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Personal Experience I have had my disability all of my life. I began my education at the Easter Seals Society of Berks County and was part of the Easter Seals program full time from 1976 - 1980. During that time I, along with my family, assisted with agency fundraisers, promotions, and outreach for United Way presentations and fund drives. In 1980, I was included into a public school system and was often called upon to instruct other classeson differences associated with many disabilities. This occurred throughout my entire school career for a various number of school districts that I attended. Upon high school graduation I enrolled and attended Kutztown University.While at the university I was again called upon to hold disability awareness programs. This happened in a variety of settings, including but not limited to dorm presentations for cultural diversity, classroom lessons on disability awareness for preschool and school-age children, and faculty awareness trainings, all of which covered cross-disability issues. During my time in school I learned how to live independently, manage my own medical equipment, coordinate specialized services to meet my needs, and advocate for those needs. When I made the decision to leave Kutztown University, I continued to work in the disability field which will later be discussed in the work experience section of this narrative. My desire to help others who were going through the same situations that I was or had went through lead me to pursue an Associates Degree for Applied Sciences for Human Services at Reading Area Community College, which ultimately led to my position here at Abilities in Motion. Living with a disability has made me the person I am today. I know what it is like to not know where to begin or how to set a goal, I understand the frustration one goes through when they have a goal, but are faced with obstacle after obstacle when trying to achieve that goal. I have been in situations where a person with a disability finds themselves when they are ill, but because no one else can see it, they don’t believe them, or when you have to wait to get out of bed because you can’t move and your attendant is not scheduled to arrive for hours. I know the importance of advocacy and the fear someone may have if they were to advocate for themselves. I have been there and teach others how to overcome that fear. I know how difficult it is to try to solve your problems when you don’t even know what the problems or the steps are, but I have also learned how to break those problems down and how to effectively solve them and strive to teach others what I have learned.
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