PERSONAL DATA

Name: Bacugan, Jessa Mae

Address: Brgy. Casay, Anini-y,
Antique

Age: 17 years old

Birthday: August 29, 1998
Status: Single
School: West Visayas State University
Course: Education
Major: Bachelor in Special Education

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Primary Level: Casay, Elementary, School
Year Graduated: 2010-2011
Secondary Level: St. Therese’s High School, Inc.
Year Graduated: 2014-2015
Tertiary Level: W est Visayas State University
 PERSONAL INSIGHT ABOUT THE COURSE

Special Education. When I heard the word special education one thing that
comes to my mind is a teacher who is teaching a child or a person with disability.
So that’s why I chose this course because I want to teach a child or a person with
disability.
According to my self, as what I said before , the course Special education is
about teaching a person with disability or a person with special needs. In my
personal insight about this, this is where you will encounter the different personality
of a person, their difficulties and so many more. For example the child with autism.
At first, I don’t know what is this but because this is the course I am taking, I already
know this.
Autism is someone that has a difficulty in communicating and forming
relationship with others. When you read this definition about autism, it feels like its
hard to do right? Because in special education. We don’t teach the normal people but
we teach the people on where we don’t know what comes to their mind.
Special education is not easy. I need to have a lot of understanding, a lot of
patience, acceptance, self-control and so many more. And I said to myself that I will
do that someday. I realized that, it is called Special Education because it is different
to others. It is special because we also teach a special children. That’s why the
teacher and the student is special .
 CONTENTs

Autism
Deaf-Blindness
Emotional Disturbance
Hearing Impairment
Intellectual Disability
Multiple Disabilities
Orthopedic Impairment
Other Health Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impairment

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Autism a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty
in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language
and abstract concepts.
 “HE’S JUST A BOY”

Reflecting on my last moments of pregnancy I

wanted it etched in my mind forever to never
forget what it feels like to carry a child. Taking
a deep breath I pushed with all my might while
my husband helped hold my legs back and
encouraged me with words of excitement and
love. After pushing until tears came down my
face, the Doctor placed a beautiful baby boy on
my stomach. He was blinking and looking at me
while I brushed his hair back. Everyone around
me was speaking, but I never heard what they
said as I was looking at another beautiful,
perfect child. Who would have guessed my life would change when I heard the words Tina; your son
has “Autism”.
When Jacob turned two, I noticed some changes in him but just past it off as “oh he is just a
boy”. He fears nothing or no one. He would climb fences and ran away at the first chance he got. As
soon as his sister Holly would walk into the room he would tackle her and sit on her. Brandon his
brother would watch wrestling on TV and they would tumble on the floor together. Jacob even got on
the back of the couch and would jump off to do a full body slam just the same as the wrestlers. But
he barely spoke. Again friends and family said Tina something is wrong with Jacob. No he’s just a boy
I explained.
Being in daycare brought other problems to the surface. None of the children wanted to play
with Jacob. He was content to play alone, yet no one could play with his toys. Again that’s a typical
boy for you, always territorial. According to my sitter, Jacob did not want to do his writing and was
always getting mad and throwing his crayons and paper. She told me that he was having difficulty
holding a crayon. He just doesn’t like to do school work. He is just fine, all boys hate school.
Kindergarten came around and another set of challenges are blooming. Kids thought he was weird and
did not want to interact with him. When the classroom would become loud, he would rock in his seat
and cover his ears. His teacher, Ms. Smith requested that Jacob put the book back on the shelf, he
would become enraged and he would jump from desk to desk to filing cabinets. Needless to say I
would be called into a lot of parent teacher conference, some even included the Principal. The school
nurse suggested that I take Jacob to the mental hospital and have him evaluated for mental illness.
I was stunned. What am I going to do? They can’t possibly believe that I would contemplate leaving
him in a mental hospital when there is nothing wrong with him except for him being a boy I thought
was a little high strung. My husband is even telling me that something is wrong with him.
Once I went home I decided, okay I will just do a little research on the computer. Typed in
hand flapping and it came up autism. Okay, typed in delayed speech, a list of things came up but so did
autism. Typed in socially unaccepted, again it came up autism. I just decided to go to different sites
on autism and see what autism was described or defined to be. The only thing I knew was the movie
Rainman and I knew Jacob was not like that at all so I am just looking in the wrong direction.
The list of charecteristics of autism was described almost the same as my Jacob. A perfect little
boy. D-day (Doctor Day) came around and my husband, Jacob and I travelled to the Dan Marino’s
Autism Clinic. Sitting in the lobby and seeing other kids that would rock back and forth, were drooling
and needed to wear a bib, some could not talk. This was not my Jacob. I knew the Doctors were all
going to say, you’re just overreacting and he is just a typical child.
After speaking with the Doctors and the examinations were done on Jacob, they sat my husband and
me down and said your son has autism. All I kept hearing was your son has autism, your son has autism,
your son has autism. I wanted to crawl in bed and put the covers over my head and just forget the
world. I had a hard time looking at Jacob knowing it must have been something I did to cause this
disability to him. I visited at least five different doctors that all agreed with the original diagnosis.
My husband said to just accept it and go on.
Even though Jacob is 15 years old, he still can’t tie his shoes, his handwriting is terrible and
he takes everything literally, I would not change a thing. He may never drive a car, or go to his high
school prom, or even get married, but I still see him as my perfect little boy. Everyday brings new
challenges and new questions but I cherish everyday I have with him. I was given a special gift, my
son.
 REFLECTION

The mother is always happy when it comes to baby.

According to my observation if the mother is pregnant. they
will guess it if it is a girl or a boy. So in the story, the mother
of Jacob is so happy. She is very excited and the time comes,
Jacob is born and of course his parents is so happy but the
mother of Jacob is confuse because some people are talking
about the baby and they said that Jacob has autism. The
mother of Jacob doesn’t believe because Jacob has a beautiful
face. Well sometimes in our life, we don’t believe at first
because we think that people are just jealous of what you
have. We don’t accept the things that we don’t expect and we
don’t want to happen. When we are too much excited,
sometimes if the things we are expected to happen fails, we
feel disappointed. As what as they said, “The more you
excited, the more you get disappointed.” Yeah right because I
already experienced it and I know the feeling of the mother of
Jacob. If we don’t accept the things, we do our best or should
I say we find out if it is real. And in the story, the mother of
Jacob searched about autism and she find out that the
characteristics of Jacob is similar on her research. She went
to the different doctor but the result is really an autism so she
has nothing to do but to accept the result. In life, we
encounter that sometimes. We have nothing to do but to
accept the truth. Because for me, God gave that to us because
He knows that we can do it.
Miss Montana: Autism
doesn't define me
I knew there had to be a reason my family and I went
through tough days together. I didn't understand why
then, but the past couple of weeks have put so much into
perspective.

