Hi everyone, my name is EJ Paraiso and I am a fieldwork student (new window) from the University of Regina (new window) helping out at the Neil Squire Society, Prairie Region. I am doing a 12 week placement program as part of completing my Kinesiology (new window) Degree with a major in Adapted Physical Activity (APA). The focus of an APA major is assisting individuals with a disability by enhancing their quality of life through opportunity in sport, recreation and overall well-being. I chose the Neil Squire Society because their organization entails the values that APA students focuses on as part of our post-secondary education. I have gained plenty of experience working in other facilities with people with disabilities and the Neil Squire Society is an organization that really intrigued me to work with a new group of individuals.

My placement so far has been a great experience as I have been fortunate enough to work with wonderful professionals within the organization. It has also been a pleasure to work with the people in the different programs that are offered at the Neil Squire Society. The programs I have been involved with are the literacy program, the Employ-Ability program, and the client one to one assessments. I feel that my post-secondary education has been an asset in assisting the people of the Neil Squire Society. I have also been able to network with other group leaders from other organizations that associate with the Neil Squire Society. The experience of networking with these individuals has been beneficial to me because I was able to be part of a collaborative effort to meet the needs of people with disabilities. An example of this effort was a poverty tour that show cased the living conditions of people with disabilities to the media. The Neil Squire Society was involved with this project along with other organizations like the Schizophrenia Society (new window), the South Saskatchewan Independent Living Center (new window) (SSILC), the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living (new window) (SACL), and the Anti-Poverty Coalition (new window).

I hope to continue to learn more about the organization and experience plenty of opportunities in helping people with disabilities. I feel great about my growth as a fieldwork student in this process and look forward to the future.