USING MULTI-MEDIA TO ENABLE STUDENTS TO FIND THEIR OWN VOICES AND DIRECT

THEIR OWN FUTURES

VOICES IN TRANSITION

Presented by Ilene Asarch; Needham High SchoolElizabeth Fahey and William Fahey

IDEA states that students must play an active role in their own transition.

How do we, as parents, advocates, friends and professionals help empower youth to begin to steer their own ship?

What if reading is a challenge?

What if I can’t fully communicate my experiences and preferences through traditional means of paper, pencil, online applications and interviews?

What if everyone w

ho wants

to help me is

speaking fo

r me or

around me?

Today we are going to discuss

Visual Resumes

Student driven Personal Statements

for IEP’s

Person Centered Planning Statements

Visual Resumes: A visual representation of career experience, skills, interests and

goals.

Why use visual resumes?

Experience Shows…

that “traditional” means of applying for jobs does not fully represent the abilities and employment potential of many transition aged youth with significant disabilities.

Traditional Resume

I work at a dog grooming business

VISUAL

RESUM

E!

VIS

UA

L

RE

SU

ME

Jobs I do every day

I deliver mail to ….

• 16 departments

• 3 different floors

I deliver to Admin, Optical, Main Desk, Pharmacy, Lab, Radiology and more.

I work Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays.

3 hours each day.

I work at a medical office

Delivery Checklist

Traditional resume

I work in a hotel

I rinse dishes andStack them in the

washer.

VISUAL RESUME

I deliver food from the kitchen to the employee cafe

Emptying and cleaning plant beds and trays.

My Job at the farm includes:

Working at a Farm

I wash vegetables and clean out produce bins.

My Job at the farm includes:

Filling pots and trays for the greenhouses.

My Job at the farm includes:

Visual Resume

About MeI am 21 years old.I live in Needham,

Massachusetts.I am a post-grad at

Needham High School I go to Mass Bay

Community College. I took American Sign

Language (ASL), Computers and Technology & Public Speaking, Music Theory.

I am now taking Broadcast Journalism.

MY JOB GOALS My job goal is to work in

the Music Industry.

I would like to work for a dance company, recording studio or music store.

I am also interested in costume design and fashion.

Why I want to work at a music store

I love to listen to music

I want to work in music stores. I can break down boxes, polish instruments, organize and put away stock.

Places I’ve Worked

Music Go Round

T.J.Maxx

Mass Bay Bookstore

Needham Plugged In

Mass Bay Bookstore

Boston Red Sox

Boston Ballet Costume Shop

Needham Music Store

Rocket Express Store

Clothing Store

I work in the Men’s Department.

I sort clothes by size.I color blockI find missing tagsI find mistakes and

fix them.

Sales Associate

Music Store #1

Break down Boxes,Tuned guitars and ukuleles. Musical equipment into the plastic boxes.I clean the store and put away instruments.

• Created a Google drive data base for mailings

• Scan news articles and placed in binder

• Enter data listing band names• Print and save music articles from

the internet• Folded T-shirts and sweatshirts

Music Store #2

• Filled cooler with cold

drinks

• Stock and clean shelves

• Straighten merchandise

• Assist Customers

Sales Associate

College Book Store

Greet Red Sox fans

Read Seat Tickets

Help people to their

seats

Pick up trash

Red Sox Greeter

At the Ball Park

Tuned and Polished Guitars

Organized Musical Instruments

Put prices on New Merchandise & Stocked it.

Detailed and Cleaned Instruments

Music Store #3

Things I Like

MusicReadingDancingShopping – I love shoes.Helping peopleCleaning and organizingThe Boston Red SoxBoston Ballet Hanging out with

friends

Things I Like…Music

I Like Music Because…

I like to create beats and audio. My guitar is “sweet” and keeps me focused. My favorite band to listen to is the Black Eyed Peas

Things I Like…Dance

I Like Dance Because…

Dance makes me feel like nothing can distract me. I love to break dance but the ballet class taught me classical dance. I also learned waltz and tango.

Urban Nutcracker

I am a part of the Urban Nutcracker. I dance all of the scenes including the prologue, street, party, and the family scene. This is my third year dancing in the Nutcracker. My dancing makes me feel good.

Visual Resumes can:

Be printed and used in conjunction with traditional resumes.

Be included in marketing packets to outreach to community business leaders

Be Power points shown on laptops and iPads, or sent electronically.

