Throughout my life I’ve been described as a trailblazer, a little tank, and a cyclone of energy. I think these descriptions are pretty accurate; I’ve often forged the road for others, knocking down barriers with a passion and zest for creating change. The decision to pursue social work as a profession has largely been a result of these life experiences. Each of the experiences I’ve had, both good and bad, have impacted who I am and what I want to be: a voice for others to help them be the best they can be.
Professional Certifications and Memberships
Challenging Social Injustice: Including Disability
Growing up with a very apparent and physically limiting disability has given me a unique opportunity, and passion, to use my experiences to help others, and challenge social injustice which is one of the NASW’s values and principles. The underlying purpose is “to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and…diversity.” When I was a sophomore I founded a student organization called The Alliance for Disability Awareness. There weren’t any other groups or events doing this. It was established for the purpose of providing educational and social opportunities relating to the interests of students with disabilities, and promoting an increased awareness within the community of the abilities we each have. We held three major campus wide events that each highlighted a different theme. For example, doing things differently doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way, or the importance of finding strength from life’s challenges and focusing on what one can do, not what they can’t. The event that I invested the most time into however occurred in November 2010. I arranged for former New York fashion photographer Rick Guidotti to have an exhibit and lecture about his nonprofit organization Positive Exposure. Positive Exposure seeks to redefine beauty by emphasizing the humanity and spirit within people with various conditions. The event took seven months to coordinate, and various meetings to secure funding assistance. The goal of this event as well as all of our activities was to educate the community about the fact that people with disabilities are beautiful and have a variety of skills and abilities to offer.
The University of Michigan Dearborn has many different events and programs related to diversity but disability was often left out. It is my hope that my work with The Alliance for Disability Awareness helped and the work that has occurred since I left continues to bridge this gap. The work I did with this organization helped me decide to focus on community organizing within the MSW program. I’ve been able to draw upon those experiences and continue refining the skills I gained such as event planning, grant writing, and consciousness-raising surrounding a variety of topics.
Challenging Social Injustice and Service: Finding and Serving as a Resource
A different aspect of challenging social injustice is ensuring that people have among other things the “needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making…” Whenever I can, I try to share my experiences with others in similar situations so they can learn from me. For example, moving into a dorm on central campus was much more complicated than what other students experience. It took ten months for me to navigate through the process of securing personal assistant services that were needed to allow me to live on campus. I asked multiple professionals, applied for two different waiver programs and interviewed staffing agencies. No one was able to provide guidance throughout the whole process; it was pretty fragmented and left to me to follow things through. Everything was set up about two weeks before I was supposed to move in. This summer I was able to meet with an incoming freshman and his family. who also uses a ventilator and needs 24/7 nursing staff. I used my experiences to help them explore options that they hadn’t thought of and they felt better knowing that someone else had successfully secured the services and supports needed to live on campus.This relates to the NASW’s value and principle of service. The “primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems.” I routinely talk with other families whose children have similar conditions that I have to provide insight and encouragement. I love to share my experiences with them so that their children know they’re not alone, and help the parents know that their children can succeed. I enjoy helping these families come up with creative solutions to promote the independence, whether this is sharing how I do something, or looking online for a specific tool or device.
Inherent Dignity and Worth of the Person: Addressing Stigma
I think it’s also important to respect the “inherent dignity and worth of the person.” One aspect of this involves treating people “in a caring and respectful fashion… [and] seek to resolve conflicts between clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests…” One does this when addressing stigma. For example, one activity my student organization participated in was “Spread the Word to End the Word” which was sponsored by Special Olympics. This campaign seeks to educate others about the effect that using the word “retard” has on people with intellectual disabilities as well as their family and friends. It is hurtful for them to hear this word used so flippantly. My student group used one of our limited promotion days to give away buttons, stickers, and rubber wristbands for students and staff to wear. At the same time we talked about the cause and encouraged people to sign an online pledge on my laptop.
