Social Work Simulation Reflection

Overall, I feel that I had an okay experience throughout the social work simulation involving Sammy’s mom. Throughout the interview I felt as if I didn’t talk as much as I wanted to, but I feel that that’s okay considering I’m a freshman and everyone in my simulation was older than me and had experience with socializing for a school project. I was glad to see that two of the four of us had worked in a simulation in general before. Two of my groupmates even knew the building we were going through and our instructors helping us, which I felt gave us an advantage. Though I’d wished that I had put out more of my ideas about what to do about Sammy throughout the simulation, the only one I could seem to have squeezed in was of Sammy’s hygiene since no one else seemed to want to bring it up. I was thankful that his mother hadn’t reacted negatively towards that question when I’d asked it since, while we were in class, we did go over how that may have been a sensitive subject. When my group mates and I were alone I’d brought it up and made everyone review the game plan one last time so we could stay on subject as well. I feel I could have used more considerate words when bringing it up, but my tone was very kind, so it wasn’t too bad in the end- even if it felt rushed. I was glad my group mates were so experienced and lighthearted as well; they made the simulation feel real- and more importantly fun -and they were very endearing and sensitive to the mother’s needs. The meeting was stressful when no one seemed to know what to say at times, but we all jumped in for each other at one point or another and we didn’t drag out the silences too long, which was nice. I know my partner Rosie was very kind and always seemed to know what to say when he was talking, but I felt that Lily and I, the two youngest of the group, seemed to be stuck in the same boat. We had a third member who was also very kind and she seemed to spearhead the conversations when no one else would want to step in. Our OT, Gina, was very smart, and she seemed to know how to go about reassuring Sammy’s mom and bringing up the main goals of what we wanted to review and improve on. I feel that I did a very good job of reassurance as well as the group’s social worker, I nodded a lot so that the mother knew I was listening, and I made sure she felt heard and not alone. Before we went in, I went over how important body language is and how we should be phrasing every question very gently. But by the end I felt that I had been generally quiet without meaning to be, and I really do wish I could have gotten more of my points across. Not only had I been the one that recommended we as a group reviews Sammy’s IEP, but I had also talked of how we as a group should explore extracurricular activities he could do; like sports or a tutor, so it made me disappointed in myself when I wasn’t the one to address them. Though my groupmates were very good at wording things where I felt I had been lacking, maybe it was good that they expressed things I’d originally wanted to bring up. I do feel that I was very good at maintaining eye contact and had open body language that made Sammy’s mother feel comfortable. Our teacher, Rosie, was very expressive and had made welcoming hand signals as well, something no one else really did throughout the simulation. I felt that my group was very open and kind to his mother but that if I hadn’t been there, no one would have brought up hygiene and not only our teachers, Lily and Rosie, but our OT, Gina, would have been lost and overly blunt. We all stumbled on our words at times and rushed to get them out in general, but I feel that we as a group did well in the end by only meeting three times total. One of the notable differences in how my peers worked on this simulation was how I tried to leave space for Sammy’s mom to talk more while my peers asked more direct questions. I felt as if I were a mediator, since if the mom had acted out, I felt I would have been the one to handle it and settle everyone down. We were all very well behaved though, and the simulation was fun looking back. If I had to do something differently, I would have talked more and put my social anxiety aside. But I’m glad that I got along very well with my group mates and did the simulation with confidence. I’d definitely find myself wanting to do a simulation again in a future class, I really felt that they helped me get some real-world experience and the actor we were working with was so nice. I’d definitely want to do something like that again.