I have learned a lot about advocacy work here at MAC. Here are some of the highlights from my journal entries this past year:
ADVOCACY What I know about Advocacy from my perspective: someone that does advocacy is someone that can think or do things to help themselves and so they can help others. Being an advocate is someone that knows what to do or say to help others.
TEAM MEETINGS I learned a lot from the TEAM meetings I went to with Catherine and I enjoyed going to the meetings. One IEP meeting I went to that I really liked was for a student I liked meeting. It was great that I helped when he came in and said that he wanted to go to college, but he was nervous and anxious about going. I helped him because I shared how I felt going to college. I told him that I was a nervous about going to college after living at home for so long. So I think that helped so he knows he is not the only person that feels scared about going to college. At that meeting I told the student that I still want to take some college classes again at Bunker Hill. The people at the TEAM meeting really liked that I said that. They asked some questions.
TRAININGS I have participated at many autism, advocacy and bullying trainings with Johanne Pino and Catherine. I had to create a PowerPoint presentation on my life from high school to college to living on my own. The first PowerPoint I worked on was good but it was too long and it needed to be shorter. So Maria helped me to break it down and showed me the 10 20 30 rule for the slides and font size.
The trainings we went to were different locations. One training I went to and presented was at the Boys and Girls club of Dorchester. Another fellow, Lumene, and I presented together. First Johanne talked and then Lumene presented and I followed right after her with my PowerPoint. The audience listened to me carefully and liked what I had to say. They asked Lumene and I questions about college when we were done presenting. The trainings I went to were at the boys and girls club of Dorchester and South Boston. I even did a Bullying training in Somerville. I did a training with Johanne at Roxbury Community college. If I had to pick I would say the trainings were the best part of my work at MAC. I also liked the TEAM meetings
LOBBYING I did a lot of lobbying at the Statehouse. I went there a lot with Julia Landau. We went up to the Statehouse to talk with Senators or Representatives about different things. One time was about a new bill MAC wanted to become a law. The bill is about changing what evaluators are paid by rate setting. We want to make it more fair for families that are poor and can’t afford to pay for independent evaluators by themselves.
OFFICE WORK The office manager Tania helps anyone with any I can ask Tania for help on something if I need it. I like keeping things organized and I am a fast learner but I like to take my time on things if it is something I have to work on. I have done a lot filing work here. I was able to look through the files in Catherine’s office and take them out and put them back in a good order in each drawer alphabetically. I look the files carefully and read them so I could know the name of the person in the file if I could not read it on the folder. I have done some filing for Tania
WORKING WITH ICI I learned MAC does work with the Institute for Community inclusion and that two of people that work come in to help the youth fellows. Maria Paiewonsky came to MAC to help me with setting up some work like my weekly blog. She would get me started on a blog and showed me how to save it to. She would come in for a review of my work. Jill Eastman, from ICI would also come in to help me and all Fellows. Jill helped me with my work and showed how I can do better and what more I can learn. She helped me with strategies on working at MAC and also help me for when I leave MAC.
I went to a bullying training with Catherine and Leslie Lockhart. It was at a place called NESCA in Newton. Catherine opened up her bullying PowerPoint and then she talked from the slides. She let me speak on the subject I was going to talk about. I talked about how I was bullied in high school on the track team and during school and how I felt about it. I also said that I attended the Threshold program at Lesley University and how I got to go there. Everybody there was very interested in what I had to say from my own bullying experiences. They listened well. They made good eye contact and took notes of what I said.
I learned today that Catherine and Julia picked the next fellow (for 2015) already. Her name is Valerie and I met her already. Catherine said I can stop by to say hi if I need help with anything even though I will be at JVS. Something other new things I learned today is when Jill Eastman came in I told her I am nervous about starting JVS and sad I will be leaving MAC. I have 1 week left after this week.
Some new things I learned today were at the IEP team meeting I went to with Catherine and Leslie Hughes. It was at this high school and the meeting was for a student there. We talked a lot about the strengths that he has and areas he is good in school and the areas he struggles in. We about what he needed help in and about changing his IEP. We talked about if he might have to stay behind or move on ahead. I learned that this student is good at poetry. I got to meet him when he came into the meeting. He said the he would like to go to college and has ideas about some classes he would like to take. He said that he is scared and nervous about going. Because he has been living at home for a long time. I helped him by telling him the college that I went to in Cambridge and that I was a little nervous about going.
I went to the statehouse with Julia Landau and Bill Crane. We met with Rep Peisch to talk about the independent evaluations rates. I learned about the attorney’s fees.
I learned a lot from a meeting at the statehouse I went with Julia Landau and Bill Crane. We went to meet with Representative Balser to discuss a bill that Bill Crane was working on about independent evaluations and rates. I learned a lot about what she had to say about it and I was able to take good notes.
I printed out my speech for a bullying training I am going to with Johanne next Tuesday. I took it out to practice it with Lumene. I practiced it twice. Lumene said I should read it from the far end of the table the second time I practiced so she can hear me better.
Today I went to the disability task force meeting. It was in Boston, on Federal street. I found the place no problem. I met and talked to some people from other companies including Jewish Vocational Services. The meeting went really well. The best part of my day was going to this disability task force meeting and having lunch in the conference room.
I got to meet these two girls that were helping with the (MAC) event. They were making the nametags.