Taking Control into your own Hands

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Taking Control into your own Hands

• By Marlie Cappel

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Agenda

• Who am I
• What is my disability
• How was it diagnosed
• Future plans with a learning disability
• Job experience
• Difficulties experienced in primary school and
  high school
• What I did as a result of my experiences
• Prosthetics and orthotics program
• Chiropody
• Strategies for job search

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Who am I?

• 24 year old female in my final year of chiropody
• I have always had difficulties in school and as a
  result I have had to work harder and for more
  hours then my peers
• Throughout the presentation I will explain how I
  got to know myself and where my strengths would
  fit in the working world

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My disability

• I was tested in April of 1992 at my parents
  request
• My test results fell within the average range in
• Intelligence
• Visual memory
• Fine motor
• Expressive and receptive language

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My disability

• My Strengths
• Perceptual
• organizational abilities

• My weaknesses
• Distractibility
• Short attention span
• Weak memory
• Poor auditory analytic skills
• Over-focusing perfectionist stile
• Processing speed skills

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How was I diagnosed

• The first signs of my disability were seen only
  by my parents. My teachers did not agree with my
  parents observations but my parents persisted in
  their search for answers and support
• Signs included not being able to read at age
  appropriate stages
• In grade two I was transferred from a French
  immersion to an English school
• My parents had me tested by a psychologist who
  diagnosed me with a learning disability

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Future plans with a Learning disability

• People with learning disabilities usually have
  extreme strengths and extreme weaknesses
• The key to success is to learn to use the extreme
  strengths to your advantage and find a career
  that fits
• Ex. Teaching skiing swimming

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Job experience

• Working has always been very important to me
• Improved my self esteem
• My jobs included working with children with
  disabilities, teaching alpine skiing and swimming
• While looking for jobs it was important for me to
  find something that was always changing and had
  a lot of interaction and that was very hands on

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Difficulties experienced in primary school and
high school

• There were many experiences that made me feel
  isolated and undermined my confidence
• Going for help and being told that my work is at
  a level 5 grades under where I was
• Being told not to bother trying because I was not
  going to get through high school

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What I did as a result of my experiences

• All the discouraging comments caused me to work
  harder and prove to everyone that I could do it
• I went to many after school tutors to help me
  with reading and comprehension
• I learned that repetition, having many breaks and
  having people test me are the most successful
  ways for me to study
• This makes it very time consuming, making me have
  to work harder then many of my peers
• Most importantly I learned how to ask for help

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Prosthetics and Orthotics Technical Program

• After being at university for 2 weeks both my
  parents and I saw that it was not a good fit
• I transferred into a program that was hands-on
  and visual
• It focused a lot on anatomy and physics
• There was a small class and a lot of individual
  time

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Chiropody

• I heard about this profession after working for a
  year
• My background in O P would end up being a great
  asset
• Anatomy and biomechanics
• This profession would include a great hands-on
  future and ability to help people

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Chiropody

• Allows for many different areas of work
• This is helpful for students with learning
  disabilities
• There are jobs working in hospitals, private
  clinics and a lot of emphasis is placed on
  opening your own business
• Opening my own business will provide me with a
  strong sense of personal achievement and
  independence

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Chiropody

• I am currently in my 3rd year of school studying
  to become a Chiropodist
• Chiropody (the science of foot care) is an
  excellent career choice for individuals with
  strong interpersonal, verbal, and hands-on
  abilities
• In the final year of the program, we work as
  interns which allows us to develop practical,
  hands on skills including incorporating what we
  have learned in the formal academic setting

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Strategies for job search

• As a person with a learning disability you have
  to work harder to get where you want to go
• But you get to know your strengths and weaknesses
  and use those to your advantage
• Persistence is a very important quality to
  emphasize when having a learning disability
• When applying to a job you have to stress your
  ability to work hard, your strengths and your
  passion for what you are doing

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Strategies for job search

• Dont think that something that is tough in the
  beginning, wont be rewarding in the end
• Make sure it is something that you enjoy
• I have been shot down in the past and will
  probably be shot down in the future, but most
  important is that I have to continue to pursue my
  dreams to get where I want to go

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THANK YOU

• Questions???