#self direction

[casroses-adamant-space]

Lament for a family that never was by the cursed born son.

Shores; waves crest; salt and seaguls fly high.

Honeyed summer, sun rises with hues astounding.

Serjo finds another waste of time.

Water is memory, remember

This. Hold your breath, float for your life, hope he doesnt

Watch for too long. Observe...

Another failed experiment,

Another sibling lost,

No more please.

Care amongst carvings. His hands are wet

Siblings in need. An angry boy stands, don't touch them!

A Man now sees his father layed low.

Insubordination.

Disgusting.

Leave.

Sold from home to honored house held high

Soul worth what it itself could not buy

Say, as all your siblings cry, goodbye

[autisticadvocacy]

"UCP's Speak for Yourself wants to know, as a PwD- What matters to you when it comes to your health?"

[autisticadvocacy]

I have a 10:00 o'clock pear. Every day, at 10, a pear. I love pears, they are my favourite fruit, and no, I don't get tired of having a pear...

I know that I take for granted that I get to break with routine at eat at 8 what I normally eat at 10

[shahadatibraheem-blog]

The Power of Choice for People with Disabilities

For many years, people with disabilities have limited freedom when it comes to choice. But what really is a choice? How does freedom of choice can affect a person’s quality of life? Furthermore, how does freedom of choice empower people with disabilities and enhance their satisfaction in life? In this section, we’ll talk about the power of choice for people with disabilities, and why it is a crucial topic we must start talking about.

Positive Changes from Freedom of Choice

Freedom of choice is a basic human right. Global organizations make sure there is fairness and equality among all people when it comes to choosing and making life decisions. People with disabilities are offered the same freedom for making choices. In fact, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or CRPD is adopted by the United Nations as an international human rights treaty to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The CRPD promotes freedom of choice and autonomy, non-discrimination, full participation and inclusiveness in society, respect for the differences evident in persons with disabilities, equality of opportunity, accessibility to core social goods and services, and the identification and removal of barriers.

Freedom of choice isn’t only a basic right and commodity, it empowers people with disabilities, which results in positive changes in the behavior as well as improvement of their quality of life. Some studies back up the power of choice and its benefits among people with disabilities and the people around him/her. A few of them listed below:

1.   Increases the dignity of the person with a disability (Perske 1972)

By allowing people with disabilities the freedom for choices and making life decisions, it increases the dignity of the individual. It amplifies the person’s sense of worth, and therefore inducing positive feelings as well as enhancing satisfaction in life.

2.   Reduces the behaviors that staff may find challenging (Dyer, Dunlap, & Winterling, 1990; Carr & Carlson, 1993; Lindauer, Deleon, & Fisher 1999, Lohrmann-O’Rourke & Yurman, 2001

In one study, experts observed that giving freedom of choice to people with disabilities decreased behaviors that caretakers and homecare staff find it challenging to handle. This benefits not only the person with a disability but as well as his/her interaction with others and his/her relationship with others.

3.   Improved staff awareness of preferences of the individual with a disability (Browder et al; 1998)

Supporting and giving choices to the person with a disability allows the staff and her supporting circle to know more about the person and his/her preferences. This outcome makes way to satisfying and easier interactions between the person with the disability and the people he/she interact with.

4.   A continuing increase in the number of choice opportunities offered by staff (Cooper and Browder (2001)

Giving more freedom to choose among people with disabilities resulted in homecare and school staff giving more opportunities for making choices to the individuals. An increase in the opportunities for making choices enhances the person with disability's satisfaction in life and enhanced feeling for control.

5.   An increase in the engagement of the person with a disability in the task (Dunlap et al., 1994, Cole & Levinson, 2002)

Giving freedom of choice to the person with a disability led to better engagements in a situation or task, which can help speed up the improvements in the learning and behavior of the individual.

6.  The development of early communication skills (Stephenson & Linfoot, 1995)

When given more opportunities to choose, people with disabilities, specifically those with intellectual disability or impairment in intellectual functioning led to faster and earlier development of communication skills.

7.   An increase in spontaneous speech production where physically possible (Dyer, 1987);

Giving more opportunities to choose showed positive results when it comes to speech progress among people with intellectual disabilities. As when the people around the person with a disability provide more freedom for the individual to make life choices, the person with a disability engages more during his/her interactions, leading to better speech production.

8.   Improvement in student performance on curricular materials and interventions (Cole & Levinson, 2002)

Positive changes among learners with intellectual disabilities were seen when more opportunities for choosing were provided. The students showed improved performance both on curricular materials and interventions. Having the freedom of choice improves the person's confidence and motivation to strive and become better in school.

