Because of the nature of my internship, I have faced lots of ambiguity in my directions and simply in the expectations they have for me and the rules of the company. There are a lot of difficulties when working with people with intellectual disabilities, so I would have appreciated more direction than what I have received. Recently, there was a person at the facility who was having a bad day. He was very homesick and wanted to leave. Because of his disability, he couldn’t understand that he had to wait until the weekend to go home and tried to leave. We had to stop him from leaving the building for his own security, however, in frustration, he began banging his head against the wall. Obviously, in this situation the first priority is keeping him safe and restraining him so he could no longer be a threat to himself. However, it has not been explained to me how to do so safely so that I do not further injure the patient or myself. To me, it feels like a precarious situation that requires a professional, not myself, however, if I am ever alone with a patient and a crisis occurs, I need to be able to handle it until someone else can assist me. Another scenario that hasn’t been properly explained to me is how much do I need to help the patients. For example, in the mornings I assist with brushing their teeth. Of course, each person is different and has their own level of capabilities, but I am still confused how much I should let them do on their own and how much I should be assisting. A huge goal and purpose of the facility I am working with is autonomy and self-reliance. They want to build confidence and create self-advocates. Obviously, this means allowing them to do stuff for themselves and make their own choices (when possible). However, as I said, every patient has different capabilities, and it is difficult to tell sometimes what each person is capable of. As of right now, I have been allowing each patient to brush their teeth themselves, but if it looks like they are struggling or aren’t brushing well, I’ll ask if they need help. If they say yes, they I step in and do the work for them. I don’t know if this is technically what I’m supposed to be doing, but it is at least giving them the opportunity to do it themselves for a bit. I feel like if I were to directly ask what I should do, my supervisor would probably say something along the lines of “it depends on the person”. I feel like this problem should resolve itself the more time I spend there and the more time I spend with the patients. There are also a lot of moments where I’m not quite sure what I should be doing. For safety reasons, there must always be a worker/professional in the room when patients are present, so in the morning while everyone is getting ready for the day, I am in the multipurpose room with the people who are either waiting to get ready or are already done. My job at that point is to simply be there and make sure nothing happens, so I am fulfilling my responsibility, however, I feel like I should be doing more. I’m unsure if that’s trying to talk directly with the patients, which is difficult because of the language barrier and the fact that some are nonverbal and others are unable to speak in full sentences, or if it’s organizing something to do. Once again, this may be one of those things that get better overtime as I become more comfortable with my role in the company, however, it is a bit difficult now. Especially since there are 30 residents and 30 more people who come each day. I’ve done a good job getting to know most of the residents, but the people who are only there for the day I don’t know as well. Luckily, the people I work with are all very nice, especially the psychologist I am working directly with every day. I know that I can ask her anything that is confusing me or that I find difficult to understand and she’ll explain it to me. In the morning we put the news on in the multipurpose room and a lot of times she’ll stop and explain to me in depth what is going on in the country so I can understand better what is being said on the news. I appreciate working with someone like her a lot.