Discovering Your
Personal Genius
~ Creating Your Successful College Experience
Carolyn P. Phillips M.Ed, ATP
email: carolynpphillips@mindspring.com
www.gatfl.org
Discovering Personal Genius:
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A plan-full approach that reveals life themes;
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That presents a path of Discovery;
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That begs Investigation;
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That creates Options;
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That breeds Innovation & Success in personal, educational and career development
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Griffin - Hammis
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AGENDA
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Creating Successful College Experience
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Define and Explore Success
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Considering Strategies & Solutions to Accomplishing Your Goals
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Lessons Learned Along the Way
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Guiding Principles
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We – Collectively – are Brilliant & Can find an Innovative Path and Create Brighter Futures
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We must Think, Live and Act from a place of Abundance – We have enough time, money, resources…
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We Must Focus on Abilities!
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YOU have the Power to make the Difference!
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Change vs. Progress (Bob Phillips)
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Guiding Principle
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Over 54,000,000 individuals in the United States have disabilities that affect their ability to:
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see,
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hear,
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communicate,
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reason,
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walk, or
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perform other basic life functions.
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Guiding Principle
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Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to—
(A) live independently;
(B) enjoy self-determination and make choices;
(C) benefit from an education;
(D) pursue meaningful careers; and
(E) enjoy full inclusion and integration in the economic, political, social, cultural, and educational mainstream of society in the United States.
Statistics to Munch On!
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The Numbers
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14% of people with disabilities are fully employed.
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16% of people with disabilities are underemployed.
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70% are unemployed or out of the work force entirely.
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G. W. Bush – Freedom Initiative
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You are Among Greatness!
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Business executives who pay great sums for consultants to teach them to “think out of the box” would do well to observe the habitually creative thinkers in their midst – people with disAbilities.
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Excerpted from: “The Inclusive Corporation” by Griff Hogan
You are Among Greatness!
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The necessity of addressing mundane problems with creative solutions has likely prepared many people with disAbilities to be innovative in more complex areas, including the challenges faced by business.
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Excerpted from: “The Inclusive Corporation” by Griff Hogan
Innovations - “Curb-Cuts”
Technological innovations and modifications originally intended for people with disabilities, but that end up benefiting many more, are often called “electronic curb-cuts”. Examples of these are almost endless:
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The most famous is the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell, as many know, was a teacher of deaf students (his wife also had a severe hearing impairment), and the research that led to the invention of the telephone was directly related to his concern for them.
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The development of early computer protocols led to what is now called the Internet. Dr. Vinton Cerf, who was hearing impaired, was married to a woman who was deaf, and frequently corresponded with her using text messaging. His familiarity with this format was key to his work with ARPANET, the precursor of the World Wide Web.
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Excerpted from: “The Inclusive Corporation” by Griff Hogan
Innovations - “Curb-Cuts”
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Inventor Dean Kamen, known for a series of disability related inventions, was working on a wheelchair capable of climbing stairs and putting its occupant in a standing position. In the process, he and his team realized that they could build a device using very similar technology that could impact how everybody gets around. The Segway HT (for human transporter), a high- tech scooter-like device was born!
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Excerpted from: “The Inclusive Corporation” by Griff Hogan
You are Among Greatness!
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The following list, a small sample of famous people with disabilities, proves the point:
Alexander the Great Handel Renoir
Muhammad Ali August Rodin Hans Christian Anderson
Steven Hawking Franklin Roosevelt Beethoven
Babe Ruth Homer Sir Walter Scott
James Earl Jones Lord Byron George Bernard Shaw
Barbara Jordan Julius Caesar Robert Louis Stevenson
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Excerpted from: “The Inclusive Corporation” by Griff Hogan
You are Among Greatness!
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The following list, a small sample of famous people with disabilities, proves the point:
Ray Charles Helen Keller Tchaikovsky
Agatha Christie Mel Tillis Winston Churchill
George Lucas Leo Tolstoy Charles Darwin
Henri Matisse Charles Dickens Toulouse-Lautrec
Emily Dickenson Michelangelo Harriet Tubman
Robert Dole John Milton Vincent Van Gogh
Dostoevsky Sir Isaac Newton Leonardo da Vinci
Albert Einstein Friedrich Nietzsche George Washington
George Patton Robin Williams Woodrow Wilson
Virginia Woolf Goya Itzhak Perlman
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Excerpted from: “The Inclusive Corporation” by Griff Hogan
Questions to Consider
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How did You get to this Point?
