Carleton Psychology Students Study Mental Retardation
Peter Prenzel-Guthrie, emeritus professor of psychology at Carleton College, has been challenging his students since 1971 by turning institutions like Northfield’s Laura Baker School into a Carleton classroom two times a week. As part of his introductory course titled “Practicum in Mental Retardation,” Prenzel-Guthrie’s students met individually with clients (residents) at the school to study behavior modification and to determine whether all minds go through the same stages of development.
Peter Prenzel-Guthrie, emeritus professor of psychology at Carleton College, has been challenging his students since 1971 by turning institutions like Northfield’s Laura Baker School into a Carleton classroom two times a week. As part of his introductory course titled “Practicum in Mental Retardation,” Prenzel-Guthrie’s students met individually with clients (residents) at the school to study behavior modification and to determine whether all minds go through the same stages of development.
Prenzel-Guthrie created the class 27 years ago in an effort to combine outreach service to the community with rigorous academic work. Before meeting with their clients, students spent the first two weeks researching Prader Willi syndrome and other developmental disabilities on the Internet, which has become a valuable source of information for this type of research.
After completing their research, the students spent the first two class periods each week interacting with a client from the Laura Baker school. The third class period was spent on campus relating their experiences to their Internet research. Prenzel-Guthrie urged his students to examine what about the client’s mental retardation might be causing a particular behavior.
Sophomore Anna Hindell said, “The hands-on experience has given meaning to the textbook conditions, like Prader Willi syndrome, and has opened a lot of options for me. I got over my discomforts with mental retardation. Now, I’m looking for a summer internship working at a mental hospital.”
The students completed the practicum by writing a case history of their client which drew from personal experiences, research and, with the permission of family members, the client’s files.
Some of Prenzel-Guthrie’s practicum students have gone on to study mental retardation in graduate school, but he acknowledges that many students take the class to challenge pre-conceived beliefs they may hold about mental illness.
“I had no past experience with people with mental retardation. In a sense, I took the course because I wanted to find the inner strength to reach out to help someone. I wanted to see if I could help them,” said Mary Lee, a first-year student from Fullerton, California.
Lee was matched with a client who has autism and schizophrenia and is the same age as Lee’s mother. Because her client showed interest in lizards and exercise, Lee often took her on walks around the Carleton campus and to visit Simon, the biology department’s pet iguana that recently died. “My client was heartbroken when Simon died. She told me ‘Well, Simon’s dead’ and we made a card,” Lee said.
While practicing simple skills with her client such as looking at people when talking to them or varying a walking route, Lee learned patience. She also learned to deal with the severe mood swings that are common for people with autism. “I stay back and just let it pass,” Lee said. “My client also does not look at me when she talks to me but she talks at objects like parked cars. We try to work on these things.”
Lee and Hindell intend to continue their visits to the Laura Baker School. “More people should volunteer, although volunteers must be trained and committed,” Lee said. “When the clients see you they get excited–to have someone who values them–and it feels like they’ll remember you forever.”