The lonely days of pacing around my kitchen seemed like

some of the longest days of my life. If anyone had told
me then that I would be wearing a crown, an evening gown,
heels and a swimsuit in front of a live audience with
bright lights and television cameras hovering around, I'd have been the first one to
dismiss it. I realize now that even my toughest days pale in comparison to the
toughest days of others living with an autism spectrum disorder. I've been given this
opportunity to use my voice for those who don't have one or have yet to find theirs.

My path may not be one that another person would choose, but I challenged myself
to enter the Miss America competition because it seemed like the peak to my own
personal Everest. It also seemed kind of ironic: a girl who was told she was different
and considered an outcast by many, in the nation's biggest beauty pageant.I knew I
would face challenges and even some skepticism, but I never expected the
outpouring of support that continues to come in.

Winning the America's Choice title during the competition was the highest honor for
me. The fact that so many people, to whom I am a total stranger, took the time to
elect me as their contestant of choice is something I am still trying to comprehend.
The glitz and the glamour may have faded from the wonderful experience of Miss
America, but my commitment to raising awareness about autism and building bridges
of acceptance grows stronger each day -- especially after I read e-mails, Facebook
posts or tweets from the people who have supported my journey.

I will be successful if just one person encounters a child who is overstimulated

without staring, if one teenager invites an "outcast" to lunch or just smiles at him or
her, or if one employer gives a job to someone who might not be able to look the
interviewer in the eye. I also hope that families reading my story who feel isolated
or have concerns and questions about their children know they are not alone -- there
is a wonderfully loving community with people just waiting to be your friend and
mentor.

One thing I have learned in partnering with organizations like AbilityPath.org and
Generation Rescue is that the special needs community is one of the most loyal and
supportive groups anyone could join. I'm honored to be a part of this new circle of
friends, and have no doubt that it was the people who found me relatable and
believed in me that helped me become America's Choice.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know there is a lot for me to do to
make sure people really get that "Normal is just a dryer setting."
 REFLECTION

Soar high, dream high and follow it. The

story is nice and I’m happy because even
the girl has an autism, she did not give up
on her dreams. Her dream to become a
Miss Montana. It is natural in our life to
have a problem. So we need to have a
courage to face it. While we are alive, we
just enjoy our life. Our time is limited so
don’t waste it living in someone else’s life.
Don’t let the noise of others opinion drama
drown out your own inner voice. And most
important have the courage to follow your
own heart and intuition. They somehow
already know what you truly want to
become. That’s only a trial. What ever the
people are saying, just don’t mind it
because in our life God is always there to
protect us.
 DEAF-BLINDNESS

Deafblindness is a combination of sight and hearing loss that affects a

person's ability to communicate, to access all kinds of information, and to
get around. Deafblindness is not just a deaf person who cannot see, or a
blind person who cannot hear. The two impairments together increase the
effects of each.
Dance workshops by Deafblind dancer, Kerry Thompson
(ASL interpreted)
How do you dance if you cannot
hear the music?  How do you dance
if you cannot see? Is salsa and
merengue a food or a dance?  What
is bachata? Come find out as Kerry
Thompson, a Deafblind dancer and
Director for Silent Rhythms Dance,
teaches us to think about music and
dance in a different way through
performances and workshops.  

Kerry Thompson works for Disability Rights Fund which has provided
more than $13 million to more than 600 projects in 28 developing
countries to advance human rights and make a transformational impact in
areas such as education, employment, poverty, access to justice,
healthcare, and recognition before the law. Kerry joined Disability
Rights Fund in 2008 as the Founding Executive Director’s first hire,
working as a Program Associate and has since then expanded the role to
Program and Operations Associate. She is the only person on staff who
has been involved with every aspect of the organization’s growth. Kerry
previously worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a Research
Finance Specialist II for National Institute of Health grants. The
combination of her work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and
volunteering at Children’s Hospital of Boston led to opportunities to
improve healthcare for patients with disabilities or parents with
disabilities of a patient. To address the disparity of healthcare for the
deaf community, Kerry and a business partner developed Text4Deaf, a
technological tool enabling improved communications between healthcare
providers and the deaf community. She is the Founding Executive
Director for Silent Rhythms, a non-profit established in 2008 that aims
to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. In 2014,
she was awarded the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. She received her BA
in English and BS in Psychology from Louisiana State University and her
Masters in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University.
She serves on the board for Deaf, Inc.; as a board liaison for Deafblind
Community Access Network Advisory Council; and on the board for
Accessible Theater.
 REFLECTION

Kerry Thompson is so amazing! I love

dancing. I’m one of the member in our batch
2014-2015 dancer and I received an award
“modern dancer of the year” but I wander
how to dance without hearing the music, how
to dance if you’re blind. I like Kerry because
she’s a deafblind but she could dance. The
story mentioned that Kerry as awarded the
Marshall Memorial Fellowship. Then she
received her BA in English and BS in
Psychology from Louisiana State University
and her Masters in Human Development and
Psychology from Harvard University. She
serves on the board for Deaf, Inc.; as a board
liaison for Deafblind Community Access
Network Advisory Council; and on the board
for Accessible Theater. So unique. I like her
because even she is deafblind, she do her best
to pursue what she wants and what she have.
 “This Is Haben Girma”

