November 1: "Dance is the hidden language of the soul."

Today was the first time I had met her father and brother. Usually when I come over Kay is home either her mom and sister are home or they pop in while I am there. Her Dad was very pleasent and seemed interested in what Kay and I were going to be working on that day, asking questions.

While we were working on dancing her brother had come in the room to tell Kayla they were going to be leaving and talking a walk around the block with the dog. From what I noticed, the family often informs Kay when they are going in and out, what they are doing, and tell them they are leaving from the back door. I believe this is so she doesn’t get started when she hears them leave or come back and can expect when they will be returning. Which means for Kay she needs to be prompted when to expect things in order to control her behavior.

10/25: "There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them."

Today when I got there we followed the same routine. She lets me in we talk a little bit about her weekend and school day, then we get into warm up stretches, yoga routine, work on balancing exercises, and then practice her jig from her class. I think Kayla really likes the predictable routine, seeing me at the same time each Tuesday. I have been trying to ask each week if she would like to do some activity outside of the house, I suggested the movies, bowling, or something at the college such as dancing in the dance studio, swimming or ice skating. She always seems very hesitant. I want to try and get her out of the house and interacting with others, Jess Forte and I were trying to get both or students out to try some sort of activity. Kayla was asking who the other girl was, seemed undecided if she wanted to do it. She decided she would rather do bowling, and we have been trying to plan a time the four of us can all get together. I think it would be a good for Kay to get out of the house without being with a family member. From what I can tell she is usually in the house or when she is out at her activities her mom goes and stays with her. I think this will be good for her socialization. Jess Forte’s project dream student also goes to the same high school, and they don’t previously know each other. Perhaps if all goes well Kayla and Cassandra can be acquaintances in school.

October 18: "Dance first. Think later."

Today when I got there we followed the same routine. She lets me in we talk a little bit about her weekend and school day, then we get into warm up stretches, yoga routine, work on balancing exercises, and then practice her jig from her class. I think Kayla really likes the predictable routine, seeing me at the same time each Tuesday. I have been trying to ask each week if she would like to do some activity outside of the house, I suggested the movies, bowling, or something at the college such as dancing in the dance studio, swimming or ice skating. She always seems very hesitant. I want to try and get her out of the house and interacting with others, Jess Forte and I were trying to get both or students out to try some sort of activity. Kayla was asking who the other girl was, seemed undecided if she wanted to do it. She decided she would rather do bowling, and we have been trying to plan a time the four of us can all get together. I think it would be a good for Kay to get out of the house without being with a family member. From what I can tell she is usually in the house or when she is out at her activities her mom goes and stays with her. I think this will be good for her socialization. Jess Forte’s project dream student also goes to the same high school, and they don’t previously know each other. Perhaps if all goes well Kayla and Cassandra can be acquaintances in school.

October 11: "Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another"

When I first got there I was talking to Kayla about school and her first dance class yesterday. She was very eager to talk about the dance class, and talked about how she ordered new dance shoes.

Today her dog was barking a lot while I was there. I noticed this clearly bothered Kayla, she was covering her ears and shaking her head often. This was a negative behavior because while the dog was barking Kay was unable to focus or do anything else. I think that if this happens again maybe if its nice out we can walk around the block, or maybe play with the dog so she’s not just barking in the other room.

October 10: "Dance is the hidden language of the soul"

Kayla started attending a Irish step dancing class on Mondays from 5-5:45, the teacher is allowing for me to come every once in a while to see how she is teaching and this way I can practice the skills with Kay when I meet with her on Tuesdays. Kayla’s mom and her were excited that I was willing to do this, and they thought it was something that Kay would benefit from and something that I could benefit in the way I help her progress as an Irish step dancer.

In the class there were two other girls who were around 7 years old. When I got there Kayla seemed happy to see me and was actively participating in the class. The teacher was doing a great job of teaching but since there was younger girls in the class a lot of the cues seemed a little to childish for Kay. I noticed she would kind of look at me with a smirk and I feel like this is because she knew that the cues being used were centered around an elementary level. Kay’s dancing level of skill is very similar to the girls in her class, at a beginner/ basic level. I noticed she often has trouble with left/right when dancing. I am unsure if this is due to the teacher facing us, not paying attention to her feet, or because she doesn’t really understand left from right.

Observing Kay's behavior in class, you can tell from her posture that she is shy. She tends to slouch and avoid eye contact. Also when the teacher was asking questions, she preferred not to answer them, even when the questions were directed right at her.

October 4:“If to dance is to dream, then you make dreams come true”

Today when preparing to go to Kay’s house I planned activities based around Irish step dancing but broke them down to the most basic level to try and let her have some success. I figured this might help with her frustration. If she is succeeding and seeing her self progress, she might not get discouraged. I came prepared with a balance board, some polyspots (shaped like left and right feet), some core activities and a yoga routine. At first it took some convincing to get Kay to try the new activities, but finally after showing her the importance of these activities are for Irish step dancers she was willing to try them.

After meeting with Kay three times, I realized I would have to prepare activities for her based around Irish step dancing because it is her big dream that one day she will compete. The environment we have been using is her living room. There is enough space to work with and I bring Irish music to play in the background which she really seems to enjoy. The activities I think I will repeat are the yoga routine (Sun Salutation), the core exercises (with the exercise ball), and activities based around developing and recognizing rhythm. Activities I think I will stay away from for now was the balance boards. Kay really didn’t like them and was very nervous to step on the board. It could be something we work up to, however, for now I think we will just to balancing exercises using polyspots on the floor.

While I was working with Kay, her sister had come home. I observed their interaction, her sister asked Kay how she was doing. She also encouraged her to keep working hard on the activity we were working on. When people enter the room, or if there is noises in the other room Kay for sure notices them and it distracts her from what she is currently working on.

Tuesday September 27: Dream On!

This was the first time I met with Kayla since the project dream kick off. We had planned that I would go to her house on Tuesday afternoons and we would work on Irish step dancing skills such as balance, core exercises, posture and steps. At her house, her mom was there and we had all talked when I had first got there. Kayla’s mom seemed to do a lot of talking for Kayla, sometimes she would ask Kay to tell me something, and sometimes Kayla would shake her head and would just rather her mother talk for her. I noticed that communication is a major hurtle that Kay deals with. She has the skills to communicate but often she just opts not to.

On the phone and talking with Kayla’s mom in person I received quite a bit of information about Kay. She is a Senior at Homer High School, and her two favorite interests are horseback riding and Irish step dancing. Medical concerns for Kay is that she has limited range of motion in her neck, concerning tilting it back far or rotations. Also that Kay struggles with balance and it would be one of our goals for her to improve while I work with her.

After talking with her mom, Kay and I went in and watched and participated with an instructional Irish step dancing DVD she had. Kay is extremely passionate about it, but it seems she gets frustrated when she cannot do the steps at the level (speed or accuracy) of the instructional DVD. Her behavior when she seems to be frustrate is an eye roll and then the repetition of trying over and over with no success. When I saw this I tried to get her to take a break from the DVD. We paused it and I tried to break down the step in order to have a little more success. I kept this in mind for planning next time, trying to bring activities and stray away from the DVD in order to limit her frustrations.