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Where are You Headed?
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Got a Map?
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What do You Consider to be Success?
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What is Your Vision for Your Future?
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What is Our Collective Vision for the Future?
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Who is in/needs to be in Your Circle of Support?
L. Johnson
vs.
Frances V. Phillips
If a person does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau
Consider this -
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My College Success relied on
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Knowing Myself
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Self-Exploration
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Who Are You?
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Learning Style
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What is Your Learning Style?
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Honestly Exploring –
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What do I want to Do When I Grow Up?
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What Assistive Technology do I need to accomplish my Goals?
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Consider this -
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My College Success relied on
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Building win-win relationships
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Establishing a solid circle of support
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Receiving and providing support
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Diversify your Circle of Friends and Acquaintances
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It sometimes is “Who you know”
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BALANCE - Social Life and Studies
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Where are You Headed?
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost
Consider this -
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My College Success relied on:
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Developing a Vision for My Future
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Created a “Map” and “Vision Board”
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Personal Goals
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Strong Relationship with my Family
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Build a Habitat House (12)
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Climb the Great Wall of China (2004)
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Adopt a Child (2! Tucker and Meera)
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Educational Goals
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BA from UGA
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Masters Degree (2005 – M. Ed. UK!)
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Career Goals
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Help people through technology (Director of Tools for Life)
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Begin
with the
End in Mind!
Consider this -
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My College Success relied on
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Failing
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I learned More from My “Failures” sometimes than my “successes”
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Give yourself room to fail – and Grow from the experience
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Evaluate & Evolve!
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Consider this -
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My College Success relied on
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Communication about My disAbilities
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Understanding My disAbility
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Language is Powerful
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Talking with Housemates, Partners, Professors and Employers about my specific disAbilities
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And Listening
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Understanding My Weaknesses
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Understanding My Strengths
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Consider this -
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My College Success relied on
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Actively Participating in all aspects of the College Experience
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Discovery Process
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Create a Map
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Plan for Your Progress!
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Consider this -
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My College Success relied on
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Assistive Technology!!
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Try before you buy – Explore!
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Training
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Think across environments –
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Laptop
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AMAC!!
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Blackberry
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Organization – Learn Your Style
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Evaluations – Hot Button
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Working from No/Old/Incorrect info
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Don’t trust everything you read & hear
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Fight for AT Evaluation/Assessment
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“Technology gives people the opportunity to move about in their environment, communicate, and be more independent, which allows people to see us as more of an equal as opposed to someone they have to take care of.”
~ Judith Heumann
Considering Assistive Technology: What Works for the Individual
Why Assistive Technology?
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For a person without a disability, technology makes things easier….
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For a person with a disability, technology makes things possible.
Human Activity Technology (HAAT) Model
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Human: represents the skills and abilities of the person with a disability
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Activity: a set of tasks to be performed by the person with a disability
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Context: the setting or social, cultural and physical contexts that surround the environment in which the activity must be completed
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Assistive Technology: devices or strategies used to bridge the gap between the person’s abilities and the demands of the environment
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Developed by Cook & Hussey
Promoting Strengths & Managing Weaknesses
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Get to Know Yourself
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Plan for Your Success
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Begin with the End in Mind
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Communicate
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Listen
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When things get off track - Evaluate and Evolve
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Explore & USE Assistive Technology
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Celebrate your Successes!
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Continue to Grow and Discover your Personal Genius!
Discovering Your Personal Genius
~ Creating Your Successful College Experience
What Can One Person Do?
I AM ONLY ONE PERSON
I am only one person
What can one person do?
Rosa Parks,
Was only one person,
She said one word
She said it on December, 1, 1955.
One person Said
One word
She said it on a bus
She said it to the bus driver
On Cleveland Street in Montgomery
The bus driver said,
"Stand up, woman,
And Give up your seat
To that man!"
Rosa Parks,
One person
Said one word
The Word was "NO!"