Hello, my name is Haben Girma. I live with both vision and

hearing loss, and have been deafblind since about age
five. When my parents enrolled me in the Oakland Public
School District in California, IDEA had been influencing
the education of students with disabilities for nearly
twenty years. My parents did not have any special
knowledge of disability other than personal experiences.
They wanted me to succeed, they knew I would succeed,
but the big question was: how? How does a blind child
learn math? How should braille be taught? Fortunately
for us, Glenview Elementary understood that it was the
school’s responsibility to employ teachers who held the
answers to my parents’ questions. For one hour each day,
I left my mainstream classes to play a game of guess the
dots. The dot game gradually got more challenging, and
when I finally developed a love for reading braille, I had
a wonderful supply of Nancy Drew mystery books. Not
until my teenage years did I become aware of the stigma attached to braille, and I’m
grateful to have had excellently trained teachers to teach me to love braille. The support
our special education teachers provided extended well beyond the classroom. Given that
many community members doubt the abilities of children with disabilities, the power of
special education teachers to remove these barriers is invaluable. When my dad talked to
our special education teacher, she recommended a dance studio and went out of her way to
talk with the dance instructor about making sure I could fully participate. I loved the class,
and today, I’m a member of the Harvard Ballroom Dance Team. So by the time I was ready
to ask such questions, the only questions left were the big ones. Like, can a deafblind person
get into Harvard Law School? One of the best lessons I received from a special education
teacher involved learning to take responsibility for my own education. I entered high school
with a sense of responsibility for my own education. My goal was to do well and move on to
college. Nonetheless, due to IDEA, due to the excellent teachers for the blind, I still held
the privilege of being a student. As a student, my job consisted of completing the reading
and homework assignments, and that’s it. I didn’t have to scan my books or wait weeks for
the braille copy to arrive because Leah, Heather, and Suzanne worked closely with my
mainstream teachers to provide me all the material in braille and on time. Occasionally one
of my mainstream teachers would forget that a handout needed to be brailed, but I would
have it by the end of the day thanks to the teachers for the blind. Friends have shared
stories about never learning braille or never learning math because their schools did not
provide them with qualified teachers. Over the summer I worked with Deafblind Young
Adults in Action and the Helen Keller National Center to advocate for higher standards of
education for children with disabilities. I’m currently a first year student at Harvard Law
School, and my goal is to continue advocating for quality education for students with
disabilities. Thank you.
 REFLECTION

Every people has beautiful future. It’s

up to you how to handle it or how you
follow your dreams. Also our parents
wants their child to be a successful
someday. Haben Girma is a deafblind
and her parents want her to be a
successful someday but she asked how?
If you think, it is impossible that
someone who is deafblind will be
successful right? I’m sorry for the word
but Haben Girma is so blessed because
she succeed. It feels like…… WOW! If
I were her parents or a family, I will be
proud of her. Deafblind is not easy so a
successful deafblind are great one.
 EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE

"Emotional disturbance" means a condition exhibiting one or more of

the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked
degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance
Charlotte, 21, started to self-harm and
restrict her food intake when she was 14
years old. I’m always being asked ‘when did
it all start?’ I never know how to answer
this question. I’ve always been an
emotional person, but didn’t suddenly wake
up one morning with a mental illness.
Problems that other people just brush off
can cause me great emotional disturbance.
At the age of fourteen I started to self-
harm and restrict my food intake in an attempt to relieve my emotional turmoil.
Unfortunately I found myself needing to go further and further in order to satisfy my
urges, experimenting with new ways of harming myself and spending longer periods fasting.

I was convinced that I was a bad person, despite regularly being showered with compliments.
I was terrified that my family would one day realise the ‘true’ evilness inside me. If they did
they were sure to abandon me, leaving me alone in the world. This thought was petrifying. I
wasn’t strong enough to live by myself, I needed them.

I was in an extremely dark place, my only comfort found in visiting pro-suicide websites. I
felt incredibly vulnerable, unable to cope with all the pressures that life was throwing at me.
I didn’t have the skills to survive. Eventually a minor upset at school pushed me over the
edge. I returned home and took a massive overdose which left me in a coma in intensive care.
I came through and was admitted to an inpatient adolescent unit. It was during this period
that I started to experience voices and hallucinations, which were incredibly terrifying. I
spent more than a year as an inpatient in various institutions, the majority of this time on
one-to-one observations with no leave.

The years that followed brought more self-harm, suicide attempts, sectioning, inpatient
care, and police detentions. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have been admitted to
hospital. I’ve been a bit of a regular there.

After I turned eighteen I was given the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. It’s
like having the emotional resistance of a young child, every disturbance creating intense and
unbearable pain. Even insignificant events cause emotions that are totally out of proportion.
The emotions I experienced were so raw that I attempted everything in my power to escape
them. Every day is up and down. I no longer aim to ‘cure’ myself of this condition, but to
learn ways of coping that will keep me safe and out of hospital. I believe this is a more
realistic approach.

I am currently about to start my second course of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, the

chosen talking treatment for those with a diagnosis of BPD. While this is by no means a
magic cure, it has previously helped reduce my self-harming behaviours and allowed me to
cope with distress more effectively. Combined with medication and time, this will hopefully
allow me to manage this life-threatening condition.

Over the years my mental health has caused my education to suffer substancially. However
I’m thrilled to say that I am now at university studying a Performing Arts degree. I would
never have thought this possible a year ago when I wasn’t even allowed to go to the toilet
without supervision! There is hope, but it takes a lot of hard work and persistence.
 REFLECTION

Whatever problems we encounter, we don’t

need to surrender. And I know that prayer is
the best solution. Even though you have a lot
of problems, never surrender and most of all
never do a suicide. God given us life which is a
wonderful gift and if you know what the gift
is. Gift is a thing that is important, a special
thing and we need handle it. Just like in our
life, our life is a gift which is given by God and
we need to take care of it. Having an
emotional disturbance is hard because you
don’t know where your emotion goes. I know
Charlotte can do it. Charlotte are now
studying and Charlotte is right. Don’t lose
hope because I know there’s a hope. Even if it
takes a lot of hard work or persistence atleast
you are trying your best for the better of your
life.
 Jess: Loving myself despite my
depression
My name is Jessica, and I suffer from
major SED (Severe Emotional
Disturbance). Sometimes I wonder if most
people go through life with blindfolds over
their eyes and fingers in their ears.

I’m not too sure when it started or why,

but it did.  The next thing I knew I was
falling into an emotional pit of “Why me?” 
It’s not as if I woke up one day and said, 
“I’m going to be depressed!” It wasn’t a
choice, just like how sexuality or race isn’t a choice.

My life at home was great; I was never abused or neglected like most would think. I just
wasn’t happy and couldn’t ever get happy, no matter how hard I tried. Of course, I thought
it was normal, nothing I could do about it. Not saying there wasn’t a time when I had big
eyes and long hair caked with dirt from making mud pies, because there was. Those days are
just long-gone and impossible for me to conjure up into memory. Growing up, I remember
feelings, not pictures of laughter and painted nails, like most girls my age remember of their
childhood.

