I have been working with a student who approached RWN for assistance. Her background information from her RWN interview stated that she was ’struggling with some of her cognitive therapy exercises – needing assistance with comprehension and breaking down complex sentences and paragraphs to better understand the cognitive approach to therapy recommended by her OT and Physio’.
I met with her earlier this year when she identified that her need was to return to work next year when she learned how to manage her pain through a rehabilitation process called Graded Motor Imagery (GMI). GMI can be used to treat pain and movement problems related to altered nervous systems by exercising the brain in measured and monitored steps which increase in difficulty as progress is made. GMI is recommended for people with chronic pain and includes brain training exercises as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation program.’
The student was keen to improve her overall grammar, having missed a lot of schooling when she was growing up, so we agreed that her need to understand the GMI process would drive her learning in terms of improving her knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure, which was evident in the writing tasks at Interview stage.
She has, over a period of time this year, become proficient in using the GMI APP and the workbooks that are used in conjunction with the APP and she shared her information with me.
The GMI therapy process has several medical terms and together, we used Google search for the meanings of several words and terms used in this process. We worked together to create a template for her PROTECTOMETER so that she could identify her DIMs & SIMs, i.e. ‘Danger in Me’ & ‘Safety in Me’.
- The DIMs she identified would list her evidence of danger related to her body pain.
- The SIMs would list what she identified as things she had put into place for her safety.
For instance, one of her DIMs may identify the things that are happening in relation to her body pain, and the corresponding SIM will list all the things she has put in place to address her pain.
The Protectometer process states that there will be pain when there is more credible evidence of DANGER related to your body than there is credible evidence of SAFETY related to your body.
During this process, I was introduced by my student to a new way of pain management which involved the use of an APP, many Google searches and a new way for us to work together online when she could not attend face-to-face, due to her health issues.
I had created a draft template for her, and we kept in touch through emails involving her homework to identify her DIMs & SIMs on this template and she would bring her homework in for me to check for sentence structure, punctuation and spelling. When she showed me what she had written, I was really impressed, thinking that her progression was very much on track.
Until…….she showed me how she was completing her template by using the microphone function on her laptop to dictate what she wanted to enter, and AI was completing the task for her. We both had a laugh over this experience and concluded that if this process worked for her, she could reinforce her learning by paying particular attention to what AI had provided towards the completion of the tasks that I had assigned, i.e. perfect spelling, sentence structure and punctuation.
This student has recently informed me that she would not have progressed with understanding the complexities of the Graded Motor Imagery process without RWN assistance and that she has already been offered some part time work commencing in November this year. She feels more prepared to take on her duties, which involves working with people with disabilities, to ensure their safety and comfort when attending Arts and Musical functions. She will have her PROTECTOMETER as a reminder of her progress in identifying what she has in place for her own safety in the workplace and indeed her life.
She also has a better understanding of grammar through working together to identify, nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. and now has charts that she can refer to when needed.
We have agreed that a good way forward is for her to pay attention through her preferred reading of books, in terms of improving her knowledge of grammar basics, keeping an index book to record her spelling and using AI to pay particular attention to sentence structure and spelling, as well as requesting assistance from AI for comprehension purposes.
For myself as her tutor and not at all shabby for a baby boomer who began her working life at the age of 17, using a manual typewriter, pounding the keys and throwing the carriage to one side with frequent changing of the typewriter ribbon and whiteout to correct mistakes, I have evolved. I have become quite proficient in the use of technology in my studies and in my work over the years, online searches, paying bills, travel arrangements, etc.
I have become accustomed to AI , much to my horror, with their predictive texts, finishing off my sentences, when I am writing documents and sending emails. I even know what Chat Bots are now. However, I still hold on to a belief that technology over my lifetime has evolved to frightening heights and wonder how some seniors deal with all the changes.
I have learned a great deal from the experience with my student this year, recognising that AI can be helpful in assisting students with their Reading, Writing and Comprehension. The process has involved significant improvement in my understanding of the use of AI as a partner in learning, as long as we are aware of its benefits and discourage dependency.
By Swan Coordinator & Tutor Sandra