.

My sister, Wendy, is older than I am but we always shared a room. We were close later in early childhood and in early middle childhood due to the environment we lived in. Specific memories are painful to remember, but it was and is important that she was there when times were tough. We went through a rough time in later childhood but are now as close as ever.

My mom's long-term boyfriend, Ralph, was and still is a father figure for me. Since the age of fifteen, he has been the person who pretty much took on that role in my life. We never lived in the same house but do live only two houses apart. Aside from taking on some of the roles as father figure, he is a great listener as well as full of information that he loves to share.

There were others who had an impact as I progressed into adulthood but these are the five that came to mind for my early childhood and middle childhood. I do believe we are a product of our environment in so many ways and even though three of the five mentioned are no longer alive, the impact they had on my life is still present today.

Robin's Early Childhood Studies Blog

Saturday, September 15, 2012

PERSONAL ADVOCACY REFLECTION

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