Eventually my depression would go away for a time but then hit me randomly, like a giant
wave coming at you in the ocean. I’d be super happy but then, all of a sudden, I just did not
want to do anything. I didn’t want to get out of bed.  I didn’t want to eat or even wash my
hair. All I could do was think and think and think and think. Sometimes the words would form
themselves in a steady rhythm. That’s when poetry became my new addiction. If I didn’t
write, it would eat at me.  And if it would eat at me, I’d be back in the depression so deep
that I wouldn’t be able to get out. Of course, sometimes I just couldn’t even bring myself to
write. That was the first time I tried to kill myself.

Killing myself wasn’t something I planned out every day of my life. I would think of it, yes,
and think it was the only way out, so I tried it. It was simple, really.  But it didn’t work. Why
it didn’t still baffles me to this day Trying to kill myself wasn’t the only thing I did to harm
myself. I did cut, almost every night, for the longest time. It made me feel alive, free, not
so pathetic.  It made me feel in the light, instead of suffocating in the cave I made for
myself over the years. But I quit and have been clean for two years now.

Many people have seen me, my pictures, heard my name, have read my poetry, but not one of
them really knows me. I’ve started writing again, and I am smiling more often. I have friends
who care about me and some who are faker than Barbie. Writing comes easy to me. Just give
me time. Laughing, I do it all the time. Dreaming is my specialty. Changing my hair is how I
let go.

My name is Jessica, but you can call me Jess. Sometimes I wonder why I am who I am, but I
love it anyway.
 REFLECTION

HEARING IMPAIRMENT
A hearing impairment is a hearing
loss that prevents a person from
totally receiving sounds through the
ear. If the loss is mild, the person has
difficulty hearing faint or distant
speech. A person with this degree of hearing impairment may use a hearing aid to
amplify sounds.
 Natalie’s story (as told by
Natalie's Dad)
Newborn hearing screening showed a
potential problem with Natalie’s
hearing and further tests confirmed
she was profoundly deaf. I kept
thinking “this is not possible, this
shouldn’t be happening to my girl!”.

When Natalie failed her newborn

hearing screening test, I kept thinking there must be a mistake with the
test. Natalie was a full term baby with a normal birth and we have no
history of hearing loss in our family. I didn’t want to believe it and was
so worried about what her life would be like.

I worried about what her life would be like – I thought she would be
resolved to signing and would not be able to call us “Mummy” or “Daddy”

As a parent of a cochlear implant recipient, you wait so long to be called

“Mum” or “Dad’ and when they call you that for the first time, it’s just
wonderful!

After getting bilateral implants, we’ve noticed that Natalie’s

pronunciation is very clear. She can locate the direction of sound better,
it’s easier for her to communicate with the family, and she looks to be
more confident which has improved her social skills a lot. She’s talking
just like a normal child.

Natalie’s first word was “mama” which she said 3 months after switch
on. 

After receiving her cochlear implant at 12 months old, Natalie picked up

words very quickly. By the time she was two, she was on par with normal
hearing children the same age.

By the age of two, she could recognise and read the alphabet.Natalie can
read well in English, Mandarin and Bahasa.

Natalie attends a mainstream school and is the overall top student in her
year (Year 1) in Year 2011. She is a class monitor and very active and
involved in other school activities.  She also participates in gymnastics,
taekwondo, piano lessons and Sunday school.
REFLECTION
 Deaf Seahawks RB inspires hearing impaired students
TACOMA, Wash. -- It was a rare
opportunity to meet a hero, to glean
inspiration from someone who does what
millions of kids yearn to do.

It actually is really good to meet him, said

10-year-old Aiden Campbell. I like how he's
a football player and he follows his dreams. 

Campbell has been told his whole life that

becoming a Seahawks football player would always be just that - a dream.

My grandpa told me that you have to be good of hearing to play for the Seahawks,
he said.

Campbell is hearing impaired, as were all of the 100 or students who came to meet
running back Derrick Coleman at Tacoma's Baker Middle School on Tuesday. They
received his message of no excuses. 

If you have a dream, if you want to do something with your life, you have to go out
there and you have to take it, he told the children.

Coleman speaks from experience. When the roar of the 12th Man reaches deafening
levels at the Seahawks stadium, Coleman barely hears any of it. He mysteriously lost
his hearing when he was just three-years-old. Coleman grew up embarrassed and
picked on, but learned to read lips and with the help of two hearing aids, graduated
from UCLA and found his way onto Seattle's roster in his second pro season.

Coleman is the first deaf athlete to play offense in the NFL and scored his first
touchdown against the Saints on Monday Night Football earlier this season. He is
able to hear plays on the field by using his hearing aids and reading the lips of
quarterback Russell Wilson at the line of scrimmage.

I've been through it all. I've been through what they're going through, he said
Tuesday. I just want to let the kids to know they're not alone. 

Coleman considers his disability a gift. One day, Aiden Campbell might as well. For
now, an autographed hearing aid box will do and its inspiring words no excuses heard
loud and clear.

I never thought I could play football, he beamed. Now, I'm gonna be on the
Seahawks someday! 
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
Intellectual disability is a disabilitycharacterized by significant limitations in
bothintellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday
social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18.
 Meet the Man Giving a Voice to
People with Intellectual Disabilities
Daniel Smrokowski has been a Special Olympics athlete in
aquatics for 10 years. In addition to being an athlete, he enjoys
being a podcaster, blogger, journalist, public speaker and
multimedia specialist. His career in media started in 2008 after
he became a Special Olympics Global Messenger.
Communication is Daniel's biggest challenge but also his biggest
passion. The accessibility of online podcasting has transformed
the challenge into an opportunity to realize Daniel’s passion.
Through his show "Special Chronicles," Daniel has become a
voice for people with intellectual disabilities. In addition to his
show, Daniel started a "Special Voices" column on Bugle
Newspapers,  a local newspaper from the western suburbs of
Chicago, where he again gives a voice to people with intellectual
disabilities. New media such as online podcast gives Daniel a
chance to tell his story to a larger audience even though he has
been denied that same opportunity in traditional media. Daniel
hopes that his show could serve as a voice for those who don't
have one, allowing them to share their stories to a global
audience. Through "Special Chronicles," Daniel celebrates the
ABILITIES of people with intellectual disabilities instead of
focusing on their disabilities. As he puts it, "all of us bring a
value to
Tim Shriver: Telling a New Story of Inclusion at the
Special Olympics World Games
Timothy Shriver's uncles included President John F. Kennedy,
Senator Robert F. Kennedy and
Senator Ted Kennedy, but he says
it's his aunt Rosemary who wielded
the most influence. Born in 1918,
Rosemary had intellectual disabilities,
a stigma back then. 

