Why Where Language Blooms?
Days of throwing out names, adjectives, and looking through the thesaurus for inspiring words. I spent days thinking about what inspires me about my clients. Who inspires me. Why do I do what I do. What words come to mind thinking about my day-to-day activities. What drives how I plan for treatment sessions or goals?
Do I incorporate something about my hobbies - quilting, thread, piecing a quilt, wovens?
Can I incorporate something about my favorite flower? A daffodil. It’s one of the first flowers of the Spring season to bloom. Despite cold temperatures at night, sometimes snow or frost, these resilient little flowers burst out of the ground with a bright, vibrant yellow! They all but announce that Spring is here and something new, fresh, and inspiring is coming.
The more I thought about this idea of a flower, something blooming, I couldn’t help but think of my wonderful friend, Raimee, and his Mom at Blawesome Farm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I met Raimee when he was 11-years-old, through a series of kismet events that I will cherish forever. I had been volunteering with a local non-profit in Raleigh, NC for quite awhile, where I met a woman who knew Raimee and his family. They were looking for someone to work with Raimee in his ABA program. (Fun fact: I almost didn’t make the cut! I was quiet and timid! Keyword there: WAS!) There’s a lot of history with Raimee and I could spend hours arguing that Raimee taught me more in the 5+ years we worked together than I ever taught him. Raimee and his family were key in forming me into the clinician that I am today and, usually with tears, I tell them how lucky I was to have their guidance.
Today, Rai owns a flower farm alongside his mom, Rebecca. I’ll drop the link to their flower farm in this post so you can go read about it because Rebecca is far better with putting into words just how meaningful and special Blawesome Farm is and the benefits it provides to both her life and Raimee’s. The work being done at Blawesome inspires me daily and I try to get out to the farm at least yearly on trips back to NC to see family and friends.
Here’s what Blawesome reminds me:
I’m reminded to consistently be thinking about the long-term goal and impact of the decisions I’m making as a clinician. Do they align with what my client needs right now and/or what they might need in the future? What about that client's family? Sometimes, even when I’m sitting with a toddler, I think about how what I’m planning to teach that toddler or include in their treatment plan might have lasting impacts on what that skill looks like in 20 years.
I’m reminded that my client is a human first and that they have real, human needs. Maybe that’s meaningful employment, a leisure activity, companionship, an outlet for anger, a safe place to engage in their sensory interests, or alone time. How do I incorporate that into my treatment and how do I provide a place that, first and foremost, honors the human I’m working with and however they’re showing up in the world that day.
I’m reminded that progress isn’t linear. I check my ego at the door. I’m here to listen to my clients, their families, and their related service providers. Therapy is dynamic and sometimes requires we change our way of thinking or our approach to teaching to ensure our client’s success. We have to be active problem solvers. We have to be flexible.
I’m reminded that collaboration is crucial. It takes a village.
So I invite you to be a part of our village. A place where everyone is welcome to bloom and blossom. A place where we celebrate the small and big victories. A place where we collaborate, because in life, in farming, and in therapy, we all play a really crucial role in the end result, whatever that may be.
Check out Raimee’s Farm here!
