A month has passed since my arrival in Porto, and I realize I have yet to post on my experiences thus far.
When I first arrived, I was greeted by the Portuguese with warmth, kindness, and a plethora of field experiences! I spent the two weeks visiting schools: the children were adorable. To better understand the Portuguese schooling system, specifically the Early Education Programs, we visited both private and public institutions… In my observations I found the public institutions to be more regimented in their educational scheduling than their semi-privatized counterparts. Common problems in the classrooms were lack of behavior management and division of physical space. To the credit of the children's emotional development, the teachers and their aides used intrapersonal tactile communication quite frequently –something rarely seen in the American education system.
The Associação Social e de Desenvolvimento de Guifões (ASDG)
They provide nursery, kindergarten, daycare, home, and day-center geriatric services. I found it lovely that the adults have opportunities to interact with the young children during the day –keeping them active and engaged, both mentally and in their community.
I have had the extreme pleasure to work with CRIAR –Center for education, intervention, therapy, and training; I attended their first "Tea with Mothers" –a social for mothers of children with Autism or Asperger's disorders. As I speak little-to-no Portuguese, but understand a fair bit; I was able to converse with a mother about her son with Asperger's and the interventions she is getting trained on through CRIAR. She was impressed with their services, and enjoyed conversing with the other mothers; many of whom discussed the pros and cons of having another child: the affect it would have on their child with ASD, their romantic relationship, and their psyche.
Following this event, I was invited by the director of CRIAR to observe an informal assessment and intervention of a 2.5 year-old Polish child, suspected of being on The Spectrum, whose parents were thinking of immigrating to Portugal and here for a temporary stay. The intervention took place four times over two weeks. The child's mother spoke Polish and English fluently, and some Portuguese. During this time I became involved in the tri-lingual intervention including: parent-training on structured activity; occupational therapy, and music therapy.
I have been thoroughly enjoying my stay in Porto, learning about the education system, how to conduct research within the Portuguese culture, and of course … the food.
Until later,
Kylee
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