9.   A higher quality of life outcomes (Willis, Grace, & Roy, 2008, Stancliffe et al., 2011)

As mentioned, when given more opportunities for choosing, the quality of life of people with disabilities improves. They feel empowered, and their satisfaction in life increases as they experience more freedom to make choices.

10. Higher scores on quality of life indicators (Neely-Barnes, Marcenko, & Weber, 2008)

Tests were performed among people with disabilities to assess their satisfaction with the quality of their life. It showed that individuals with more freedom for choices had higher scores determining a better quality of life than those who have fewer opportunities for making decisions.

11.   An increase in social interaction with general education peers (Kennedy & Haring, 1993).

Improvements in social interactions were observed among people with disabilities and the individuals they encounter when given more freedom of choice.

Support and Guidance When Making a Choice

These are only a few pieces of evidence showing the power of choice among people with disabilities. However, when giving the individuals the freedom to make life choices they must be aware of the crucial factors involved in choosing. Alternatives, the situation, and how his/her behavior will affect the outcome must be clear with the person as she/he makes a choice.

Giving people with disabilities the freedom to choose isn’t only beneficial to him/her but also the individuals surrounding him/her. Support and guidance from his/her circle, however, are still crucial factors that must be part of the person's decision making.

Cite:

https://talksense.weebly.com/choice-pickings.html

More stories @https://brooklynaccess.com/

[openschooltv-blog]

[tobinifesi]

heal thy self

What is the key to a healthy life? Exercise? Wealth? Family? Good vibes? I mean I’m sure all these things are factors that help you lead a healthy life but what is the key?

The answer to that question might be difference for everyone but for me, the key to a healthy life has something to do with the one’s self. 

Your self is your being. It is an outward reference towards an inward entity. It is you from your perspective. Your self exists based on your own relative consciousness. 

The way I see it: if your self is a reference by you about you, then it means only you can define your self. The way you define your self will determine how you express your self and the way you express your self will determine the health of your self. 

In order words, your personal evaluation of who you are is key to leading a healthy life. If you are confident in your skin, have regard for yourself, and believe in your own potentials, you will be able to navigate through different situations and come out, not weaker, but stronger.

So for me, to lead a healthy life, you must know thy self and you  must heal thy self.  

[tobinifesi]

true to self

The human mind is so powerful. It can create, destroy and recreate. Yet, as powerful as our minds might be, we can control it. We can direct and redirect our thoughts. We can use our minds to meet certain goals. 

What I find is that, many at times, we stretch our abilities to control our minds so much so that we begin to lie to ourselves. In other words, we begin to overthink - and I think overthinking is the opposite of being true to oneself. 

As simple as it might sound, being true to yourself is a serious and tedious commitment - one that requires long term practice to perfect. It is so easy for our minds to wander and for us to begin to forget who we are or what our core values are. 

Being true to yourself requires extreme levels of honesty and humility. It can be achieved by paying deeper attention to our senses and feeling. It helps us to build confidence in ourselves.

To learn how to do this, we must spend more time in the moment, around people we love, and doing things we truly love. We must lead a deterministic lifestyle - one that is assertive, courageous and confident. Above all, we must stay away from denial and be honest with ourselves. 

What other ways can you become true to yourself? Let me know in the comments.  

[tobinifesi]

watch your self

Technology is such a fascinating art. The creativity involved in optimizing functionality is one that you cannot but appreciate. It’s amazing and it’s doing wonders for us as humans. 

Think about it.  You don’t have to send letters and hope for months that loved ones would eventually receive them, you can’t just send a text. 

You don’t have to make it a requirement for employees to live in the same city as your office, you can just outsource and keep them in the loop. 

You don’t even have to have physical photo albums, you can just open an instagram account. 

That being said, I am bit worried about the downsides of technology - particularly the one that has to do with our mind. As good as technology makes our lives, I think it makes us lose ourselves. 

The term ‘Self’ has to do with relative consciousness. It is a state of awareness that a subject has for itself. 

Unfortunately, technology is making us lose a bit of our self-consciousness and self-awareness - and as a result, we are losing our self-direction.

Wikipedia says a self directed person is someone who has ‘the ability to regulate and adapt behavior to the demands of a situation in order to achieve personally chosen goals and values.’

The fact that technology solves our functionality problems make it easier for us to not think of how to solve certain problems. In order words, it makes us less functional or less dogmatic as thinkers. Thanks to technology, our societies are ridden with people who don’t want to find answers but feel like they are entitled to just have the answers. Someone else, something else, some computer, some operating system should do the dirty work of finding the answers. 

We need to find a balance - a way to use technology without losing ourselves. A way to regain and retain our self-awareness, self-consciousness and self-direction. We need to look out for our self.