Partnership for People with Disabilities

What inspired you to work in the disability field, and what keeps you motivated? It's a combination of my personality, childhood, and early career experiences. As an only child, I always had to go out and make friends, so, somehow I became the protector of those who were left out or overlooked, I would actually seek out people to make them feel included. Additionally, two of my aunt’s were foster caregivers of adults with autism when I was a child. This experience growing gave me a first-hand understanding of how beautifully nuanced people can be. In undergrad, I was pre-med, but quickly realized how much I hated it, so as an early graduate I was quite lost on where I wanted my career to go until a good friend of mine, who was a middle school principal at the time, offered me a part time job as a paraprofessional. I fell in love immediately and I’ve never looked back. So for two years, I worked full time and completed my Master’s. When I graduated, in the same classroom that I was a paraprofessional in, I became the teacher.  What keeps me motivated is looking around and seeing many children who look like me identified for special education and hoping that in some small way, I can do my part to change those outcomes.

Can you share a memorable moment in your career that had a significant impact on you or the individuals you serve? Wow, there are so many. One year, I had a self-contained math class with 10 boys. Several of my students passed the SOL, I know scores aren’t everything, but this moment made me realize that I was having an impact.

What is one misconception about your role or the disability field that you would like to clarify? I think there’s a misconception that we can solve all of the problems for a school. While it is humbling and flattering that people have that much faith in us, we are all working within systems, some parts we can directly influence, and others we have to accept.

How do you approach creating inclusive environments or supporting accessibility in your work? Creating an environment that is inclusive cannot be an afterthought. I’m honestly still growing in this area, but I notice that when I try to think about who could be in my audience or who I’m working with from the onset, it’s much easier.

What skills or qualities do you feel are most important in serving the disability community? Having an open mind, compassion

What is a recent project or initiative you are proud of, and how did it benefit those you work with? Over the summer, I sat down with 4 other colleagues to try to predict what would be needed for this school year. We landed on providing workshops on specially designed instruction. It was intense. We had think tank sessions pouring out every idea in our heads, we disagreed, we challenged each other, we thought hard and left 4-5 hour sessions with our heads hurting, but at the end of all of it, we produced an amazing workshop presentation that we have been presenting everywhere and it just reminded me that all of that deep work was worth it.  Also, I was able to work with two colleagues that I rarely get an opportunity to work with on a transition presentation that spans the whole child (early childhood to post-secondary) and that was really cool to do.

How do you stay informed and continue learning about best practices in the disability field? You have to remain hungry and try to remain proactive, while we often have to respond to the needs of people we serve, it's a good thing to create a habit and rhythm of proactive learning. I also try to make it a point to reach out to people to make and foster connections. I meet regularly with colleagues to discuss and reflect on the learning that I’m consuming.

What is one thing you wish more people understood about individuals with disabilities? Everyone of us is incredibly unique, individuals with disabilities are nuanced. Ultimately though, we often all want a lot of the same things out of life including autonomy, independence, love, community, purpose, and meaningful work among other things.

How has working in the disability field changed your perspective or influenced your personal growth? Working in this field has opened my mind to how privileged I am, even as a person who identifies as a part of a  minoritized group. It has influenced me to speak up for myself and others.

What advice would you give to someone starting a career in the disability field? Try not to lose your wonder and hunger to learn more, when you start feeling stagnant, find something new to explore that can contribute to helping make people’s lives better. Also, do something with what you learned as soon as possible, this is the best way to make sure that you don’t become stuffed with information that never goes anywhere. Also, it’s cliche, but never forget why you’re doing this work, check in with that often and regularly.