"Her influence wasn't noticed by me or anybody else at the

time," Shriver said, "but I came to realize the person most
responsible for our family putting our hearts, our passion, our
convictions into service, was Rosemary. The more

I reflected on it, the more it struck me: She was the one who
had the most power, the whole idea of service being joyful and
not a burden, the idea of equality worth fighting for, worth
dying for."

The joy of public service will be fully on display July 25-August

2 when the 2015 Special Olympics World Games take place in
Los Angeles, the first time the event has been held in the U.S.
in 16 years. More than 7,000 athletes will compete. 
 MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

"Multiple disabilities" means concomitant impairments (such as mental

retardation blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the
combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they
cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of
the impairments.
 Sharon’s Story
Sharon is an active five year old who loves to spend time with
her grandmother. She also loves to fingerpaint and play with
the family dog. Sharon has multiple disabilities. When she was
born, she didn’t get enough oxygen. As a result, she has
an intellectual disability, problems with mobility, and a speech
impairment that makes it hard to understand what she’s saying.
That doesn’t stop Sharon from chattering, though. She has a
lot to say.

For Sharon’s parents, it’s been a long road from Sharon’s birth
to today. When she was just a baby, she began receiving special
services calledearly intervention. These services help children
with disabilities from birth to their third birthday. In early
intervention, Sharon learned to crawl and to stand and—finally!
—to walk with braces.

Now in preschool, Sharon receives special education services.

Like early intervention, these services are meant to address
her special learning needs. Her parents are very involved. They
sit down often with the preschool staff and talk about Sharon’s
progress. The team also talks about Sharon’s challenges and
how to address them. Last week, for example, Sharon got
a picture board to help her communicate. She’s busy learning to
use it.

Sharon’s parents know that Sharon will always need some

support because of her multiple disabilities. But her parents
also know how determined Sharon can be when she’s learning
something new. She’s going to learn it, by golly, there’s no
stopping her.
 Blindness In Light Of My Daughter’s Other
Disabilities
Our daughter has multiple disabilities, which had made untangling the
threads of why she cant do certain things hard for us as her parents.
Why wasnt she verbally on par with her peers? Why the certain
persevering play behaviors? Why was she lagging in certain motor skills? 
She is adopted and came home to us at the age of four, so we also had
the transition from her foster home to a whole new country and new
language to throw into the mix.

I havent had the chance to attend any NFB events, though I would
dearly love to make it to a national convention. As of yet, we’ve never
had the opportunity to meet any other children who are blind. I’ve
struggled to figure out what is a blindness issue, what is a mental
retardation issue, what is an autism issue, and what is just unique to
Clare. But this list has been a wonderful resource, and two beliefs have
really anchored me in this journey: 1. Blind children should have the
capacity to achieve on par with their peers. In Clare’s case, this means
that she has the capacity to achieve on par with children who share her
other disabilities but are sighted; and 2. Our job as her parents is to
encourage and foster every milestone of independence that she has the
capacity to achieve.

Truly believing these two things has been a transformative process for
me. I can’t say I always believed them in my core. I’d dress her and
change her and put on her shoes and always have her hold my hand; and
we never made any steps towards anything more. And then, when we
really started to believe in these two core principles, we began to
expect more out of Clare. Since her developmental and cognitive age
hovers around age two, I took a good hard look at my two-year-old son
and started taking stock--and started to push.

Clare will be six in September and is only now beginning to talk. She has
a vocabulary of about fifty words. But with a little assistance, she is now
dressing and undressing herself. She is not potty trained but she can
take off her diaper, put on a new one, and then wash her hands with just
a little prompting (obviously these are the clean diaper changes). She
can brush her teeth and her hair. She can feed herself with a spoon and
a fork. She can navigate our house. Now when we go to the playground, I
take her on a tour to show her where all the equipment is and then push
her to do it herself.
She initially fought every single one of these pushes. (Whew! We had
some major meltdowns of disappointment and frustration.) But then we
got the wonderful chance to stand back, watch her blossom, and see the
pride she has in herself when she finds she can achieve. Each time she’s
risen to reach a new expectation, it’s shown us that we will
never know her true capacity unless we are stretching her to
grow. And we gain more and more confidence to challenge her when
we see the positive results that come from encouraging her to figure out
how she can do things for herself instead of needing things done for
her.

She rides a tricycle now, and she is playing T-ball in the three-year-old
league with her brother at the local YMCA, as it is her cognitive age.
(We didn’t tell them she was blind.) We’ve shown her where the T is,
how to figure out where the ball is on the T, and how to swing the bat.
The only help we give her is to have someone at the bases shouting so
she knows where to run, and they have to do that for all the kids
anyway. She’s in gymnastics with peers her own age (either her dad or I
stay with her to help her follow directions).

Each time a new task comes up, I ask myself how much of this can she do
on her own? We are now working on different fasteners, such as
buttons, zippers, laces, etc. She can’t zipper entirely on her own, but if I
get it started, she can pull it up the whole way. She can’t buckle herself
in her car seat, but if I thread the top fastener together and tell her to
push, then she can click it in on her own.