Be created with Prezi

Visual resumes can:

• Be shared with adult service providers, post-secondary education and vocational training programs

• Be expanded for use in Person Centered Planning parties or self-directed IEP meetings.

Benefits to Job Seekers

Promotes self-expression using a universal language

Provides a tangible product –tends to be more meaningful than text resumes.

Makes the career development process of identifying skills and interests engaging – and the pride shows!

Benefits to Families

Helps families gain a broader understanding of their son or daughter’s vision for the future

Helps families celebrate accomplishments

Encourages families to NETWORK- to share with friends and relatives, promoting career planning

Benefits to Potential Employers

Personalizes the job development process

Enables employers to be active in networking- helps them relay information about the job seeker to colleagues in a meaningful way

A picture is worth a thousand words… Facilitates the interview by providing a springboard for discussion. Employers gain a broader understanding of the qualities of the applicant

Benefits to Adult Service Providers

Gives concrete illustrations of what the transition aged youth CAN do

Helps introduce aspects of an applicants’ current job to agencies providing post-graduation support

Helps promote a seamless transition

Quotes heard from Employers

“ If your visual resume is this detailed-then it gives me an idea of how your work must be”

“You are more prepared than most applicants who walk through the door”

“This is the most unique application I have ever seen”

SELF ADVOCACY :

IEP STATEMENTS

To begin…students create and share personal statements to detail interests, strengths, goals…

Personal Statements can be Powerpoints, written statements, movies, photo’s (Animoto), iauthor e-stories, drawings, and more

They can include music! There is no wrong way to share statements!Content comes from year-round work (i.e.-

interest inventories, leisure checklists).

IEP’s

IEP Language- What are the student’s educational strengths, interest areas, significant personal attributes and personal accomplishments?

What is the vision for this student?The statement should be based on the student’s

preferences and interests, and should include desired outcomes in adult living, post-secondary and working environments.

Visual Personal Statements

Takes the key questions in the IEP and breathes life into them by using “I”. The process encourages students to use meaningful photos and music.

What are MY strengths, interest areas, significant personal attributes and personal accomplishments?

What is MY vision? For work, adult living, friendships….

The Benefits?

Empowers students to lead their IEP.

Students LOOK FORWARD to the IEP meeting because they are excited to share their work.

Students take ownership of their goals, because they contributed.

SELF ADVOCACY :

PERSON CENTERED

PLANNING PARTYPRESENTATIONS

Welcome to my future

planning party

“Where there’s a Will there’s a way”  Made by

William Fahey

January 27, 2014

Futu

re P

lannin

g P

art

y

A future planning party (Person Centered Plan) is

where we discuss what I would like to do

in the future for work,

adult living, social activities and how people can help me grow-up and be independent”.

The Person Centered Plan puts great minds together to create a snapshot….

What are my strengths and

Interests?

At Home?

At work?

At leisure time?Who are my friends and networks?

What Words best describe

me?

What are my hopes and dreams?

And M

ake

a P

lan

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

About

Me I play the drums I worked at the YMCA I was a gym aide I play sled hockey I play basketball I played football

Thin

gs

To T

alk

A

bout

Sports, especially football

Dogs Video games ,

especially sports games

Music Movies Jobs Careers

My

Dre

am

s I would like to work in

professional sports”

I would like to live with my girlfriend in a house near Foxboro.”

ED

UC

ATIO

N Now I go to Needham

High and Mass Bay Community College”

I am took a Color Photography class and

an Introduction to Communication”

Thin

gs

I D

o A

t H

om

e

I wash and dry the dishes In the winter I snow blow I clean my bed room In the summer I help cut the grass I like to walk my dog, Ruby everyday

Pla

ces

I H

ave

W

ork

ed YMCA in Needham

YMCA in Waltham Athletics department in Needham High SchoolVA hospital BedfordCotting School Gym Aide

Walt

ham

/ N

eedham

YM

CA

Data entry Cleaning windows Washing floors Cleaning the locker room Cleaning equipment Cleaning the tablesFolding towels

My

Inte

rest

s

Talking to people Playing Sports: Sled Hockey, Basketball, Football, baseball Playing the drums and guitar Going to concerts and sports events Hanging out with friends Playing video games and watching sports

Thank

You

MY NETWORKWHAT WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT

TONIGHT!

In Summary

“Everyone has their own ways of expression. I believe we all have a lot to say, but finding ways to

say it is more than half the battle.” ― Criss Jami

Parents, students, teachers…. Keep those cameras handy!