I’m probably rambling incoherently right now, but this listserver has
really challenged me to reframe how I think about blindness in light of
my daughter’s other disabilities. I always thought I had a positive
attitude about what blind people could achieve, until I was confronted
with a child who seemed so incapable of doing absolutely anything. And
blame it on blindness syndrome runs so rampant that it was hard not to
get sucked into believing that everything she couldn’t do was because
she was blind. We had one doctor, God bless her, who finally looked me
in the eye and said flat out, There is nothing about blindness that would
prevent your daughter from talking and don’t believe anyone who says
that. This really kick-started us to begin forcefully advocating against
those who want to blame blindness for our daughter’s other challenges in
life. And since then, her quality of life has dramatically increased. 
 ORHOPEDIC IMPAIRENT
Orthopedic impairment is defined as a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's
educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g.,
clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone
tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and
fractures or burns that cause contractures).
RANFURLY, Canada – Aaron Friesen, a 16-year-old from Ranfurly, Canada, has
always wanted to drive, but knew it would be a difficult task

He was born with cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair

his entire life, according to CBC News.
He entered a contest to win a wheelchair-accessible van. He
didn’t win, but still wanted to get a van.
Only problem? They cost about $50,000.
Aaron’s hometown rallied around him, holding fundraisers to
help raise the money.
Some time later, the money was raised and the van was bought.
He finished his driver’s ed classes just in time for school.
“I always said I wanted to drive to my first day of Grade 12,”
he said. “It’s cool that I actually did it. I’ll be able to drive
where I want to now. It’ll just change everything.”
When he arrived at school, things were even better than he
expected.
One friend, Conrad Fowler, has driven Aaron for years and was
glad to see him drive himself.
“Seeing him drive up to school today, it was amazing,” Conrad
said. “I don’t even really have words to say how big an
accomplishment that is. Maybe he can drive me now.”
Now Aaron can take himself to school every day without
worrying about rides or carpooling.
“My whole life I’ve just kind of wanted to be like everybody
else. This is one more thing that’ll just make people forget
more about my wheelchair maybe,” Aaron said. “I’m just looking
forward to doing it on my own, to finally go out and drive.”
 Real People, Real Stories: Peter
Wong
BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- FOX 25's Maria Stephanos introduces
someone who she describes as the real beautiful person on Boston's trendy
Newbury Street in her "Real People, Real Stories" series.

Peter Wong has been selling water and other drinks at the corner of
Newbury and Arlington for a couple of decades.

It will be clear by the end of this story that Peter Wong is a man with
much to say. He received his vendor's license and works hard. He doesn't
want charity, he's just a business man.

Doctors first learned Peter is exceptionally gifted from Warren Dahlin,

Assistant Professor of Healthcare Administration Stonehill College.

Professor Dahlin tells FOX 25's Maria Stephanos he met Peter as an

occupational therapy graduate student at Boston University in 1974. 

"They were touring me through the hospital the first day I was there," said Warren. "I had one month, it was my
last clinical affiliation, we walked in the room and there was Peter in his wheel chair. He was 13 years old and I
said what I about him? And she said, 'Oh he's profoundly retarded, he'll never leave the nursery they squashed
his cerebellum when he was born with a high forceps delivery and he'll probably choke to death because he can't
swallow.'"

Peter had spastic cerebral palsy. He couldn't feed himself or speak, but could communicate just fine. Warren
found that out that day when Peter made it very clear he was attracted to the nurse. He put Peter on his case
load.

While working with Professor Dahlin, a test revealed Peter had an IQ of 138 to 140. That is superior intelligence.

"Physically, Peter is one of the most disabled people I've ever known and worked with, physically, he's quite
disabled. In his spirit and mentally, Peter is the least disabled person of everyone I know," Warren told Maria
Stephanos.

Maria asked Peter about the Boston Marathon bombings since he is typically located just blocks from the site of
the April 15 attacks. Peter told Maria he bought flowers to lay at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square. FOX
25 photographer Jen Platt, who was filming Maria and Peter's interview, was taking video near Copley Square the
day Peter brought flowers to the scene.

"I remember you coming and another woman came and helped and put the flowers down for you," Jen told Peter.

"Why did you want to do that, Peter?" asked Maria.

"I felt, I felt sad," Peter replied.

Peter and Maria first connected when Peter wrote her a letter. He saw Maria's "Real People, Real Stories" on
Rick and Dick Hoyt, the father and son duo known for participating in marathons and triathlons across the
country. Peter knew and admired their family.

"You're pretty amazing too. Hey, Peter, I mean it," Maria told Peter.

"I appreciate it," Peter responded.

"I appreciate meeting you," said Maria.

Peter can be found near Newbury Street or at Stonehill College in North Easton where he helps Professor Dahlin
teach a course called "Disability?" Maria says the truth is, if you just took a moment to meet Peter, he would
teach you something you can't learn in a classroom.
OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRMENT
 What Works For Us

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity

Disorder) has been a blessing for our
family. We are better parents, all our
children are successful in their own way,
and we are able to be a therapeutic foster
family.

I sometimes wonder --if we didn't have

ADHD, would we be so fortunate?

There were the years of guilt, frustration,

hopelessness, and many other emotions. My son, Ray, was difficult, moody (including drastic mood
swings), very unhappy and by age six wanted to "make himself dead." We sought help with different
professionals, agencies, playgroups - you name it.Then one day we found the guidance our family
needed from a therapist. For three years we saw him and he educated us in many ways.

Ray was improving but was continuing to concern all of us. He was referred to a psychiatrist who we
continue to see today.

We had rules and consequences in our home, but didn't have consistency or structure. This didn't
mean we were bad parents, but our children were receiving mixed messages. Behavior modification
has changed that and continues to be our foundation.

The first thing we did was to make a rules and consequence list for the entire family. Age appropriate
rules were designed for individual child(ren). Consequences included time outs, lost privileges, and so
on. Making this as a family and posting it in clear view made the child responsible for his choices. As
parents we made sure the rules were followed, but the child was in control of his choices.

Goal charts were set up. We would pick five goals to work on. Four were for problem areas and one
was a happy one, whose purpose was to help with self-esteem. Rewards for reaching goals were simple
and creative. The rewards were incentives, but my children felt a sense of pride when they totaled up
the check marks, stickers or happy faces. A little self-esteem began to grow.

We believe that a parent should never disagree with another adult about a consequence in front of
the child. Wait until the child is not in hearing distance. If a change in consequences occurs, the
person who decided on the initial consequence should be the one giving the new one. Seeing adults
working together builds the support system; it creates a sense of security for the children. The child
- seeing all working as one - will slowly start seeing the effect his choices have on him.

Using medications for ADHD was a very difficult decision for us. We agreed toRitalin for one month
only. Seeing the positive results, we continue to use it. Prior to this, we had tried many
alternatives. Ritalin is not a cure-all. It is only the seasoning on top of the main ingredients: Behavior
modification, consistency and structure.
Two of my biological children are ADHD. The youngest has the additional "H" for "hyperactivity".
Watching them together at times can be interesting. They appear to feed off of each other. Rainy
days have definitely put a few gray hairs on my head. As they grow, they have taught us so much.
Being very aware of their diagnosis, they are able to share their views with us.

People tell me I'm lucky, because my children are not affected like other ADHD children. It's not
luck, it was following through with behavior modification, consistency and structure. It took many
years to get here, but the rewards show daily in their faces.

I will never forget the pain of hearing my son say, "Make myself dead." However, it was that day that
made a difference in our life. In sharing this with you, maybe I can give you a little piece of hope to
hold on to.

Don't ever let go, your child's bright future is on the other end.
 Asthma Will Never Stop Me From Doing
What I Love
I can pinpoint my first symptom of asthma to around the
time of the 9/11 tragedy. It all started when I noticed a change
in my breathing – I found myself coughing a great deal, having
trouble catching my breath and felt tightness in my chest. I
brushed my symptoms off as a result of stress and anxiety from
the recent events and didn't give them much more thought. It
wasn't until several years later while filming the show Pushing
Daises that my symptoms took a turn for the worse and I started
to notice the impact they were having on my career. While at
home visiting my parents in Oklahoma, my mom noticed how sick I
had become and urged me to see a doctor in my hometown—it was
there that I was diagnosed with adult on-set asthma. As a singer
and actress, being able to breathe properly is a critical
component to my success, so needless to say I was devastated
when I received my diagnoses; however, I was also grateful to
finally know what was causing my symptoms.
Although it took some time, I eventually grew to accept the
fact that I had asthma and worked closely with my doctor to
determine a way to safely manage my condition. With my busy,
on-the-go lifestyle, my doctor prescribed me a rescue inhaler
with a dose counter, which keeps track of how much medication I
have left. Now, whether I'm on stage, in the studio or traveling
to my next gig, I can feel confident in knowing that I have enough
medication on hand when I need it most, such as during an asthma
attack. It's no secret that managing asthma as a professional
singer can be extremely tough. I can recall one instance during
my career where my asthma symptoms started to get the best of
me and I had to sneak off stage to use my inhaler. Fortunately,
that's not a regular occurrence, but it taught me to always be
prepared. In addition to my rescue inhaler with a dose counter, I
have to be really smart about recognizing the onset of my
symptoms. I learned the hard way that avoiding or ignoring your
asthma symptoms is not the way to go and can't emphasize how
important it is to listen to your body when it's telling you
something is wrong.
 After struggling with asthma in silence for more than a
decade, I decided it was time to share my story in an effort to
show other people living with asthma that the disease does not
have to limit you from doing what you love. When I was
approached by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of
America (AAFA) and Teva Respiratory last year to partner with
them on a new public service campaign called Know Your Count,
the timing just felt right. Know Your Count aims to raise
awareness of the seriousness of asthma and educate those living
with asthma and their caregivers, about the importance of having
a rescue inhaler with a dose counter.
With May being Asthma Awareness Month, I'm excited to
announce the launch of the Know Your CountAsthma Pledge.
During the months of May and June, we are encouraging people to
visitwww.KnowYourCount.com and simply click a button to make
their Asthma Pledge. For every pledge received, Teva Respiratory
will donate $1 to the Consortium on Children's Asthma Camps in
an effort to help send deserving children with asthma to summer
camps nationwide.
I know from personal experience how scary asthma can be
and am thrilled for the opportunity to lend my voice to this very
important cause. It's my hope that my sharing my story, I can
show the nearly 25 million Americans living with asthma that
when you safely manage the disease, it's possible to live a
healthy, active and extremely fulfilling life.
 Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a form of brain injury caused by sudden damage

to the brain. Depending on the source of the trauma, TBIs can be either open or
closed head injuries.
 Clarence: An Inspirational Story on Overcoming Traumatic Brain
Injury
Clarence is the young veteran working at the mill machine in the photo you see above. He has
been out of the military for 3 years now, having served in combat right out of high school.

Clarence is currently finishing out the Advanced Inclusive Manufacturing (AIM) program at
the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) at the University of Pittsburgh

Clarence suffered a major traumatic brain

injury (TBI) during a deployment. Now he has a
form of visual agnosia, in which he lacks the ability
to visually recall images in his mind. He told us
during our visit to the HERL lab that remembering
how an object should look when he is working on a
project is a challenge because his lack of visual
recall.

The good news is that Clarence was hardly feeling

defeated by this drawback. Actually, he was very
upbeat when telling us about it. Though he can’t
picture in his mind how to do something, he instead
draws a map for himself as he goes that allows him to complete the task.

Clarence completed his military service at age 22. The native Texan spent time at his home
in Austin, focusing on his medical treatment. He told us that while he was readjusting, he
was feeling somewhat demoralized.

He said he had several friends his age who had also finished their military service, and, as
he described, “did nothing but sit around and play video games, and sometimes get mixed up
in drugs.”

“My options were limited in Texas,” Clarence said. “I saw so many of my friends fall into the
same trap of drugs and laziness. I knew I needed to do something better than that. I was
working on getting better, but never lost ambition.”

And Clarence could have fallen into that trap. He was an intelligence analyst in the military
and he had a top-secret security clearance. His goal after his service ended was to enter a
similar civilian post as an analyst. Unfortunately, he lost his clearance as a direct result of
his brain injury. Once that happened, he wasn’t really sure what to do.

As fate would have it, the VA hospital where Clarence was getting his treatment became
less accessible due to the sheer number of veterans in need of treatment. Clarence took a
trip to the Pittsburgh VA for a while so he could get the specialized treatment he needed.
It was there that he met Dr. Cooper.

Clarence was used to working with his hands. He told us that he grew up hunting and fishing
and loved every second of it. He decided to enter the Experiential Learning for Veterans in
Assistive Technology Engineering (ELeVATE) program, where he would learn the basics of
machinery, and would later move on to the AIM program.

Clarence had a new outlook on things. He was capable of working machinery, and had plans of
his own. Given his love of bow hunting and archery, he wanted to do something that would
allow others with disabilities to enjoy that same rush that he got with a bow in his hand. He
told us that his goal is to take his training from HERL and manufacture adaptive archery
equipment.
 Featured Story: Lauren's Traumatic Brain Injury Story
I keep getting told I'm 'still a baby', 38 years
old and still a baby. Not in the literal sense of
course but in terms of my rebirth and my brain
injury I'm still in the early days. I sustained my
Traumatic Brain Injury on Sept 30th 2012, I'll
always remember that date, it's etched into my
psyche. It still astounds me that something that
occurred 2 years and 5 months ago is still
healing, changing, learning and very present in
my life.

Now my life is very different, there are some things I miss and others I now
know I never really needed in the first place, brain injury does that you see, it
very quickly and suddenly drains away the chaff of life, the stuff that
clutters and distracts from living from your heart, so for that I'm grateful.

I sustained my TBI whilst skating; I was at a training session with my roller

derby team then the next thing I knew I woke up in hospital 5 days later with
a huge scar and half a head of hair from my Craniotomy. It turns out I'd had a
subdural hematoma, a bit of bad luck is how my neurologist put it. Since then
nothing has ever been the same.

I live in Northern Ireland and we are fortunate to have a National Health

Service here because they saved my life and continue to help me even now 29
months later. At first I was in denial, I tried to carry on as normal even
though I was a bit battered and bruised and tired. I don't think I had quite
understood the seriousness of what had occurred, I still don't think I totally
get how serious it's been.  It was only when the denial slipped about 7 months
post-surgery that I spiraled downwards, I really struggled with my mental and
emotional health and the fatigue was an absolute killer! I began having panic
attacks and high anxiety as well as depression and agoraphobia. In brief, I was
a bit of a mess. After accessing something called the Community Brain Injury
Team over here (a team of healthcare professionals who put you back
together) I got an Occupational Therapist, a psychologist and a
physiotherapist who all worked together to help me make sense of things.

TBI is a shattering experience, literally, it shatters you into pieces. You have
to grieve for the things you lost, this process is still ongoing for me as I
write. I can't have a job right now or do much of anything. But it's important
to note that the shattered pieces do come back, they may fit together a little
differently but they eventually find their way home again and to me finding
my way back home is the most wonderful and important job I have.
 Visual impairment
Visual impairment is a term experts use to describe any kind
of vision loss, whether it's someone who cannot see at all or someone who
has partial vision loss. Some people are completely blind, but many others
have what's called legal blindness.
 Gambia's first visually impaired
magistrate
This is Muhammed Krubally's  story - 

Yes, I am the first. Visually Impaired

Magistrate in The Gambia according to
record.

I was born in a village called Sankuleykunda.

I am a Gambian by nationality. As visually
impaired, at the age of seven, my humble
parents sent me to Primary School in order to acquire education. Having
started lessons at the school, I began to encounter numerous problems
in coping with various lessons by virtue of my visual impairment.

However, it was observed and obvious that, for someone to comfortably

attend any school and acquire a good and quality education, you must be
able to read and write. Then, I could neither write nor read as normal,
the printed lettered copies used by the sighted persons. So trouble,
frustration and scepticism have arisen both on my side, parents, of
course teachers too.Yet, it must be born in mind that, whatever one
does either positive or negative, people must criticise either sideMany
questions were asked upon this effect by teachers at Sankuleykunda
School, my parents and myself.

I was then transferred to Campama School for the Blind and started in
grade four. There, I started reading braille alphabets and later
proceeded to Junior Secondary School called Garba Jahumpa Upper
Basic school from class seven to class nine. My first assumption of
leadership began in this schoolas a councillor.  The availability of braille
materials or equipment helped me so much to enhance my performance.

Having successfully completed a four years rigorous LLB Degree studies

in law, in February 3rd 2013, I was appointed as the first Visually
Impaired Magistrate in the Gambia according to records. I preside over
Criminal and Civil cases respectively. Senior and Junior lawyers appear
before me and present and submit their cases on point of law after
which I have the final say for determination before my court. Since at
the time of my appointment as Magistrate, about nine months today, I
wrote 29 Rulings and Judgements ranging from High Profile Cases.
 Daniel’s Story
Young Visually impaired man sets up a
consultancy business to help others a young
man from Cardiff has used his personal
experience of living with a visual impairment to
start his own business which aims to support
organisations to cater for the needs of visually
impaired customers.

Daniel was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary condition causing a

gradual loss of vision, at the age of eight. During his school years Daniel experienced
bullying and had difficulty coping with his visual impairment and not being able to
enjoy the same experiences as his peers, such as, learning to drive. Daniel began to
accept his condition after attending the Royal National College for the Blind in
Herefordshire where he met lots of inspirational people who taught him to focus on
what he could do rather than what he couldn’t. From a young age he dreamed of
being a policeman, however he later realised this wouldn’t be possible due to his
visual impairment.  After college Daniel progressed onto University where he
undertook studies to learn more about supporting those with a visual impairment to
become more independent.

With the support of STAR Communities First and Want 2 Work Daniel has secured
start-up funding from Jobs Growth Wales and Unltd and has also received financial
help to fund additional training for his own professional development. He has also
completed qualifications to ensure he has the relevant skills for delivery and the
most up-to-date subject knowledge.

Daniel has been working closely with Laura Butler, the Youth Employment Mentor at
STAR Communities First who provides one to one support and guidance for
unemployed young people aged 16-24. Laura said: Daniel fits perfectly with Want to
Work’s remit of supporting people from disadvantaged areas back into sustainable
employment. After numerous one to one and joint interviews I was able to access
Want to Works training fund to pay for an ILM Train the Trainer Course and Eye
Clinic Liaison Officer course which were essential to undertake. I also accessed a
Want to Work discretionary grant to help Daniel get his business started. I am sure
he will go on to achieve great success in his career and I feel proud that Want to
Work were able to help him realise his dream’.

“Daniel refused to accept that his visual impairment should ever prevent him from
following his chosen career path. He has pursued every opportunity to upskill and
learn with admirable single mindedness and I’m thrilled that STAR Communities First
and the Jobs Growth Wales Young Entrepreneurs Bursary have played a part in his
success.”
PORTFOLI
O
IN
SPED 202

SUBMITTED BY: Jessa Mae M. Bacugan

SUBMITTED to: Mrs. Helen Joy Rivera
PORTFOLI
O
IN
SPED 202

SUBMITTED BY: Ma. Liberty Dellina

SUBMITTED to: Mrs. Helen Joy Rivera